A local Cumberland Presbyterian church is announcing their new website on their sign. Being the curious sort of fellow I am, I clicked my way to their single-page site. It's primarily an information page (what time they meet, contact info, etc.), but they included two short paragraphs that comprise the "what we believe" section. They read:
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Our church believes - Women serving in every office in the church including teachers, elders, and pastors.
Our Church believes - The Bible is the only infallible rule of faith and practice - The Holy Trinity is God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - The Church, as the body of Christ, is in cooperation with all other denominations - The sacrements of the church are Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
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Yep, that's the original order of the paragraphs. When taking the time to tell the world what they stand for as a chruch, they started right out with declaring that their church believes in women serving in every office of leadership, including elders and pastors.
Now, that's not all that uncommon these days. But, the first line of the second paragraph says that they believe "the Bible is the ONLY INFALLIBLE RULE of faith and practice."
While that sounds nice, and perhaps even orthodox, that phrase is negated by the first statement concerning women elders and pastor. Because, it's undeniable that Paul wrote: "Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness." (1 Tim 2:11-12)
While some may object to that directive, I can't help the fact that it's in the Bbile. So, it is impossible to say that you believe that the Bible is "the only infallible rule of faiith and practice" and at the same time believe something that is diametrically opposite what the Bible actually says.
I point this out because it is a classic case of people repeating language that sounds attractive - "We believe the Bible." But, if you claim to believe the Word, while not acting in accordance WITH the Word, you're just playing semantic games.
Yet, no one in this local church seems bothered by the obvious inconsistancy. It's just "church as usual." And words become so flexible that they become meaningless.
Sigh ...
