Word: presbyterianism
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Eugene Carson Blake, Stated Clerk of the United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A...
Three Issues. The strange case of Dr. Merriam involves a number of separate, if tangled, issues. Among them: > THEOLOGY. A self-styled "evangelical" Presbyterian, Merriam was called to the Broadway church because his theological views coincided with those of his predominantly conservative congregation. In doctrine, he adheres strictly to the teachings of the Westminster Confession of Faith; his interpretations of Bible passages tend to be literal. Merriam argues that he was removed because his orthodox theology did not sit well with liberals in the presbytery who interpret Scripture and the confession more freely than he does. In answer, presbytery spokesmen...
During his first worship service at Broad way Presbyterian, he introduced his Ger man shepherd dog to the congregation from the pulpit - a gesture that delighted children in attendance, but to Merriam's enemies seemed evidence of emotional immaturity. More seriously, they accuse him of lack of judgment. The principal evidence: an incident of last August, when Merriam, on behalf of a self-exiled Iranian scholar, telephoned a State Department official, surreptitiously tape-recorded the conversation, then played the recording -which included some off-the-cuff remarks by the official about Iran's corruption - to a reporter...
...Have Judged Hastily." At the long afternoon meeting last week in Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Merriam's scattered handful of supporters were given little chance to speak. A motion to withhold further action until the delegates had more time to study the report was voted down. In an impassioned speech that brought tears to the eyes of women parishioners sitting in the gallery, Merriam accused the presbytery of taking unjust and ill-considered action against him. "Fathers and brethren," he cried, "you have judged us hastily, and you have judged us wrongly.'' The presbytery...
...General Assembly as well. His chances of success are small. Thanks to Merriam's outspoken behavior since the ouster, more ministers than ever are convinced that he was the wrong man to handle so sensitive a call as the Broadway church; and they believe that under Presbyterian law they were fully justified in removing him. "Our presbytery," says Dr. Henry Barraclough, a retired Associate Stated Clerk and an expert on Presbyterian law, "is the most powerful bishop on earth...