Administrative & Substantial

The most eagerly anticipated item on the docket of the 83rd General Assembly of the OPC was the report of a special committee to study republication. “Republication” is the suggestion that, in some sense, the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai (Exodus) repeats the conditions of the covenant God made with Adam in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2). (Yes, OPC officers tend to have their attention piqued by somewhat unusual things.) 

As the attentive reader might guess, everything hangs on that “in some sense.” Through a close reading of Westminster Confession of Faith 7.5-6, the committee suggested that various views on the matter be classified as either “substantial” or “administrative.” “Substantial” would mean that the Sinaitic covenant, in its essential terms, promised reward in return for obedience. (Usually, Israel holding on to the Promised Land of Canaan as reward for keeping the Mosaic Law in its fullness.) “Administrative” would mean that the Sinaitic covenant had elements which illustrate and point back to the Covenant of Works with Adam while simultaneously pointing forward to Jesus Christ’s work which fulfilled the Covenant of Works, but for that very reason is, in its essential term, an administration of the Covenant of Grace by which God’s people are saved from their sins.

As a long-time student of covenant theology, I find these categories helpful for classifying the various views propounded on the subject of republication. However, they are relatively new, and so will have to be widely taught before they can be relied upon as a tool when preparing candidates for ministry. This suspicion of mine was confirmed when I heard the same from a more senior and august member of the Assembly than I at the supper break.

I recommend the report, although some basic familiarity with the republication “discussion” and, more importantly, the Confessional doctrine of the covenants will help. Also, an ability to wade through novel and creatively hyphenated theological terminology.