Will Paisley resign as Moderator?
"The position of the General Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian church on power-sharing with murderers is clear and unequivocal. It is not the present position adopted by its Moderator, Dr. Ian R K Paisley MP." one of Dr Paisley's ministerial colleagues, the Rev Ivan Foster.
He continues: "Dr. Paisley, along with those ministers and elders who vainly try to justify the Moderator's present position, is acting in defiance of the central principle of the 1988 Covenant which declared that we would “stand with Christ in this evil day, for all that He is for, and against all that He is against” and the central declaration of the 1998 Presbytery pronouncement that power-sharing with murderers is “unscriptural, unethical and immoral.”
Presumably we can conclude that Ivan Foster regards Ian Paisley's position as Moderator is untenable under the current circumstances. The idea that Dr Paisley is Moderator "for life" is an urban myth. Each year, the General Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church elects its Moderator. To date, Dr Paisley has been re-elected each year unchallenged.
Comments
I was thinking about this the other night as I was watching the Louis Theroux Documentary about Fred Phelps the other night.
If the Free Presbyterian Chruch were to elect a moderator other than Paisley for the 1st time in over 50 years it would go a long way towards making them look like less of a rather scary Phelps-esque cult.
If however they're doing it because Paisley is now too "liberal" for them the public perception of such a move could be drastically different.
Sorry to go off issue and not having a go at you personally William but it really annoys me when people call Mr Paisley "Dr" as he nothing which could be considered by any standard or criteria a genuine doctorate.
According to 'Paisley' by Maloney and Pollock(a riveting read if anyone is interested)He obtained a B.A. in Divinity from Pioneer Theological Seminary in Rockville, Ill. in 1954 and an honorary doctorate 7 months later, this place was descibed as a "degree mill" by the US dept of education, he got the "doctorate" accredited to Bob Jones "university"-which is another over-blown degree mill. As William pointed out on his thread on Christianity and slavery Bob Jones was a bastion of racism and segregation-things have improved now(only after the threat of removing federal funding)but still attracts controversy as when G W Bush went there during his promo tour for becoming president for the first time in 2000. However it was when this institution was wholly racist that Mr Paisley got his "doctorate" accredited and was good friends with the Bob.
In short an honorary doctorate is what it is...honorary, I have done a bit of research and out of the 1000's and 1000's of honorary doctorates handed out by genuine uni's I have yet to hear of anyone calling themselves "Dr", obviously not as this would be the height of crassness.
Personally I believe that Mr Paisley's decision to call himself "Dr" highlights the character of the man or perhaps it would be more correct to say lack of...
Henry Kissinger's doctorate is honorary. He was always referred to as "Dr Henry Kissinger".
Also: catholic bishops are often called "Dr" - honoorary.
Presbyterian moderators are given honorary doctors degrees from the church when they are elected. Dr John Dunlop. Dr Ken Newell. Dr David Clarke. All honorary.
Some Southern politicians use the term "Dr" when they receive honorary doctorates.
I think there's been a tradition of clerics using the title when they get honorary doctorates. Actors and others don't use the title.
An honorary degree is only as good as the institution that gives out the honorary degree. If it's a real university, it's a proper degree. If it's a bogus place, it's a bogus degree.
To quote H L Mencken
"The honorary degree is a way of honoring a pompous ass. No honest person would accept a degree he hadn't worked for. Honorary degrees are suitable only for realtors, chiropractors and presidents of the United States."
Mr Kissingers referral to himself as "Dr" is as crass as Paisley's but at least he can say he got his from a genuine university. Personally I find it grossly insulting when someone gets an honorary doctorate and calls themselves "Dr", I find it an insult and a sleight to those who actually study for genuine qualifications.
Re: The presbyterian moderators as far as I can tell all attended genuine universities(something that Mr Paisley never did)and recieved honorary doctorates later. I think this is Paisley's attempt to ape this practice but at least they got their honorary doctorates from genuine universities.
Here is a good article...
Have to disagree with you about an honorary degree being a proper degree-it's not and people who make use of them are insulting genuine students who work for years to gain a genuine qualification. I agree with the second part of your last statement as according to that Mr Paisleys educational "accomplishments" are bogus.
Point of correction for Dylan dog Dr. IAN R. K. PAISLEY. carried out his theological studies over three years at the theological hall of the (Covenanters) in Belfast, if you had read Paisley by Moloney & Pollock as you recommended on a previous post you would have discovered this on pages 20-21.
Errr don't know what you are on about CH, the course that MR. Paisley attended was not a MA nor a doctorate nor for that matter a degree course. If you have the book I suggest you read the part concerning MR. Paisley's "qualifications".
My points still stand.
Concerning a man of God qualifications are irrelevant because he is taught by the Holy Spirit and not by man, so Mr or Dr doesn’t really matter at the end of the day, but be honest DD you were inferring that he had no legally recognized theological training when comparing him with the training of the apostate PCI clerics.
Not at all CH, I know that he attented the theological hall and I was not implying that he had no theological training I was simply pointing out that Mr Paisley has nothing which could be considered a genuine doctorate.
It's a great shame that this holy ghost could not have told Mr Paisley not to accept his errr "qualifications" from 10th rate degree mills.
Re: The "apostate PCI clerics." as far as I can tell they earned their qualifications in genuine universities ie., Queens and Trinity.
Re: The "apostate PCI clerics." as far as i can tell they earned their qualifications in genuine universities, ie, Queens and Trinity:
They may very well have trained and qualified in genuine universities, but one wonders how many of them have a clue in the world what it means to be born again! Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
"They may very well have trained and qualified in genuine universities, but one wonders how many of them have a clue in the world what it means to be born again! Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
An entirely subjective opinion used to counterbalance cold hard fact.
Is that the best you can do?
I wonder will there be a full turnout at tomorrow nights 4/5/07 Free Presbyterian Presbytery meeting or will there be missing faces in the run-up to devolved government being instituted.
Due to the objections which have been uttered within the ranks of the Free Presbyterian church will those DUP, Free P’s be conveniently missing or will they withstand the storm of pressure which has gathered momentum within against Paisley sitting down in government with Sinn Fein against the wishes of those within the FPC, or will they run for cover.