December 2025 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. The virgin birth is the first miracle of the New Testament. When Thomas Jefferson sought to extricate all mention of the supernatural from the Bible, he ended up with a very small book. The goal of The Jefferson Bible (ca. 1820) was an impossible task because the entire point of the Bible is to reveal the supernatural triune God who created all things, controls history, and sent his Son to save his people from sin and death. The virgin birth is a direct challenge to the instrumental materialism of modernity, which the biblical scholars of J. Gresham Machen’s day adopted, as if to continue Jefferson’s project. But because the Spirit of the risen Christ is enlightening the minds of the elect, unbelieving propaganda cannot stop our Savior from building his kingdom, the church.

Justin McLendon and Darryl Hart reflect on Machen’s masterpiece. McLendon’s “A Confessional Certainty: Machen’s Defense of the Virgin Birth in a Shifting World” and Hart’s review article, “Machen’s Best Book: The Virgin Birth of Christ,” explore the genius of Machen’s believing scholarship.

The many forces of our technological society have grossly underestimated the superiority of human intelligence and the importance of personal presence. In light of the burgeoning commercial and personal presence of AI, I have been exploring this topic in “Going Peopleless Underestimates the Unique Superiority of Human Intelligence.” In March I gave a brief introduction to artificial intelligence with a brief history and a comparison with human intelligence. In April I considered the unique superiority of human intelligence and personal presence, exploring what King David meant when he declared that he was “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). Now in part 3 I will conclude with the application of parts 1 and 2 in terms of benefits and liabilities.

Danny Olinger continues the series “Jesus, Stab Me in the Heart! Flannery O’Connor at 100” with an analysis of the O’Connor novel, “Wise Blood, Part 2”. Each month Olinger has been reflecting on a sample of O’Connor’s fiction (I recommend O’Connor: Collected Works, The Library of America, 1988). This concludes this insightful look at O’Connor’s unique contribution to American fiction.

Order in the Offices, a homegrown publication edited by Pastor Mark Brown, was reviewed by Sherman Isbell in 1995 in Ordained Servant (October). The new expanded second edition was published by Reformed Forum last year. Now in hardcover, an excellent article by Dr. Alan Strange has been added. Pastor Brad Isbell reviews the book from a two-office perspective: “Order in the Offices from a Two-office Perspective.” Pastor Archibald Allison reviews the book from a three-office perspective: “Historic Presbyterian Polity.”

Notice in our archives three important articles. Former editor of Ordained Servant G. I. Williamson changed his mind on this issue: “The Two- and Three-Office Issue Reconsidered” (January 2003). Mark Brown, the editor of Order in the Offices, in January 1995 wrote “Why I Came to a Three‑Office View.” Also, in January 2003, General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education Larry Wilson published “A Reader Asks: ‘Was it Appropriate for New Horizons to Advocate the Three-Office View?’” Guess which position I hold. But this is the place for cordial brotherly discussions on topics on which we disagree.

Andrew Miller reviews a fascinating new book of biblical theology, Figuring Resurrection: Joseph as a Death and Resurrection Figure in the Old Testament and Second Temple Judaism, by Jeffrey Pulse. Miller demonstrates its strengths and weaknesses in an informational review.

Finally, our poem is by Christina Rossetti. She is the famous Pre-Raphaelite author of “None Other Lamb” and “In the Bleak Midwinter.” Her clear commitment to historic Christianity and her lyrical gifts have given us a poetic treasure unique in the Romantic era.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “CHURCH OFFICE”
https://opc.org/OS/pdf/Subject_Index.pdf

• “A Charge to New Church Officers.” (Stephen Doe) 9:2 (Apr. 2000): 43–44.
• “Democracy and the Denigration of Office.” (Gregory E. Reynolds) 30 (2021): 9–20.
• “Do the Minister and the Elder Hold the Same Office?” (Alan D. Strange) 22 (2013): 24-31.
• “How Many Offices Are There? Practical Concerns.” (Larry E. Wilson) 1:2 (Apr. 1992): 38.
• “The Idea of Office.” (Gregory E. Reynolds) 30 (2021): 130–32.
• “A Look at the Biblical Offices.” (G. I. Williamson) 1:2 (Apr. 1992): 30–37.
• “Ministry of the Word According to the Westminster Standards.” (Larry Wilson) 12:1 (Jan. 2003): 11–16.
• “A Reader Asks: ‘Was It Appropriate for New Horizons to Advocate the Three-Office View?’” (Larry Wilson) 12:1 (Jan. 2003): 1–4.
• “The Two- and Three-Office Issue Reconsidered.” (G. I. Williamson) 12:1 (Jan. 2003): 5–6.
• “Why I Came to a Three‑Office View.” (Mark R. Brown) 4:1 (Jan. 1995): 17–19.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews, we will endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.