Confessional Presbyterian AMA 2017
Welcome to the 2017 Confessional Presbyterian AMA!
###What are some abbreviations I might see used?
- PCA- Presbyterian Church in America
- OPC- Orthodox Presbyterian Church
- ARPC- Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
- WCF- Westminster Confession of Faith
- WLC- Wesminster Larger Catechism
- WSC- Wesminster Shorter Catechism
- BCO- Book of Church Order (for the PCA)
###What is Confessional Presbyterianism?
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Confessional - We adhere to a public, printed confession of faith. You can corner us on what we believe, and ask us why we believe. The men here have taken few, if any, exceptions to our denominational confessions. In this thread we're going to be dealing primarily with the Westminster Standards.
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Presbyterian - from the Greek πρεσβύτερος, or presbuteros, Briefly, Presbyterianism is a structure of church government which hinges around elders, and how elders relate to each other.
###Why Confessional Presbyterianism? Perhaps you've heard someone say "No Creed but Christ." Perhaps you've asked what someone believes and they say "whatever the Bible teaches!" Maybe you've been in a Church which can summarize it's core beliefs in seven paragraphs on their web-page.
Confessional Christians tend to be more maximal than minimal. The best way to let you know what we teach and believe is in a thorough representation of our beliefs. Our version of minimalism is the shorter catechism, which children and adults are encouraged to study and memorize.
Presbyterianism is our structure of government. It varies a bit between denominations, but two common themes are:
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The plurality of elders (no elder has more formal power than another) and
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Connectionalism (no congregation is autonomous).
[Video] What is the Biblical model of church government?
[Video] Is the Westminster Confession Useful to the Church?
###Confessional Presbyterian Resources
List of Orthodox Confessional Denominations
WCF, WLC, and WSC with Scripture Proofs
Some historical background on the WCF from WIKI
Some broad comments on Presbyterianism from WIKI
###This Year’s Panelists
u/greatleveler is a candidate for the deaconate in a PCA church in the Georgia foothills. He is an engineer by trade, parent of two kids plus a foster child. He hopes to go to seminary one day. He likes electronic music, craft beer, and reading. He devours theology, history, and philosophy.
u/Bobwhiz is a Teaching Elder in the PCA. He works in the Metro NY region. The PCA holds to the Westminster Confession of Faith, as well as it's Shorter and Larger Catechisms. We are Calvinists, ministerial (as opposed to magisterial), and hold to a "high Church" ecclesiology. The PCA has broad fellowship with those who are soteriologically reformed, but tighter fellowship with those who hold to some form of a "reformed ecclesiology." u/Bobwhiz also likes Smash Bros. Melee, Poker, Cycling, and trying to answer hard questions. He has a Masters of Divinity, and a BA in PoliSci and Philosophy.
u/JCmathetes just returned from the ARP General Synod. He is a fan of FC Bayern. He hangs out at r/Reformed from time to time and is known to articulate his views on Paedobaptism from time to time.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for sticking around through that lengthy intro. Let's get ready to rummbblleee.
##ASK. US. ANYTHING
Posted Jun 20, 2017, 12:43 PM UTC