1957. Tulchan Bishops. The Southern Presbyterian Journal. 3–4. Dec 11
Tulchan Bishops
In modern English the phrase tulchan bishop could be translated
stuffed shirt. Originally he was a man who agreed to two policies in order to get
his appointment: first, he was to return to the noble patron a good part of the
church's income, and, second, he was to dilute the Reformed faith and work for the
imposition of espiscopacy and finally of Romanism on Scotland. The device of forcing
the congregations to have ministers not of their choice was not only appropriate
to the designs of the Stuarts but was indeed necessary. The Presbyterians wanted
none of it.
Therefore the Covenanters made a particular point of the right
of congregations to call their own ministers.
History has a way of repeating itself, not perhaps exactly, but
in general form. Whenever ambitious ecclesiastics wish to gain power, it is natural
for them to attempt to infringe upon the rights of the people. Control must be centralized.
Liberty must be restricted. In this age and in this country, of course, a Romish
king and an Arminian nobility play no part. What is needed is committees that will
assume the prerogatives of the congregations and gradually usurp their functions.
In the new United Presbyterian church, that will soon come into
being as the result of a merger of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the
United Presbyterian Church of North America, the rights for which the Covenanters
bled and died will be severely restricted.
The Plan of Union, in its Form of Government, chapter 27, establishes
a Committee on Ministerial Relations. "The election of this committee shall
take precedence over all other presbytery committee elections and appointments."
To this committee the presbytery shall assign the supervision of all churches without
pastors. "The session shall meet with the Committee and with its aid and advice
secure temporary supplies..." Note that the congregation cannot even have a
temporary supply without the aid and advice of the committee. This committee "shall
meet and consult with every committee appointed by a church to nominate a pastor...
The presbytery shall permit a call to be placed in the hands of a minister only
when the nominating committee of the church has thus consulted the Committee of
presbytery before the name is presented to the congregation."
Although these provisions do not go the lengths of Stuart Erastianism,
they are a long step toward a dictatorial ecclesiastical hierarchy. The rights of
the people are being denied. Conformity and regimentation are the trend of the age.
History is not repeating itself exactly. In 1572, in 1638, and
later, the Covenanters were willing to suffer for Presbyterian doctrine and Presbyterian
government. But does anyone care today? The churches are infiltrated with ministers
who deny the truthfulness of the Scripture, who deny the Virgin Birth, the Atonement,
and the Resurrection. All that matters is loyalty to an external organization; and
for a powerful organization episcopal or even papal control is better than Presbyterian
principles.
When a prominent Presbyterian ecclesiastic asserts that the majority
vote of the Presbytery is the voice of God, it shows that he is Presbyterian in
name only, and that the Westminster Confession is a dead letter.
However, we may be fortunate enough to be atomized by the Communists
before our spiritual condition grows much worse.
— G.H.C.
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