Bible-Presbyterian churches (Singapore)

The Bible-Presbyterian Church ("BPC") was a conservative reformed denomination in Singapore.[1] It existed from 1955 to 1988. Since that time, Bible-Presbyterian ("B-P" or "BP") churches have continued to exist separately. The movement grew out of the Bible Presbyterian Church in the United States. As of 2009, there were 20,000 members in 32 B–P churches.[2]

Bible-Presbyterian Church
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationPresbyterian, Fundamentalist, Evangelical
Origin1955 (1955)
Singapore
Separated fromPresbyterian Church in Singapore and Malaysia
Defunct1988 (1988)
Congregations32
Members20,000

Roland Chia suggests that the BPC was noted for a belief in literal six-day creation and a preference for the King James Version ("KJV").[3]

History

The BPC was founded in 1955 by Timothy Tow. Tow had been influenced first by John Sung, and later by Carl McIntire. He was strongly opposed to liberal theology and ecumenism, and the de-facto link of the English service he founded in 1950 in a Chinese Presbyterian church in the Chinese Presbyterian Synod that was connected to the World Council of Churches ("WCC") in promoting modernist ecumenism in opposition to the International Council of Christian Churches ("ICCC"). A conflict ensued and the English Service pastored by Tow in Life Church (生命堂) or Say Mia Tng (Teochew dialect) at Prinsep Street (not to be confused with Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church) severed connections with the Synod in 1955 to form Life Bible-Presbyterian Church ("Life B–P Church," "Life BP Church" or "Life BPC").[4]

In 1988, after experiencing a period of significant dissension, the Synod of the BPC voted to dissolve itself.[5] According to Roland Chia, it was "mainly due to strong differences in interpreting the Doctrine of Biblical Separation, Fundamentalism, and Neo-Evangelicalism"[3]—as in the statement issued by the BPC on 30 October 1988 describing the dissolution.[6]

Divisions

Fundamentalist and Evangelical

The B-P churches are essentially divided into two factions. One group of churches subscribes to the fundamentalist stance of the founders; the other considers itself to be evangelical. This latter group of churches is denounced by the former to be "neo-evangelical" or "liberal", and are often called "the new B-Ps" because of a different interpretation on the doctrine of "Biblical Separation".[7] The evangelical branch of B-P churches embraces the fellowship of any church and seminary that professes evangelical Protestant Christianity and extends cooperation with para-church organizations like Campus Crusade for Christ International. Thus, many aspiring ministers prefer an evangelical seminary (such as Fuller Theological Seminary, Temple Baptist Seminary, Singapore Bible College, Trinity Theological College, Singapore or University of Nottingham) over the B-P's own seminary, Far Eastern Bible College ("FEBC"), which is fundamentalist.[8][9][10][11][12][13]

See also

References
  1. Ahn, Daniel S. H. (2015). "Changing Profiles: The Historical Development of Christianity in Singapore". Religious Transformation in Modern Asia: A Transnational Movement. Brill. p. 258. ISBN 9789004289710. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  2. Benedetto, Robert; McKim, Donald K. (2009). Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches. Scarecrow Press. p. 438. ISBN 9780810870239. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  3. Chia, Roland. "What led to formation of Bible-Presbyterian Church?". Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  4. Quek Suan Yew. "Our History". Calvary Pandan Bible-Presbyterian Church. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  5. Tow, Timothy (1995). The Singapore B–P Church Story (PDF). p. 216. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  6. "Three Earlier Crises in the Bible-Presbyterian Church That Affected the Far Eastern Bible College" (PDF). The Burning Bush. 18 (2): 78. July 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  7. "Three Earlier Crises in the Bible-Presbyterian Church That Affected the Far Eastern Bible College" (PDF). The Burning Bush, July 2012, Volume 18, Number 2, Pp. 81-82. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  8. "Three Earlier Crises in the Bible-Presbyterian Church That Affected the Far Eastern Bible College" (PDF). The Burning Bush, July 2012, Volume 18, Number 2, P. 84, David Wong, D.Min Degree, Fuller Theological Seminary. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  9. Jeffrey Khoo. "King James Onlyism: A Review Article" (PDF). The Burning Bush, January 2009, Volume 15, Number 1, P. 52, Yap Kim Sin, M.Div (Temple Baptist Seminary). Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  10. "Our Leaders, Yap Kim Sin, Senior Pastor, Zion-Serangoon B-P Church". zionserangoon.org.sg. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  11. "LCL03: Leadership Principles from 2 Timothy, Daniel Chua, Senior Pastor, Mt Carmel B-P Church, B.Th. (Malaysia Bible Seminary), M.Div. (SBC), D.Min (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)". Singapore Bible College. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  12. "Announcements, Session 2016 Nominations, Mt. Carmel B-P Church, Jabez Chia Ming Kong, B.Th. (Trinity Theological College); Johnny Tee Chow Meng, B.Th. (SBC), M.Th. in Missions (Trinity Theological College)". carmel.sg. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  13. "NT06: Decoding the Book of Revelation (Part II), Centre for Continuing Theological Education, Bernard Low, Ph.D (Nottingham, U.K.), Associate Pastor, Hebron B-P Church" (PDF). Singapore Bible College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
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