Dear Editor:

Shazaam! I never realized how simple the Sebastian Session case really was. So I just have to thank the Rev. Robert R. von Oeyen, Jr. of Bethany Presbyterian Church, Staunton, VA, for pointing out that the whole problem with the Sebastian Session was just over the use of the term "infallible" which has been discredited as an appropriate qualification applied to Scripture. He has helped me clear up three areas of confusion:

1) Why am I in possession of 23 CIFs, approved by various presbyteries of the PCUSA before they were posted on the CLC website, that either declare their particular congregation regards the Scriptures as infallible and/or seek a pastor who holds that high view of Scripture? Was there not "a clear knowledge, on the part of [those Committees on Ministry], of the whole history in this denomination of how divisive such an assertion has been and that it has been repudiated not only for that reason but because the use of that word during the past century has more than once been determined to be wrong -- inappropriate, wrong-headed, even if well-intended"? Tsk, tsk, tsk ... looks to me like a lot of somebodies must not have been paying attention in church history class.

2) How can it be that I, as an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PCUSA, still hold the view that the Holy Scriptures are the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God, and I preach it that way? Uh-oh, I better duck and cover before I'm found guilty of contumacy, too. Now let's see ... how many of my convictions should I abandon to be politically correct ... hmmm?

3) Wasn't it back in October 2001 that Moderator Jack Rogers proclaimed to the church publicly that "the CCM's three confessions -- that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, that Scripture is infallible, and that sexual behavior should be reserved for marriage -- are stances that virtually all Presbyterian churches already endorse"? Maybe you ought to think about resigning as Moderator, Jack, because you "put the whole [PCUSA] in a bad light because [you didn't have] the decency to recognize that [your] particular statement overstepped the bounds."

Now if Rev. von Oeyen can just clear up the question of why the opponents of biblical orthodoxy have for so long chosen not to behave "charitably toward their friends and neighbors of goodwill throughout the denomination" who hold to biblical orthodoxy, maybe we can consolidate that positive gain accrued to the PCUSA by the overwhelming defeat of 01-A.

Rev. Bill Pawson
Minister in Other Service
Tropical Florida Presbytery
Pembroke Pines, FL