Central Carolina Presbytery

Creation Study Committee

March 5, 2001

Dear Fathers and Brothers,

At our January 27 meeting, the Presbytery approved the Administration Committee’s recommendation and appointed a Creation Study Committee (CSC) to “bring recommendations to presbytery concerning allowable exceptions on views of creation.”  One of the specific tasks of the CSC is to recommend a response to the overture from Faith PCA of Mt. Mourne.  That overture requested Presbytery:

“To deny licensure or ordination to any candidate whose creation view departs from the Biblical and traditional Westminster Confession view of 6-24 hour days, UNLESS he can, from Scripture, not science, sufficiently and succinctly, justify to the gathered presbyters, not only the possibility of another view, but ALSO the NEED for another view.” (Emphasis original.)

Also referred to the CSC as information was a two-page paper by Rev. Bartel on Romans 8:20-22 and its relation to the question of pre-fall animal death.

The first meeting of the CSC was February 26.  Rev. Hawkes was elected chairman and RE Donahoe was elected secretary.  All members were present except Rev. Currin who was absent for a medical procedure. 

The creation views represented on the CSC are listed below:

Below is the tentative schedule the CSC hopes to follow:

The CSC invites all presbyters to communicate anytime with the committee.  If you need street mailing addresses, just call or email me and I will send them. 

To review the final report of the PCA’s Creation Study Committee, you can read it or download it (92 pp.) at:

http://www2.pcanews.com/editorial_opinion/monthly_umpired_debate/creation.doc

I personally recommend a book recently published by Crux Press: The Genesis Debate: Three Views on the Days of Creation, edited by David Hagopian.  Each view is presented, followed by a critique by the authors representing the other views, and followed by a response from the original presenter.  Three views were represented: 24-Hour (Ligon Duncan and David Hall), Day-Age (Hugh Ross and Gleason Archer), and Framework (Lee Irons and Meredith Kline).  You can read a helpful review on PCANEWS.COM.  The PCA Bookstore carries it, or you can get it from Amazon.com for $17, and it ships in a couple days.

Apparently, the PCA will also consider the confessional aspect of this issue at the General Assembly in Dallas.  If you have visited PCANEWS.COM recently, you know Calvary Presbytery (South Carolina) has submitted an overture to the 29^th GA proposing the following resolutions:

Therefore be it resolved, that the 29^th General Assembly of the PCA declare that, with charity toward all our members and with fidelity to the original authors of our confessional standards, and until evidence to the contrary is found, we understand the Westminster divines intended the phrase “in the space of six days” to specify that the six days of creation were days of normal duration with evening and morning; and

Be it further resolved, that, for the peace of the church, any future candidates who differ with this original meaning should request an exception to the sense of the Confession unless documentation that the Westminster divines held other views is firmly established or unless the Standards are duly amended; and

Be it finally resolved, that courts of original jurisdiction make these future determinations with care, charity, honesty, and impartiality.

New River Presbytery has also submitted an overture related to how creation views should to be treated.  It should be posted on PCANEWS.COM soon.

Please continue to pray for our committee, other presbyteries, and the PCA as brothers discuss this issue.

In Christ,

Howie Donahoe, RE

CSC Secretary

PS – I emailed this to whomever I had email addresses for.  If you did not get this by email, please send me your email address for use in future mailings.  Please send to:  .

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