Anthony,

I need to take a look at this book. All I can say is keep the faith and keep fighting, man. While some throw slurs around, there are also many of us, like myself, who see you as a godly man, someone worth emulating. Good seeing you a couple of weeks ago in GR.

-jp

Obviously the SBC and AOG issued formal apologies for the racist elements of their founding. Perhaps a similar statement from the PCA is a good place to start the dialogue.

Thankfully, we apostates who belong to associations less than 30 years old have a lot less baggage (but less heritage).

AB there are few people who are more familiar with the ins and outs of the PCA than you, so I only write this for the sake of conversation. The pursuit of "contextualization" (I hate even writing that word)has propelled the PCA to package their version of Southern Presbyterianism in any form they can to gain influence in cities and on college campuses. You mentioned in an earlier post that some friends of yours from NJ invited you to an RUF meeting back in the day - I'm sure the RUF pastor gave some "gospel centered" talk on how the grace of God can transform lives on x-college campus, great. That's easy, it works, it may even lead to "growth". What would have happened if that same guy passed out a hundred copies of "A Defense of Virgina" and explained how Dabney abandoned Christianity - that would have been hard, everyone would have left, maybe even you. When reformed Christianity is mixed with contextualized revivalism it gives itself a free pass from the sins of history. It's lazy. I don't believe the PCA is homogeneously racist, but traditional Southern Presbyterianism is allowed to fester because the moderate folks are too busy being contextual to deal with historical issues, and for the most part aren't willing to put aside growth to deal with the chaos of being a mulit-ethnic denomination.

Anthony,

Yes, a powerful book! And SO sorry for this rude discovery!!

Some people in PCA land have raised this issue. One very humble example: When I was teaching at WTS, some of those years overlapping with yours, I would regularly bring up in class some of the very aspects of PCA history you cite above as examples of understandings of the Bible and the gospel that, for all their Reformed correctness, are betrayals of the faith. Rather than blame the contextualization impulse for the persistence of this problem (see above), perhaps we need to look at a theological system that persistently excuses these kinds of attitudes and behaviors because they supposedly do not intersect with the concerns of the gospel. You are not just dealing with racism, but a well-developed version of Reformed theology drawing deeply from many different sectors of it. When this brand of theology is amalgamated with some varieties of Van Tilian presuppositionalism, the result is a self-congratulatory segregated community impervious to critique, internal or external.

I hope you will be able to stay, but short of a fresh breath from the Holy Spirit, don't expect it to change.

Steve

Thanks for posting this Anthony. Having grown-up and lived my whole life in the South I must say I am not surprised. I am shocked by it, as it is the PCA that brought me to an understanding of grace I never had as a product Greenville, SC quasi-fundamentlaism, but unfortunately I am not surprised. Southern white Christians have far too long excused racial biases, prejudices, and outright hatred for "non-whites." My wife and I adopted our first child from Guatemala and when visiting family I am constantly having to remind them of this when they break into their racial caricatures. Racial superiority is so ingrained in the DNA of so many white, Christians that they are blind to it.

even though I am a PCA RE, as a white parent of two young black girls, it is this kind of stuff--that I have known in general but not in detail--that makes me wonder if I can continue to raise them in PCA churches as they grow older.

Anthony: it sucks that you and others find yourself at a moment in history where you suffer the consequences for calling the church to reformation and repentance. but there have always been those people that God has raised up in times like these, and for the sake of my girls and their generation I pray that Christ's Spirit will carry you through this time as the leaders God intends to use as He continues to sanctify His people and transform us into His unblemished bride.

may the peace of Christ be with you, brother.

The history Slade recounts is fairly accurate and there is no excuse for otherwise good men to have held to racist views. The PCA did recognize that its past and at its 30th GA in 2002 it adopted a statement and repented of its past sins.

Here is a brief part of what the PCA GA passed. The whole document can be read here: http://www.pcahistory.org/pca/race.html

Whereas, the heinous sins attendant with unbiblical forms of servitude-including oppression, racism, exploitation, manstealing, and chattel slavery-stand in opposition to the Gospel; and,

Whereas, the effects of these sins have created and continue to create barriers between brothers and sisters of different races and/or economic spheres; and

Whereas, the aftereffects of these sins continue to be felt in the economic, cultural, and social affairs of the communities in which we live and minister;

We therefore confess our involvement in these sins. As a people, both we and our fathers, have failed to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the laws God has commanded. We therefore publicly repent of our pride, our complacency, and our complicity. Furthermore, we seek the forgiveness of our brothers and sisters for the reticence of our hearts that have constrained us from acting swiftly in this matter.

We will strive, in a manner consistent with the Gospel imperatives, for the encouragement of racial reconciliation, the establishment of urban and minority congregations, and the enhancement of existing ministries of mercy in our cities, among the poor, and across all social, racial, and economic boundaries, to the glory of God. Amen.

All this is sobering and humbling. If you want a contemporary perspective on things, try this pair of articles from this summer's issue of the magazine of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Note that there are two articles at this website.

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/summer/rooting-out-racism

Thanks, Anthony, for your positive note. I am embarrassed at what you have had to suffer at the hands of people who purport to be fellow-believers.

I want to clarify that in our recent scuffles in Western Carolina Presbytery--and, by extension, the PCA at large--we have regularly recognized how deeply we are all affected by our past. I was quoted--accurately--in the SPLC's "Intelligence Report": "Presbyterianism in the South has to carry a special burden because early Presbyterians there sometimes defended what can only be described as racist perspectives. Because of those historical roots, we have an additional responsibility to be clear about what we believe on the subject."

Those "early Presbyterians" were not just in the historic Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS). They were also in the PCA. I am sorry that we weren't more up front with you about this matter when you joined us during the 1990s.

JOEL

Anthony,

I can only concur with Steve Taylor's spot on comments about the Reformed tradition. My only criticism is that his comments could have been worded much more strongly.

You will have to ask yourself whether you want to spend your days reforming a denomination with no guarantee of success, or whether you will want to serve God in a context where these battles are a thing of the past. There is no obvious answer to that.

Anthony,

I am sad about the name-calling and sad about this history. But there is little distinctive about the PCA in this. You would be called similar names if you were prominently Southern Baptist, generically evangelical, or simply wrote editorials for a wide-circulation newspaper. And what US denomination does not have similar aspects to its history prior to the late 20th century?

True, Jim these problems are everywhere. Every denomination has this history at some levels. However, here's one major distinction: none of the black professors at Southern Seminary nor at Southwestern Seminary in the Southern Baptist Convention have been racially slurred on the internet for years. When Eric Redmond, an African-American, was 2nd vice-president of the SBC he was never racially slurred. The Missouri-Synod Lutherans never attacked John Nunes while he was teaching at Concordia Univ. and he's not getting racially slurred as the CEO of Lutheran World Relief. The Latino professors at Concordia Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell have not been racially slurred on the internet or on the radio like I have now for past 6 years.

There's something different about out reformed circles that I do not find in other circles that also have racist histories in terms of how current minorities are treated. Any ideas why that is?

I mean neither Eric Redmond nor Craig Mitchell have ever been attacked in the Southern Baptist Convention and they are far more prominent than I am (or may ever be). Those guys still don't get attacked.

Dr. Bradley,

I deeply admire your courage in bringing such ugly sins to the light. I am on my way to the library at Covenant to get this book and read it. I am sure it will spur more discussion with other fellow friends and ministers in the PCA. I too have been deeply disappointed with what seems to be surprisingly ugly and sinful views of minorities in the PCA. I am concerned as well that Reformed Theology in general may have some grotesque flaws inherent to it, if it does not push pastors and theologians to think deeply about justice in relation to the Gospel.

On a related note, are you familiar with the Belhar Confession? It is my opinion that Reformed Churches should consider adopting Belhar as part of their teaching Catechism. It was crafted in response to the sins of the Apartheid government and the Dutch Reformed Churches' cooperation with that oppression. I know we are along way in the PCA from adopting this, but hey, its a suggestion. I believe every word of it is something all Christians need to hear, believe, and live.

It is true that nearly, all if not all, I don't know every American Christian denomination's history, has gravely sinned against African Americans, Native Americans, and now non-white Hispanics. Its long overdue we [white/caucasians] admit our sins and ask for forgiveness.
I totally agree that naming people and theologians, and churches needs to be done for us to move forward. If not, we have not actually admitted where we are wrong.

I fear racist sentiments persist in the PCA, and many people are just too proud, or privately racist to admit that. It angers me. It disappoints me, and it is a terrible corruption of the Christian Gospel. I tried to follow up on the website you posted which is harassing you. As expected the authors refused to identify themselves or their church affiliation. But their obvious familiarity with RC Sproul and the Bible in general gave me chills. They definitely sound like Presbyterians. I hope that one day they are exposed for their own benefit and so that their hate speech might cease.

You are courageous. I pray God continues to encourage you in your work, that you might stand for what is right and good and Biblical, and not compromise or leave.
Athanasius' biography gave me inspiration when I read it. He was, 'contra mundum.' Athanasius against the world, when the world opposed the deity of Christ, he stood for what he believed in the face of threats, slander, and death. I pray God enables you to do the same.
You have my deep admiration and support.

In Christ,

Chris Lemmon

Wow. As an Chinese-American PCAer, I am quite astonished/appalled at what is/was going on. Anthony, I am sorry that you have been attacked in a most unChristian manner. It does give me pause, especially as I am in a multiracial marriage with a biracial child. I pray for reconciliation and repentance in the most forthright and humble manner.

Anthony,

I am sorry for the nonsense that is allowed in the PCA. As a child growing up in the SBC, my father could say what he thought needed to be said from the pulpit and not suffer the ridicule that you are going through. My father regularly called out specific pastors, churches, and even his own denomination. I wonder what would happen in a PCA church, the pastor actually did the same thing. I am incredibly troubled by these things. And honestly, unless these things change, then efforts to get young Asian, Latino, and Black men, who feel a call to ministry, to seek ordination in the PCA will remain futile.

If you're white in the PCA, this will be very hard to read, too. Just incredibly sad.

If it's any consolation at all, those who say such things will answer for every word spoken in idleness (not to mention hatred), and most likely will find themselves mightily suprised in heaven.

Living in Jackson in 2010 (though I am not a native Southerner), I sense a deep embarrassment about the past, and a real desire to move beyond it. I am not saying that the sort of repentance you mention above is not required to move beyond it. I questioned my current church long and hard about these issues before I consented to come, having run into a bit of the attitudes you cite above serving in the rural South in the late '90's.

My own sense is that about 90% of the PCA would be appalled along with you, about 8% would be apathetic/defensive, and maybe 2% would hold such views. That 2% needs to be excommunicated, and the 8% need to wake up. We know how seriously Paul took despising of the image of God along ethnic lines, the source of so much of man's inhumanity to man in this world, and the product of Satanic influence.

I think it would be helpful to mention, too, that it was Jim Baird, former pastor of First Pres, along with others in that congregation that initiated its work with Mission Mississippi.

Indeed, Jim was the target of the hateful letter mentioned above (I know because I was a member of FPC then, and received it).

There are some very good things going on in the PCA in Jackson now to bridge racial divides: African-American campus pastors like Elbert McGowan, who has a burden for seeing RUF spread across the HBCU institutions, efforts at purposefully integrated churches, a mentoring program for at-risk inner-city boys beginning in my own congregation, etc.

Overall, having lived in Jackson in the mid-nineties, being gone for 11 years, and moving back, I sense much good going on in this regard.

Alas, just when we think the racism may be a thing of the past, some of it arises yet again.

Anthony--I'm very grieved to read this. As a guy who has only experienced the PCA in the North, a WTS grad, and currently ordained in the PCA, much of this is new to me. I'm quite familiar with people who talk about the Gospel AND how it leads to repentance and reconciliation surrounding racism. Using the Gospel as a means of not addressing racism is unconscionable.

(I'm alarmed about the role of WTS & Van Til in this. I'm hoping someone can flesh that out at some point).

It does seem that we're often talking about two PCAs. Plenty of the missional, urban, culture-engaging, church-planting, often younger crowd is disgusted with this and other issues. This seems to be one particularly egregious example of what could (should?) lead to another Old Side/New Side controversy, perhaps split.

Having been involved with the PCA for a number of years and graduated from Covenant Seminary I think the percentages Ken lists above need to be altered.

The 2% may be accurate but I think we'd need to make a distinction between those who would be defensive and those who would be apathetic. We could generously say that 8% would be defensive but I think a larger percentage would be apathetic. However, it might be more accurate to include more categories with ranging levels of intensity here: Racist 2%; Bigoted 10%; Actively Prejudiced 10%; Latently Prejudiced 20%. Those percentages may be a bit generous.

My eyes were opened to this issue in the PCA while studying at CTS and living in the off-campus student housing at Gulf Drive. I'm was often surprised by some of the students who lived there when they described the Gulf Dr. neighborhood as dangerous. Having lived in some truly dangerous neighborhoods I initially thought these folks just didn't know what they were talking about. However, after more conversations and questions I realized that the real issue people had with Gulf Dr. (often without realizing it) was that it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood which for them automatically meant it must be a dangerous, crime-riddled, drug-infested neighborhood.

Anthony, while we have not always seen eye to eye I think you are dead on here. Particular sins need to be confessed particularly. While the intentions behind the Position Paper may have been good, and there is some good content and wording in the paper, much more is needed. The Position Paper is similar to putting a band-aid on a gaping head wound and thinking it's healed.

I pray the Lord would give you and others strength and patience to persevere with the PCA while it continues to repent and convert of its gospel reductionism in this area. I pray that the boldness and courage you mention would be found among white leaders.

Peace be with you brother.

shoot! in the last paragraph in my previous comment, I meant to say: "But I know that I am much LESS idealistic than I used to be."

I think the point about old PCA/newer urban missional PCA us a good and very salient point. My experience with the PCA is almost strictly in that new camp with urban city PCA churches, and my path to the PCA included a significant time in the Emergent camp before reaching the PCA. Justice as a natural result of lives transformed by the Gospel is very much at the forefront of the PCA churches I've attended.

Dr. Bradley,

Don't let go of this.

This is some very disturbing historical cover-up. So sorry to hear about what you've had to go through.

I am new to the PCA within the past 5 years, and also from the North, so have trouble grasping how deeply rooted racism is in the South.

Dr. Bradley,
This was not good news, but I need to see this. I'll read the book. I just recently became a RE at the South Dayton PCA church. I have to confess being pretty much clueless on racial matters. We are a very white group and I have no clue what to do about that. The subject is very hard to bring up.

You are correct - leaving means the racists win.

By the way, were you ever at Tates Creek in Lexington KY, say maybe 8 - 10 years ago.

Luke 4.18 “ THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

Thanks for bringing this to light, Anthony.

Thank you for writing this hard post Dr. Bradley. It is tempting to simply claim solidarity with a new movement like ACTS 29 or the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in light of this post, and conveniently ignore these pages of our history. What do you think is lost on the individual level for those who, out of disdain for this history, joins another denomination? What does a husband gain for staying with a wife that can't stay sober?

Also, could part of repentance be simply acknowledging that this is part of our history, whether we like it or not? Whether we are in the PCA or another denomination, the sins of our fathers are passed to us, not chosen by us.

Dear Dr. Bradley:

Thank you for your post and for bringing my attention to Peter's book (which I devoured this morning on my iPad). Ironically, I think I pointed him to this subject when he was preparing to do research at Ole Miss. There are lots of gaps in his presentation of this story, however, and I may post on this soon. Of course, there is much to grieve over (and to repent of, specifically) in our history, but it has been my joy to witness firsthand real Gospel-derived change, reform, repentance and new beginnings at personal, corporate, spiritual and social levels.

Lee Paris (one of the heroes of Slade's book) is one of my fine Deacons as well as a dear friend, and Jim Baird, my predecessor and a founding father of the PCA really exercised bold leadership in this area.

Things are changing for the better in Jackson, and the PCA is in the thick of it. Mike Campbell of Redeemer Church here (himself an African-American) pastors a vibrant multi-ethnic congregation and has more young African-American men preparing for the PCA ministry than any other congregation in our denomination.

And here at First, it has been my joy to administer baptism to African-America adults and infants here at First Jackson (the first since the 19th century as far as I know), and to welcome others into membership. We also already have interracial couples who are joyful and beloved church members and we are anticipating the union of a godly young couple (who happen to be interracial) in the next few weeks.

I'll write more to you privately about this, and perhaps post some facts that Mr. Slade has failed to mention in his book.

Yours warmly,

Ligon Duncan
Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS (PCA)

Anthony,

This looks like a stimulating book. I've heard allegations of these sorts of things but I've not seen documentation of the charges so I'm looking forward to reading it.

The racist comments that have been made to you are sinful and shame and demand repentance.

If the doctrine of the spirituality of the church has been abused sure it is not inherently racist, is it? I don't think of myself as racist (how does one prove a negative?) and I've come to embrace the notion that the church as an institution is called to do three things: preach the Word (the law and the gospel), administer the sacraments, and administer discipline (Belgic Confession Art 29). The doctrine of the spirituality of the church antedates the Civil War and the theological justification offered then for chattel slavery by centuries.

Christians, however, are also members of the civil kingdom at the same time and they have civic duties, including acting justly and asking the the state to act justly. They may and should form private associations to advance justice. The church, however, as a visible institution, when it tries to do more than the three things above almost always loses one or more of the essential marks.

In this discussion, wouldn't it help to distinguish between the civil/common realm and the ecclesiastical realm? If the visible, institutional church sinned institutionally then it must repent in the same way. Public sins demand public repentance and private sins demand private repentance. If individuals sinned privately then they must account for that before God.

Civil crimes ought to be punished civilly (and Christians who committed them should repent and face appropriate discipline in the courts of the church--if these sins merit such or are being committed impenitently).

In short, isn't sin and forgiveness the other way forward here? Humans are sinful. Racism is one of those sins, but grace is powerful and more powerful than than the sin of racism in the name of Christ.

Dr. Taylor

Very interesting thoughts, but do you think you could unpack how you think this cocktail of a certain kind of Reformed theology and some parts of Van Tilian presuppositionalism create this, 'self-congratulatory segregated community impervious to critique'? I would like to hear that worked out.

Anthony,
Thanks very much for this post, my sincere regret for what you've gone through in our denomination since you and I were in Philadelphia. The author is a dear friend of mine, and I winced after hearing reports from his research trips for the book. I was struck by your comment, "Why is the racial history never told as a part of the PCA's history?" I wonder whether the PCA's history is slowly being written to include these stories. I know that there are a number of historians committed to our denomination working on topics such as this right now. Too late, to be sure. But maybe this story and others in this vein are an important part of our new ecclesiastical history in the making. Because we have so much of which to repent, there is no better place from which to write a new sacred history of the church in the U.S. today.

Thanks for posting this detailed post, Anthony. From the look of the book page of Slade's book, I don't think I would've ever caught that this kind of information was in it. Good luck to you on your journey with Christ in this life, too. As a Black man in a predominantly White American church, I'm sure there are painful crosses you uniquely carry which others may have a difficult time understanding or appreciating - like having to be on the receiving end of evil catcalls and threats from anonymous so-called christians online. I appreciate your willingness to push the conversation forward and openly. I'm ordering the book through baylor's library and am looking forward to reading it soon.

sc

As far as Thornwell and Dabney go, and how to understand how their theology (of certain things) could be right and their applied anthropology could be so wrong, I think the answer really lies in their historical contexts. I had this "a ha" moment when I was looking at the floor plan / seating chart for Jonathan Edwards's church. I think this may have been in Marsden's book. And the people were seated hierarchically - more "important" people were up front, men ahead of women, and then slaves and servants in the balcony. I realized that these people lived in a very hierarchical society. Only a few generations removed from the existence of real royalty, they viewed some people as better than others. (You see this in Jane Eyre too.) Even beyond racial lines, there were simply better and worse people - that is, some people were thought to be "better bred" and thus had a certain kind of potential that other people did not have. The disabled that were born to the "better" people were shipped off to be raised in other homes, furthering the illusion of superiority. Edwards wrote to Sarah, in a letter, that he didn't want his son to be hanging around with their slave too much for this very reason. This is why I think it is probably going to bear very little fruit to try and correlate reformed theology to a tendency towards racism. Sure, predestination can be applied to all kinds of horrible ends, to pick one doctrine, but I think it was really more of their societal perspectives that made this kind of reasoning persuasive to these men, even though we find this reasoning very offensive. Dabney and Thornwell believed in the existence of better and worse people, and they identified African slaves as among the "worse" and so their arguments proceeded from that assumption. Terrible, but it made sense to them and probably made sense to a lot of non-Calvinists too.

At some point we make peace with our past and learn how to praise and damn fairly. I visited Mt. Vernon recently and slowly the historiography of the place has come to a point where the story of the master, Washington, and his many slaves is told in a really straightforward way with a kind of recognition of the injustice of the situation, without turning into a place where Washington is completely denigrated. I'm sure that someday we'll be able appreciate all the straight lines that God draws with crooked branches (and still is drawing).

Anthony,

Sorry you are going through this mess again. I am so encouraged and challenged by your commitment to a denomination that harbors men who would speak things so antithetical to the Gospel. Thank you for your courageous example and your willingness to work for reform rather than leaving!

Just ordered Slade's book. Looking forward to reading and repenting through it!

On a side note, I've been thinking a lot about other historical injustices in American and/or Presbyterian history, and I keep coming back to slavery/segregation/racism and the genocide/oppression of Native Americans. While we at least seem to be coming to see a little about the former, I haven't found many (or any) resources on the role or complicity of the church in the injustices perpetrated on First Nations' peoples.

Do you (or anybody) know of any books or articles on the topic?

Todd - one guy to ask is Marcus Toole - he is a PCA missionary and has been ministering among First-Nations people in Canada for a while. You can find him on MTW site probably.

Anthony,

I'm not at First Pres now, but another church in town, and I don't think folks at Trinity (my church) would bat an eye at interracial couples (we have some Chinese-"Anglo" couples). I appreciate my brother and friend Lig Duncan's words about his church. I myself know many fine people there who are working to combat the remnants of racism in all its forms in Jackson.

Just speaking for the people I know, I don't sense paternalism, but rather a desire to work shoulder to shoulder with African-American leadership to bring about change. I think we are ministering to poorer African-Americans because that is the major demographic surrounding our location. The African-American middle class tends to live in other parts of our metro, and, quite frankly, is understandably small in MS (I would suspect most have moved to other parts of the country). We would and have received members of all races from all backgrounds, without so much as blinking an eye. In the past, we have had African-American elders (who subsequently went with our daughter congregation). That congregation has an African-American pastor, Mike Campbell, and is integrated both in leadership and membership.

I would say too that though I have no vested interest in Jackson's private shools, they are officially integrated, and the only remaining segregation would be a matter of economics, which is regardless of race.

But, maybe I do sense guilt, and maybe there should be some guilt. I don't sense pity, however. I have watched our congregation interact with a whole lot of other types of people, black and white. We have stressed that we do not approach others as their superiors, whatever their station in life.

Quite frankly, the burden for HBCU's is arising out of our African-American leadership (TE McGowan, who is a Jacksonian and African-American), who are placing them on our radar screen. I guess I would rather have RUF at HBCU's than not.

1 Corinthians 1:27

Dr. Bradley:

Regarding the racist attacks against you on the Internet, are you making a separation between the mainstream/legitimate PCAers and those "kinism" people?

I have been reading another excellent book called "Separate No More" by Norman Peart. It seems that most denominations that are old enough have some sort of ugly past re: slavery or racial discrimination. Even denominations in the north.

Mr. Bradley,

I don't know any PCA member who took serious his/her faith in Christ, nor any PCA Elder or Deacon or GA member who would condone the racial epitaphs that have been thrown at you. While reprehensible, I think it unfair to use that as a point against the PCA in general. I've had black folks send derogatory comments my way from time-to-time, but that wouldn't justify my equating the whole group with those few.

I've long known that within the ancestry of the PCA are those who supported slavery and segregation. One would have to be pretty naive to be "shocked" that any major American denomination did not have such skeletons in its closet - let alone a denomination with such strong ties to the South.

While I respect the SBC and LCMS, I find their "repenting" for the sins of the past rather hollow and more political than anything else. Much the same way Congress' recent "apology" for slavery struck me more as a political stunt than sincerely. Please tell me how I can repent for the sins of my ancestors? While acknowledging the positions of some of our theologians in the past were wrong and even sinful has merit, focusing our energies on the issues of the day that more than cross racial lines - abortion and homosexuality to name just two - are, in my opinion, far more deserving of our time and energy.

I truly regret that you have been wounded by this discovery and, more importantly, by those today that have assaulted you with derogatory names. But I challenge you to forgive those Presbyterians in the past who have held to unbiblical beliefs and not reject the majority of us who call the PCA home and walk with you as brothers and sisters saved by the Grace of All Mighty God.

I remain humbly,
fp

Friends in the Gospel of the Son of His love--
I had the privilege of starting a "colored' church in Georgia in `1954 which became Negro, the black, and is now African American. I did not know what I was doing, but taking an elder with me from my blue collar church (a one year old congregation), we visited, prayed, ate lots of beans, corn bread and chicken; I enjoyed the people, worked with the teens, swam in the Savannah River on picnics (the little country club pool did not work. But the heart of it was this: the Gospel given simply and faithfully to people made in the image of God and faulty through the fall changes the giver and brings new life to those who receive. When I was examined to be pastor of the First Reformed Church in Newark the dear flock in Elberton, Ga. had prepared me.
I was asked by the ministerial committee chairman, "But what will you, a Southerner, do about the Negroes?" My answer: "I do not believe in integration or segregation, but that a church should reach out and reflect its community. We received the first black members into that Reformed Church, the first in the whole New Jersey Synod, and started the second Spanish Church in the whole denomination, so I was told. The secret was simple: "God with the Gospel and enjoy the people."
To brother Bradley, be patient. These prejudiced folk are a reflection of their background even as the so called "liberals" are.
Peter had to have an object lesson from God himself for his religious racism, and fourteen years later in Antioch he quit eating grits with ham gravy. The diminutive Paul stood up to the big fisherman and said literally, "You are not orthopedic (straight-footed) with the Gospel.
Jonathan Edwards teaches us that there is only one love of God whether for a child, alien, addict, enemy or Pharisee. My question is this: "Isn't the risen Lord Jesus perfectly adequate to be Himself with full service love in terms of our redeemed personalities?"
I told the Lord "I can't." He said, "I never said you could. I can, and I will. Move over and let me." (Ian Thomas)
For the Presbyterian Survey story (1954) on how an ignorant, prejudiced twenty-three year old started a black church in Georgia in 1953, write wtiverson@ntcnj.org. I am, as always, a "guilty bystander."

Dr. Bradley,

I guess I'm a little non-plussed by all of this, because I've been aware of a lot of the issues apparently discussed in Slade's book for a decade or so, i.e. almost as soon as I came into contact with the PCA. The American Presbyterian church split over the issue of slavery and Southern Presbyterians, like many white upper-middle-class Southerners, were pretty heavily involved in various segregationist movements. I just kind of took that as read.

Dabney and Thornwell were racists whose position has been repudiated by both the PCA and OPC. Justice John Catron, who was Presbyterian, sided with the majority in Dred Scott v. Sanford. Really though, we all know that many Southern Christians did and still do espouse racist positions they attempted to justify with theology. I was never under the impression that there was any reason to believe that Presbyterians weren't just as guilty of this as the rest of the church. Indeed, as something of the intellectual leaders of the South--along with the Anglicans--it's arguable that our theological ancestors bore much of the responsibility.

I guess my question is why this is a surprise to anyone. True, the PCA doesn't go out of its way to talk about its racist origins, but most churches don't talk about unpleasant things in their past very often. Indeed, a lot of churches don't talk about their past at all. Most Christians' knowledge of the history of their own tradition is sketchy at best, and the PCA is no less guilty of this than any other.

I don't know why I knew these things and you didn't. I've no explanation for that. But I've also no reason to think that it's some kind of skeleton in the closet. Most of the people in the PCA with whom I'm familiar are aware of these issues. Then again, most of them aren't in the South and are white, so it isn't an issue of immediate personal relevance either.

I wouldn't limit your criticism to Reformed churches either. Stick your neck in a fundamentalist Baptist church anywhere in the South and just see what happens. There are fundamentalist Reformed churches down there too. But I daresay you'll find such attitudes almost nonexistent in most of the rest of the country. Seriously, you're in New York City, right? Does Redeemer have the problems you complain of here? Or are you simply getting flames from random bastards on the Internet?

In short: The American South had and still has a problem with racism. Film at 11.

As an African-American woman who has been involved both with the PCA and the Southern Baptist Convention, I also have dealt with this issue and have been asked the same question of " why do stay, why don't you go where it is easier for you?" My answer to them is taken from Edward Gilbreath's book "Reconciliation Blues". "It's God's call. A slow-boiling conviction that despite our loneliness, frustration, or flat-out rage; this is where we're supposed to be; this where we belong". Your blog also helped me get through seminary at Southeastern in Wake Forest, NC.
Grace and peace.

Hi Anthony:

I was pointed to your post by several of the prior commenters, many of whom are mentors and friends. I wrote a paper about this issue during my days in the seminary, setting the PCA's attitude towards women in the context of its attitude towards slavery and its attendant racism. It has had a powerful response in the hands of those who "get it". At the time, I was amazed at the number of people who seemed genuinely oblivious to the dirty laundry in the PCA's history.

I'm now in another denomination. My reflection on these issues was contributory to that decision.

Thanks for adding your voice to the mix.

Dr. Bradley,
I myself was surprised to learn of African-American feelings towards Presbyterians when I joined a multi-racial church in Houston. Apparently it was a big deal for these individuals to be a part of a Presbyterian church, one got the sense they sometimes felt they were betraying their own people. It was only because our head pastor was African American that I believe many of them were willing to join.
I didn't grow up a Christian so in some ways I don't feel like I have inherited this past, yet, one of the truths about our world and our society is that we whites must own up to the realities of slavery, racism, hatred, bigotry, and segregation that have been an integral part of American life- Christian and non-Christian, reformed and non-reformed, ever since its founding.
It is true that the role of the Church in this history is often damming, perhaps even more so for Southern Presbyterianism than for other denominations. In regards to your post I can say two things:
1. It always seems that the leaders of God's church always face great amounts of vicious and ungodly criticism from other self-proclaimed members of the church. In some ways it is a good sign that you face opposition and conflict-that is because where you are is bringing about real change and exposing people's real hearts. Fair or not, in some ways your skin color is the cross you must carry, and despite whatever heinous things are said to you or to any African American Reformed believer, at the end Christ will vindicate you. I do not think it will help matters to leave the PCA, rather, I think you have the chance to be a key leader in the PCA that will lead this denomination towards a more biblically faithful, God-honoring expression of the Gospel in the context of American culture and society.
There are many people who are passionate about racial reconciliation within the PCA, and they need godly African American men to lead them because it is something that must be spearheaded by African Americans.

2. The second thing I will say is that the history of the Reformed denominations in slavery, segregation, and racism is only the tip of the ice berg of what's been conveniently "forgotten" by whites today. In society at large there is a great ignorance and lack of acknowledgment for what happened and its ongoing effects today. Because we were the enslavers, it is easy for us to "move on," and try to act as if nothing happened. You and I know this is a great lie. There needs to be much greater discussion and awareness and ownership of our past amongst white Americans if racial reconciliation is to ever truly happen.

What happened in the past is of great shame to the Church. Where were the Reformed abolitionist, the reformed Civil Rights proponents, the reformed members of the underground railroad? I hope there were some and Slade's book merely did not touch on them. Nonetheless I can't change the past but I can, by God's grace, be part of changing the future, and there are many other PCA folks (I'm at Covenant pursuing an M. Div.) who think like this.

Dr. Anthony Bradley thank you for sharing this and for also sharing how it has impacted you personally as you've discovered it. In particular your frustration over why some one outside the PCA and apart from RTS had to reveal and write this history.

I think the comment chain is a good expression of how and why you heard this outside and not inside. I think Dr. Young's comments are spot on and Michael Birds at his blog. Peter Enns question is an straight forward one. One I asked many times while I was in the PCA (I'm now in the EPC, curious how Slade's thesis connects to the EPC if at all?). I believe no culture or community is beyond redemption and that in an eschatological sense the beginning of the end is here and is already reshaping the present to be like the end at great cruciform-shaped cost. My hope is that through the sacrifice and kenosis of leaders like yourself being willing to talk openly and prophetically about these matters change and reform will come.

In prayer,
Tony Stiff

I remember hearing about this while at WTS:

http://www.wts.edu/investing/testimonials/alumni/callendar.html

I can't speak for everything the early faculty of WTS did or believed, but I know that WTS was way ahead of other seminaries in this regard, even supposedly liberal ones.

Dr. Bradley,
I greatly appreciate your blog and your report of the reality of our PCA history. As a casual student of American History, I would say that there is not one institution that is not deeply stained by racism, slavery, and segregation.

We cannot hide our past as a denomination or as a nation. We must own it and call it sin. I believe that this was part of the apology/repentance issued at GA a number of years ago. This generational sin makes it even more a work of God's grace that there are African-Americans speaking as leaders in the PCA in 2010.

God redeems broken sinful people and systems. As a white Southerner, I know some of my family probably owned slaves. As a pastor, I pastor some who were sons of former slaves. So every time, I celebrate the Lord's Supper "the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners sit down at the table of brotherhood". The PCA for all its flaws is on the "red hills of Georgia". Through the PCA and because of its past, it is a place for God's reconciling work and a setting for a Dream to come true.

TE Jerry Fourroux

To all my friends in the PCA, I am hesitant to enter this discussion. Yours is a painful family conversation and one that needs a great deal of grace and stamina.

I am not a member of the PCA. Since I first encountered RUF students in Mississippi in 1997, I have been struck by how seriously these young evangelicals take their theology and doctrine. Through my studies in lived theology at UVa., I have been impressed with the PCA's work among marginalized communities (Desire Street in New Orleans, New Song in Baltimore etc). So for a theologian/historian interested in studying how a community's theology actually shapes its practices, the PCA is good value!

I appreciate Ligon Duncan's response. He is right. The reason First Pres, Jackson features so prominently in my book is because its members were so instrumental in starting Mission Mississippi--the main subject of my book. Mission Mississippi is, I contend, the largest sustained ecumenical racial reconciliation initiative in the US. In the book I demonstrate how this organization's reluctance to talk about justice is directly connected with this significant PCA involvement.

The point of my longish chapter on the history of First Pres and the PCA is to demonstrate the way the distinctive doctrine of the spirituality of the church developed and the need to come to grips with history if those who are followers of Jesus Christ are to be ambassadors of reconciliation.

I conclude:
"The doctrine of the spirituality of the church is a sophisticated theological resistance to systemic change: it is not an innocent doctrine misused. The development of the doctrine . . . is inextricably embedded in the history of maintaining first slavery, then white supremacy and segregation. The doctrine continues to be conservative Presbyterian's best weapon in their culture war with the liberals." (120)

This should raise a serious red flag for those of you in the PCA to reexamine this doctrine and consider how it actually functions in a power holding church in a racialized society--a society where race is demonstrably a major predictor of life outcomes (health, wealth, education etc.).

The kind of clean definition between the civil/common realm and the ecclesiastical realm--defended in this blog's discussion by R. Scott Clark--just does not hold up under historical examination. Real people and the churches they run are not neatly compartmentalized in this way. In the case I study in my book, the elders of the church were the attorneys defending segregation, the judges prosecuting civil rights workers, secret collaborators with the Sovereignty Commission, the founders of a segregated seminary, the directors of the Citizens' Council, and the architects of a new denomination.

I am sure, as Ligon Duncan contends, there are gaps in my story and I rejoice at the exciting developments at First Pres and Redeemer Pres in Jackson.

Grace and Peace,

Peter Slade

Dr. Bradley,

I commend your work for the PCA and the Church catholic and am appalled at the treatment you have received at the hands of those who claim fellowship with the Lord Jesus.

It is on the next point that the PCA needs a multi-ethnic voice with humility all around. And that is how does the white man help the black man appropraitely. The frustration I have felt in seeking to reach out, both as a public school teacher in a predominately black high school and as a pastor, is the damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't problem. If the white man doesn't help, he is castigated as a racist. If the white man does help, he is castigated as paternalistic. My earnest question is this ... how does the white man navigate between this scylla and charybdis? The presbytery in which I minister has one multi-ethnic church and two HCLU's and I would love to see an RUF chapter at at least one of those schools. But what is the best path forward?

Cordially Yours,

Kirk

Yes, the south has a racist history (and present) but so does Omaha and Chicago. If I recall correctly, when Dr King was in Chicago, he said that he found more racism there than in the south.

Peter,

Many doctrines have been abused in the history of the church. I'm sure that you understand that the abuse of a doctrine does not invalidate the doctrine itself. The biblical-exegetical question is this: where in Scripture is the visible, institutional church as such (please note that qualifier) called to do anything other than to preach the Word, administer the sacraments and discipline? The clear, unequivocal evidence for such a program is quite difficult to find. At best it relies on strained deductions.

There is no question is whether Christians are called to engage the broader culture, but we cannot have a true, visible, institutional church and seek to make it serve two masters.

No one, least of all I, has claimed that this is an easy distinction to make but it is a necessary distinction. If you haven't read David VanDrunen's lasted on the history of natural laws and the distinction between the two kingdoms in Reformed theology, it would be a useful introduction to this question.

Living in two kingdoms simultaneously is an inherently and obviously difficult task but it is a necessary distinction with a long pedigree in Reformed theology that existed hundreds of years before American man-stealing/chattel slavery.

With all due respect, Professor Clark, I think yours is a massively unhelpful response. It's all well and good to carve out limited duties for the church, but when this prevents you from dealing with the fact that, as Slade details, the elders of the church are exactly the same people leading the racist charge, your doctrinal distinctions are irrelevant at best and downright sophistry at worst.

Failure to recognize this as a problem is a problem in and of itself. Furthermore, implying that the real problem is not blatant misconduct by church leaders but their critics' lack of engagement with the finer points of theological discourse is adding insult to injury.

Who exactly do you think you're kidding?

Dr. Clark, you said

"There is no question is whether Christians are called to engage the broader culture, but we cannot have a true, visible, institutional church and seek to make it serve two masters."

I am wondering who, in your opinion, would be the "second master", within the framework that Dr. Slade has investigated? I only see one in the entire picture, to whom the service that should have been paid by the church (yes, institutional, gathered and visible) would have been paid to.

Ryan:

What the Southern denominations should have done was what the Reformed Presbyterians did in 1800. Following Scripture, they simply made slave-holding an excommunicable offense. And they were obedient to that declaration, often at great personal expense. One small RP congregation in South Carolina freed their slaves at a personal loss of about $900,000 translated into today's inflated gold prices. Later on, RPs were leaders in operating the underground railroad in the 1860s. Then they established a school for freed slaves and a biracial church in Selma. The Selma marches were planned in the RP manse there. And it was the son of one of the ruling elders of that RP church who grew up to become the first African American moderator of the PCUS (aka, Southern Presbyterian Church). They maintain that academy and church to this day and have recently opened a seminary there as well. (A portion of that RP lineage even merged in with the PCA in 1982.) They did all of that without resorting to the power of the State. When the Church tries to concern itself in the affairs of the State, it is in effect putting itself under the State, when in fact the Church has the potential to achieve far greater effect in the lives of people than the State can ever imagine or achieve.

Christians as citizens should faithfully exercise their Christian principles in the realm of the State, but just as the State should not meddle in the affairs of the Church, so the Church, as an institution, should not meddle in the affairs of the State. Instead, the Church can be far more revolutionary in achieving biblically-based societal changes if She simply is faithful to what Scripture teaches. Had the Southern denominations been faithful to Christian principles and rejected slavery early on, as the RPs did, and had they embraced Christians of whatever color as their brothers and sisters in Christ with full rights of equality of membership in the Church, the reality of that faithful practice would have had a far more explosive result across that culture than anything the State could have done by wielding its power. Blatant misconduct should and must be disciplined in the Church. Had the Church disciplined those elders you mentioned, just as Pastor Bulkeley did recently in his own church over this very problem, the story could have come to a better resolution far sooner. It's not easy to stand against the crowd. Let's praise God for those courageous few who lead the way.

Sorry everybody! I've been away speaking at a conference this week and haven't been able to respond to all the comments on this thread. I will comment on some tomorrow. There is much here to be discussed. More to come....

For those who are interested in why Peter Slade is correct that the "two kingdom" approach is inadequate in this discussion please read John Frame's critique of this approach. http://www.frame-poythress.org/frame_articles/2010VanDrunen.htm The "two kingdom" approach may fit better in other traditions (say, Lutheranism) but has no place in Reformed Presbyterianism. I love Van Drunnen's understanding of natural law and we need more of it for sure. It's absolutely brilliant. However, this "two kingdom" approach hopefully will not gain much footing in the PCA. Again, I defer to Frame.

For those interested in "two kingdom" see Lutheranism, the home of the doctrine: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=14402

More to come.....

This is a most enlightening discussion, and I am grateful for it --especially that Mr. Slade himself has graciously weighed in.

I agree that the problem is with the "2 Kingdoms" theology itself, as is shown by the SPLC articles that Joel Belz cited early in the discussion. I know some of the parties involved in that --and that there were pastors in the presbytery who said that the pastor who heroically stood up to the racists in his congregation was wrong to do so --that basically it was a matter of Christian liberty for a Christian to be a segregationist / kinist. Probably Dr. Clark would argue that this was an abuse of 2 Kingdoms doctrine, but I am not sure it is. It certainly was the ground on which several in Western Carolina presbytery staked their claim.

Was it not on the basis of two-kingdoms that many orthodox Lutheran theologians either folded their hands or actively supported Nazi-ism? Paul Althaus comes to mind.

Sadly, the orthodox church too often has supported power and privilege, from the Highland Clearances of Scotland to the slave system of the Old South to Luther's support of the princes versus the peasants. WE must stop excusing this, and simply say that often the orthodox are shamed by both unbelievers and unorthodox in this regard --which is why we so need Jesus!

Were there Calvinist abolitionists? Certainly there were. Gardiner Spring comes to mind (however misguided his allegiance to the union oath may have been regarded to be), Andover Seminary (where Charles Colcock Jones did his early work, sadly his position on abolition changed, though he worked mightily to better conditions for slaves and free Americans of African descent), etc. I hope no pro-Confederate types weigh in on this, but it was not just Unitarians and the heterodox who opposed slavery.

I appreciate Dr. Sparkman's insights on the Reformed Presbyterians. They are an example to us all in this regard.

The church not opposing racism would be the equivalent of the condemned "blessing," "Go thy way, be warm and well-fed." The church must oppose evil in all its forms, in church and in state.

Can someone give a link or a brief explanation of the "spirituality of the church" doctrine for those of us out of loop?

Sorry--is it the same as the "two kingdoms" deal?

Dear Dr. Clarke

1. I appreciate the point you raise (abusus non tollit usum). For the sake of argument, I am willing to grant that logically, the embrace of the *spirituality of the church* does not necessarily entail a stance on any given political issue. Also it is true that historically, its genesis as a hermeneutical tool predates the rise of slavery. It may be evaluated, therefore, as more than an ideological justification, constructed after the fact. It is indeed, a hermeneutical tool if I am not mistaken: a way of rightly organizing Scripture in relation to the responsibilities of the church which divides ecclesial responsibilities diachronically from OT Israel (on the one hand) as well as synchronically from other cultural institutions about which Scripture also speaks, such as the state (on the other). If we wish to question the propriety of the doctrine, you rightly note that this may be distinguished from the logical or historical questions raised above. So I propose to look briefly at the two additional questions raised in your post:

(1) is the *one kingdom* view as a doctrine supported in Scripture or is it imported from outwith;
(2) if the one kingdom view is justifiable (and by implication the two kingdom view is not (e.g. the answer to 1), did this insufficiency cause those who held this view to support a horrid practice more than they might have if they had a one kingdom view.

So this way of raising the question, I*m sure you will agree, is distinct from either the logical or historical points you raise in your replies to Anthony and Peter.

2. You note in reply to Peter,

*The biblical-exegetical question is this: where in Scripture is the visible, institutional church as such (please note that qualifier) called to do anything other than to preach the Word, administer the sacraments and discipline? The clear, unequivocal evidence for such a program is quite difficult to find. At best it relies on strained deductions.*

This statement hinges on what you mean by *preach the Word.* I take it that preaching the Word involves, at its core, a proclamation that the *kingdom of God* or that the *kingdom of heaven* is at hand, and that people should repent and believe that Christ is God among us, the chosen Messiah (e.g. Mark 1:15, etc.). This *kingdom* makes up a significant part of the content of Christ*s preaching, I am sure you will agree. And the apostolic commission declares that this should be proclaimed and the nations called to obedience (Matthew 28:18-20, cf. Rom 1:5 etc.). I am sure we agree thus far.

The question of what it means to *preach the Word* is thus really a question of what it means to preach repentance, faith, and obedience to Christ the King, according to the kingdom he has announced.

While I think we can agree that the role of the church is certainly not to take up the sword, and in this sense there is a clear distinction between the church and state in the NT, the issue, more precisely put, is whether preaching the kingdom involves a declaration of matters related to economic, political, or social relations. Did Christ relate the coming of the kingdom to social realities (as a redemptive way of addressing the effects of the fall on such realities)? Does Paul presume this in the way he relates the gospel in his own preaching? Depending on how you answer this question, which I should note relates just as much to your eschatological understanding of what the kingdom effects in relation to the fall and consummation of God*s created order, you*re understanding of preaching the Word may well differ from mine.

At any rate, you are entirely right to say that the role of the church is to preach the word and that to move beyond this program strains credulity. But this trades on an ambiguous set of concepts that beg the question of what the content of the preaching of the Word actually is. To my mind to say that the kingdom that we proclaim in our proclamation of the word is purely interior or spiritual and does not relate to social practices itself strains credulity.

3. This is not the place to engage a debate with you and VanDrunen about what economic and social issues might be addressed in any adequate presentation of the kingdom of God. But if the *kingdom of God* is understood as primarily an interior spiritual state, and if it actually contains implications about social practices, then the church may well fail to preach its social implications when this is most needed in a society where sin has effected both social practices, as well as an understanding of how the state should protect the dignity of humans. This, I take it, is a nuanced way of noting how two-kingdom theology might support institutions like slavery in an unbiblical fashion.

Let me just conclude with a set of questions.

May believers operate in the public sphere without any reference to the teachings of Christ on the kingdom of God? That is, what do you believe this concept actually references in Scripture? Does the fall efface our *spiritual* state but not the fundamental principles and practices embodied in our social activity, such that while the former require the coming of Christ, the latter remain in a relatively static probational state? How does this square with classic reformed teaching on the extent of the Fall and Redemption? It seems to me the concept of idolatry encompasses social as well as personal ends, such that preaching the "Word" against idolatry in our culture would seem to involve statements about social reality.

While I respect both you and VD deeply, and while I appreciate VD's understanding of the natural law and am making my way through his works as time allows, to convince me you will need to address what exactly the "preaching of the word" entails in your view, and provide biblical support for this as a hermeneutical concept delimiting the proclamation of the church.

Many thanks for your time.

My kids are distracting me, but here it goes...

Slade does us a great service, but as someone outside the PCA he has little to lose for letting us know. Professionally, anyway. I'm sure he may get plenty of hate mail.

It comes as a surprise to those of us who joined the PCA who grew up in other parts of the country. Though I suppose it shouldn't given the polarization and heat surrounding this issue in the 60's.

I wonder if many newer PCA guys are like me. I've NEVER read Thornwell or Dabney. Not on my radar, nor was I made to read them at RTS Orlando.

One of the fallacies of the 2 kingdom model as expressed by Westminster West people (I just read Stellman's book Dual Citizens) is the idea that Word and Sacrament are "it". Paul, as noted above by Bill I. worked for the application of the Word/Gospel in Antioch. His doctrine of the church as one united body (Eph. 2) was something Paul worked to bring into reality.
PCA pastors need to apply the Scriptures to this specific problem- exposing lies and showing implications of the truth. The gospel must be applied to specific sins (just as Anthony rightly says repentance must be specific too).
More church discipline needs to be done against those who are racists & kinists precisely because their views are contrary to our creation in the imago dei and the unity of the Body of Christ ... and that whole love your neighbor thing upon which the 2nd table of the law hangs. More pastors and Presbyteries need to hold people accountable for what they write on their blogs.
One of the things that instills some hope is the growing commitment to adoption. Some PCA churches are creating cultures of adoption. We have not experienced any racism in the ARP or PCA for adopting a Chinese child. We expect the same if we adopt from Africa. But that is because of the particular people in those congregations. I know that racism is still in those denominations, our country, continent, hemisphere and every single country in the world.
There is lots of work for us to do.

From pulpits I've heard for decades a message insensitive to African-Americans. The message is that things used to be better, but at least since the 1960s they have gotten worse. Think how this must strike someone who knows only too well that their freedoms and prerogatives have improved fairly consistently in the last 50 years.

@RyanDavidson. Redeemer NYC has no black pastors despite being in a city which is 25% black. No Latino pastors although Latinos constitute 30% of the city. The PCA has very effectively exported Southern Presbyterianism and southern pastors.

AC,

But Redeemer does not espouse 'the spirituality of the church' which is being cited as one of the main causes of the PCA's problems with racism ?

Colin

Anthony,

There are many points at which any of us in the PCA could ask ourselves whether we should stay within the denomination or leave given historical and current issues that do not seem to have a medium for discussion, much less for repentance. Without speaking to specific denominational issues and specific sins past and present, those in leadership allow congregants to remain as they are without being a catalyst for real change in the lives of fellow believers. If the bus doesn't have wheels on it, then it isn't going anywhere! I'm sure you might often feel as I do that you are speaking from the fringe. But I think one of the problems with the PCA is that those who think this way often burn out quickly and leave without trying to be that catalyst. In other words, those that feel like the fringe end up becoming the fringe through experiencing their own self-fulfilling prophecy when they get mad and leave the PCA. I've always greatly appreciated and respected your particular insights on practical theological and church matters and pray you can stay the course continuing to be that catalyst for change. Heck, you've made an impact on me in the past and you continue to do so. Keep it up, brother.

I remembering reading a Dabney biography a few years ago when I was doing youth ministry at a PCA church in Memphis and being a little shocked that more was not said about the racism therein. Now as a College Minister at an EPC church in Jackson (Covenant) and a student at RTS I can't go 10 feet without bumping into at least one or more of the various aspects of this issue. As somebody (God-willing) looking towards a life of pastoral ministry in the presbyterian world (and probably in the south) I can't thank you enough for forcing me to explicitly and prayerfully wrestle with these issues now. Racism is a nasty weed that has entangled itself in the roots of nearly every modern social institution in the South and that fact necessitates that part of Gospel Ministry in this context is careful, prayerful attempt at untangling the weed from the root. Thank you for laboring to do just that.

Joe Bayly, writing in 1964.

One major denomination held a convention in Birmingham recently [Remember, this is written in 1964.]. A professor at the denomination's main seminary said, "I couldn't go, but I looked forward with keen anticipation to the report that was issued afterward. When it came, I read that there was unusual unity at the convention--greater than they had experienced in recent years. And why was there such remarkable unity? The report answered that one, too: 'We found no issues.' They met in Birmingham, and they found no issues!"
http://www.baylyblog.com/2006/04/join_the_church.html#more

A friend pointed me to this discussion, and while the history is troubling, I was struck by the mention of Van Til in the mix. I'd never heard of anything particularly rotten in this area in Van Til's thought. So I looked at the amazon preview of the book. Van Til is mentioned a handfull of times. The mentions seem to cover the following ground

The whole kit and kaboodle seems to be that

1) Van Til attacked modernism
2) modernism was believed by some anti-seg activists
3) this gave aid and comfort to segs in the southern church.

Machen and Van Til you see, in the 30s, spoke at a synod of Mississippi youth conferences.

Van Til said that Barth replaces the Christ of Luther and Calvin with a Christ patterned after modern activist thought.

And Van Til supported Sphere Sovereignty, which "fit neatly" with the spirituality of the church.

Is that the sum total of Van Til on this?

I take Steve Taylor's (hi Steve!) warning about becoming impervious to critique, but I think that seems to be pretty thin gruel to tar Van Til with.

Is racism so the ur-cthonian problem in the human heart that any theology that doesn't effectively attack it root-and branch (just clipping some leaves instead) is anti-gospel?

RTS Charlotte president Mike Milton has replied to this discussion via The Aquila Report. It may be necessary for us to consider his thoughts on this issue.

http://theaquilareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2465:acknowledge-the-sin-accentuate-the-grace-honor-the-fathers-why-i-love-the-pca-and-rts&catid=79:commentary&Itemid=137

Thanks Andrew. Dr. Milton, should have read the book before commenting on the content of the book and issues raised. For many African Americans, when issues are brought to light that affect us we and our issues are frequently dismissed with a quick rush to "forgive and forget" without actually wrestling with the biblical and theological implications of the content. I hope that Dr. Milton's rush to comment without actually reading the book or acknowledge the real presence and pain this type of information would cause his African American brothers is not representative of a dismissive attitude that blacks and Latinos have often become accustomed to in conservative evangelical circles. It will be necessary to consider his thoughts on this issue only after he can clarify or deny the documentary history presented in the book he has not read yet as it relates to our denomination. We all love the PCA, this is why we're talking about this. But I look forward to any of his clarifications after he's read Slades' research.

I used to have a number of "kinists" visit my blog, and hoping to correct their errors, I noted that one could not possibly pretend to be fulfilling the Great Commission--one cannot go to the ends of the earth while remaining solely among one's own racial or ethnic group.

The response I got from a "Little Geneva"/"Spirit Water Blood" type was very telling; it was argued first that Matthew 28 was a parable, and then that the "ends of the earth" really meant "the ends of the Greco-Roman world." I guess someone didn't tell the Apostle Thomas or Philip the Evangelist about this, never mind Simeon called Niger.

I don't know how to get through to the kinist/hardline crowd except by the intervention of one Holy Spirit, but I do have the hope that reminding "would be kinists" of the Gospel would serve to help remind them of the need to have fellowship with those who look, and think, a little different.

Robert, kinism is little more than the last whisperings of a dying lot of bigots that have brought nothing but shame to the resurgence of Reformed theology in the 21st century. There for a while, I remember these racists harassing Dr. Bradley (as well as Marvin Olasky and Joseph Farah) every day.

It pretty much died when all that stuff went down on Mrs. Binoculars involving Peter Kershaw and Harry Seabrook. Kershaw basically shut down most of his websites except for Hushmoney and moved back to Branson when it came out he lived with Richard Kelly Hoskins of Phineas Priesthood notoriety. From what I heard, his marriage went to hell after his involvement with Jennifer Epstein during her divorce, and he now is trying to blend into mainline Christianity for fear of public exposure as a white supremacist.

I just feel sorry for the children of these people. What shame they bring to the name of King Christ (Isaiah 13:15-16).

The craziest thing about these racists is their failure to realize that white people, black people, Asians, Latinos, et al (everyone but the Jews) are ALL outsiders, all Gentiles grafted into the People of God. Furthermore, isn't it true that Western and Northern Europeans were the last groups in Europe to be evangelized? Where's the sense of gratitude by the descendants of these people groups who were once viewed as sub-human themselves?

Abraham,

Can you site a source that proves that any one Christian kinist fails "to realize that white people, black people, Asians, Latinos, et al (everyone but the Jews) are ALL outsiders, all Gentiles grafted into the People of God"?

I've done some kinist reading, at least at the SWB site, and it is clear that they believe that all races (even Jews) are the objects of God's grace and may be grafted into the people of God by faith in Christ. They only insist that God's separation of the nations has not been rescinded, that the plurality of racially distinct families and nations represent the one people (and will) of God, thus reflecting His Trinitarian nature. They believe in salvation by grace, not race. However, they don't believe in a principal that if universalized would destroy by admixture all the races their enemies presume to love.

So, I'd love the citation that can free you from slander and violating the 5th commandment.

Pardon me, the 9th Commandment.

Too hilarious! So it was okay for Visigoths and Ostrogoths and Franks and Saxons and Angles and Burgundians and Celts and Britons and Picts and Vandals and Gauls to mix because they were all "white"??? And yes, they had to hear the Gospel from darker folks (as well as learn to read and write, and possibly to cook meat before eating it!!).

Dear Anthony,

[As noted to you personally, I emailed the following to you before posting it on your blog.]

Slade's book and your blog have catalyzed further soul-searching and constructive discussion among our faculty at Covenant Seminary here in St. Louis. We are a bit scattered during the summer months (I'm in between significant trips at the moment myself), but electronically and otherwise we are collectively and individually grappling with how to stumble along constructively, all the while seeking God's help.

This is indeed a painful family discussion that seems both straightforward and quite complex. Embedded sinful racism is intertwined with all sorts of other identifiable elements, including economic, political, historical, and social factors. My own personal behavior, arrogance, and blind spots complicate and impede how I am to respond and act.

I am sorry for how I and others of us have failed you personally, both during your time among us and since then. I believe we have always stood with and defended you, but surely we have not done so adequately or properly. I know I and others have sought to understand your struggle amidst the attacks against you, but I know I did not seek enough or adequately.

As I wrestle with matters personally, theologically, ecclesiastically, socially, politically, and otherwise, here are a few of my incomplete and disparate thoughts:

- Naming and repenting of specific sins in our heritage is necessary and important. General sorrow is inadequate.
- Acknowledging the various aspects (noted earlier) of racist realities is necessary for analysis and understanding, but doing so must not separate out the intertwined realities that only add to the force and power that racism has on both oppressors and those oppressed.
- Along with personal forgiveness, justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification, "the gospel" has at its core the bringing together of different sorts of people in Christ. The latter is not simply an effect of the former. So, for example, Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome to help Jewish and Gentile Christians come together in life and worship, not just to teach individuals there about the ordo salutis.
- The possibility of inherent flaws or tendencies in Reformed Theology as a system certainly needs fresh examination. The notion of "sphere-sovereignty," for example, is both useful and subject to abuse. One mark of the historical context of Reformed Theology's early (and ongoing) development during the European Reformation was a continuation of an assumed European Christendom, whereby there was neither religious toleration nor welcomed co-existence of different (ethnically and otherwise) sorts of people. Of course, we mustn't separate "Reformed Theology" from the real-life people who espouse it.
- Worldwide input and perspectives are needed. Numerous other examples of peoples abusing other peoples (Japan-Korea, White-Black-White in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, etc.) are instructive. Other eyes (e.g., from Latin American Evangelicals) can see sin that indigenous ones within a context cannot.
- The disparate geographic and ecclesiastical backgrounds of many of us currently in the PCA add to both the perspectives and possible confusion of ongoing discussions about our now shared ecclesiastical heritage.

These thoughts are by means exhaustive. I find them to be a few reliable handles on which to hold as the discussion proceeds.

Thanks for your prayers for our faculty as we honestly, yet with our own baggage and shortsightedness, seek to follow Christ�s leading down the painful-glorious path that lies both behind and in front of us.

Your brother in Jesus,
Nelson

Anthony,

Don't know if your are familiar with the book or not, but you may find A CONSUMING FIRE: The Fall of the Confederacy in the Mind if the White Christian South by Eugene Genovese enlightening from a historical perspective. Many of Genovese's critics are quick to point out that his theories and conclusions stem from his Marxist leanings, however, this is the "early" Genovese. In the early '90s he converted to Roman Catholicism and has since taken a more conservative stance. "A Consuming Fire " was written and published in 1998 after his conversion. I believe he makes some excellent points concerning Christian churches and their theology in the South in the time leading up to the Civil War, during and after. The conclusions he draws certainly provide the background for what you have seen in the PCA. He quotes, Dabney, Thornwell and other Presbyterians as well as noted Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists of the day.
As a Ruling Elder and Clerk of Session in a former RPCES church that got sucked into the PCA by "Joining and Receiving", I share many of your concerns about our history and how they relate to what goes on in the church today.
I remember getting into the elevator at the end of a particular acrimonious General Assembly with my pastor and one of the noted, distinguished "founding fathers" of the PCA. Because there were actions approved that split the spirit of the Assembly almost in half my pastor asked the gentleman what he thought of the Assembly. We being "northerners" were looking for a little rise out of him I guess and we got it. His response was (in that southern drawl) "these gennial assemblies; what they think they doin? Makin decisins and passing them down like wea supposed to communicate them back to our chuchis. Don't they know? Wea independent! Wea PCA?" It was certainly a lesson to this ruling elder in some aspects of PCA ecclesiology.
There certainly is much work for us to do. May our God bless your efforts.

John Harley
Lehigh Valley Presbyterian Church
Allentown, PA

FYI,

There is no major white denomination in the US that does not have its finger in this history. Every single white denomination split over slavery. Every southern branch justified slavery and segregation theologically. Some still do.

I'm a PCUSA Minister of Word and Sacrament, and while the denomination is much farther along, I'm under no illusions.

Glad your eyes are opened. Stay put. Fight the good fight.

Rev. Dr. Margaret Aymer, Ph. D.

Dr. Aymer, thanks so much for responding. You are more than correct. I've been following the discussion among the brothers and sisters in the PCUSA's Black Caucus and have learned a lot! The Black Caucus was a recently catalyst in my recent research in this area that actually lead to me constructing a book project.

I grew up at Ben Hill United Methodist Church in Southwest Atlanta and I remember hearing stories back in the day. My pastor Cornelius Henderson became at Dean at ITC in Atlanta at the end of his career. He heavily influenced me!

I no longer have any illusions about any communion any more. None. It's amazing how right our parents and grandparents were about these things. Truly prophetic.

I would be very interested to hear what folks in the PCUSA would have to say about Slade's book and this discussion about the PCA.

Your voice is welcomed here any time.

In Christ,

Anthony

I'm PCUSA, and I am amazed that in the present, a lot of women I meet who attend Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC (PCA) don't even know that women in the PCA can't be ordained as elders/ministers. People just don't know or care about denominations. They care about whether they feel welcome by a particular local church in the here and now. BTW, I am somewhat confused that your concern about PCA's racism of the past is not apparently met by outrage about PCA's sexism of the present.

I would leave the PCA, and I have...I am white, but I left because while going back to work I became involved with the elderly in LTC facilities, case management and counseling. What I came to realize was that these people don't know the first thing about our Lord and the are seriously mentally disturbed. They are an elitist
cult much like the non-christian Mormons, and I highly doubt that they are Christian or saved for that matter. Just leave and pray for their salvation. I have 2 children who were terribly scarred by these wackos. Do yourself and your family a big favor and find a true Christian church...these people are sad and laughable at the same time.

Nelson, thanks so much for your response to this. I'll respond more in an email. But I really appreciate your words. I'm very encouraged by them I and understand your tensions. I am happy to finally see a conversation about this.

Miss you guys!

Dr Bradley,

I am a student at Covenant who unfortunately did not have the privilege of taking a class with you, but you did preach in chapel while I was there and to this day your message has stuck with me. All that to say, please keep up your hard work.
I am a "white" student. However, I attended an HBCU for my undergraduate work. In one of our pre-requisite courses on Cultural Diversity we discussed Institutional Racism. The entire concept opened my eyes to something I had never considered as a white male in today's society.

I can say that I felt very cultured and non-racist prior to attending school and this class. In getting to know my African-American brother and sisters at school I was forced to investigate my life and how things like entrenched social racism can invade us without our realizing it. Today we need a frank and open discussion, something I am happy to see you working to bring about. Many in our society are afraid to engage in dialogue, we want to be right and if anyone confronts our beliefs we shut down the discussion or turn it into an argument. My hope in all of this is that not only will the PCA but all people look at how our society influences our beliefs. While in school I was able to admit that racism does play a role in my life, it is something that is there, an ugly smear that is deep within me. However, recognizing this, calling it what it truly is, and working to correct it have allowed me to better interact with others who are not from my cultural-ethnic background.

The fear I have seen in some of the responses, here and elsewhere, to you scare me. We must open the dialogue to a level where we are willing to name what the sins in our lives and societal groups have committed. Please continue to hold these issues in front of us. I know that even today I need to be forced to examine my motives and reactions to people. I thank you for your hard work, and want you to know that I continue to pray for you as you plant a standard that is scary for those who think that the sins of others do not concern them. I pray that you will continue your work, and not be discouraged by those who find your language and work offensive. I pray for those who feel this way that they will take the time to stop and look deep within themselves to see why what you say is so offensive.

Your brother in Christ,
Chris S.

Thanks for pointing this out Ant. It often takes a prophet who abides outside the denominational city gates to raise consciousness and awareness of stuff.

Racism is sad and exasperating. It takes so many forms and is one of the most durable social features of our alienation from God and the real power of the gospel of our resurrected Lord Jesus. I wish it only existed in the annals of our PCA institutions but it recalcitrantly persist in large northern urban(more coy and sophisticated forms, but real nonetheless) and small southern rural churches alike. As someone said above, the PCA has and continues to successfully export its old south DNA to all parts of the country, including the major urban ctrs.

This is current stuff folks - http://tinyurl.com/2g545ek - There are elders in the PCA (Western Carolina Presbytery) right now who teach that it is a matter of 'Christian liberty' to teach that (direct quote)'black people are somewhere between average intelligence and mentally retarded'. These same currently ordained PCA elder(s) refuse to shake hands with Pastor Craig Bulkeley or Pastor Jeff Hutchinson (the men who brought ecclesiastical suit against this evil).

If we want to deal in reality, and not just rhetoric (both are necessary of course), there are many things we can do. here's one: write a note of encouragement to our brother Craig Bulkeley - Bulkeley@bellsouth.net - who has suffered more than most of us know (emotionally, financially, etc.) and certainly would be encouraged to know that folk are praying for him and his family and stand ready to do what they can.

Quite frankly, If we in the PCA, esp. the vocal influential power-brokers, can't tangibly and practically support this good brother in this matter, then the PCA pastoral letter on race stands as nothing more than a 'noisy gong or a clanging cymbal'. Nice hand wringing blog sentiments born of twinges of white guilt simply won't do.

'Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.' ~ MLKjr

My husband is a RE in the WNC Presbytery. It is my understanding that the elders Mark Robinson refers to have been removed from office for quite some time.

Rich Lusk wrote an interesting paper on race, the PCA an some of the doctrinal issues that may lay under our experience, as Pete Enns and Steve Taylor mentioned.

http://www.hornes.org/theologia/rich-lusk/the-pca-and-the-new-perspective-on-paul

RGB,

1) Is your husband an RE at Dillingham Presbyterian Church?

2) Has Dillingham Presbyterian accepted any currently disciplined elders/members into its membership?

3)Does Dillingham Presbyterian Church have stated intentions of accepting other members from Friendship Presbyterian, who are currently under discipline for racism, into its own membership?

If either #2 or #3 is true, than the WNC presbytery in particular and the PCA in general, is a safe haven for racism.

What are you and your husband going to do about it?

'To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.' - Abraham Lincoln

1. No

2. & 3. As I'm not familiar with Dillingham, I'll leave your other questions and accusations to be answered by someone more knowledgeable of the situation.

You make quite an assumption by your last question and quote.

.

Dear Anthony,

I am grieved over what I have learned on your blog. I am most grieved as I try to even conceive of such sins coming in the visible body of Christ, and enduring the purely evil slurs and slanders. And then, the shrugs of shoulders by those who know and could apply salve, but don't care, hurts me too.

So I hurt with you, my brother.

Paul rejoiced in his sufferings "for your sake" (Col. 1:24), i.e., the church. He was treated the way Jesus would have been treated were Jesus there, "filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church,"

May God grant you that joy as you too "fill up what is lacking in His sufferings."