Last week The Telegraph reported that Agatha Christie’s novels are being sanitized for re-release. HarperCollins, their publisher, is removing references to physique, race and ethnicity in new editions of Miss Marple and selected Poirot novels. Christie joins Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming on the list of dead literary icons whose works have met similar fates in recent weeks. Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss and Mark Twain have been curbed in other ways. If it seems like small potatoes, you may be missing the big picture. When publishers defile literature, you know the writing is on the wall.
Bruce Pardy: Agatha Christie Revisions are the Writing on the Wall
Christie is the bestselling novelist of all time. Which is precisely why her books are ideal for such treatment. Literature, along with other popular arts like music and movies, is called “culture” for a reason. It expresses narratives that tell societies who they are. In 2023, we are social justice nihilists, driven by cultural self-hate and morally panicked about any representation of historical prejudice.
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An Update on the Voting of the PCA BCO Amendments: The Tale So Far
As Fall fades into Winter about 38 presbyteries have given their advice and consent concerning some or all of the twelve Items sent down from the 49th General Assembly (2022) in Birmingham, AL. To change the Book of Church Order, an amendment is run through a three-part process.
First, it must pass the General Assembly by a simple majority. Then, it must pass 2/3 of the 88 presbyteries, or 59, by a simple majority. Finally, it must pass the following General Assembly by a simple majority. This article reports on how the twelve Items are faring across the presbyteries of the PCA. These are unofficial results compiled from presbyters throughout the PCA; the official results will be published by the Stated Clerk’s office before the 50th General Assembly, which will meet in Memphis, TN.
Item 1 (Overture 15)
Item 1 was perhaps the most controversial overture to come out of the 49th General Assembly. This amendment was drafted to address the ongoing controversy in the PCA concerning the Revoice Movement. While Items 4 and 5 seek to do something similar, proponents of this amendment argue that it would put an end to the 5-year conversation concerning the nature of biblical sexuality. For those who support this amendment, it communicates a clear and simple rejection of any Side-B movement in the PCA. Opponents argue that this amendment is redundant (given the consensus behind Items 4 and 5) and that it could unduly jeopardize the witness of the PCA to the world. The amendment states:
BCO 7-4. Men who describe themselves as homosexual, even those who describe themselves as homosexual and claim to practice celibacy by refraining from homosexual conduct, are disqualified from holding office in the Presbyterian Church in America.
This amendment passed the Assembly by a vote of 1167-978 (54%-36%). Many wondered, after the Assembly, if Overture 15 would be “Dead on Arrival” to the presbyteries. This has not been the case. Overture 15 has exceeded expectations across the presbyteries. So much so, that it tracks well with last year’s vote on Overture 23. So far, 24 presbyteries have voted in favor and 12 presbyteries against it. Of the remaining 52 presbyteries, 35 or 67% of them must vote in the affirmative for it to be considered at the 50th General Assembly. Overture 15 did not die in the Fall and will be watched closely as presbyteries vote in their January-April meetings.
Item 4 and Item 5 (Overture 29 and Overture 31)
Items 4 (O29) and Item 5 (O31) were perhaps some of the least controversial amendments to pass last year’s Assembly and resemble a consensus regarding the issue of biblical sexuality in the PCA. Overture 29 states:
BCO 16-4. Officers in the Presbyterian Church in America must be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in their character. While office bearers will see spiritual perfection only in glory, they will continue in this life to confess and to mortify remaining sins in light of God’s work of progressive sanctification. Therefore, to be qualified for office, they must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires, the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, and be committed to the pursuit of Spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions.
Item 4 passed the assembly by a vote of 1922-200 (91%-9%) and Item 5 passed the Assembly in an omnibus vote of 2062-33 (98%-2%). These amendments have sailed through the presbyteries. So far, 36 presbyteries have voted in for item 4 and 1 presbytery is against it. Likewise, 36 presbyteries are for item 5 and 2 presbyteries are against it. Overall, the raw tallies reveal that these amendments are supported by over 90% of the Elders in the PCA. Given the present trajectories, Commissioners at the next General Assembly will likely have the opportunity to consider both Items 4 and 5 for final ratification.
Item 7 (Overture 8)
Item 7 is an amendment that seeks to fix a major issue in the Book of Church Order (BCO) concerninghow the General Assembly can assume original jurisdiction over a presbytery in a case of doctrinal or public scandal. Proponents of the amendment argue that this solution is far superior to the current language of BCO 33-1 and BCO 34-1. They reason that by changing the language from “fails to act” to “fails to indict” clarifies when the Assembly could assume original jurisdiction of a case. They also argue that by raising the number of presbyteries needed to require the GA to assume jurisdiction to 10%, and by placing the burden of the cost for the investigation on either the petitioning presbytery or presbytery of the minister, this would prevent the provision from being abused.
Some opponents argue that the 10% threshold is too high basically rendering the provision useless. Other opponents claim the threshold is too low resulting in overburdening the Standing Judicial Commission. However, all the opponents agree that amending BCO 33-1 would overburden small presbyteries, especially that with less than 10 churches; under the provision if amended only one Session would would be needed to require a presbytery to assume original jurisdiction over a case. Both proponents and opponents of this provision agree that BCO 34-1 is broken in its current state, but the solution is less clear than the problem. The amendment states:
BCO 33-1. Process against a church member shall be entered before the Session of the church to which such member belongs. However, if the Session does not indict in either doctrinal cases or instances of public scandal and the Sessions of at least ten percent (10%) of churches in the same Presbytery request the Presbytery of which the church is a member to assume original jurisdiction for a case of process, the Presbytery shall do so. The Presbytery may assess the costs thereof equitably among the parties, including the petitioning Sessions and the Session of the church member.
BCO 34-1. Process against a minister shall be entered before the Presbytery of which he is a member. However, if the Presbytery does not indict in either doctrinal cases or instances of public scandal and at least ten percent (10%) of Presbyteries request the General Assembly to assume original jurisdiction for a case of process, the General Assembly shall do so. The General Assembly may assess the costs thereof equitably among the parties, including the petitioning Presbyteries and the Presbytery of the minister.
Item 7 passed the Assembly by a vote of 1245-521 (70%-30%) and defeated a minority report. Since the Assembly, Overture 8 has struggled to maintain its momentum. So far, 20 presbyteries are for it and 15 presbyteries are against it. This amendment needs to pass in 39 of the remaining 53 presbyteries to be considered at the next General Assembly. While not impossible, this amendment faces a tough road ahead in the Winter and Spring.
The Remaining Items
The rest of the Items before the presbyteries have received little pushback. These Items (2-3; 6; 9-12) have been seemingly uncontroversial. While some presbyteries have voted against some of these amendments, they remain widely affirmed by the presbyteries that have voted thus far. Given the non-controversial nature of these amendments, the 50th General Assembly will likely consider these items for final ratification.
There are 55 presbyteries yet to consider some or all of the Items sent down from the 49th General Assembly. To follow these votes on these amendments this spreadsheet will be regularly updated.
Scott Edburg is a Minister in the PCA and is Assistant Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Tuscumbia, Ala.
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Living, Unique, Valuable, Unborn Human Beings
Human beings aren’t valuable because of a function they perform, how conscious they are, whether they feel pain, or any other extrinsic quality. These things come in degrees. Humanity doesn’t come in degrees.
I shocked a faculty member at the University of California while conversing with him in the middle of campus. He was defending abortion using the reasons popularly offered to justify it. He said, “It’s a decision between a woman, her doctor, and her God.” He brought up the idea that if abortion were made illegal, women would be forced into dangerous, back-alley abortions. He emphatically said, “Woman should have the right to choose.” Then I shocked him.
I agreed. I said, “Of course we shouldn’t interfere with a woman, her doctor, and her God. We shouldn’t force any woman into a dangerous, back-alley abortion.” I said, “A woman should have the right to choose…if….” “If what?” he asked. I knew this was where the conversation really started.
Often, we lose sight of the main issue in the abortion debate. The fundamental question we must ask is, “What is the unborn?” Abortion involves the killing and discarding of something that’s alive. We all know it’s alive because it’s growing. That’s the “problem” abortion seeks to address. And whether it’s right or not to intentionally take the life of this living being depends entirely upon the answer to one question: “What kind of being is it?”
Most defenses of abortion assume the unborn is not a human being. Think about it. Privacy and choice are not valid reasons to kill born human beings. This means that if the unborn is a human being just like you and me, you can’t kill her for the same reasons you can’t kill a born human being. If the unborn is not a human being, there’s no issue to debate. If the unborn is not a human being, no justification for abortion is necessary. However, if the unborn is a human being, no justification for abortion is adequate. That’s why we have to first answer the question “What is the unborn?” To answer this, we’ll turn to embryology.
We know from embryology—the study of the earliest stages of life—that human life comes into existence when two gametes (sperm and egg) fuse to form a living zygote. The science of embryology tells us the unborn is a living, unique, human being.
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The Joy of Angels and the Person of Christ
Jonathan Edwards
A rediscovery of the contribution of the writings of Jonathan Edwards (1703–58) on the subject of angels propels him into the category of one of the most significant thinkers on angelology in the Christian tradition. While Edwards never constructed a systematic angelology, he wrote on the subject in nearly fifty entries in his varied collection of Miscellanies, and he alluded to the subject in multiple sermons and treatises.
Much of what Edwards wrote on angels, as well as on demons, repeats much of traditional orthodoxy. The angels were created by God and are bodiless spiritual beings. They are intelligent creatures who are spectators to God’s work in the universe from the moment of their creation up to the present church age. They are also moral creatures with a capacity to choose both good and evil. Edwards believed angels exist in vast numbers and have powers that greatly exceed those of human beings. Some angels fell, including Satan, through sin or disobedience. These fallen angels are called demons. Edwards saw the holy unfallen angels as servants and ministers of God’s providence, performing various functions throughout the physical universe and in the lives of human beings.
The History of Redemption
Between March and August 1739, Edwards delivered thirty sermons on the Old Testament text of Isaiah 51:8. The doctrine Edwards provides in his series is continuous from the first sermon to the last, and is basically stated, “The Work of Redemption is a work that God carries on from the fall of man to the end of the world.”1 The themes developed by Edwards in the framework of this discourse on redemption engaged him both directly and indirectly in most of the expositions he preached throughout this time period. These themes can be summarized under three traditional headings: heaven, earth, and hell.
Angels play a frequent role in the tri-world narrative that Edwards constructs. He draws these themes out of his Miscellanies and includes them in his sermons, reminding his congregants that “the creating heaven was in order to the Work of Redemption; it was to be an habitation for the redeemed and the Redeemer, Matthew 25:34. Angels [were created to be] ministering spirits [to the inhabitants of the] lower world [which is] to be the stage of the wonderful Work [of Redemption].”2
The angelology of Jonathan Edwards should be viewed as a corollary to his Christology. Throughout the sermons in his 1739 series, Edwards positions the angelic beings at the epicenter of his teachings: “Scripture is filled,” he says, “with instances when God hath . . . sent angels to bring divine instructions to men.”3 Angels, in heaven, “spend much of their time in searching into the great things of divinity, and endeavoring to acquire knowledge in them.”4 When they are not employed in ministration and singing, Edwards considers that angels may be studying. Regularly, Edwards asks his parishioners to follow the example of angels and imitate their diligence in the study of Scripture. Both angels and humanity, Edwards says, will find “the glorious work of redemption” at the heart of that study. For Edwards, the love of Christ in His redemption stands at the center of all angelic contemplation.