My Dear Friend. A dear friend of mine received his M.Div from Westminster East. He studied under the old-school professors and even lived with Cornelius Van Til. My friend was the rising star of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (he would never say this, but it is still true) and was being preened for a prime calling in Pennsylvania. My friend was preparing to teach from the pulpit to which he was called when he was reading the epistle to the Galatians. My friend noticed things he had never observed or was taught as *particular* and absolute truth at Westminster. He became converted on the spot...after he had been a pastor in the OPC for some time. My friend immediately began to communicate the Gospel to his congregation who, until this point, loved and cherished both him and his family. But something unexpected happened and my friend found himself face to face with half of the congregation hating and excoriating him for preaching election and grace. The once beloved congregation began to send threats to my friends home and eventually to the local Presbytery. My friend was brought before all of his old professors, including old Van Til, and was tried and convicted for preaching divisive doctrine among other trumped-up charges. My friend was stripped of his titles and his achievements and erased from the OPC. Defrocked. My friend was called by the other half of the congregation, who were *all* converted directly under his teaching, to start a new Church where they would pay his salary. My friend accepted, and the Church grew tremendously under his direct supervision. This is no way attempting to fill in every detail of my friends life story, but I have been working by memory. He could step up to fill in the gaps if I have left out anything. But all of this cannot in some strange way be attributed to the furtherance of education at Westminster; but it is all attributed to Gods grace and mercy to bring to life those who were once dead. And the tolerance for the *false* gospel of Arminianism, Pelagianism...AND the ism that is tolerant Calvinism now prevails in the hallowed halls of Westminster. What can be ascertained from this true story is that even among the most seemingly stalwart reformed denominations there is a tolerance for that which is antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not what you ask that will provide your answer from these tolerant Calvinists, it is what one usually forgets to ask: Do Arminians, who believe exactly the opposite of everything the scriptures teach, have a true profession of faith? Can we call them brethren? The answer usually goes something like this: Of course! We need to be patient with our dear Arminian brothers and sisters. They do not understand the deeper truths of Gods Holy Word and so really are quite inconsistent in their false profession. Hypothetically, of course. This is usually followed up by strange semantics to produce hypothetical examples of how when the Arminian is on his knees, he prays much like a Calvinist (why not Christian I wonder?) Also, how that the Arminian does not deny 1st Corinthians 15:1-8 (neither do Roman Catholics, Mormons, Pelagians...etc.) Next thing you know there will be some kind of Auburn Affirmation. Perhaps and Evangelicals and Catholics Together Movement; and maybe even a Night of Friendship with Mormons in the Salt Lake City Temple...Maybe even some type of Coalition of tolerant Calvinist Christians ...It could happen
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 00:05:23 +0000