Christian Liberty at Westminster Seminary

"Another issue, quite irrelevant to the whole question and which obscured the real basic differences of doctrine, was the subject of Christian liberty, particularly concerning the drinking of fermented beverages, and the discussion of the so-called separated life, which sets up certain man-made standards apart from the Bible and judges a Christian's spirituality by his conformity to these norms.

Professor Allan A. MacRae, Ph.D., assistant professor in charge of the department of Old Testament at the seminary, sympathized strongly with these criticisms and sent in his resignation to the board of trustees, in which he stated that the teaching at Westminster Seminary was now directed against fundamentalism and premillennialism instead of modernism, that the faculty vigorously defended the use of fermented beverages, that the students were being taught to accept views in opposition “to the great stream of Reformed, Evangelical Christianity in this country,”15 and that the seminary had “passed into the hands of a small alien group.” . .

The unwarranted attack by Dr. MacRae brought a quick response from the faculty and the students of Westminster Seminary, both of whom denied the allegations of intemperance at the institution . . .

"The Seminary recognizes to the full the tremendous evils of intemperance. Its only concern is to proclaim the teaching of the Bible on this, as on all other questions. The Biblical teaching against intemperance is very emphatic but the Bible does not permit of a teaching which would make our Lord's example sinful." (Signed) R. B. Kuiper, Chairman of the Faculty, Westminster Theological Seminary.

"We hope that no one will be misled by the assertion that “practically every member of the faculty has entered upon a vigorous defense of an asserted right to use intoxicating liquors—a defense occasioned by the fact that certain faculty members themselves use intoxicants.” We as students can honestly assert that the faculty has neither taught nor practised anything out of accord with the historic Presbyterian position as based on the Word of God."

—Edwin Rian, 'The Presbyterian Conflict'