Since I attend a PCA church, I figured I’d read the post and linked website to see what the issues are. It’s like walking into a cafeteria at the end of a food fight and trying to figure out what the original argument was about.
Let's be fair: that's an inherent problem of theology. Theologians write a lot and they're writing about complicated things. As Reformed Christians we're used to our preachers caring about doctrine in detail and that's not bad. We're not broad evangelicals who subscribe to a brief two-page statement of faith; we're Calvinists who subscribe to the Westminster Standards, Three Forms of Unity, or one of several other very detailed doctrinal standards with literally thousands of Scripture proof texts.
Also, “Two Kingdoms” advocates are all over the map on many issues. Some of them are probably more or less okay.
Others of them... well... let's let these quotes speak for themselves:
“In response to the question posed in #275, Pastor Stellman says that a pastor preaching on the sin of abortion and praying in pastoral prayers for the legality of abortion to be overturned wouldn’t turn any heads or cause any concerns at all. Such ministerial activity falls within Escondido 2K boundaries”
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/review-of-_the-escondido-theology_-general-considerations/#comment-94597
OK, I can live with that though those aren't the words I would have used. I'm a little hesitant to say I like it given the context (see the following links for examples) but it's not too bad.
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2012/03/why-is-church-of-scotland-silent-on-gay.html
However, read this item by Jed Paschall and I think it frames the problem clearly. He's actually arguing that the church should not take a stand against legalization of gay marriage. However, read this item by Jed Paschall and I think it frames the problem clearly. He's actually arguing that the church should not take a stand against the legalization of gay marriage.
If that isn't one of the "cases extraordinary" envisioned by the confessions, I can't imagine what else could be.
If by speaking against gay marriage you mean, for example:
“We, ministers of the Church of ________ assert that the Scriptures clearly affirm that homosexuality is a sin. Moreover, we also assert that the Scriptures clearly affirm that marriage is to be shared between a man and a woman. Therefore, we affirm, in line with Biblical teaching that gay marriage is a sinful distortion of the biblical intent for human marriage and sexuality. As such, our congregations will neither condone nor perform gay marriages within our membership or clergy.”
Then, yes, I would say that this an important clarification of the church’s stance on a pressing cultural issues.
However, if we were to add to this example:
“…Furthermore, we call upon the state to maintain the biblical, creational norms regarding marriage, by banning all possibilities of gay marriages, etc, etc.”
I would say that the church qua church has overstepped itself, because they now are seeking to exercise power in the civil realm by enacting or endorsing policy. I do not believe that this lies within the charter of the Church given by Christ in the Great Commission. Now if an individual believer, speaking as a citizen were to petition the state in this manner, I would argue that he is fully within his freedoms to do so.