103 articles from 57 issues, 1996 to 2026 · Page 9 of 9
Does a church lose itself when it bends its confession to the spirit of the age? James Edwards sets the Presbyterian struggle beside the Barmen Declaration and argues that, as in 1934, the defense of orthodoxy falls to pastors and laity rather than to the hierarchy.
What would joining COCU change in Presbyterian government? Daryl Fisher-Ogden walks through the unanswered questions on covenanting councils, the status of the COCU documents and the transfer of clergy, then summarizes the Episcopal response element by element.
What does the Church of Christ Uniting actually believe about Scripture? Paul Leggett reads The COCU Consensus and finds three themes: a limited authority for the Bible, personal experience raised to a standard, and an ideological agenda written into the terms of union.
Has the dream of one united church outlived its time? Robert Dooling, speaking for his presbytery to a 1996 General Assembly committee, argues that COCU’s rite of reconciliation lacks integrity and that Presbyterians already witness alongside other churches without it.
Would joining COCU make covenanting councils mandatory for every session and presbytery? Twenty questions and answers set out what the 1996 amendments would change in Presbyterian polity and how the COCU documents treat sin, Scripture and the confessions.
How should a church that lives by grace talk about homosexual ordination? Mark Achtemeier starts at the cross, calls homosexuality one form of brokenness among many, and argues for ordaining chaste homosexual persons but not those who refuse to repent.
How should a church answer the case that homosexual practice and ordination go together? Jack Haberer sets out the eight arguments of the pro-gay resolution one by one, answers each from Scripture and the confessions, and quotes the authorities on both sides.
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