Chapter 5: The Broadening Church in the USA - PCA Historical Center

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The Broadening Church In the U.S.A. 187The response to this provocation is the Philadelphia Overtureto the General Assembly of 1923, requesting the Assembly todirect the Presbytery of New York to require the preachingand teaching in the Presbyterian Church where Fosdick,although a Baptist minister, was supplying the pulpit, to conformto the doctrinal system of the Confession.At the Assembly the fundamentalist candidate for moderator,William Jennings Bryan, was defeated by his opponent,who remarked, „I look upon my election as a victory fortolerance rather than for liberalism.‟ Nevertheless, the fivefundamentals were reaffirmed; and the Philadelphia Overturewas passed by a vote of 439-359. However, the fundamentalistvictory was too close for comfort, in that a majority ofthe ministers had voted against it, and almost no one connectedwith the boards or offices of the Church had voted forit. It was the elders alone who carried the day. 101At the end of 1923 Machen‟s supply preaching at theFirst Presbyterian Church in Princeton was publicly andseverely criticized by eminent University Professor HenryVan Dyke, an eloquent spokesman for the broad churchparty. Labeling Machen‟s sermons as „bitter, schismatic andunscriptural,‟ he declares: „We want to hear about Christ, theSon of God and the Son of Man, not about Fundamentalistsand Modernists.‟ 102It was in this spirit that the influential Auburn Affirmation,eventually signed by 1,274 Presbyterian ministers, firstappeared in early 1924. The Affirmation is explicitly designedto „safeguard the unity and liberty‟ of the Church inview of the action of the Assembly of 1923. The signers allclaim to hold to the Confession, and to preach earnestly „thedoctrines of evangelical Christianity.‟ However, they refuse,in the name of liberty of conscience, to be bound by thetreatment of the controversy precipitated by this sermon, see E. H. Rian, ThePresbyterian Conflict, 1940, 29 ff.101. BC, 111 f. Cf. Stonehouse, 351 ff.102. Stonehouse, 357.The History Behind the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, pp. 152-193.
188 The Broadening Church In the U.S.A.Church to any one interpretation of the doctrines of theConfession, citing „God alone is Lord of the conscience,‟ andthe fact that the Church has historically permitted theologicaldifferences within its bosom, subordinating them to recognizedloyalty to Christ and united work for the Kingdomof God.More specifically, the Affirmation denies the constitutionalright of the General Assembly to define the essentialdoctrines of the Church without the consent of the presbyteries.With respect to the five fundamentals, there is a directdenial of the doctrine of inerrancy. Furthermore, the GeneralAssembly has no right to commit the Church to any theoriesconcerning the inspiration of the Bible, the incarnation, theatonement, the resurrection, and the supernatural power ofthe Lord. These are facts which all Christians believe, althoughmany reject various theories of these facts, such asthe theory of Biblical inerrancy. There follows then the crucialstatement:Some of us regard the particular theories contained in the deliveranceof the General Assembly of 1923 as satisfactory explanations ofthese facts and doctrines. But we are united in believing that these arenot the only theories allowed by the Scriptures and our standards asexplanations of these facts and doctrines of our religion, and that allwho hold to these facts and doctrines, whatever theories they mayemploy to explain them, are worthy of all confidence and fellowship.Finally, all evidences of division are deplored in the face of aworld so desperately needing a united testimony to the gospelof Christ. 103The fundamentalist candidate, Clarence E. Macartney,was elected moderator of the General Assembly of 1924, bywhose action Fosdick was forced to break off his connectionwith the Church on the ground of his Baptist affiliation.However, far more important, the fundamentalists did nothave Fosdick dismissed on the ground that his teaching violatedthe five fundamentals. 104103. PE, 284-288.104. BC, 121-124.This digital edition prepared by the staff of the PCA Historical Center, 2009.
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Chapter 5: The Broadening Church in the USA - PCA Historical Center

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