There is little danger of men keeping the Sabbath too strictly. The thing to be feared is the disposition to keep it loosely and partially, or not to keep it at all. The tendency of the age is not to exaggerate the fourth commandment, but to cut it out of the Decalogue and throw it aside altogether. Against this tendency it becomes us all to be on our guard. The experience of eighteen centuries applies abundant proof that vital religion never flourishes where the Sabbath is not well kept.
J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on John
Every time a candidate takes exception to the Confession’s/Catechisms’ exposition of the 4th Commandment, I am stimulated to offer a motion that the remainder of his examination be suspended and that he be directed to write an exposition of the biblical view of the Sabbath and a defense of his view. Then, if the paper is found to be deficient that the candidate be disqualified for the ministry.
I hear you, Vaughn. But would you have enough votes to carry the motion?
If Jamie Hunt, who has a similar view, were to back my motion, it might. Otherwise? Probably not. But, then, I wish that the ARPCs standards for examination required the submission of papers by the candidates for licensure and for ordination and that licensure would be a step in trials rather than a redundancy to ordination absent a call. Candidates should be required to submit exegetical and expository papers on an assigned passage of Scripture, an apologetic paper on a particular doctrine of the Faith, and a written homily on an assigned passage of Scripture. The homily and the exposition of Scripture should be from different testaments. Do you realize that if this were the 19th Century, that said candidates would have been required to submit their papers in Latin? I will condescend to permit them to do them in English.
When I was a student of theology in Second Presbytery, I was required to write exegetical papers on the passages of Scripture I was to preach on, along with manuscripts of the sermons. And one was from the OT and one was from the NT. I had to preach twice before presbytery, then I received a call from a church in a different presbytery and had to preach before them as well! But everything was in English (except for a little Greek and Hebrew here and there).
On a related note, I was introduced to Mr. Hunt at Together for the Gospel last month, and am thankful to have made his acquaintance.