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Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Historical Background But in 1054, after centuries of rivalry, the Western (“Catholic”) church split from the Eastern (“Orthodox”) church over a fine point of Trinitarian formulation: whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (as the West holds) or only from the Father (as the East holds). Despite our name, the OPC is part of the Western church. During the Middle Ages, the church lost sight of the Bible and sank into ritualism, superstition, and ignorance under the domination of a hierarchical priesthood (headed by the Pope at Rome). But, by the grace of God, the truths of the Bible were rediscovered by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other Reformers. The Bible was translated into the languages of the people, and this fueled the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. The Reformers insisted on the infallible authority of Scripture, unencumbered by church tradition (nonbiblical doctrines and practices that had developed down through the centuries). They declared, on the basis of Scripture, that salvation is a gracious gift from God, received by faith in Christ alone, and not something dispensed by priestly rituals or earned by good works. These Protestant principles remain the pillars of the OPC today. Although the Protestant world was remarkably united on most doctrines, it soon divided on such matters as church government, the nature of the sacraments, and worship. In these matters, the Lutherans and the Anglicans did not distance themselves from the Roman Church as much as the Reformed churches did, and the Anabaptists (forerunners of many fundamentalist groups today) went even further. The OPC belongs to the Reformed family of churches. But then a movement called Arminianism arose, which compromised the doctrines of the sovereignty of God and salvation by grace. Although condemned by the Synod of Dort in 1618, Arminianism became influential in many churches of Reformed parentage and has many followers in American churches today. The OPC, however, has remained solidly Reformed in theology and firmly rejects Arminianism. (For a summary of the Reformed faith, see “Our System of During an enormous religious and political struggle to determine the character of the national churches in England and Scotland, the Westminster Assembly met in London from 1643 to 1649 and issued the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (and other documents). These documents are distinctly Reformed, much like the Heidelberg Catechism and other earlier Reformed creeds. They became the basis for what are today called Presbyterian churches. With slight revisions that reflect American Presbyterian developments, they are the doctrinal standards of the OPC. The Westminster Assembly set forth a Presbyterian form of government. The Assembly rejected both the Episcopalian system, in which the church is ruled by bishops in a hierarchical arrangement, and the Congregational system, in which congregations are independent, self-governing entities. In the Presbyterian system, which the OPC follows, the church is governed by elders (“presbyters”), including ministers. Each congregation chooses its own elders, who are in turn responsible to regional and national assemblies of their peers. When people immigrated to America, they brought their religion with them. Immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, and England soon established Presbyterian churches. Presbyterianism grew up with America and had a major impact on shaping her destiny. The Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. split along geographical lines as a result of the Civil War. In 1936 the OPC came out of the Northern Presbyterian church, although it is today a national church with congregations in all sections of the country. Reformed theology is also called covenant theology, because it teaches that God has established covenants that govern his dealings with men. In the covenant of grace, operating in both Old and New Testament times, God has promised salvation to those who believe in Christ. However, in nineteenth-century England there arose a different system of biblical interpretation, called dispensationalism, which distinguished sharply between Israel and the church (especially with regard to the way of salvation), and divided the Scriptures into portions that applied to one or the other. Dispensationalism has a considerable following, but within the OPC it is regarded as a serious error. The greatest struggle within the church at large in recent generations has been the one between biblical faith and theological liberalism (or modernism). Liberalism begins by questioning the full authority of the Bible and ends up denying every biblical doctrine that is contrary to modern secular thinking. Liberalism is an insidious form of unbelief because it develops gradually and preaches “tolerance” until it takes over a church and suppresses the truth. The OPC was established in direct opposition to liberalism. The word orthodox in our name indicates our adherence to “straight” (biblical) doctrine. Many churches in the twentieth century have been affected by the charismatic movement, which alleges that speaking in tongues, miraculous healings, and special revelations are present in the church today. We reject these claims, believing that these special gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased at the end of the Apostolic Age, their purposes having been achieved.
The Formation of the OPC Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, remained a bastion of orthodox Presbyterianism until its Board was reorganized in 1929 with a mandate to bring liberal professors onto the faculty. Four Princeton professors resigned (with the support of others) and established Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia as an independent institution to continue teaching biblical Christianity. The leading opponent of liberalism in those days was J. Gresham Machen, a Presbyterian minister and professor at Princeton (and later Westminster). When he drew attention to the modernist foreign missions program of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., the General Assembly in 1933 refused to do anything about it. Because he and others wanted to support missionaries who were actually preaching the gospel, they established the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions. The 1934 Assembly condemned their action, and they were soon deposed from office. As a result, 34 ministers, 17 ruling elders, and 79 laymen met in Philadelphia on June 11, 1936, to constitute the Presbyterian Church of America. (Because of a lawsuit brought by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., the name of the new church was changed to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1939.) This church was to “continue the true spiritual succession of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.” Hopes were high that there would be a mass exodus of conservatives into the new denomination, but this did not happen. On January 1, 1937, Machen’s untimely death dealt a great blow to the new church.
The Development of the OPC This struggle continued and intensified during the next decade, but the church maintained a firmly Reformed stand. This tension between a more American evangelical and a more strictly Reformed emphasis remains in the OPC, but it is less pronounced today. From the beginning, the OPC emphasized mission work, both at home and abroad. As a result of church-planting efforts, the OPC experienced slow but steady growth (which has accelerated in recent years). Today, one may find her approximately 260 churches and mission works in 44 states (and one Canadian province), organized into 14 regional churches (16 as of January 1, 2000), each governed by a presbytery (see appendixes 1 and 3). The OPC is currently gaining about twelve churches and mission works annually. Carrying the whole truth of Scripture to the ends of the earth has been important to Orthodox Presbyterians from the outset. The OPC today has missions around the world. The OPC, although relatively small, has never isolated herself from the rest of Christ’s church. She has promoted the Reformed faith around the world and has engaged in ecumenical discussions with other Reformed churches in order to perfect the unity that Christ desires for his people.
General Assembly Decisions Some of the more significant decisions of OPC general assemblies are listed below. Liberty of Conscience. The 1936 Assembly rejected a call for total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. It determined that Christians have liberty in this matter because Scripture does not prohibit their moderate use. All agree that Scripture condemns drunkenness as a serious sin. The 1942 Assembly adopted a statement that underlined the responsibility of believers, in the exercise of their liberty in Christ, not to offend weaker brothers unnecessarily. Eschatology. The second Assembly in 1936 declined to declare that historic (nondispensational) premillennialism, along with amillennialism and postmillennialism, was compatible with our church standards. Nonetheless, all three views have been welcome within the OPC. Freemasonry. The 1942 Assembly received a committee report which concluded that “Masonry is a religious institution and as such is definitely anti-Christian.” The 1950 Assembly received a further report condemning Masonry and urged sessions to be guided by it. Exclusive Psalmody. Some in the OPC have held the view that the regulative principle of worship (that only those elements prescribed in the Bible are to be employed in the public worship of God—Confession of Faith, chap. 21, sec. 1) requires the exclusive singing of psalms in worship. However, in 1947 the Assembly received a committee report which concluded that hymns as well as psalms are appropriate for use in worship. Accordingly, the 1949 Assembly authorized the production of a hymnal containing both psalms and hymns. It was published in 1961 as Trinity Hymnal (revised in 1990). Evangelism. After a special Committee on Local Evangelism completed a ten-year study of the message, subjects, and methods of evangelism, the 1952 Assembly authorized the Committee on Christian Education to publish its conclusions in Biblical Evangelism Today, which will hopefully be back in print soon. They included: “The message of evangelism is the whole counsel of God as revealed in His Word.” “True evangelism must ever bear in mind that it is not the mere possibility of salvation nor simply provision for salvation that is offered freely in the gospel. It is rather salvation full, perfect and free.” The gospel is offered freely to the lost. Both Arminianism and hyper-Calvinism are rejected in this connection. Guidance from the Holy Spirit. After a lengthy study of the subject of guidance, brought to it by certain complaints against the doctrines and practices of the Peniel Bible Conference and taught by certain members of the OPC, the 1961 Assembly concluded: [Peniel’s views] in teaching that in every decision of life the Christian may look for a sense of assurance akin to the witness of the Spirit to his sonship, in teaching that a witness of the Spirit is the decisive index constraining assurance respecting the proper course of action in daily life, and in teaching a non-exegetical conscious leading of the Holy Spirit...constitute a deviation from the doctrine set forth in the Word of God and our subordinate standards. Diaconal Ministry. In 1964 the Assembly decided that ministries of mercy, including medical works such as operating a medical hospital, are a proper supplement to the ministry of the Word in foreign mission endeavor. In 1972 the Assembly discussed a study that asked, “What are the proper objects of diaconal ministry; are they the members of Christ’s church, or additionally also the world?” In 1973 the Assembly adopted a statement that said in part, “We have an obligation to provide for the poor both within and without the Church; but the primary concern must be for those within the Church.” Abortion. The 1971 Assembly—two years before the infamous Roe v. Wade decision of the U.S. Supreme Court—denounced the practice of voluntary abortion except possibly for the purpose of saving the mother’s life. Race Relations. The 1974 Assembly received a report on “Problems of Race.” It surveyed relevant biblical passages and outlined steps to achieve biblical race relations. Sabbath Observance. At least two assemblies have faced questions regarding the continuing relevance of, and the obedience required by, the Fourth Commandment. The 1973 Assembly declared that, according to the Scriptures, God had appointed the first day of the week to be the Christian Sabbath or Lord’s Day. The 1977 Assembly upheld the discipline of a minister who was found guilty of violating the Sabbath ordinance by participating in an organized sport on the Lord’s Day. Tongues Speaking. In 1976 the Assembly upheld a presbytery’s discipline of a minister who practiced the private exercise of “speaking in tongues.” Women in Office. The OPC understands Scripture to limit ordained office in the church to qualified men. In 1989, for example, the Assembly upheld a complaint against a session that had allowed women to serve as adjunct elders. In 1997 the Assembly acted to end ecclesiastical fellowship with a denomination that had opened all church offices to women. Christian Schools. Numerous reports received by general assemblies from the Committee on Christian Education have supported the establishment and operation of Christian day schools by parents. The denomination’s magazine, New Horizons, has featured articles promoting both Christian schools and homeschooling. Homosexuality. The 1993 Assembly framed a petition urging the President of the United States to stand against the sin of homosexuality and specifically not to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military. This decision is particularly noteworthy in that Orthodox Presbyterian general assemblies have typically refrained from making sociological and political pronouncements, unlike many other churches and ecumenical organizations. Admission to the Lord’s Supper. The denomination has declined to alter its subordinate standards in such a way as to permit the admission of baptized children, who have not yet made a public profession of faith in Christ, to the Lord’s Supper. Also, it continues to allow local sessions discretion in admitting visitors to the Lord’s Supper. Human Origins. The 1996 Assembly upheld the suspension from office of an elder who held that Adam’s body probably had animal ancestors. This view was determined to be contrary to Scripture and the OPC’s confessional standards, and a bar to holding the eldership.
Characteristics of the OPC This zeal may at times spill over into contentiousness, but our overriding concern is to follow our Lord Jesus Christ as he speaks in the Scriptures. We are not monolithic in our thinking, but any divergent views are always examined in the light of Scripture. We have always staunchly opposed theological liberalism. This heresy undermines the authority of Scripture and replaces its teachings with modern, secular ideas, eventually denying virtually every essential Christian doctrine. It attacks the church on a broad front and in many guises, such as biblical criticism, secular humanism, evolutionism, hedonism, and feminism. We do not twist the Bible’s teachings in order to accommodate liberal ideas and values. We humbly acknowledge that we are not immune to such influences, but we endeavor by God’s grace to remain faithful to our Lord and his Word. Because of our concern to maintain and promote the Reformed faith, our church has a fine tradition of biblical scholarship. We have produced and attracted many scholars for our size. Thus, we have had an influence far beyond our numbers, both in this country and abroad. We follow the Bible wherever it leads us, but we are also careful not to add to its teachings. If the Bible does not condemn a certain practice or idea, neither do we. We allow Christian liberty in matters in which the Word of God allows liberty. Most evangelical churches are premillennial, but we have enjoyed considerable liberty regarding eschatology. Most OP ministers are amillennial, some are postmillennial, and a few are historic premillennial (but not dispensational). Because Reformed theology is rich and comprehensive, we endeavor to promote a Reformed world-and-life view. That is, we believe that all areas of life—both personal and cultural—should be brought under the dominion of Jesus Christ. We don’t restrict our faith to “getting saved,” going to church, and a few “don’ts.” We are concerned to be good Christian witnesses and also to influence the institutions and culture around us to be more righteous. We strive to be faithful to Reformed doctrine and apply it in our life. We gather together on the Lord’s Day principally to worship God. Our worship services are God-centered, not man-centered. They tend to be simple and dignified, focusing on praising God and hearing his Word. This reflects the “regulative principle” of worship—that we should worship God only in the ways that he specifies in the Bible. Every member is encouraged to be active in the life and work of the congregation. The gifts of both men and women are utilized to build up Christ’s spiritual body. Many of us have been involved with Christian schools (and now homeschooling). This reflects our concern to take our faith seriously and apply it broadly to life. We are concerned that our covenant youth be brought up in the instruction of the Lord. Thus, catechetical instruction, especially using the Catechism for Young Children and the Shorter Catechism, is vigorously promoted. Congregations as a whole encourage and assist parents in fulfilling their responsibility to instruct their children in the faith.
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