Presbytery Memorial to GA
TO: The 34th General Assembly of the PCA
FROM: Central Revivalista Presbytery
Whereas it is the obligation of teaching elders to uphold in their teaching the system of doctrine taught in the Westminster Standards (BCO 2 1-5.2), and;
Whereas presbyteries are charged "to condemn erroneous opinions which injure the purity or peace of the Church" (BCO 13-9.f), and:
Whereas TE Jean Calvin, senior minister of St. Peter's Reformed Church in Geneva, has persisted in teaching and publishing doctrines in flagrant contradiction to our Standards, to wit:
1) TE Calvin publicly teaches a doctrine of election in flagrant contradiction to our Standards. Whereas the Confession teaches that "God hath appointed the elect unto glory" (WCF III.6), TE Calvin states that the elect are appointed to a conditional relationship which they can lose through unbelief. He writes: "Now then it is of God's free election that we have his Word purely preached unto us and that we have his Gospel and Sacraments. And therein we have reason to confess that he has shown himself generous to us...So then, when the Gospel is preached in a place and it has the warrants that God gives men salvation - as when we have Baptism and the Lord's Holy Supper ministered uncorruptly - we may say it is an election of God. But yet for all that, in the meantime he holds to himself those he so wishes in order that people should not trust the outward signs except by faith and obedience, knowing that although we have been chosen to be of the Body of the Church, yet if we do not make that election to our profit, God can well enough cut us off again and reserve a final number to himself." (Sermons on Deuteronomy, Sermon 53, Saturday, 3 August 1555).
2) TE Calvin teaches a doctrine of the church in flagrant contradiction to that of our Standards, in that he denies the distinction between the visible and the invisible church. The Confession states that "The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect," whereas "The visible Church… consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, and their children" (WCF XXV. 1-2). The sum of TE Calvin's erroneous view is to teach that all members of the church – without distinction to their actual faith and/or regeneration – partake of the saving benefits of Christ. Whereas the Standards state that the visible church enjoys "the ordinary means of salvation and offers of grace by Christ," they grant only to the invisible church that they "enjoy union and communion with [Christ]" (WLC 62-65). As such, TE Calvin denies that there is any distinction between believing and unbelieving members of the visible church, insisting that all baptized church members enjoy the benefits of union with Christ, only conditionally. See his Commentaries, Sermons, Treatises, and Institutes, including the following statements:
"Whom will God bring charges against? His own people! If it were merely a matter of God prosecuting pagans and idolaters alone, we would have reason to say, 'This should not bother us in the least. We are the people of God. He has chosen and elected us. We are in His safekeeping. We have nothing to fear when He brings His enemies to trial.' Yes indeed, that is certainly what we would say. But when it is a matter of God bringing His own people to trial, this should make our hair stand on end. No men are so glorious that they are exempt from God's judgment. We are the people of God, which is the greatest honor that can be bestowed on men - yet we are not excused from God's punishment. He will not fail to prosecute us whenever we rebel against Him..." (sermon on Micah).
"Though Christ may be denied in various ways, yet Peter, I think, refers here to what is expressed by Jude, that is when the grace of God is turned into lasciviousness; for Christ redeemed us, that He might have a people separated from all the pollutions of the world, and devoted to holiness and innocency. They, then, who throw off the bridle and give themselves up to all kinds of licentiousness, are not unjustly said to deny Christ by whom they have been redeemed." (comment on 2 Peter 2:1-3).
"...it is not enough that God should choose any people for Himself, except the people themselves persevere in the obedience of faith; for this is the spiritual chastity which the Lord requires from all His people. But when is a wife, whom God has bound to Himself by a sacred marriage, said to become a wanton? When she falls away...from a pure and sound faith. Then it follows that the marriage between God and men so long endures as they who have been adopted continue in pure faith..." (comment on Hosea 2:4-5)
"Yet, the reprobate [within the church] are justly said to believe that God is merciful toward them, for they receive the gift of reconciliation..." (Institutes 3.2.11)
"The mystery is that souls perish who are bought by the blood of Christ" (sermon on 2 Timothy)
Note that Calvin here directly contradicts WLC 69, which ascribes these blessings only to the elect and denies them to the visible church.
3) TE Calvin's teaching directly contradicts our doctrine of perseverance. The Confession teaches that "They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved" (WCF XVI.1). But TE Calvin teaches the opposite. See the above quotes regarding the reprobate, who according to Calvin were at one time reconciled, adopted, and redeemed. Calvin adds that all this "refers to a total defection or falling away from the Gospel, when a sinner offends God, not in some one thing, but entirely renounces His grace...For he falls away who forsakes the Word of God, who extinguishes its light, who deprives himself of the taste of the heavenly gift, who relinquishes the participation of the Spirit. Now this is wholly to renounce God...He calls it the 'participation' of the Spirit, for He it is who distributes to everyone as He will all the light and knowledge which he can have, for without Him no one can say 'Jesus is Lord'... " (comment on Hebrews 6). In Calvin’s teaching, all church members share all the benefits of union with Christ, but only provisionally. He writes, "Thus they who are led away by the allurements of this world alienate themselves from God and sell their own salvation that they may feed on the morsels of this world, without thinking that they lose anything, nay, how they flatter and applaud themselves, as though they were extremely happy. When too late their eyes are opened, so that being warned by the sight of their own wickedness, they become sensible to the loss of which they made no account." (comment on Hebrews 12).
4) TE Calvin's teaching directly contradicts our doctrine of assurance. The Confession teaches that we may have a certain assurance of salvation based on inward evidences of faith and salvation (WCF XVI.1-2). Calvin directly contradicts this teaching, stating instead that "to confirm the certainty of our salvation...can only worry us with a miserable distress and perturbation" (Instruction in Faith 37) and "we must not try to decide what is God's will by prying into His secret counsel, when He has made it plain to us by external signs" (comment on 1 Timothy 2) and "Whenever there is any question of forgiveness of sins, we must flee to Baptism and from it seek a confirmation of forgiveness. For as God reconciles us to himself by the daily promises of the Gospel, so the belief and certainty of this reconciliation, which is daily repeated even to the end of life, he seals to us by Baptism" (Antidote to the Council of Trent). Calvin elsewhere adds, "Surely there is no one who is not sunken in infinite filth! Let even the most perfect man descend into his conscience and call his deed to account, what then will be the outcome for him? Will he sweetly rest as if all things were well composed between him and God and not, rather be torn by dire torments, since if he be judged by words, he will feel grounds for condemnation within himself? The conscience, if it looks to God, must either have sure peace with his judgement or be besieged by the terrors of hell. Therefore we profit nothing in discussing righteousness unless we establish a righteousness so steadfast that it can support our souls in the judgement of God." (Institutes 3.13.13) But the question of personal righteousness is one the Confession views as pastorally helpful and productive of assurance, not despair.
5) TE Calvin teaches a doctrine of baptism strikingly different from that of Standards. Calvin states that "So then we must ever come to this point, that the Sacraments are effectual and that they are not trifling signs that vanish away in the air, but that the truth is always matched with them, because God who is faithful shows that he has not ordained anything in vain. And that is the reason why in Baptism we truly receive the forgiveness of sins, we are washed and cleansed with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are renewed by the operation of his Holy Spirit. And how so? Does a little water have such power when it is cast upon the head of a child? No. But because it is the will of our Lord Jesus Christ that the water should be a visible sign of his blood and of the Holy Spirit. Therefore baptism has that power and whatsoever is there set forth to the eye is forthwith accomplished in very deed. " (sermon on Deuteronomy, Sermon 200, Wednesday, 15 July 1556). Moreover, "So then, when the Gospel is preached in a place and it has the warrants that God gives men salvation -as when we have Baptism and the Lord's Holy Supper ministered uncorruptly - we may say it is an election of God...Do we have his Word? It is free grace to us, where he has bound us to himself. Do we have his sacraments? They are the badges of his fatherly election. We have not deserved these things..." (Sermons on Deuteronomy, Sermon 53, Saturday, 3 August 1555).
But, while the Confession describes baptism as a sign and seal of Christ's blessings – including regeneration (WCF XXVI. 1) – the Standards do not equate all baptized persons with the elect, nor do they equate baptism with regeneration. Calvin teaches that
"the Lord, without fixing the day, yet declares that he is pleased to receive infants into his covenant with a solemn rite, what more do we require?" (Institutes 4.16.4)...
"We assert that the whole guilt of sin is taken away in baptism, so that the remains of sin still existing are not imputed. That this may be more clear, let my readers call to mind that there is a twofold grace in baptism, for therein both remission of sins and regeneration are offered to us. We teach that full remission is made, but that regeneration is only begun and goes on making progress during the whole of life. Accordingly, sin truly remains in us, and is not instantly in one day extinguished by baptism, but as the guilt is effaced it is null in regard to imputation. Nothing is plainer than this doctrine." (Antidote to the Council of Trent)...
and
"If we do not profit from the good things God has given us, He will not spare us, especially since He has shed more praiseworthy grace upon us than He did upon the people of Israel: He was not merely content to choose us as His people, He gave us his Son as a sure and certain sign of the great love He bears us. Furthermore, He has seen to it that the Devil and all the armed forces of Hell can do nothing against us, as He has ransomed us by the death and passion of His Son. Since the time He began our salvation, He has sustained us daily by His grace; so we can be sure He will continue to multiply His grace upon, provided that we praise the mercy He has shown us and provided that we are truly repentant and beg His pardon for our sins..." (sermon on Micah).
The doctrine found in these representative statements from TE Calvin's teaching can be none other than that to be baptized is to have all the eternal blessings of salvation and, by inference, he teaches that all persons baptized in water must be eternally saved, unless they apostatize. This is made explicit as TE Calvin applies all the blessings noted in the Epistle to the Hebrew to those who receive water baptism, including the salvific blessings of the ranson and passion of Christ given to us, reaching all the way back to election from before creation to final salvation at the end of history. Thus, in contrast to the Confession’s teaching that water baptism is a sign and seal of these salvific blessings, Calvin plainly teaches that water baptism grants actual possession of these salvific blessings.
Whereas the Geneva Presbytery has exonerated and approved the teaching of TE Calvin as "faithful to the confessional standards of the PCA", contrary to their obligation to uphold the Westminster Standards, and;
Whereas the Geneva Presbytery’s exoneration of TE Calvin contradicts its own published declarations regarding the acceptable boundaries of teaching, to wit:
1) The Geneva Presbytery has declared that "the Confession itself uses the term ‘elect’ to speak of only those who have been unchangeably chosen by God for eternal salvation... The Confessional understanding of election does not allow for the view that a person can be ‘elect’ and, later, ‘unelect’" (Geneva Presbytery Ad Hoc Committee on Calvinian Theology Final Report and Recommendations, adopted July 2005). But Calvin teaches the very doctrine that the Geneva Presbytery has forbidden.
2) In its teaching on apostasy, the Geneva Presbytery officially requires teaching on the visible/invisible church and on perseverance that TE Calvin plainly contradicts. According to the Geneva Presbytery, one must acknowledge "the reality of apostasy, that a person can be a member of the visible church and fall away and thus loose the real benefits of belonging to God’s people, the real loss of external Covenant blessings claimed through being a member of the visible church through baptism."
3) The Geneva Presbytery states that the Confession "does not accommodate a view that an individual can have a vital, internalized relationship with the Lord and lose it." But this is TE Calvin's explicit teaching.
4) The Geneva Presbytery admits that TE Calvin's teaching on baptism has "led to confusion," and has exhorted him "to clarify/reformulate his teachings to define them more precisely," but it has specified no remedy to the harm – potential or real – produced by TE Calvin's published teaching.
Whereas a failure to uphold the doctrines of Scripture as summarized in our Standards threatens the purity and peace of the Church;
Therefore, be it resolved that the Central Revivalista Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America sends this memorial to the Standing Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church in America to assume jurisdiction over the investigation of TE Jean Calvin's teaching, (BCO 34-1 & SJC Manual 18), in order to preserve the PCA’s commitment to sound doctrine, protect our reputation for faithfulness to God’s Word, and secure peace within our denomination.
Additionally, in the event that the Standing Judicial Committee declines to accept original jurisdiction over the investigation of TE Jean Calvin's teaching, then the Central Revivalista Presbytery hereby petitions the Standing Judicial Commission to cite Geneva Presbytery to appear per BCO 40-5 and SJC Manual 16.
Approved this day, January 28, 2006 at the 104th Stated Meeting of Central Revivalista Presbytery.
Respectfully submitted,
TE Gilbert Tennant IX
Clerk of Presbytery
FROM: Central Revivalista Presbytery
Whereas it is the obligation of teaching elders to uphold in their teaching the system of doctrine taught in the Westminster Standards (BCO 2 1-5.2), and;
Whereas presbyteries are charged "to condemn erroneous opinions which injure the purity or peace of the Church" (BCO 13-9.f), and:
Whereas TE Jean Calvin, senior minister of St. Peter's Reformed Church in Geneva, has persisted in teaching and publishing doctrines in flagrant contradiction to our Standards, to wit:
1) TE Calvin publicly teaches a doctrine of election in flagrant contradiction to our Standards. Whereas the Confession teaches that "God hath appointed the elect unto glory" (WCF III.6), TE Calvin states that the elect are appointed to a conditional relationship which they can lose through unbelief. He writes: "Now then it is of God's free election that we have his Word purely preached unto us and that we have his Gospel and Sacraments. And therein we have reason to confess that he has shown himself generous to us...So then, when the Gospel is preached in a place and it has the warrants that God gives men salvation - as when we have Baptism and the Lord's Holy Supper ministered uncorruptly - we may say it is an election of God. But yet for all that, in the meantime he holds to himself those he so wishes in order that people should not trust the outward signs except by faith and obedience, knowing that although we have been chosen to be of the Body of the Church, yet if we do not make that election to our profit, God can well enough cut us off again and reserve a final number to himself." (Sermons on Deuteronomy, Sermon 53, Saturday, 3 August 1555).
2) TE Calvin teaches a doctrine of the church in flagrant contradiction to that of our Standards, in that he denies the distinction between the visible and the invisible church. The Confession states that "The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect," whereas "The visible Church… consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, and their children" (WCF XXV. 1-2). The sum of TE Calvin's erroneous view is to teach that all members of the church – without distinction to their actual faith and/or regeneration – partake of the saving benefits of Christ. Whereas the Standards state that the visible church enjoys "the ordinary means of salvation and offers of grace by Christ," they grant only to the invisible church that they "enjoy union and communion with [Christ]" (WLC 62-65). As such, TE Calvin denies that there is any distinction between believing and unbelieving members of the visible church, insisting that all baptized church members enjoy the benefits of union with Christ, only conditionally. See his Commentaries, Sermons, Treatises, and Institutes, including the following statements:
"Whom will God bring charges against? His own people! If it were merely a matter of God prosecuting pagans and idolaters alone, we would have reason to say, 'This should not bother us in the least. We are the people of God. He has chosen and elected us. We are in His safekeeping. We have nothing to fear when He brings His enemies to trial.' Yes indeed, that is certainly what we would say. But when it is a matter of God bringing His own people to trial, this should make our hair stand on end. No men are so glorious that they are exempt from God's judgment. We are the people of God, which is the greatest honor that can be bestowed on men - yet we are not excused from God's punishment. He will not fail to prosecute us whenever we rebel against Him..." (sermon on Micah).
"Though Christ may be denied in various ways, yet Peter, I think, refers here to what is expressed by Jude, that is when the grace of God is turned into lasciviousness; for Christ redeemed us, that He might have a people separated from all the pollutions of the world, and devoted to holiness and innocency. They, then, who throw off the bridle and give themselves up to all kinds of licentiousness, are not unjustly said to deny Christ by whom they have been redeemed." (comment on 2 Peter 2:1-3).
"...it is not enough that God should choose any people for Himself, except the people themselves persevere in the obedience of faith; for this is the spiritual chastity which the Lord requires from all His people. But when is a wife, whom God has bound to Himself by a sacred marriage, said to become a wanton? When she falls away...from a pure and sound faith. Then it follows that the marriage between God and men so long endures as they who have been adopted continue in pure faith..." (comment on Hosea 2:4-5)
"Yet, the reprobate [within the church] are justly said to believe that God is merciful toward them, for they receive the gift of reconciliation..." (Institutes 3.2.11)
"The mystery is that souls perish who are bought by the blood of Christ" (sermon on 2 Timothy)
Note that Calvin here directly contradicts WLC 69, which ascribes these blessings only to the elect and denies them to the visible church.
3) TE Calvin's teaching directly contradicts our doctrine of perseverance. The Confession teaches that "They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved" (WCF XVI.1). But TE Calvin teaches the opposite. See the above quotes regarding the reprobate, who according to Calvin were at one time reconciled, adopted, and redeemed. Calvin adds that all this "refers to a total defection or falling away from the Gospel, when a sinner offends God, not in some one thing, but entirely renounces His grace...For he falls away who forsakes the Word of God, who extinguishes its light, who deprives himself of the taste of the heavenly gift, who relinquishes the participation of the Spirit. Now this is wholly to renounce God...He calls it the 'participation' of the Spirit, for He it is who distributes to everyone as He will all the light and knowledge which he can have, for without Him no one can say 'Jesus is Lord'... " (comment on Hebrews 6). In Calvin’s teaching, all church members share all the benefits of union with Christ, but only provisionally. He writes, "Thus they who are led away by the allurements of this world alienate themselves from God and sell their own salvation that they may feed on the morsels of this world, without thinking that they lose anything, nay, how they flatter and applaud themselves, as though they were extremely happy. When too late their eyes are opened, so that being warned by the sight of their own wickedness, they become sensible to the loss of which they made no account." (comment on Hebrews 12).
4) TE Calvin's teaching directly contradicts our doctrine of assurance. The Confession teaches that we may have a certain assurance of salvation based on inward evidences of faith and salvation (WCF XVI.1-2). Calvin directly contradicts this teaching, stating instead that "to confirm the certainty of our salvation...can only worry us with a miserable distress and perturbation" (Instruction in Faith 37) and "we must not try to decide what is God's will by prying into His secret counsel, when He has made it plain to us by external signs" (comment on 1 Timothy 2) and "Whenever there is any question of forgiveness of sins, we must flee to Baptism and from it seek a confirmation of forgiveness. For as God reconciles us to himself by the daily promises of the Gospel, so the belief and certainty of this reconciliation, which is daily repeated even to the end of life, he seals to us by Baptism" (Antidote to the Council of Trent). Calvin elsewhere adds, "Surely there is no one who is not sunken in infinite filth! Let even the most perfect man descend into his conscience and call his deed to account, what then will be the outcome for him? Will he sweetly rest as if all things were well composed between him and God and not, rather be torn by dire torments, since if he be judged by words, he will feel grounds for condemnation within himself? The conscience, if it looks to God, must either have sure peace with his judgement or be besieged by the terrors of hell. Therefore we profit nothing in discussing righteousness unless we establish a righteousness so steadfast that it can support our souls in the judgement of God." (Institutes 3.13.13) But the question of personal righteousness is one the Confession views as pastorally helpful and productive of assurance, not despair.
5) TE Calvin teaches a doctrine of baptism strikingly different from that of Standards. Calvin states that "So then we must ever come to this point, that the Sacraments are effectual and that they are not trifling signs that vanish away in the air, but that the truth is always matched with them, because God who is faithful shows that he has not ordained anything in vain. And that is the reason why in Baptism we truly receive the forgiveness of sins, we are washed and cleansed with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are renewed by the operation of his Holy Spirit. And how so? Does a little water have such power when it is cast upon the head of a child? No. But because it is the will of our Lord Jesus Christ that the water should be a visible sign of his blood and of the Holy Spirit. Therefore baptism has that power and whatsoever is there set forth to the eye is forthwith accomplished in very deed. " (sermon on Deuteronomy, Sermon 200, Wednesday, 15 July 1556). Moreover, "So then, when the Gospel is preached in a place and it has the warrants that God gives men salvation -as when we have Baptism and the Lord's Holy Supper ministered uncorruptly - we may say it is an election of God...Do we have his Word? It is free grace to us, where he has bound us to himself. Do we have his sacraments? They are the badges of his fatherly election. We have not deserved these things..." (Sermons on Deuteronomy, Sermon 53, Saturday, 3 August 1555).
But, while the Confession describes baptism as a sign and seal of Christ's blessings – including regeneration (WCF XXVI. 1) – the Standards do not equate all baptized persons with the elect, nor do they equate baptism with regeneration. Calvin teaches that
"the Lord, without fixing the day, yet declares that he is pleased to receive infants into his covenant with a solemn rite, what more do we require?" (Institutes 4.16.4)...
"We assert that the whole guilt of sin is taken away in baptism, so that the remains of sin still existing are not imputed. That this may be more clear, let my readers call to mind that there is a twofold grace in baptism, for therein both remission of sins and regeneration are offered to us. We teach that full remission is made, but that regeneration is only begun and goes on making progress during the whole of life. Accordingly, sin truly remains in us, and is not instantly in one day extinguished by baptism, but as the guilt is effaced it is null in regard to imputation. Nothing is plainer than this doctrine." (Antidote to the Council of Trent)...
and
"If we do not profit from the good things God has given us, He will not spare us, especially since He has shed more praiseworthy grace upon us than He did upon the people of Israel: He was not merely content to choose us as His people, He gave us his Son as a sure and certain sign of the great love He bears us. Furthermore, He has seen to it that the Devil and all the armed forces of Hell can do nothing against us, as He has ransomed us by the death and passion of His Son. Since the time He began our salvation, He has sustained us daily by His grace; so we can be sure He will continue to multiply His grace upon, provided that we praise the mercy He has shown us and provided that we are truly repentant and beg His pardon for our sins..." (sermon on Micah).
The doctrine found in these representative statements from TE Calvin's teaching can be none other than that to be baptized is to have all the eternal blessings of salvation and, by inference, he teaches that all persons baptized in water must be eternally saved, unless they apostatize. This is made explicit as TE Calvin applies all the blessings noted in the Epistle to the Hebrew to those who receive water baptism, including the salvific blessings of the ranson and passion of Christ given to us, reaching all the way back to election from before creation to final salvation at the end of history. Thus, in contrast to the Confession’s teaching that water baptism is a sign and seal of these salvific blessings, Calvin plainly teaches that water baptism grants actual possession of these salvific blessings.
Whereas the Geneva Presbytery has exonerated and approved the teaching of TE Calvin as "faithful to the confessional standards of the PCA", contrary to their obligation to uphold the Westminster Standards, and;
Whereas the Geneva Presbytery’s exoneration of TE Calvin contradicts its own published declarations regarding the acceptable boundaries of teaching, to wit:
1) The Geneva Presbytery has declared that "the Confession itself uses the term ‘elect’ to speak of only those who have been unchangeably chosen by God for eternal salvation... The Confessional understanding of election does not allow for the view that a person can be ‘elect’ and, later, ‘unelect’" (Geneva Presbytery Ad Hoc Committee on Calvinian Theology Final Report and Recommendations, adopted July 2005). But Calvin teaches the very doctrine that the Geneva Presbytery has forbidden.
2) In its teaching on apostasy, the Geneva Presbytery officially requires teaching on the visible/invisible church and on perseverance that TE Calvin plainly contradicts. According to the Geneva Presbytery, one must acknowledge "the reality of apostasy, that a person can be a member of the visible church and fall away and thus loose the real benefits of belonging to God’s people, the real loss of external Covenant blessings claimed through being a member of the visible church through baptism."
3) The Geneva Presbytery states that the Confession "does not accommodate a view that an individual can have a vital, internalized relationship with the Lord and lose it." But this is TE Calvin's explicit teaching.
4) The Geneva Presbytery admits that TE Calvin's teaching on baptism has "led to confusion," and has exhorted him "to clarify/reformulate his teachings to define them more precisely," but it has specified no remedy to the harm – potential or real – produced by TE Calvin's published teaching.
Whereas a failure to uphold the doctrines of Scripture as summarized in our Standards threatens the purity and peace of the Church;
Therefore, be it resolved that the Central Revivalista Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America sends this memorial to the Standing Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church in America to assume jurisdiction over the investigation of TE Jean Calvin's teaching, (BCO 34-1 & SJC Manual 18), in order to preserve the PCA’s commitment to sound doctrine, protect our reputation for faithfulness to God’s Word, and secure peace within our denomination.
Additionally, in the event that the Standing Judicial Committee declines to accept original jurisdiction over the investigation of TE Jean Calvin's teaching, then the Central Revivalista Presbytery hereby petitions the Standing Judicial Commission to cite Geneva Presbytery to appear per BCO 40-5 and SJC Manual 16.
Approved this day, January 28, 2006 at the 104th Stated Meeting of Central Revivalista Presbytery.
Respectfully submitted,
TE Gilbert Tennant IX
Clerk of Presbytery
