Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS
Fall 2001
General Assembly falls short theologically
Many Presbyterians regard the General Assembly's action on the person and work of Jesus Christ as the most significant outcome of the meeting.
Overtures from three presbyteries, responding to the failure of the General Assembly Council (GAC) to faithfully proclaim Jesus Christ as sole Savior and Lord and hold its program areas accountable, asked the G.A. to affirm this basic belief on which the Christian Church stands. A public statement by a plenary speaker during a conference sponsored by the Peacemaking Program area--a GAC entity--originally sparked the controversy.
The controversy continued at the General Assembly. The G.A. finally adopted a committee recommendation, amended on the floor to add the following statement:
We confess the unique authority of Jesus Christ as Lord. Every other authority is finally subject to Christ.
Jesus Christ is also uniquely Savior. It is His life, death, resurrection, ascension and final return that restores creation, providing salvation for all those whom God has chosen to redeem. Although we do not know the limits of Gods grace and pray for the salvation of those who may never come to know Christ, for us the assurance of salvation is found only in confessing Christ and trusting Him alone. We are humbled in our witness to Christ by our realization that our understanding of him and his way is limited and distorted by our sin. Still the transforming power of Christ in our lives compels us to make Christ known to others.
Signers of a minority report from the Theological Issues committee noted the continuing use of qualifying words, "for us," and the general weakness of the statement as a confession of what Presbyterians believe.
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