On “the father of lies” comment

I should not have said this because Andy’s false and unwarranted statements about me and other PCA ministers–which are consistent with similar statements he has been making for years–could conceivably have some other cause. I am sorry I said them. Having recovered a bit, I do think they have some other cause. I repent of what I said.

That Chris Hutchinson has now decided to bring this against me, while he has listened to Andy accuse me of pushing Roman Catholic doctrine and associate my teaching with a false and anathematized Gospel (always on the internet, never to my face or my presbytery), is rather amazing. I’ve written about this kind of thing elsehere.

That Andy, who has been putting me under Anathemas for years now, over the internet (never to my presbytery) should now say that he can’t submit to the brethren, is an amazing thing. How am I supposed to react when minister claim I am a “gateway drug” for Roman Catholicism or that I am an “opponent” waging a “bltzkrieg” “attack” on “sola fide”? How was I supposed to “submit to the Brethren” for the last five years?

Finally, a general statement. I teach and preach Reformed theology. I have taken received exceptions to some details of the Westminster Standards: paedocommunion, Lord’s Day activity, and pictures of Jesus in Sunday School books, which have been received by my presbytery (and in every presbytery in which I have been a member, with restrictions on preaching paedocommunion in only one–for those who care, I don’t think I’ve ever preached paedocommunion in a PCA Church).

Some people I respect, who are ministers in good standing in the PCA, may have other exceptions, but I don’t.

So why the fuss.

As far as I can tell, people object that I promote Reformed views. I promote Charles Hodge’s historically Reformed views of the Roman Catholic Church and the RC priesthood. I believe what the Westminster Confession says about the obligations of baptism toward Romand Catholics and others (though Andy is totally wrong about my view of apostasy from Protestantism. Just because the Northern Kingdom was in covenant with God does not mean that a Jew who defected from Jerusalem in order to worship at Jeroboam’s shrine would not be damned to Hell as an unbeliever).

I believe that what the Confession and catechisms teach about the relationship between faith, repentance, obedience and eternal life. I believe and teach that all this is perfectly consistent with what the Confession teaches about sola fide.

I teach what the Westminster Standards say about the sacraments.

It’s all on the public record.

A couple of final thoughts. I’ve listened to Guy Waters and watched the Mississippi Valley Pby report try to pull aberrant teaching out of my (rather prolific) web writings. Even apart from the repeated decision of every presbytery that has received me, that alone would give me assurance that I am quite orthdox. Furthermore, for a web debate, the accusations hurled against me have been astounding for their lack of hyper-linking. Where is the interaction? Why not just point to it and show how bad it is? Why such reliance on pull quotes?

I repeat what I said earlier. I renounce and repent of what I said about Andy Webb. By God’s grace I hope he will some day do the same.

2 thoughts on “On “the father of lies” comment

  1. William Hill

    Amazing stuff and amazing arguments being discussed on the Warfield list. One one hand you have a person saying that we shouldn’t be calling names of a minister of the gospel in good standing when for the last five years this is exactly what has been going on from the other side. Oh, I know — it is okay for them to do it because they are “defending the truth”. Silly me, I forgot…

    This whole thing will eventually result in civil war…

    Reply
  2. Andrew

    If nothing else, this whole debate should point us all to heaven,
    where discord like this will no longer divide the body of Christ.

    Mark, sometimes the hardest and best thing to do is admit that some
    of the things that you said and did were wrong. It is my hope for
    the church that more men would be willing to do this over the next
    few months and years.

    Reply

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