Let me begin with an attempted brief recap. As some readers might know, I’m an ordained minster in the Presbyterian Church in America, an Evangelical denomination that worships God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and affirms that the Bible is a communication from God and is without error in all that it teaches. The PCA, like all Christian denominations, is the result of almost a couple of thousand years development, both from better study of what the Bible says and a growing need to further differentiate ourselves from other Christians. For those who care, here our our doctrinal standards, along with this and this.

Certain powers-that-be within the PCA have been shaking things up over the internet, in conferences, and even sometimes in “book length material,” about an alleged movement, “the federal vision.” Recently a study committee was mandated and more recently the members of this committee have been announced.

A committee can make rulings, if adopted by the General Assembly, that have some sort of authority. But they don’t have the judicial authority to make rulings about the orthodoxy of ministers of the Gospel, nor can their adopted reports count as additions to the secondary standards linked above. There is a process for altering the secondary standards that is quite rigorous and anyone who treated a committee report as a secondary standard would be something like an apologist for modern jurisprudence overriding constitutional authority.

So, the only way this committee report can really make a significant impact is if it is widely felt that it is made up of men who are genuinely searching for the truth of the matter without partiality, and who genuinely represent the spectrum of the denomination.

So, if I were asked, these are some of the men I would have thought of.

Addendum: these are names I would have provided if someone had wanted my suggestions. What follows, however, is not what I think would be the ideal committee. In fact, my ideal committee would have one or two of the same people who are on it now. After all, the suggestions below are weighted rather heavily toward Westminster East. And no one is represented from the denomination’s seminary. I hope this clears up any misunderstandings.

John Frame

(Wikipedia entry / Website) John Frame is a true doctor of the PCA. He is widely respected as both judicious and charitable. He certainly represents the mainstream as opposed to the fringe (and I’m not trying to imply that the fringe should be trimmed or anything like that; simply pointing out a fact about him).Particularly, if he were the member of a study committee, everyone would trust that he would do his utmost to give the issue a fair hearing, and hold all other members’ feet to the fire to do the same.

I blog about this every once in a while and it is time to do it again. If you haven’t read Frame’s Doctrine of the Knowledge of God then you are missing something great and helpful and profound and easy to read.

Vern Poythress

Dr. Poythress is a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He has written on a variety of subjects. One of his best, and the one most appropos is his Symphonic Theology–which deals briefly yet profoundly about the relationship between theological terminology and the Scripture.Again, I believe Dr. Poythress’ opinion would be widely respected in the PCA.

Richard Pratt

Richard Pratt wrote an an excellent high schooler’s handbook in philosophical apologeticsAdditionally, both when he was an RTS Seminary Professor Third Millennium Ministries has dealt with issues of covenant theology. His website has also deal with the New Perspective on Paul. He would be an ideal person to be on the committee and he would carry a lot of weight in the denomination for his reputation as a scholar.

Robert Rayburn

Dr. Robert Rayburn is the Senior Pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, Washington. His father was the President for many years of my alma mater. Robert Rayburn, Sr. wrote a book on worship and the son has followed in his father’s footsteps, commonly speaking on issues like the ordained ministry, preaching, and other aspects of corporate worship. Dr. Rayburn received his doctorate in New Testament from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. His dissertation involved the nature of the new covenant. His commentary on Hebrews was published in the Evangelical Commentary of the Bible. He authored the PCA minority report on paedocommunion and has been highly critical of “the New Perspective on Paul.” He would be thorough and he would be fair.

Peter Lillback

Dr. Peter Lillback is Senior Pastor of Proclamation Presbyterian Church and the President of Westminster Theological Seminary. He earned his doctoral degree in part by researching and writing a stellar dissertation on Calvin’s view of the covenant.Dr. Lillback would be obviously qualified to sit on the committee and to be heard with respect as an impartial judge according to the Westminster Standards and the Bible.

Jim Bordwine

Rev. Bordwine is the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Vancouver, WA. He is Southern Presbyterian by conviction (I can’t find his website, Thornwell Hall, so I guess it is no longer in cyberspce). He is also astute and fair and quite knowledgeable. (And if you are seeking ordination in Pacific Northwest Presbytery, you had better catechize yourself real good!)

Time is failing me so I can’t fully list Mike Biggs (another quite Southern Presbyterian, former RUF minister, and now organizing pastor of Christ the King in Norman, Oklahoma), or Mark Balthrop, or John Owen Butler, or many others.

Now, all of these men do share the distinction of never calling another PCA minister in good standing “aberrant” in theology, or claiming that a PCA minister should become Roman Catholic or a mainline Presbyterian (or somehow do both). A couple of them are paedocommunionists but a couple or more are on record as opposing the practice (it doesn’t matter one way or the other to me since Paedocommunion is a separate issue that has already been dealt with in the PCA).

For what it is worth, if I were asked, these would be some suggestions I would make.