Individual responsibility is emphasized. "Each member is the church in the world, endowed by the Spirit with some gift of ministry, and is responsible for the integrity of his witness in his own particular situation. He is entitled to the guidance and support of the Christian community and is subject to its advice and correction. He in turn, in his own competence, helps to guide the church."

The Religions of Men

One wonders how non-Christians feel--persons of other religions or of no religion--when they hear or read of the things that Christians are planning to do to them. Gathering and scattering, mission, reconciling, fighting, loving--one wonders if the non-Christian isn't wondering what some scattering Christian might try to do to him when he meets one out there in the world.

The Confession has a section on "Revelation and Religion" that puts all religions on the same human level, incuding the Christian religion, and then distinguishes between them all and God's relevation of himself. It says "The Christian religion, as distinct from God's revelation of himself, has been shaped throughout its history by the cultural forms of its environment...The church in its mission encounters the religions of men and in that encounter becomes conscious of its own human character as a religion." The parallels the Christian finds between other religions and his own, it says, means that he "must approach all religions with openness and respect." And since the church understands the gift of God in Christ is for all men, it is therefore "commissioned to carry the gospel to all men whatever their religion may be and even when they profess none."

This understanding of religions, recognizing that they are all shaped throughout their history by the cultural forms of their environments, affirming that each has gifts and insights of value to the others, could be viewed as a sort of double-universalism, or double-talk, or as a creative insight.

The Self and the World

When the members of the church leave their reflection and their gathering to go into the world as "emissaries of peace," they are to "seek the good of man in cooperation with powers and authorities in politics, culture, and economics. But they have to fight against pretensions and injustices when these same powers endanger human welfare."

Members of other religions should not fear meeting a Christian of the kind this Confession is trying to form. The Christian is more likely to engage in conflict with a fellow church member than a member of another religion. But the converse is also true. One ought not to expect favored treatment just because he is of a different religion.

But what is even more likely, when the Christian sets off as an emissary of reconciliation in the world, is his discovery that he too is in the world and a part of its power problem. But self-discovery in the life of another happens and sometimes heals. The Confession says "all men fall under God's judgment. No one is more subject to that judgment than the man who assumes that he is guiltless before God or morally superior to another."

The main thrust of the Confession centers down in its discussion of Reconciliation in Society. The Church declares that race, peace, poverty, and man and woman are particularly urgent problems at the present time.

The observation about moral superiority and the self in the world that needs reconciling and adjusting requires that the Presbyterian Church be described before describing its confessional call to deal with race, peace, poverty, and sex.

The Presbyterian Church's membership is largely white, suburban, middle class to affluent, well-educated, Republican, establishment-minded and property-conscious. It includes racists, militarists, Birchers, and philanderers; it includes supporters of black power, pacifists and peace workers, philanthropists, and celibates.

The church's ministers were estimated a few years ago to be divided about half and half between biblically-grounded, prophetic-minded, change oriented pastors and biblically-grounded, pastorally minded, counselling pastors. Most of them appear to be restless as they face the problems of their people and the needs of our society.

In spite of some of these characteristics of laymen and clergy--because of others--the church came closer to Barmen than Westminster when it overwhelmingly approved the Confession of 1967.

One hestiates to report what the church has said to itself, and to the world, because once the words are written they have to be evaluated for performance and future promise.