Dr. Eric Mason and the Council of Philadelphia

In Episode #56, ‘Reservations Regarding ‘Lead’ by Paul David Tripp,’ I laid out my concerns with what Tripp was and was not saying in his book regarding leadership in Christ’s Church. 

Among the things I highlighted was a concern about the emphasis placed on eliminating “sexism.” 

My trepidation here should not be mistaken for a defense of sexism. But as anyone who studies the news cycle knows, particularly where politics is concerned, accusations of “sexism” these days more often than not are leveled at anyone who merely disagrees with, criticizes, or contradicts a woman when she’s advancing liberal or Leftist causes.

The same goes for accusations of “racism” and people of color. 

Sexism and racism are actual things we ought not to embrace. But the Devil is in the details of when, how, and why. And if denunciations of “sexism” are too broad and general and stressed through repetition, theological liberals in America will seize on them as grounds for insisting on the ordination of women as overseers and deacons, in direct contradiction to God’s Word.

The Internet Research Rabbit Hole

Some of the feedback I’ve recently got on Episode #56 led me to dig deeper and see if there was anything to confirm or refute the deductive reasoning I employed in that episode regarding Tripp’s personal views on this subject. And being home on quarantine the past week-and-a-half has given me ample time to research.

As I share here the results of my researches, it should be noted clearly that I have found nothing yet which states one way or the other Tripp’s position on the ordination of women as overseers and deacons, whether he is supportive or opposed to it. 

However, in my searching, I would draw your attention to something I found regarding the man Tripp identifies as his own pastor, Dr. Eric Mason of Epiphany Fellowship Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

More specifically, consider the curious case of a Twitter back-and-forth from 2018 in which Dr. Mason publicly called for a Council of Philadelphia to, and I quote,

“…call those who are heretics on this stuff heretics and make a move to clear the air of these false doctrines on race [and] justice like the church of antiquity.”

“300 Key Men and Women Pastors”

Strident Woke fundamentalism regarding racial issues and social justice aside, Dr. Mason let slip something else I want to draw your attention to in that same Twitter stream from 2018.

“We need a modern day ecumenical council on race [and] justice! We need canons and synods and creeds on this! Come to Philly and we can call it the Council of Philadelphia! Limit it to 300 key men and women pastors and scholarly secretaries. Rebuke the heretics [and] affirm the sound.”

(emphasis added)

Reading down through the other comments, several respondents caught what I did, and seized on Mason including women pastors in his invitation. Some asked him if he had missed a comma, while others insisted as much. However, as far as I was able to see, Mason never clarified what he meant in this regard.

Whether Paul David Tripp’s pastor is being misunderstood here is somewhat beside the point to my chief concern with Tripp, Mason, and the whole Woke Church crowd.

From this exchange and many others from leading Evangelicals in recent years, it becomes clear this whole Woke business is regarded as a primary issue to the Woke Church, and not a secondary one on which we can disagree.

But then there is the definite possibility that Mason subscribes to theological liberalism with the ordination of women just like he subscribes to theological liberalism with regards to racial issues. And that should not shock us, if the underlying attitude and presuppositions might reasonably lead to a certain set of conclusions on both the one and the other.

It seems all the more that my initial concerns and suspicions were justified.

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