Christianity and Neo-Liberalism
The Spiritual Crisis in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Beyond
by
Paul M. Elliott
The Trinity Foundation

This is a blockbuster of a book. One can only pray that its impact will, in God’s providence, live up to its potential. Not only is it well written, well researched, and well documented, but the author has a real sense of history, of church history that is. Back in the 1920’s, at the height of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy in the PCUSA, J. Gresham Machen, the leader of the conservatives wrote a book entitled, “Christianity and Liberalism.” In it he set forth and contrasted the theological beliefs of historic Christianity and of the liberals in the PCUSA. He convincingly argued the premise that liberals were not Christians and that modernism was another religion. Paul Elliott has taken that as his model and titled his book accordingly.

The author’s thesis is that the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is today exactly where the PCUSA was back then. Now as then, there are liberals (neo-liberals as he calls them) openly preaching another gospel and subverting the authority and perspicuity of Scripture. Now as then, these liberals are aided and abetted by moderates (the doctrinally indifferent Machen and Elliott calls them) who clinging to a false unity and a peace at any price mentality, frustrate any attempts at church discipline to enforce the standards. Now as then, a small faithful remnant contending for the faith, find’s itself increasingly marginalized and vilified as divisive troublemakers. Now as then, Elliott sees the only solution in obedience to the Biblical imperative to separate from unbelief and apostasy and take a clear and unequivocal stand for the truth.

This is quite an indictment of a denomination that is generally thought of, just as its name implies, as a bastion of Reformed orthodoxy. If one should be so shocked by Elliott’s conclusions as to dismiss his book that would be a serious mistake. For this book is no strident polemic making rash charges and jumping to extreme conclusions. In a well reasoned case, supported by an abundance of quotations from original sources, the author systematically marshals the arguments that make his conclusions not only inevitable, but seemingly irrefutable. This is a case that deserves a hearing.

In chapter 2, “The Marks of Neo-Liberalism” the author compares the tenets of the old liberalism, (frequently as set forth by Machen, the founder of the OPC) with those of the current neo-liberals in the OPC. The comparison is enlightening and somewhat shocking. Has the OPC really returned to its vomit? Elliott goes on in chapter 4, “Embracing the Principles of the Auburn Affirmation,” to buttress his case. Systematically he analyses the principles of the infamous Affirmation, the manifesto of the theological liberals in the old PCUSA, and demonstrates that the neo-liberals in the OPC are espousing identical principles. Again his documentation is thorough and the results are convincing. Progressively he is building a damning indictment of the true state of the OPC.

After having systematically given the above overview of the OPC and its similarities to the old PCUSA the author gets down to the specifics of the current apostasy in the OPC. He has successive chapters on the Shepherd controversy, Richard Gaffin’s theology, and the Kinnaird case. All three of these issues involve a heretical teaching denying justification by faith alone and positing some sort of salvation by faith plus works scheme. Cutting through the fog of disinformation, the deliberate vagueness and confusion in which these false teachers operate, and the constant redefinition of terms that allows them to masquerade their heresies in the language of orthodoxy, Elliott amply demonstrates what they are actually teaching and how it strikes at the very heart of the Biblical gospel. He also documents how consistently the neo-liberals and their moderate allies have made the OPC safe for the promulgation of such soul destroying errors. He sets forth how corrupt manipulation of ecclesiastical politics has prevented any of these false teachers from ever being effectively called to account for their apostasy. All presented with both the Biblical conviction of a true believer and the dispassionate arguments of the trial lawyer this indictment of the OPC grows weightier and weightier page by page. As the reader sits in the jury box he is more and more compelled to register his vote as guilty on all counts as charged.

In chapter 8, “The Hermeneutic of Trust: Prescription for Doctrinal Anarchy,” the author gets down to the root of all this, the way Scripture is now being handled in the OPC. Showing how the OPC has shifted from the traditional historical-grammatical hermeneutic (i.e. principles for interpreting Scripture) it has adopted what is called a “hermeneutic of trust.” Without getting into the details of what that means in this review (the author clearly demonstrates it in the book) the upshot is that such a hermeneutic allows the false teachers to interpret the Scriptures as they will and to have such interpretations accepted as valid interpretations of Scripture even if they are in conflict with the traditional interpretations, including those of the Confession and its scripture proofs. As he states it in the chapter title, having thus cast off the discipline of a rigorous interpretation  of Scripture, the OPC is reaping the ensuing doctrinal anarchy.

The final chapter, chapter 10, is a call to separate from a denomination that has forsaken the historic gospel, has repudiated the real authority of Scripture, and has become a save haven for false teachers. Having lost the marks of a true church Elliott passionately presents the Biblical commands to separate from apostasy and build a new church on sound and Biblical principles. Having drawn the necessary conclusions from the facts he doesn’t hesitate, in spite of the cost, to plea for the Biblical answer to these incredible problems in the OPC.

Like I said in the beginning of this review, this is a blockbuster of a book. Many have known for many years of serious problems in the OPC and at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. Much of this material has been around in a partial form here and there. What the author has done is place it systematically between the covers of a 400 page book and then fearlessly drawn the necessary conclusions. In that form it is a devastating indictment of the denomination and the Seminary. Especially telling are many direct quotations from teachers at the seminary and from the Westminster Theological Journal, where the emboldened neo-liberals are openly denying Scripture and impugning its inspiration and inerrancy. The book should come with a warning to all readers, especially those heretofore unaware of these issues, to buckle up their seat belts, because if they are faithful believers they will be shocked at what has been quietly but openly transpiring within the Reformed camp. Ostriches may put their heads in the sand but if the faithful want to be forewarned and forearmed, this is the book to read.