The irony of Peter Leithart’s vindication and the accusations against him

Here is the court document. I had to laugh when I read the top of page 6. In listing a principle of church government that was to “guide this Court in the discharge of its duty to exercise discipline over the purity of the truth,” it quotes from “Our own Book of Church Order, thus:

Preliminary Principle 3: “Our blessed Saviour, for the edification of the visible Church, which is His body, has appointed officers not only to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, but also to exercise discipline for the preservation both of truth and duty. It is incumbent upon these officers and upon the whole Church in whose name they act, to censure or cast out the erroneous and scandalous, observing in all cases the rules contained in the Word of God.

But when I used to read Peter’s accusers (and mine) they constantly insisted that only “the invisible church” was the body of Christ.

So there you have it. By following the book of Church Order, the entire court was a “federal vision” court. No wonder it vindicated Dr. Leithart.

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