Marrow Man
Drunk with Powder
With all of the activities involving the ARP and Erskine, the issue of 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 has come up quite frequently. A plain and straightforward reading of the text seems to indicate the simple fact that believers should not be taking other believers to court.
Of course, when sinners (even redeemed sinners) disagree with the word of God, all sorts of exegetical excuses arise to get around the "problem." On one Facebook site (a pro-Erskine, anti-ARP site), someone suggested this passage only applied to local congregations (i.e., a member of a local congregation shouldn't take another in the same congregation to court, but that did not preclude taking someone in another congregation to court).
The Erskine Board did consider a lawsuit (one was filed by the chair of the Board, who is an ARP elder and in clear violation of his ordination vows), and although the executive committee of the Board did not agree with the actions of the Synod, they did not decide to pursue the legal route. One of the reasons, they gave is 1 Corinthians 6, so they at least think the text is plain enough.
The Alumni Association, however went through with the lawsuit. On order to preserve a TRO already in affect from the original suit, three Erskine seminary faculty members apparently took over the suit until the AA could file their suit. One of those faculty members (a NT professor) has a paper on his exegesis of 1 Corinthians 6. You may find it here.
I am curious to read responses to the paper.
Of course, when sinners (even redeemed sinners) disagree with the word of God, all sorts of exegetical excuses arise to get around the "problem." On one Facebook site (a pro-Erskine, anti-ARP site), someone suggested this passage only applied to local congregations (i.e., a member of a local congregation shouldn't take another in the same congregation to court, but that did not preclude taking someone in another congregation to court).
The Erskine Board did consider a lawsuit (one was filed by the chair of the Board, who is an ARP elder and in clear violation of his ordination vows), and although the executive committee of the Board did not agree with the actions of the Synod, they did not decide to pursue the legal route. One of the reasons, they gave is 1 Corinthians 6, so they at least think the text is plain enough.
The Alumni Association, however went through with the lawsuit. On order to preserve a TRO already in affect from the original suit, three Erskine seminary faculty members apparently took over the suit until the AA could file their suit. One of those faculty members (a NT professor) has a paper on his exegesis of 1 Corinthians 6. You may find it here.
I am curious to read responses to the paper.