Free Republic

Protect Our Parks - now suing the city, federal agencies, the Chicago Park District and the Obama Foundation to block construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park in favor of a site of their choosing in Washington Park - is asking the federal district court to block planned roadwork on Hayes Drive and excavation on the planned OPC campus site. The move comes after the city, Park District and Obama Foundation filed a motion to dismiss the state law claims in the Protect Our Parks case, invoking the multitude of other buildings devoted to public use in Jackson...

We are facing the end of dialogue. At least, it can seem that way in our polarized society. Disagreement has sharpened, and healthy debate diminished. Who isn’t angry about cultural issues and political developments? Too irritated to consider other viewpoints, many are turning instead to social media or news outlets that support their own positions. This tense atmosphere makes gospel communication difficult. And, of course, another significant communication barrier is simply religious ignorance. We can no longer assume that our neighbors are familiar with Scripture and Christ. As we lose these points of contact, spiritual conversations become more challenging. A...

Question: Do Presbyterians believe in the virgin birth of Jesus? A friend of mine said the Presbyterian church did not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus from Mary. She said that Joseph was the biological father. I am sure she is mistaken but would like a clarification on the doctrine of the Presbyterian church on this. Answer:Thank you for your fine question. Your instincts were correct; we do firmly believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We affirm with the Nicene Creed: "We believe ... in one Lord Jesus Christ, ... who...

Let me begin this conclusion by ending at the beginning: My wife Cindy and I entered into full communion with the Catholic Church because we came to see that this Church is the Church established by Jesus Christ. We came to this realization in large measure by spending time in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, reading other positive presentations of Catholic teaching, and speaking with flesh and blood Catholics in all walks of life and vocations. The many misconceptions we had about what Catholics believed were cleared away as we dug deeply into the teaching resources of the Catholic...

Wally was a sweet fellow and very graciously lent me volume one of the Battles edition of Calvin’s Institutes. A while later I visited him in his luxurious office at the local “tall-steeple” PCUSA congregation in order to return the book. I was full of questions. In conversation, Wally mentioned that he was a graduate of Princeton Seminary. I had heard about this fellow “Machen” so I asked Wally about him and about Westminster Seminary. His jovial face quickly turned red with anger at the very mention of the traitor Machen and the rebel seminary. Mind you, this was about...

“It may be safe to say that the greatest event for Christendom in the last 1500 years was the Protestant Reformation.”[1] Professor John Murray spoke these words in his class lectures on justification in the mid-1960s. At that time, forty years ago, it would have been hard to imagine anyone in a Reformed or evangelical church finding much that was exceptional about Murray’s words. But today, in a world that would amaze him, the central doctrines of the Reformation are under attack, not only in liberal and ecumenical circles, but in the heart of evangelical and Reformed churches. Contemporary criticisms...

Believers in Unbelieving Churches What Should Be Done by Christian People Who are in a Modernist Church? What is the duty of Christian congregations or Christian individuals who find themselves in a church that is dominated by unbelief? Shall they remain in such a church, or shall they withdraw from it and become members of a consistently Christian Church? That is certainly the question of the hour for the orthodox part of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Various attempts are being made to answer the question. Various considerations are being urged on one side or the other. If we...

On New Year’s Eve, 1936, in a Roman Catholic hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota, J. Gresham Machen was one day away from death at the age of 55. It was Christmas break at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, where he taught New Testament. His colleagues said he looked “deadly tired.” But instead of resting, he took the train from Philadelphia to the 20-below-zero winds of North Dakota to preach in a few Presbyterian churches at the request of Pastor Samuel Allen. ... He had pneumonia and could scarcely breath. Pastor Allen came to pray for him that last day of 1936,...

Question: It is obvious that Mary had children after Jesus was born. As long as Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, why was it necessary that Mary have no previous children? I am not asking why it was necessary that Jesus be conceived by the Holy Spirit—I understand that. I guess my question is, Why would it matter that Mary had other children first, as long as Jesus was conceived by the Spirit? Answer: I agree with you that from what is said in Scripture, it appears to be "obvious that Mary had children after Jesus was born. "...

The town where J. Gresham Machen, the founder of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, last preached before his death has shown up again in the news, this time in a horrible way. While Machen's direct denominational influence was fairly narrow, as the key leader of the secession from the Northern Presbyterians and founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, Machen has a lasting role in American Calvinism that is far larger than the Orthodox Presbyterian Church which he founded. In his own lifetime, however, Machen's role was even more important and went well beyond Reformed circles. As a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary,...

Question: Does the OPC use the crucifix in the church? If not, are they opposed to it? Answer: Thank you for your question. The answer is, so far as I know, the crucifix is not used in OPC churches, and here is why: 1.The Second Commandment (Ex. 20:4-6 and Deut. 5:8-10) forbids any picture or image of God, and that would include the Son of God, even as man. At any rate we do not know what Jesus looked like as there is no physical description of him. 2.The crucifix will always end up being an object of worship—regarded as...

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the U.S., at it meeting on April 19, 2013, adopted a statement concerning Homosexuality and Same Sex marriage. They intentionally included positions from the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church with the hope that they would once again join in making a prophetic statement to those in civil authority that the fear and judgment of God may at least move enough legislators and judges not to approve of or support legalizing “same sex marriage.” Their desire is that the whole Christian, and especially the Reformed church, should protest this matter. Resolution Adopted...

Despite claims to the contrary, the Christian world is not divided between those who have creeds and confessions and those who just have the Bible. It is actually divided between those who have creeds and confessions and write them down in a public form, open to public scrutiny and correction, and those who have them and do not write them down. The reason is simple: every church (and indeed every Christian) believes the Bible means something, and what it thinks the Bible means is its creed and confession, whether it chooses to write its beliefs down or not. Of course,...

Fellow Calvinists on the Great Reformed Ping List, I need some help. Go to this website, run by a lawyer who is also an Orthodox Presbyterian elder, and you'll see what is being advocated by prominent people in Calvinist circles today who are seriously arguing not only that the church ought to steer clear from political positions but also that Christians ought not to use their Bibles when they enter the civil realm.

A man who left the ministry 21 years ago is looking forward to becoming the first openly gay person ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA. At the ceremony Sunday, Scott Anderson, 56, now executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, will take back the stole he wore as pastor of two Presbyterian congregations in California, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He had donated it to Shower of Stoles, a project meant to demonstrate what the Presbyterian Church had lost by barring homosexuals from the ministry. Anderson, who grew up in California, said he realized he was gay while he...

2 or 3 times a week, I go past this church on the way home from work: No big deal, never paid it much attention. A couple of days ago, I noticed a slight change on the frontage of their property: This sort of surprised me a bit. I didn't, based upon the back and forth here, think that the OPC did "charismatic" things. This understanding was confirmed by looking at the OPC website (here). Saying, We believe that the "charismata" (those first introduced at Pentecost and further dealt with in 1 Corinthians 12-14) have ceased with the end of...

A new policy that opens the door to ordination of openly gay deacons, elders, and ministers in the Presbyterian Church ( USA ) took effect July 10, with prayer vigils and liturgical celebrations to mark the historic occasion held across the nation from Pittsburgh to Nashville to Denver and beyond.Closer to home, the landmark change means that Andersonville resident Jeannine Oakes' dream of becoming an ordained minister of word and sacrament—in a church she dearly loves—may very well come true after all. "I am still in the early stages of the process, with a lot of requirements to go," Oakes...

A gay elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA) says the recent rule change that removes any doubt over the legitimacy of her position makes the church more accepting, though intolerance still exists in many areas. Beth Van Sickle was ordained in her Ohio congregation in the 1980s and faced challenges to her post. But yesterday , the church’s constitution was changed to allow unmarried, noncelibate clergy. Van Sickle says it makes the church appear more accepting to young people, who may be questioning the conflict between their religion and their sexuality. “People will come to the church because they recognize...

.. "On this new day the church continues to live into its call to be a house of prayer for all people, seeking reconciliation, calling forth the gifts of all who seek to serve Christ in the world," .. "While we celebrate this day, we also know that minds and hearts need time and clarity to understand issues that divide us. We pray for God's guidance, humbly seeking to be united in our common purpose -- to live and proclaim the good news of the gospel."...He grew up in a home and church where sexuality was never discussed, he said....

The Presbyterian Church USA will quietly usher in gay ordination when an amendment on Sunday formally enters the Book of Order of the church’s Constitution. The change comes after 33 years of contentious discussion within the Presbyterian Church and as the gay-rights movement gains momentum in other Protestant Churches. “This is a very historic day,” said Rev. Daniel L. Martian, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Livingston. The new policy makes it easier for the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. to ordain gays and lesbians as clergy if they chose by dropping a policy requiring unmarried clergy to remain celibate. “Now that...