In September, we published our first print edition of our "Point of Contact" newsletter, a letter issued from the Office of the President of Westminster Theological Seminary. Since then, our print edition—"God Above the Nation"—has had overwhelmingly positive feedback. We almost daily receive requests for additional copies by the tens, hundreds—and even thousands.
We are grateful that readers have been edified by this timely topic: how we as Christians are to view our place in society, especially in the current moment. Below are a few excerpts from the letter. If you haven't received "God Above the Nation" and would like a copy, or if you have received one and would like additional copies to share with friends and family, email communications@wts.edu with your name and mailing address, and we would be happy to send it to you!
In the meantime, please enjoy the following excerpt:
Westminster’s legacy has meant a love for truth and freedom that requires a stand both with and against. In the spirit of Machen and all the saints of God, we stand with the truth of God’s word. But because we stand with God’s word, we also stand against what the Apostle Paul called the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil (Eph. 6:12). In this standing with and against, the church is functioning as what we call a prophetic witness. To whom and to what do we witness? We herald the whole counsel of God to the whole world, even amidst persecution and adversity.
This is where the faithful biblical church finds herself in twenty-first-century America: standing as a prophetic witness in a hostile culture—what the journalist Aaron Renn has aptly called “the negative world.” Today in the modern West, he writes, “society has an overall negative view of Christianity. Being known as a Christian is a social negative, particularly in the higher-status domains of society. Christian morality is expressly repudiated and now seen as a threat to the public good and new public moral order.” It is thus in this context that the church is called to stand and speak. ... With this being said, about what shall we stand and speak?