PCA to examine book Jesus Calling… | News and coverage

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) decided at its annual meeting on Thursday to examine the Christian suitability of the bestseller Jesus calls by Sarah Young, a member of the PCA who died last August at the age of 77. Young was one of the most widely read evangelicals of the last 20 years.

Pastors of the denomination are concerned that Young’s use of Jesus’ voice in the book undermines the concept of only Scripture and could amount to heresy. The book was published in 2004, and criticism of its theology by leading figures in the faith community has already been widely circulated.

In addition to being a graduate of the denomination’s Covenant Theological Seminary, Young was married to Steve Young, a PCA elder and missionary in Japan.

During the debate on the measure, the recently widowed man stood up and addressed several thousand church leaders in the room, urging the assembly to vote against the investigation.

“Her writings did not add to the Scriptures, but explained them,” said Steve Young. “She stood with Martin Luther and declared that her conscience was subject to the Word of God.”

He continued, “Sarah is a sister in Christ and a woman who delighted in the law of the Lord and meditated on His law day and night. She felt led to share her meditations with the world.”

Young herself said her devotions were intended to be read “with an open Bible.”

The proposal was adopted by a relatively narrow margin of 947 votes to 834, with 20 abstentions. It instructs two denominational committees to answer a series of questions about the book and each to issue a report.

The committees must study the history of denominational organizations’ use of the book and “assess the book’s suitability for Christians in general and for PCA members and churches in particular, paying particular attention to its doctrine and method.”

One of the committee reports will come from Mission to the World (MTW), the denominational mission agency where Sarah Young and her husband served as missionaries. MTW’s report must “examine MTW’s relationship to the book, its knowledge of its contents, and any advice given to the author” and “consider actions that MTW and the General Assembly should take in light of this investigation of the book and the agency’s relationship to it.”

Those supporting the measure said the reports would be useful.

“The book in question may be the best-selling book by a PCA member,” said Rev. Zachary Groff, arguing for the investigation.

Chuck Williams, another church leader, said he was concerned about anyone who “claimed to have received a direct revelation from God.” (Young’s editors at Thomas Nelson said she clarified that she did not have any “new revelations.”)

Those who opposed the measure felt that it was an unusual undertaking for the religious community to examine a book and considered it inappropriate given the timing after her death.

A Tennessee pastor, Daniel Wells, said he knows Young’s extended family.

“They are still grieving,” he said, urging a vote against the measure. “Romans 12:15 tells us to weep with those who weep. This offering would instead tell us to examine this deceased woman.”

Church leader Jerid Krulish spoke out against the measure, pointing out that he comes from Alaska, where people often eat a lot of fish.

“I know a fishing expedition when I see one,” he said to laughter in the room. “I find it derogatory and a waste of time for these committees.”

Hymn writer Kevin Twit also spoke out against this measure, saying that although he had not read the book, John Newton’s hymn “Pensive, Doubting, Fearful Heart” also speaks with the voice of God and he does not consider this to be a new revelation but a summary of ideas.

The original bill (known in the PCA as the Overture) came from a single minister, Benjamin Inman. Most bills come from a presbytery. The lack of support for the bill from a presbytery did not bode well for its prospects at the denominational level.

But this week the denomination’s advisory committee amended Inman’s bill to make it milder and more acceptable to the congregation – for example, removing its language condemning Young for publishing a book guilty of idolatry – and recommended that the assembled congregation approve the amended version.

Inman’s original bill called for the PCA to consider her remorse for failing to punish Young for idolatry, but he acknowledged that “the author’s death in August 2023 placed her beyond the PCA’s jurisdiction.”

Steve Tipton, chairman of the committee that drafted the amended bill, said the aim of the denominational report was not to condemn Young, but added that “we can all guess” what the denominational committees would say about the book’s suitability for Christians.

The PCA is a small denomination (with about 1,800 congregations compared to the 47,000 congregations of the Southern Baptist Convention), but it has a broad intellectual influence, with authors such as Young, Tim Keller, O. Alan Noble, Kevin DeYoung, and Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt. Jesus calls sold more than 45 million copies.

Evangelical leaders have already criticized the book. Author Kathy Keller, Tim Keller’s wife, said Jesus calls undermined the adequacy of Scripture. Blogger Tim Challies said the book was “not worthy of our attention.”

The PCA disagreed.