R & M Report 2012 - The Free Church and Romanism

Spurious arguments defending declension prevail in many circles today. The FreePresbyterian Magazine has drawn attention to declension from historic Protestantism within the Free Church of Scotland in recent times. This was in evidence in 2011 when the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland joined with a Roman Catholic priest and a Church of Scotland minister at two separate ecumenical services in Lewis which were broadcast in the media. Rev James MacIver defended his actions and denied that the services were ecumenical, but for every ordinary observer they could be considered as nothing less than this. Whatever attempt is made to justify such diluting of principle, whether for evangelistic ends, to court popularity or to prevent unfounded impressions of sectarian division in communities, the action was a departure from Reformation standards. This action of the Moderator of the Free Church follows closely on the public welcome offered to the Pope by Rev David Robertson of Dundee Free Church which the Committee referred to in its report last year. Other indications of departure from protestant principles, such as joint funeral worship and memorial services with Romanist priests, display the decline in the Free Church. Prof Donald MacLeod has publically defended these joint services and scorns the opposition voiced against them.

The Westminster Confession closely follows scripture language in its definition of the papacy as “that antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition” and Romanism as the spiritual Babylon and so a “synagogue of Satan.” It also exposes the very many heresies of Rome which fundamentally vitiate its profession of Christianity. That one of the services mentioned above marked the celebration of the Romanist festival of Christmas is enough to expose its unscriptural basis, but that a priest of Rome was joined in his devotions highlights the spiritual darkness prevailing at the event. A Roman Catholic priest, according to scripture, promotes the “working of Satan” and however unaware individual priests may be of it, they all suffer from “strong delusion” (2 Thess. 2:9-11). It may well be asked “what communion hath light with darkness?” It should be no surprise that the people of God are left questioning the direction of ministers when such communion is defended or treated as a matter indifferent. We therefore utterly condemn this practice and resolve to expose such departures in future as dangerous to Protestants and to the interests of the Church of Christ in our land.

While concessions to Romanism of this kind have been gathering pace on the Scottish mainland for some time, the practice is new in the professedly more conservative Free Church Presbytery of Lewis. It is clear that in this further concession to Rome the Free Church has lost credibility and authority however ardently she desires to take the place nationally of the fallen Church of Scotland. At such a time as this it may well be asked what useful purpose the Free Church of Scotland serves in the promotion of the Protestant Reformation. It is becoming an increasingly schismatic ecclesiastical asylum for those fleeing discipline in other Churches or unwilling to tolerate the now century old decline of the national Church. To all appearances the Free Church is on the same slide towards liberalism and declension and we can expect further revisions of its adherence to Protestantism and the Confession in the near future.