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Originally Posted by Stephen  Quote:
Originally Posted by greenbaggins Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen Thank you, Andy for this helpful information. I have been greatly concerned about the direction of WTS Philadelphia for sometime, but have not followed the recent events. I assume you are referring to GreenBaggins blog. I am quite disturbed by the attitude of Dr. Logan. The seminary started declinning when Shepherd was teaching his heresies back in the 1970's. Mark Karlberg, a WTS-Philadelphia graduate, wrote an excellent booklet entitled The Changing of the Guard in 2001. It is quite disturbing to read because he states that Richard Gaffin was influential in promoting much of the new teaching at WTS. He did (I assume he still does) followed Sheperd in affirming that sinners are justified by faith and non-meritorious works. I wonder if some of the current problem is not related to some of the Federal Vision rubbish. It is something that should grieve our hearts. Please keep us informed on these matters. | If Gaffin ever did teach that, he teaches it no longer. He was on the OPC study committee that produced its report, and he was fully in favor of it (which garnered him quite a bit of flack from the FV guys, I can tell you). Gaffin is orthodox. Karlberg's book is a bit overboard in his criticisms. | Karlberg was not the first person to raise this issue and he does make some valid points. Robert Reymond and Palmer Robertson both signed a document that Gaffin criticized. This was about the time that Dr. Sinclair Ferguson was still teaching there. He later resigned from the seminary. |
Yes, Gaffin has done some things which he would not do now (as he himself told me on the phone). That doesn't mean that he is continuing to teach problematic doctrine. Indeed, it can be argued that Gaffin never taught problematic doctrine himself, and that, had he known the trajectory of Shepherd's thought, he would never have supported him. Gaffin, you must understand, is a polite scholar. Shepherd was his friend. But Gaffin no longer defends Shepherd.