According to Adrienne Clarkson, the Westminster Confession is “a stern and uncompromising document.” That sounds a bit harsh. Is she correct? Is that how others see one of the subordinate standards of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and if so, what should we be doing about it?
The former Governor General makes this claim about the Confession’s rigidity in her recent biography of Norman Bethune in the Extraordinary Canadians series edited by her husband, John Ralston Saul. Bethune is the celebrated Canadian eulogized by Mao Zedong for his selflessness and courage. As every Chinese student has been taught for decades, Bethune was the Canadian doctor who joined in the liberation of China and died from an infection caught from a dirty scalpel that nicked him while performing surgery. In Canada he is not as well known.
Clarkson discusses in great detail Bethune’s upbringing. She writes, “In our secular age, the fact that someone was the son of a Presbyterian minister may seem to be a mere detail—such as hair colour, or height, or an aptitude for a particular sport. But, in fact, religion was an overwhelming consideration in the Canada in which Norman Bethune was born.” The Presbyterian upbringing is not always presented in a favourable light in Clarkson’s biography, particularly the influence of the Westminster Confession, which “makes clear the two important tenets for which the church was known—predestination and the reality of hell.”
Clarkson muses, “One can only imagine the effect that this … would have had on a young child.” Presumably, as she expands and suggests on a number of occasions throughout the book, the effect was clearly negative.
Maybe we were known for an emphasis, or an overemphasis, on determinism and hell. However, were there not other, more positive aspects that influenced Bethune from his Presbyterian roots?
Admittedly, the biography, which incidentally is very fine, tells of the missionary zeal for China that was strong in the days of Bethune’s youth. He would have heard the calls for the “evangelization of the world in this generation,” and China was the goal. Clarkson says, “Some say that by doing what he did, ironically Bethune became Canada’s greatest missionary, because his help to the Chinese in two critical years was an example of selflessness and determination to put others first.” Bethune did not go to China as a missionary agent of the Presbyterian Church. In fact, Clarkson makes clear that he had a fractured relationship with his father and his father’s church. Bethune struggled with matters of faith and resisted any notion that he was part of the “elect.”
And yet, could it be argued that Bethune’s Westminster – Confession – enriched Presbyterian upbringing prepared him for a life of selfless service, whether with the urban poor in Montreal, in Spain or in China? Even if one does not agree with his communist leanings, he certainly was generous to those less fortunate. The 122nd question of the Shorter Catechism speaks of duty to others: “… to love our neighbour as ourselves, and to do to others: What we would have them to do to us.” Certainly, Bethune did that.
And besides, were there not other aspects of the Confession that influenced Bethune? Can we assume that only the parts that talk about hell and predestination caught his attention? Undoubtedly he would have memorized the first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Along with every other child in Sabbath school he would have had “what is the chief end of man?” drilled in to him and would have immediately known the response, “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
If Clarkson had wanted, she could have found ample means to demonstrate how this may have influenced Bethune. For example, there is his love of art. Bethune was quite an artist; he even established the Montreal Children’s Creative Art Centre in his own apartment at Beaver Hall square, “where he offered classes three afternoons a week and on Saturday mornings.” As a surgeon, he considered himself more of an artist than a technician, pioneering new techniques and patenting innovative surgical equipment. In his own way, could we assume Bethune was attempting to bring glory to God? Was he enjoying God in his attempts to be creative like his Creator? Surely, “Enjoying God” would have been one of the first things Bethune memorized in Sabbath school, long before getting to the bits about fearing God and the doctrine of hell.
To be sure, Clarkson does not portray Bethune as a saint or even as a paragon of Presbyterian piety. In fact, her Bethune is quite the opposite. He staunchly rejected his childhood religious affiliation, though it no doubt influenced the man he would become. Perhaps he, like Clarkson, saw the church of his parents and the Westminster Confession as “stern and uncompromising.” I suspect that many others, in a similar manner, have turned their back on the church and its historical subordinate standard in our day. If so, what should we be doing about it?
Let me suggest two things. First, we need to positively state the teachings of the Confession in ways that are relevant and understandable for our day. When we focus on the positive statement such as “Worship the Lord your God,” (Chapter 21) and not on the negative statement of “Thou shalt not bow down to any graven image,” we create a mindset of “Yes, I can do this,” rather than “No, I cannot.” Something this simple can go a long way in helping others want to do what God commands.
Second, let’s assume for a moment that the Confession is stern and uncompromising. It does, after all, contain some very strong statements that those outside the church, and even many within the church today, might find difficult to understand or accept. If that is the case, we must be careful to ensure that we as Presbyterians are not “stern and uncompromising,” except on key principles. Nothing turns people off faster.
Speaking of the doctrine of predestination, the Confession states that since it is a “high mystery” it is “to be handled with special prudence and care.” Perhaps the church of Bethune’s youth missed this caveat. They may have missed, also, Chapter 11 dealing with “Free Will” and Chapter 20 giving instruction on “Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience.” Tact may be as important as ‘correct’ theology in terms of growing the church today.
We can’t do much about the Presbyterians in Bethune’s day. Likely, Clarkson’s characterization of them is correct. One wonders what her assessment of the PCC today might be.
Other Presbyterians included in the Extraordinary Canadians series, edited by John Ralston Saul (Penguin Books):
Lord Beaverbrook (son of a Presbyterian minister), by David Adams Richards;
Emily Carr (daughter of a devout Presbyterian father), by Lewis Desoto;
Tommy Douglas (met his wife at a Presbyterian church while a student minister), by Vincent Lam
Lucy Maud Montgomery (wife of a Presbyterian minister), by Jane Urquhart.
