A selected compilation of Professor Donald MacLeod's statements, compared with the promises which he made and with Scripture. [Emphasis in bold is the compiler's.]
"[I]t was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (Jude 3)
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that I do sincerely own and believe the whole doctrine contained in the Confession of Faith, approven by General Assemblies of this Church to be the truths of God; and I do own the same as the confession of my faith; ...."
Donald Macleod promised to:
".... disown all Popish, Arian, Socian, Arminian, Erastian, and other doctrines, tenets, and opinions whatsoever, contrary to, and inconsistent with, the foresaid Doctrine of Faith."
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"The Bishop of Rome is our enemy. He regards our ministry as invalid, our doctrine as heretical, our church as schismatic and our attitude to himself as blasphemous."Therefore we pray for him: for his complete recovery, for his growth in grace and for his assurance of the love of God. May he emerge from his affliction a truly biblical bishop, his faith purified and his spirit contrite. May the many gifts God has given him be dedicated henceforth to the exclusive preaching of Christ crucified. And may he so live through faith that when the time comes for him to die he will go, not to purgatory as he expects, but to Christ in paradise: where he will, perhaps, lay his enmity aside and give us the right hand of fellowship." - The Monthly Record, June 1981.
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"[I do] not hold to the Free Church Article of Faith which describes the pope as the man of sin." - The Times, 26 June 1996 reporting on the Professor in court.
Donald Macleod (DM) broke his promise by stating:
"I think my criteria, especially in judging others, were over-intellectual. For example. at the ecumenical level, when I used to speak to you and your staff about those problems in the earlier days of my editorship of the Monthly Record, I would certainly have laid far too much emphasis on orthodoxy as the criteria for Christian union. I would have rejected the idea of close relations with any body which was theologically mixed, shall we say. There's quite some time since I abandoned that criterion, and I hold instead that what creates unity is the fact that we are all adopted into God's family and that means that all who experience the new birth are one with me in Christ. They may be Arminians, they may be Amyraldians, they may be Episcopalians, Roman Catholics - it doesn't matter what, their theology ....Ian MacKenzie (IM): You wouldn't yet go as far as to say that they were not Christians?
DM: Well, I hope I never went quite that far.
IM: Why do you hope that?
DM: I would feel guilty if at any point in my life I used a denominational label in a judgmental sense, and said 'Roman Catholic, and therefore not a Christian'." - Interview with Rev Ian M MacKenzie, BBC Radio Scotland, 30 June 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"[I]t is, I think, patently clear at the grassroots level that many lives have beentransformed by the inward power of Jesus. And what I have had to face and struggle with is that often that transformation bears little relation to orthodoxy - that sometimes the higher a person's orthodoxy the less the Christ-likeness, and sometimes too the more diluted the orthodoxy the more the Christ-likeness, and that really is a bit of an intellectual revolution and earthquake as far as I'm concerned. .... I expect that if you compare my pronouncements now with my opinions as expressed say twenty years ago, you would find them to be virtually incompatible with each other - in terms of my earlier emphasis on intellect and on the importance of orthodoxy." - Interview with Rev Ian M MacKenzie, BBC Radio Scotland, 30 June 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"I have discovered that there are people with very different beliefs who are also Christians. Now I believe nobility is much more important than religious dogma." Spiorad, 8 September 1996
The Westminster Confession states:
"There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God." - Chapter XXV - VI
The Bible says:
"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42)
The Bible says:
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:2-4)
The Bible says:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be may sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
The Bible says:
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Ephesians 5:11)
The Bible says:
"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." (2 John 9-11)
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I do own the purity of worship presently authorized and practised in the Free Church of Scotland .... which doctrine, [and] worship .... I am persuaded, are founded on the Word of God, and agreeable thereto; .... and I promise that I shall follow no divisive course from the doctrine, [and] worship .... of this Church."
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"I know what kind of church I dream of: one that lives in the gospels; one where individuals are more important than the institution, and love more important than theological propositions; one where the worship takes account of the incarnation [Christmas ???] and sings the name of Jesus [hymns]; one without membership lists from which power-crazy men can erase my name; one where as many decisions as possible are taken at local level ..." - West Highland Free Press, 5 July 1996"Whether we worship in Gaelic or English, sing psalms or hymns, sit or stand (or kneel), is not a matter for any central denominational body. It is a matter for local churches. Attempts to impose a Book of Common Order (the Church of Scotland way) or to exclude all spiritual songs except psalms (the Free Church way) are intolerable violations of our congregational liberties." - West Highland Free Press, 6 September 1996
The Westminster Confession states:
"But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy scripture." - Chapter XXI - I
The Westminster Confession states:
".... singing of psalms with grace in the heart .... to be used in an holy and religious manner." - Chapter XXI - V
The Subordinate Standards say:
"It is the duty of Christians to praise God publickly, by singing of psalms together in the congregation, and also privately in the family." - Directory for the Publick Worship of God - Of Singing of Psalms
The Subordinate Standards say:
"There is no day commanded in scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord's day, which is the Christian Sabbath. Festival-days, vulgarly called Holy-days, having no warrant in the word of God, are not to be continued." - Directory for the Publick Worship of God - Touching Days and Places for Publick Worship
The Bible says:
"See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." (Hebrews 8:5)
The Bible says:
"Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. .... What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." (Deuteronomy 12:8, 32)[See further Anarchy in Worship, by James Begg.]
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I do own .... also the Presbyterian government and discipline thereof, which .... Church Government, I am persuaded, are founded on the Word of God, and agreeable thereto; .... and to the utmost of my power shall, in my station, assert, maintain, and defend the said .... government of this church, and exclusive jurisdiction, and not endeavour, directly or indirectly, the prejudice or subversion of the same, and I promise that I shall follow no divisive course .... renouncing all doctrines, tenets, and opinions whatsoever, contrary to, or inconsistent with, the said doctrine, worship, discipline, government, or jurisdiction of the same."
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"The baggage of centuries, holy only in decrepitude, is obstructing the gospel. By the time we work out whether those working with us are sound, whether our tracts are orthodox, whether we have the blessing of the presbytery and why it is that we can't use music, those we are hoping to reach have passed on to another world. Stuff it! Call the Scottish Labour party, tell them you have the greatest message in the world and ask them how to get it across." - West Highland Free Press, 6 September 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"I may say it's incomers such as Mr Roberts who have changed the Free Church to a form our fathers would not recognise." - Press & Journal, 12 October 1996
The Bible says:
"Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set." (Proverbs 22:28)"Thus saith the LORD, Stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk in it, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it." (Jeremiah 6:16)
"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Romans 16:17-18)
"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle." (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I do own .... also the Presbyterian government .... "
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"They [the people] have the mind of Christ, and if decisions are to be taken banning them from hearing certain ministers, then they want to have some say in such decisions. they are increasingly frustrated by complicated procedures which nullify all their attempts to make their wishes known; and by the constant clerical insistence that everything must be left "to the courts of the church" (meeting in camera). The principle that the people choose their leaders and that these leaders are accountable to the people is an essential part of our birthright. .... Let all decisions be taken as close to the grass- roots as possible. Whether we worship in Gaelic or English, sing psalms or hymns, sit or stand (or kneel), is not a matter for any central denominational body. It is a matter for local churches. Attempts to impose a Book of Common Order (the Church of Scotland way) or to exclude all spiritual songs except psalms (the Free Church way) are intolerable violations of our congregational liberties." - West Highland Free Press, 6 September 1996The above statement promotes Congregationalism, not Presbyterianism.
[Compare with The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government, especially the sections relating to the officers of a particular congregation and their meetings (called "Congregational Assemblies", but consisting only of the ruling officers and such as whom they may call before them.]
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, .... and I promise that I shall follow no divisive course .... "
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"There is a manifest ideological split in the church, between authoritarianism and Christianity. I don't see in the other movement a brother ideology, I see a rival one. That's why there has got to be a confrontation and I have got to work out a creative way of confrontation." - The Guardian, 12 October 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"It will be hard to have public confidence, if the Commission does not accept our view. If you are forced out, take as many people with you as possible .... " - The Meeting in Perth, 7 October 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
".... Can you believe it? Concern is expressed that the clergy are behaving like Ayatollahs; and the clergy respond by behaving like Ayatollahs! ...." - West Highland Free Press, 3 May 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"I am now having to face that some of the most orthodox men I know [an oblique reference to those he claims are his opponents] are among the least Christ-like men that I know." - Interview with Rev Ian M MacKenzie, BBC Radio Scotland, 30 June 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"The Assistant Clerk of the General Assembly, Professor Cartwright, opposed me at every point. Last week, in his statement to the press, the Moderator of the General Assembly could scarcely conceal his disappointment over my acquittal. And there will always be the phenomenon Smith ...." - West Highland Free Press, 5 July 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"There exists among new intakes [at the Free Church College] a hardline proportion - about two-thirds - that were not there 25 years ago or even when I was training. What is the psychology behind youngsters wanting to enter professions like the ministry? These people are looking for control and power. When I was training, it seemed that the old men of the church were authoritarian and the young men open-minded. I think that has now turned around." - Sunday Times, 6 October 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"These men [the so-called 'conspirators'] were driven by their religion, not Christianity - the same as Islamic fundamentalism, but in the name of Christ. Religion can be an evil thing." - Sunday Times, 6 October 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"The Free Church is degenerating into a cult where control is exercised through fear. Its future is bleak." - Sunday Times, 6 October 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"Leave the justice system to the Fathers and Brethern (sic) of the Free Church: men who cannot travel from one paragraph to another without involving themselves in hopeless contradictions. .... People say they love the [Free] Church. They should know what they love. The lunatics have taken over the asylum and brought Christianity into utter disrepute. It remains only to be said that I shall never allow myself to be re- investigated by a Free Church committee; and that I categorically reject the idea there was no conspiracy. That conspiracy had its crowning triumph in Edinburgh on Wednesday night when the conspirators showed a level of organisation, coherence, ruthlessness and cunning which the goodness in the Church simply cannot match." - West Highland Free Press, 11 October 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"I may say it's incomers such as Mr Roberts who have changed the Free Church to a form our fathers would not recognise." - Press & Journal, 12 October 1996
The Bible says:
"Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." (Matthew 18:15-17)
The Bible says:
"He that hideth hatred has lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander is a fool" (Proverbs 10:18)
The Bible says:
"Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you; for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye." (Zechariah 2:7-8)
The Bible says:
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight." (Isaiah 5:20-21)
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I do own .... also the Presbyterian government and discipline thereof, .... and to the utmost of my power shall, in my station, assert, maintain, and defend the said doctrine, worship, discipline and government of this church, and exclusive jurisdiction, and not endeavour, directly or indirectly, the prejudice or subversion of the same, and I promise that I shall follow no divisive course .... renouncing all doctrines, tenets, and opinions whatsoever, contrary to, or inconsistent with, the said doctrine, worship, discipline, government, or jurisdiction of the same."
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"I find myself in a position where I can put it [the Free Church] on the rocks. People are also looking to me to steer it away from the rocks. I only have to say the word, and it will founder. That may sound vain, but I feel as if I am expected to save the Church single-handedly." - Spiorad, 8 September 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"I have to work out whether the Free Church is worth saving, and whether it can be saved. I have to work out whether I stay in it. As long as I do, and soak up the punishment, there will be no split, but if I crack there will be a split. It's going to come down to the theological judgments that I'm currently making." - The Guardian, 12 October 1996
The Bible says:
".... upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I do own .... also the Presbyterian government and discipline thereof .... "
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"It remains only to say that I shall never allow myself to be re-investigated by a Free Church committee;" - West Highland Free Press, 11 October 1996
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I shall follow no divisive course from the doctrine .... of this Church .... "
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"Why did He [God] ever create man? It was an enormous risk to give being to a creature who could make his own choices. That after all, is what man is: a creature who is not part of the chain of cause and effect, but is able, instead to make his own free, uncompelled and unpredictable decisions. Sometimes he chooses good, sometimes evil. The choice is his; and he always knows that he could have chosen differently .... " - West Highland Free Press, 22 March 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"The little ones at Dunblane were His children. Every bullet made God shudder. He couldn't look ...." - West Highland Free Press, 22 March 1996
The Westminster Confession states:
"Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will and to do that which is good and well pleasing to God; .... Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; .... All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ;" - Chapter IX & X.
The Westminster Confession states:
"Works done by unregenerate men, although, for the matter of them, they may be things which God commands, and of good use both to themselves and others; yet because they proceed not from an heart purified by faith; nor are done in a right manner according to the word; nor to a right end, the glory of God; they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God .... " - Chapter XVI - VII
The Bible says:
"The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born ...." - (Psalm 58:3)
The Bible says:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;" (Isaiah 64:6)
The Bible says:
"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;" (Ephesians 2:1)
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I shall follow no divisive course from the doctrine .... of this Church .... "
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"The Times portrays me as a hell-fire preacher, and my problem stems from not being a hell-fire preacher. I don't actually hold that hell is all that prominent in the Bible at all, in the New Testament least of all." - Interview with Rev Ian M MacKenzie, BBC Radio Scotland, 30 June 1996
The Westminster Confession states:
".... The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies; and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the scripture acknowledgeth none." - Chapter XXXII - I
The Bible says:
"Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou shalt be cut off." (Romans 11:22)
The Bible says:
"For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." (Acts 20:27)
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I shall follow no divisive course from the doctrine .... of this Church .... "
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"I tell myself, too, that God shares our anger and understands our pain. Once, when He saw the violence on earth, He said He was sorry He had ever made man. Did He groan again last week ...." - West Highland Free Press, 22 March 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"During the last few weeks morale in heaven has been severely shaken .... In the meantime, sources close to God report that He has decided this is not the time to speak. Rumour has it that He is rather bemused. All He appears to have said so far is that He thought it was He who had the vote." - West Highland Free Press, 28 June 1996
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"When one preached the love of God and one preached divine passibility - the fact that God himself shares our pain - I can't preach that dispassionately. I preach it emotionally. But it is intellectually valid as well as emotionally impactful. .... One of the platforms of my theology, in fact, is the doctrine of divine passibility derived from the experience of pain that God has gone through in Jesus." - Interview with Rev Ian M MacKenzie, BBC Radio Scotland, 30 June 1996
The Westminster Confession states:
"There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, ...." - Chapter II.
The Bible says:
"And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. .... Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them;" (Acts 14:11, 14-15)
Donald Macleod promised:
"I, Donald Macleod, do hereby declare, that .... I shall follow no divisive course from the doctrine .... of this Church .... "
Donald Macleod broke his promise by stating:
"In this new dispensation, all the Lord's people are prophets, and the clergy had better believe it." - West Highland Free Press, 6 September 1996
The Subordinate Standards state:
"The officers which Christ hath appointed for the edification of his church, and the perfecting of the saints, are, some extraordinary, as apostles, evangelists, and prophets, which are ceased. Others ordinary and perpetual, as pastors, teachers, and other church-governors, and deacons." - The Form of Church-Government
The Bible says:
"And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?" (1 Corinthians 12:28-29)
The Bible says:
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" (Ephesians 4:11-12)
The Larger Catechism states:
"The sins forbidden in the third commandment are .... violating of our oaths and vows, if lawful ...." - Q113
The Bible says:
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." (Psalm 24:4-5)
The Bible says:
"Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore thus saith the LORD GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head." (Ezekiel 18:18-19)
The Bible says:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits."
The fruit of Professor Macleod's activities is clearly division within the Free Church of Scotland.
The Bible says:
".... mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." (Romans 16:17)
The Bible says:
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3)
Donald Macleod comments on his own life:
"I have wasted my life and I feel that is a defensible position. I have wasted my life. .... I would have been better to devote my life to serving the Highlands, in a broader sense. Let's leave it at that." - Spiorad, 8 September 1996
Donald Macleod comments on his own life:
" - but here I am, with my life running into the sand and you are at an age when there is no possibility of recovery. In another life I might have done something useful." - The Guardian, 11 October 1996
The Bible says:
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
The Bible says:
".... son Timothy, .... war a good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck." (1 Timothy 1:18-19)