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Voices

What Presbyterians Believe about the future, Part 1: Our Theological Tradition

Have you ever wondered what the Presbyterian Church believes about the future? It seems that so many people today have clear-cut views about the specifics of the future. One bumper sticker declares confidently, "In case of rapture, this car will be uninhabited." The approach of the millennium will be the occasion of increasing discussion about the future of the world. Do Presbyterians have anything to say?

Editorials

What Will the New Denomination Look Like?

If we as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are to become what God wants us to be, then we will have to alter radically our way of thinking about ourselves as a denomination and the way we conduct our business.

First, we will focus on our own particular congregation, and pour tremendous energy into its mission and, even more important, the mission of each member in the world.

Voices

Great Scot

For those with a lot of Scotch in their bloodstream January 25, the birthday of Caledonia's poet -- Robert Burns -- is the highest of holy days.  All over the globe the wandered Scots gather for a rare evening of amity devoted to St. Andrew, St. Haggis, and St. Robert.  At least once in a lifetime every Presbyterian should elect (Presbyterian elect -- get it?) to attend a Burns Supper.

Book Reviews

The Wrath of Jonah: The Crisis of Religious Nationalism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

By Rosmary Radford Reuther and Herman J. Reuther
Fortress. 2002. (2nd ed.) 320 pp. Pb. $18.00. ISBN 0-8006-3479-9

—reviewed by Daniel Durway, Raleigh, N.C.

Most Americans know what is going on in the Middle East, but few Americans know why it is going on. Indeed, according to Rosemary Radford Ruether and Herman J. Ruether, theologian and political scientist, respectively, "Much of the world does not know the actual history" (p. iv).

Editorials

How Connected Must a Presbyterian Church Be?

Two things define us as Presbyterians, beyond the fact that we are a church governed by elders, gathered in an ascending series of governing bodies: we are a confessional (or at least aspire to be!) church and a connectional church.

Two weeks ago this column was devoted to discussing the perplexities of being a confessional church in a time of widespread biblical and theological illiteracy.

Voices

Regaining Perspective

Jerry Andrews, co-moderator of the Presbyterian Coalition, has made it clear that "the Coalition itself is not committed to the confessing church movement." This is so because the PC(USA) "is a confessing movement -- it has not watered down its confession."

Voices

Reformed Confessions and Confessing Church – An Outlook Interview with Milan Opocensky


Milan Opocensky, professor emeritus of Christian social ethics at Charles University in Prague, is the MacKay Professor of World Christianity at Princeton Seminary for the 2000-2001 academic year. From 1989 to 2000 he served as general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), which represents 215 Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregational and United churches and links 75 million Christians in 106 countries.

Voices

Confessional Witness and Its Challenge

A self-proclaimed "confessing church movement" has been endorsed recently in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by dozens of sessions and several interest groups that are deeply disappointed over the demise of Amendment O and the Dirk Ficca affair.

Book Reviews

Pilgrimage of a Presbyterian: Collected Shorter Writings

By John Leith, Charles E. Raynal,ed.
Geneva. 2001. 363 pp. Pb. $29.95. ISBN 0-664-50151-6

— reviewed by Richard A. Ray, Bristol, Tenn.

In 1949, John Leith included these words in a sermon on race relations preached in Nashville:

"It is hard to be a Christian. But after all, it is about time that we should get into our thinking that this business of being Christian is and always will be an arduous and dangerous business. It is not made for cowards and for the weak."

Editorials

How Much Theological Cohesion Do We Need?

Following up last week’s editorial suggesting that forces in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that have devoted themselves in the last quarter-century to either holding on to or taking over control of the denomination need to move toward demobilization, the first question that must be asked is: How much theological cohesion does a Presbyterian body need to hold together?

Book Reviews

More Than Chains and Toil: A Christian Work Ethic of Enslaved Women

By Joan M. Martin.
WJKP. 2000. 190 pp. Pb. $24.95. ISBN 0-664-2580-0

— reviewed by Portia Turner Williamson, Durham, N.C.

What a well-crafted volume, significantly advancing the discussion concerning slavery in America! Joan Martin is a theological ethicist who employs womanist methodology to discover the meaning of work in this context.

"Discovery" is a technique that renders the internal as external. By means of this method, she examines the social, theological and political aspects of blackwomen’s antebellum work.

Editorials

From Warfare to Witness

Demobilization, the reduction in armed forces following a war, is a model that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) may find useful.

We’ve been involved in a war about human sexuality for the past 25 years that seems to be over; while discussion will continue, the terms of engagement have changed. It’s fairly inconceivable that the church will entertain a constitutional change of any magnitude in ordination standards in the foreseeable future.

Uncategorized

Kirkpatrick calls for ‘culture of respect’ for and revamping of the church’s Constitution

DECATUR, Ga. — PC(USA) Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick has called for a "culture of respect" for the church's Constitution and the revamping of that document to support "a missionary church in the 21st century."

He made his proposals Friday, April 26, during a one-day conference co-sponsored by the Office of the General Assembly and Columbia Seminary and attended by more than 150 persons.

Book Reviews

Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson

By Edwin S. Gaustad.
Eerdmans. 1996. 246 pp. Pb. $18.00 ISBN 0-8028-0156-0

—reviewed by Herbert Meza Jacksonville, Fla.

No one, with the possible exception of James Madison, had a greater influence on the founding of the United States than Thomas Jefferson. Unlike many of the founding fathers, Jefferson’s name has not faded. The Declaration of Independence stands as an enduring witness to Jefferson’s religious, moral and political views.

Voices

John 3:16 and the Prodigal: (The Gospel and the Gospel)

For a very long time John 3:16 has been read as a summary of the gospel, which indeed it is. This well-known verse tells of God, the world, love, the Son, giving, sending, believing, eternal life and salvation. Paul gives an even shorter summary when he says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." But John and Paul do not provide the only summaries.

Voices

Ten Things I Have Learned About Christian Educators in 40 years

Ten is a good round number. There are lots of lists of 10. After spending more than 40 years in the field of Christian education in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I would like to share 10 things I have learned about Christian educators.

Who are the educators? They are the DCEs, pastors, certified educators, graduates with majors in Christian education, part-time staff and volunteers. They are the ones who see Christian education as a high calling of service, to equip the saints for ministry, to build up the body of Christ.

Editorials

The Blessing and Curse of Affinity Groups

Following the recent defeat of Amendment A in the presbyteries, a number of groups across the spectrum released statements announcing their official reactions. The statements, given their source, were entirely predictable, each group trying to put the best spin on the outcome.

Uncategorized

Staff cuts announced in Louisville

It was a painful day at the Louisville headquarters of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Monday - faces strained, voices hushed, the eyes of some red-rimmed and welling with tears. The details of a proposed $4.24 million reduction in the mission budget for 2003 - including layoffs for 43 employees and the elimination of 21 vacant positions- were announced April 22, ending weeks of uncertainty about where the axe would fall.

Book Reviews

Grace Keeps You Going: Spiritual Wisdom from Cancer Survivors

By Mac N. and Anne Shaw Turnage
WJKP. 2001. 136 pp. Pb. $12.95. ISBN 0-664-22567-5

— reviewed by William V. Arnold, Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Since their own confrontation with cancer in 1973, Mac and Anne Turnage have focused considerable creative faith and energy, to our benefit, on the care of people affected by cancer. Since their first book, More Than You Dare to Ask: The First Year of Living With Cancer, in 1976, they have led countless support groups, formed and led organizations of cancer survivors to provide support and encouragement, and, in the process, modeled pastoral care at its finest.

Voices

The Five-fold Path to Recovering Unity in the PC(USA)

Many people today are wondering what the future holds for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Our differences seem to be getting bigger rather than smaller. Our denomination is one that is seeking unity. But, so far, real unity has eluded us. Trying to achieve unity is like chasing the wind (Ecclesiastes 2:14). The harder we try to attain it, the more it slips through our fingers. What is it that will bring us together?

Editorials

The Letter and the Spirit of the Law

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has just completed a 25-year theological-legal debate over ordination standards with a resounding reaffirmation of the “fidelity-chastity” requirement for ordination of ministers and church officers. Presbyteries have voted to disapprove an amendment that would have undone the legislative work of the whole church in recent years.

Voices

Bring Traditional Commitments Back to Center Stage

Two deleterious movements began after the celebratory march down Peachtree Avenue in Atlanta following the reunion vote in 1983. Groups began to move in different directions and factionalism took on new life. Second, the predecessor denominations’ commitment to racial integration and interest in economic justice were moved off center stage and replaced by issues associated with human sexuality.

Voices

Help for the Task Force

The views expressed in this article are my own, not those of the Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity on which I serve. In successive editorials, Outlook editor Robert Bullock voices high hopes for the task force. His expression of confidence in the task force and his offer of prayers are most welcome.

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