Since 2002 or so, the Presbyterian micro-world has been rocked by controversies related to something called the "Federal Vision."

Unfortunately, there has been way more heat than light on this issue, and the Internet certainly hasn't helped. I'm creating this group as a place for open discussion on the issues relating to the FV, as well as about whether the FV can really be identified as a distinct entity anyway.

Hopefully, we can all work toward understanding. I know that people in the "Emerging Church" like Brian McLaren see our concern with these issues as the death throes of an institution co-opted by modernism.

But I believe that these questions - the efficacy of the sacraments, how God's sovereignty and human responsibility relate in salvation, our right to stand before God as justified sinners - are perennial, and will continue to be discussed by the Church until Christ returns in glory. The vocabulary may be different in different theological traditions, but the fundamental issues are the same. Let us hope that the Reformed can lead the universal Church into a better understanding of the grace of the Gospel, rather than retreating into obscurity. (read less)

Since 2002 or so, the Presbyterian micro-world has been rocked by controversies related to something called the "Federal Vision."

Unfortunately, there has been way more heat than light on this issue, and the Internet certainly hasn't helped. I'm creating this group as a place for open discussion on the issues relating to the FV, as well as about whether the FV can really be identified as a distinct entity anyway.

Hopefully, we can all work toward understanding. I know that people in the... (read more)