Free Republic

The U.S. Muslim Brotherhood and its non-Muslim allies have sprung into action. They are demanding that President Obama make Israel end its offensive against Hamas which, in characteristic Islamist fashion, they are falsely depicting as a genocidal crusade. Obama blames Hamas, but the pressure from Islamists, the anti-Israel left and other countries like Britain and France, may be taking a toll. He signaled possible opposition to an Israeli ground operation, saying it’d be “preferable” to end the Hamas rocket threat without sending in troops. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim Brotherhood entity whose executive director was fundraising for...

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.

America’s first mega-church, defined as a congregation of 2,000 attendees or more, held services in the capitol building inside the House of Representatives. It remained there until 1868 as the congregation raised money for building a new sanctuary they could call their own. According to the diary of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, church services were also held in the Treasury building and the Supreme Court Building. He describes the Reverend James Laurie, pastor of a Presbyterian Church, that had settled into the Treasury Building, preaching to an overflow audience in the Supreme Court Chamber,...

According to a recently released survey, support for same-sex marriage among Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) members and pastors has considerably increased since 2005. In research conducted by Presbyterian Research Services and published in October, the number of PC(USA) members and pastors supporting the denomination redefining marriage grew. In 2005, 23 percent of PC(USA) members supported same-sex marriage; in 2012, the number had increased to 34 percent. Among pastors, support for same-sex marriage in 2005 was at 35 percent; in 2012, it is at 49 percent. Jack Marcum, coordinator of Research Services at Presbyterian Mission Agency and author of the published findings,...

By now probably everybody who cares anything about politics or about right-to-life issues knows about the U.S. Senate candidate from Missouri who made really dumb statements about female biology in rape cases. What may not be widely known is that U.S. Rep. Todd Akin is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America, is a graduate of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, and apparently was a ruling elder at Twin Oaks PCA in Ballwin, a St. Louis suburb, though he's no longer listed as being a member of that church's session (i.e., board of elders or consistory). Most of...

Bill Dedman, an investigative reporter for msnbc.com, is reporting that the suspect in the horrifying shooting in Aurora, Colorado was a camp counselor in the summer of 2008 for underprivileged children in Glendale, California. NBC News has more information: Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles confirmed that [James] Holmes was a cabin counselor, responsible for 10 children at its Camp Max Straus for children ages 7 to 14 from Los Angeles. Holmes was then a 20-year-old student at the University of California, Riverside, and neighbors have said he was active in the Presbyterian church that the family attended....

The largest Presbyterian group in the US is considering divesting from three major global companies over the Israeli military’s use of their products in the Palestinian territories. The proposal before the Presbyterian Church (USA) has outraged many Jewish groups, who sent representatives to the church’s national assembly in Pittsburgh this week to lobby against the measure. Divestment supporters say the targeted companies — Caterpillar Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Motorola — are profiting from Palestinian suffering. The American Jewish Committee, a public policy group, has said the proposal demonizes Israel and threatens Christian-Jewish relations. Debate and vote were scheduled for late

When we come to study the influence of Calvinism as a political force in the history of the United States we come to one of the brightest pages of all Calvinistic history. Calvinism came to America in the Mayflower, and Bancroft, the greatest of American historians, pronounces the Pilgrim Fathers "Calvinists in their faith according to the straightest system."1 John Endicott, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; John Winthrop, the second governor of that Colony; Thomas Hooker, the founder of Connecticut; John Davenport, the founder of the New Haven Colony; and Roger Williams, the founder of the Rhode...

American Presbyterians frequently circulate the claim that King George III of England referred to the American Revolution as a “Presbyterian War.” Several years ago I set out to find the original source from which the quote is taken since I was curious about the context in which the king made this statement — if indeed he even did. The first time I discussed this quest with my dissertation director (who happens to be an elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)), he suspected I may discover it is a fiction manufactured by proud Presbyterian myth-makers, for indeed many such writers have...

Abstract During the era of the American Revolution, King George III and his supporters perceived that the war was a "Presbyterian Rebellion." Why? The label "Presbyterian" was a much more ambiguous designation than it is at present. Employed broadly as a synonym for a Calvinist, a dissenter, or a republican, the term was used with considerable imprecision in the eighteenth century. Furthermore, it was used as a demagogic tool to inflame popular passions. The term Presbyterian carried with it the connotation of a fanatical, anti-monarchical rebel. Those who designated the war a Presbyterian Rebellion could be considered biased, partisan, and...

Same-sex marriage continues to be a major dividing point among members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as the issue moves closer to a vote this week by the denomination’s governing body. The 220th General Assembly is expected to address the subject of gay marriage and the church before its biennial conference wraps up on Saturday in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. Groups on opposing sides of the debate met separately on Tuesday as the church’s committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues considered proposals both for and against gay marriage. A church survey released in February showed that...

As the Episcopal Church's governing body gathers this week, members are preparing to discuss church recognition of same-sex couples living in committed relationships. "We anticipate that the church will approve a rite for blessing same-gender relationships," the Right Rev. Sean Rowe, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, said. .. "I do plan to authorize same-gender blessings in this diocese," Rowe said in a letter to members before the convention. The Episcopalians aren't alone in considering same-gender issues this month. At the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly, commissioners are considering whether marriage is between "a woman and a man"...

Days after President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, the Presbyterian Church's Northern California governing body refused to rebuke a retired minister for marrying gays and lesbians when it was legal in California. The Presbytery of the Redwoods, which governs churches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border, voted 74 to 18 Tuesday to reject the church's official denunciation and instead support the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, who had been found guilty by an ecclesiastical court of violating the Presbyterian Constitution and her ordination vows for marrying 16 same-sex couples

Presbyterian church representatives refuse to rebuke former San Rafael pastor in gay marriage dispute In an unprecedented defiance of a church judicial commission, representatives of Northern California Presbyterian churches Tuesday refused to rebuke a retired pastor for marrying 16 same-sex couples when gay marriage was legal in California in 2008.The 74-18 vote on a motion opposing the censure of the Rev. Jane Spahr came at a meeting of the Presbytery of the Redwoods at the First Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo."Love and justice have come together here," Spahr, 69, said after the vote. "I think this is going to help...

Imagine reading a headline that stated, “Animal Rights Organization PETA Presents Meat Processing Company Tyson with Award.” Absurd, right? Why would an organization that denounces pet owners as selfish captors who subject animals to a cruel life of bondage publicly commend one of the largest slaughterhouses in America? The headline screams of hypocrisy. But our society has so boldly embraced abortion that even Christian organizations are honoring the largest abortion chain in America as a promoter of “women’s health.” Just last week, a seminary with the Presbyterian Church-USA publicly commemorated two Planned Parenthood officials. At Auburn Seminary’s annual benefit breakfast,...

he congregation as First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs has officially voted to leave the Presbyterian USA denomination. The church plans to switch to a more conservative denomination called the Evangelical Covenant Order Of Presbyterians. Leaders say its because of scriptural conflicts and the decision to allow openly gay ministers to be ordained. 95.5% of those who voted said First Pres.should leave Presbyterian USA. There is also a financial aspect to the split. The congregation must pay $650,000 to keep worshiping in their church. It will be paid over a five-year period to their regional governing body Pueblo Presbytery. The...

If you're a Free Republic participant, I already know you're a political conservative. If you're a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Church in America, or United Reformed Churches, and if you don't know what "two kingdoms" theology is, you need to read this post. What follows is the CO-URC version of posts I made today on the United Reformed and Orthodox Presbyterian listserves run by Christian Observer magazine. It responds to this thread on the Green Baggins blog owned by Rev. Lane Keister: http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/review-of-_the-escondido-theology_-general-considerations/#comments You can find the OPC and URC versions of my posts here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/co-urc/message/25024 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/presbyterians-opc/message/44787...

February 6 Roy Schoeman- Jewish ConvertMark Shea- Former Baptist, Dr. Scott Hahn- Former Presbyterian, Fr. Ray Ryland- Former Episcopalian

When he was 18 years old, Paul Mowry came out as a gay man. "She said, 'I love you and support you — but two things pain me," Mowry said. "One is that I think you would make a great dad, and I'd hate to have you not have that experience. The other is that Presbyterians don't ordain gay people."Mowry's mother mentioned ordination because Mowry — whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all served as Presbyterian ministers — had felt called to the cloth "ever since I was a really small child," he said.On Sunday, Mowry's long-held dream came true,...

When he was 18 years old, Paul Mowry came out as a gay man. "She said, 'I love you and support you — but two things pain me," Mowry said. "One is that I think you would make a great dad, and I'd hate to have you not have that experience. The other is that Presbyterians don't ordain gay people."Mowry's mother mentioned ordination because Mowry — whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all served as Presbyterian ministers — had felt called to the cloth "ever since I was a really small child," he said.On Sunday, Mowry's long-held dream came true,...