Presbytery Adopts Calendar Day View of the Length of Creation Days

In a related action, the Presbytery established a procedure for considering written exceptions to the Westminster Standards

February 15, 2002 - At a called meeting on Saturday, January 12, Central Carolina Presbytery completed consideration of the Final Report of its Creation Study Committee (CSC) concerning allowable exceptions on views of creation.

At a previous called meeting, the Presbytery declined the CSC's first recommendation "that Presbytery not adopt a particular interpretation of the confessional phrase 'in the space of six days' and allow some latitude in the understanding of the length of the creation days." As debate resumed, the Presbytery postponed consideration of the remaining recommendations until it could decide what constituted an exception to the Standards. By a vote of 39-2-2, the following overture from the SouthLake Session, was adopted as amended:

With charity toward all members and with fidelity to the original authors of our confessional standards, our understanding is that, unless evidence to the contrary is found, the Westminster Standards' phrase "in the space of 6 days" means that the six days of creation were days of normal duration with evening and morning. Accordingly, for the peace of the church, any future candidates who differ with this original meaning should declare an exception to the Confession, unless documentation that the Westminster assembly meant otherwise is firmly established.

The Presbytery responded to overtures from the Sessions of Grace, Mount Mourne, and Bible by reference to this action. On a voice vote, the Presbytery passed the following motion:

Each man seeking licensure, ordination, and transfer who takes an exception to the Standards shall summarize his views in writing, interacting with Scripture. This summary shall be no more than 5 pages and shall be included in the reports of the Candidates and Credentials Committees and mailed with the docket. Prior to floor exam, the examination committee shall remind the presbyters that the purpose of the exam is to discover a man's views, not to debate them.

As the two hour meeting drew to a close, the Presbytery received the paper of Dr. Dan Bartel on Pre-Fall Death as information and dismissed its Creation Study Committee with thanks.

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