Implications of the Framework View

[Notthemama1984]

In the thread about Theistic Evolution one pointed out that each presbytery should look into how a Framework view of creation affects other doctrines (or something to that affect).

This got me thinking. How are other doctrines affected if one holds to Framework?

 

[MW]

How are other doctrines affected if one holds to Framework?

It depends on the extent to which literary features are permitted to negate historical details and create a supra-historical theology. For example, a person who regards Genesis 1:1-2:4a as a literary device and rejects the belief that it is a chronological account might yet maintain the morality of the Sabbath, but he will not be able to establish that as an historical ordinance grounded in the work of creation itself. If he is a Presbyterian he might feel confident he has explained away the Confessional expression, "in the space of six days," but he will not be able to assert with the Confession that the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ. He might in fact maintain every doctrine which is taught in the Confession but he undermines the space-time relevance of those doctrines. The fact is, Christian doctrine is established on the basis of God's actions in history. That is what makes the Christian faith an ever present and ever relevant power in the life of God's people.

 

[littlepeople]

I just read Kline's "Because It Had Not Rained." If I am reading him correctly then the framework view conflicts with WCF chap IV: II. "After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female....."

Here's the logic: Framework view holds Genesis 2:5 as a historical account (over and against Genesis 1), proving that "divine providence was the same during the creation era as that of ordinary providence now."

Gen 2:5 "Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground."

For the framework view to be consistent, man must be created prior to vegetation-hence WCF IV:II must be excepted.

I am only now exploring this terrain, and I am trying to start with the older material first working my way to contemporary writings. So perhaps the framework viewers have worked out a way around WCF IV: II by now.