Pryor Thoughts

A New Home for Pryor Thoughts

2025-07-01T17:11:00.002-04:00

About five years after the cool kids, I'm creating new notes on Substack. You can follow me there by going here. Please do so. And please suggest Scott Pryor | Substack to your friends.

Google's blogspot is fine but Substack has more features. In case you're worried, the subscription-fee feature is not one that I plan to use.

I have imported my PryorThoughts posts into Substack and plan to retain PryorThoughts for those who remember it fondly.

Statutory Construction for PCA Commissioners

2025-06-24T10:36:00.005-04:00

For members of the Presbyterian Church in America, June 24, 2025, marks the start of this year's General Assembly, the high point of the PCA's ecclesiastical calendar. The GA will consider 49 overtures (proposals/motions). You can read a summary of all of the overtures here. I'm writing this post in connection with four of them: 3, 4, 47, and 48.

The theme of Christian Nationalism animates each of these overtures. The first three ask essentially for the GA to appoint a study committee with a broad remit to evaluate, analyze, and report back to the 2026 General Assembly on topics of Christian Nationalism, "Moscow [Idaho] Theology", Reconstructionism, and similar viewpoints. Such a report would, specifically, address whether any or all of these viewpoints are inconsistent with the confessional standards of the PCA.

Overture 48 asks only for the appointment of a committee to draft a pastoral letter "applying the doctrine of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America to questions of Christian citizenship and church-state relations."

What's the kerfuffle? For those who haven't been living under a rock for the past decade, some form or other of Christian Nationalism has been a rallying cry for a small but very public segment of the American Chrisitan Right. Even more vocal than its advocates are folks in the legacy media who find a Christian Nationalist under every non-Progressive policy they don't like. For them, CN ≈ MAGA 🡢 Trump.

There are, of course, folks who provide a defined version of CN and a cogent argument for it. While I have posted on the topic of nationalism (here, here, and here), I have largely foregone CN because, frankly, I believe it will be of only modest long-term significance in America.

In any event, in this post my concern is very narrow. In 1788 the Synod of the American Presbyterian Churches revised the original 1646 version of the Westminster Confession of Faith in several respects. The principal field of revision was Chapter 23 of the WCF, "Of the Civil Magistrate." In particular, subchapter 3. Both versions are precise but written with long sentences featuring colons, semicolons, and commas. I'm using this July 2024 piece by Rev. Kevin DeYoung for a representation of the differences:

Historic Text (1646)

Chapter XXIII

Of the Civil Magistrate

The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven: yet he hath authority, and it is his duty, to [i] take order, that unity and peace be preserved in the Church, [ii] that the truth of God be kept pure and entire; [iii] that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed; [iv] all corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed; and [v] all the ordinances of God duly settled, administered, and observed. For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call synods, to be present at them, and to provide that whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the mind of God.

American Revision (1788)

Chapter 23
Of the Civil Magistrate
Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration of the Word and sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing fathers, it is the duty of civil magistrates to [i] protect the church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. And, as Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government and discipline in his church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let, or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members of any denomination of Christians, according to their own profession and belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates [ii] to protect the person and good name of all their people, in such an effectual manner as that no person be suffered, either upon pretense of religion or of infidelity, to offer any indignity, violence, abuse, or injury to any other person whatsoever: and to take order, that all religious and ecclesiastical assemblies be held without molestation or disturbance.

At the outset, the original version of the WCF and the American revision concur word for word on the disabilities of the civil magistrate. The American revision expands on this disability mid-way through when it adds that "no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let, or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members of any denomination of Christians."

By contrast, the 1646 text prescribed five affirmative duties for the civil magistrate: (1) to preserve unity in the Church, (2) to ensure that the truth of God is preserved "pure and entire," (3) to suppress all blasphemies and heresies, (4) to reform all corruptions and abuses in worship, (5) to require that all other clear ordinances of God be observed. Two other powers--not duties--of the civil magistrate included (1) calling synods and (2) ensuring that the decisions reached by such a synod were "according to the mind of God." In short, five duties, two powers.

The five specific duties disappeared with the 1788 American revisions. They were replaced with a duty to "protect the church of our common Lord" yet "without giving the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest." In other words, disestablishment. And a downstream duty to protect all people and institutions in the exercise of their religious duties.

More specifically, and wearing my lawyer's hat, the deletion of a series of "musts" from among the duties of the civil magistrate means not only does the magistrate no longer have the affirmative duties prescribed in1646 but no longer has even the discretionary power to do so. The adverbial phrase, "as nursing fathers" is not an independent source of power but simply describes the affective manner in which the magistrate should provide the protections noted above.

This conclusion follows from (1) the lack of reference to (discretionary) powers in the 1788 revised WCF and (2) a rule of construction (i.e., the rule by which English, Colonial, and early American Republic courts would determine the legal meaning of a legal instrument (like a statute, contract, will, etc.) to the effect that the meaning of a subsequent legal instrument is determined in light of the changes from the prior instrument. (This rule of construction would have been common knowledge in both 1646 and 1788.)

In short, omissions (silences) speak; in other words, there is no gap to be filled by implication. In yet other words, the five specific duties of the magistrate in 1646 are affirmatively prohibited by their omission in 1788.

None of this, however, should be understood as prescribing a naked public square. For the men gathered in 1788, the truths of the Christian religion remained public truths. The disestablishment of churches did not entail the eradication of the public truths of Christianity from either public discourse or as a ground for legislation as well as public policy. The changes of 1788 did, however, make it impossible for a teaching or ruling elder to teach to the contrary. Whether such an office bearer may hold privately to the doctrines of 1646 is beyond the scope of this post.

A Modestly Revised Homily

2025-05-09T21:32:00.001-04:00

This afternoon, I read the homily of the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV to the College of Cardinals. As a Reforming Catholic, I appreciated much of the new Pope said. While I could have made more changes, below is my effort to retain his words with as few emandations as my conscience permits.

________________________________________________________________________

I want to repeat the words from the Responsorial Psalm: “I will sing a new song to the Lord, because He has done marvels,” and indeed, not just with me but with all of us.

My brothers ~~Cardinals~~, as we celebrate this morning, I invite you to reflect on the marvels the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out on all of us through the Ministry of ~~Peter~~ the Holy Spirit

You have called me to carry that cross, and to carry out that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me, as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the Good News, to announce the Gospel: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16)

In these words, Peter, asked by the Master, together with the other disciples, about his faith in him, expressed the patrimony that the Church, through which the apostolic ~~succession~~ witness, has been preserved, deepened and handed on for two thousand years:

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the one Saviour, who alone reveals the face of the Father.

In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person and in the mature features of a man (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22), finally appearing to his disciples after the resurrection with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities.

Peter, in his response, understands both of these things: the gift of God and the path to follow in order to allow himself to be changed by that gift. They are two inseparable aspects of salvation entrusted to the Church to be proclaimed for the good of the human race. Indeed, they are entrusted to us, who were chosen by him before we were formed in our mothers' wombs (cf. Jer 1:5), reborn in the ~~waters of Baptism~~ regenerating work of God and, surpassing our limitations and with no merit of our own, brought here and sent forth from here, so that the Gospel might be proclaimed to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15).

In a particular way, God has called me by your election ~~to succeed the Prince of the Apostles,~~ and has entrusted this treasure to me so that, with his help, I may be its faithful administrator (cf. 1 Cor 4:2) for the sake of the entire mystical Body of the Church. He has done so in order that she may be ever more fully a city set on a hill (cf. Rev 21:10), an ark of salvation sailing through the waters of history, and a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world. And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings – like the monuments among which we find ourselves – but rather through the holiness of her members. For we are the people whom God has chosen as his own, so that we may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light (cf. 1 Pet 2:9).

Peter, however, makes his profession of faith in reply to a specific question: "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" (Mt 16:13). The question is not insignificant. It concerns an essential aspect of our ministry, namely, the world in which we live, with its limitations and its potential, its questions and its convictions.

"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" If we reflect on the scene we are considering, we might find two possible answers, which characterize two different attitudes.

First, there is the world's response. Matthew tells us that this conversation between Jesus and his disciples takes place in the beautiful town of Caesarea Philippi, filled with luxurious palaces, set in a magnificent natural landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon, but also a place of cruel power plays and the scene of betrayals and infidelity. This setting speaks to us of a world that considers Jesus a completely insignificant person, at best someone with an unusual and striking way of speaking and acting. And so, once his presence becomes irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements, this "world" will not hesitate to reject and eliminate him.

Then there is the other possible response to Jesus' question: that of ordinary people. For them, the Nazarene is not a charlatan, but an upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things, like other great prophets in the history of Israel. That is why they follow him, at least for as long as they can do so without too much risk or inconvenience. Yet to them he is only a man, and therefore, in times of danger, during his passion, they too abandon him and depart disappointed.

What is striking about these two attitudes is their relevance today. They embody notions that we could easily find on the lips of many men and women in our own time, even if, while essentially identical, they are expressed in different language.

Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.

These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.

Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman. This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.

This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Saviour. Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16).

It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf. Lumen Gentium, 1).

I say this first of all to myself, ~~as the Successor of Peter,~~ as I begin my mission as Bishop of Rome and, according to the well-known expression of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, am called to ~~preside~~ lead in charity ~~over~~ the universal Church (cf. Letter to the Romans, Prologue). Saint Ignatius, who was led in chains to this city, the place of his impending sacrifice, wrote to the Christians there: "Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world no longer sees my body" (Letter to the Romans, IV, 1). Ignatius was speaking about being devoured by wild beasts in the arena – and so it happened – but his words apply more generally to an indispensable commitment for all those in the Church who exercise a ministry of authority. It is to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified (cf. Jn 3:30), to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.

May God grant me this grace, today and always, through the loving intercession of Jesus Christ, the Power of the Holy Spirit, ~~Mary, Mother of~~ and encouraged by the witness of all the Saints of the Church in heaven and on earth.

"Funerals Mandatory"

2025-04-28T12:30:00.006-04:00

You can go here to read Aaron Renn's most recent Substack, "Funerals Mandatory." In it Renn writes about his thoughts following the recent funeral of a college friend who had died of cancer.

Until about age 35, people cannot emotionally connect with the idea that they will continue changing into the future. They know they have changed - oh, how we know we’ve grown and changed - but don’t really understand in more than a nominal intellectual sense the story arc of life.

Today, I understand that I’m going to start having new thinking and new experiences as I pass through different stages of life. This seeing people at funerals thing wasn’t one that I had anticipated in advance, but it doesn’t surprise me. I know expect that I’ll be running into these new experiences and shifts regularly.

As someone nearly 30 years older than Renn, I am surprised at how few funerals I have attended of friends and my generation of family. That will change as (if) I continue to age, of course. As Renn comments to his readers:

I’ve always been one of the most peripherally attached members of all of my friend groups. But I’ve made a commitment to try my best to attend any funerals for people I’ve been connected to over the years. In a book he wrote long ago, Rudy Giuliani had a chapter called “Weddings Optional, Funerals Mandatory.” I’ve come to appreciate that in ways I didn’t when I was younger.

For my thoughts about funerals and burial practices, you can go here, here, and here.

2025 Faculty Openings at Campbell Law

2025-02-18T13:53:00.005-05:00

American law school hiring cycles begins earlier each year. For those interested in beginning a faculty position or moving to Raleigh as a lateral transfer, check out the link for applying for one of three open positions here.

A short description of the openings:

Campbell University School of Law seeks outstanding applicants for up to three, entry-level or lateral, full-time, tenured or tenure-track, faculty positions. We welcome candidates in all subject areas, with a particular interest in filling curricular needs in (1) Civil Procedure, (2) Contracts and Sales and (3) Torts. The positions are nine-month academic appointments that will begin in August 2025, at the rank of Assistant, Associate, or full Professor. Salary and rank will be commensurate with experience.

Note: as a former member of the Campbell FRC, I recommend that you follow precisely the instruction for applying.