Bible-Presbyterian churches (Singapore)


The Bible-Presbyterian Church was a conservative reformed denomination in Singapore. It existed from 1955 to 1988. Since that time, Bible-Presbyterian churches have continued to exist separately. The movement grew out of the Bible Presbyterian Church in the United States., there were 20,000 members in 32 B–P churches.
Roland Chia suggests that the BPC was noted for a belief in literal six-day creation and a preference for the King James Version.

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 in promoting modernist ecumenism in opposition to the International Council of Christian Churches. A conflict ensued and the English Service pastored by Tow in Life Church or Say Mia Tng at Prinsep Street severed connections with the Synod in 1955 to form Life Bible-Presbyterian Church.
In 1988, after experiencing a period of significant dissension, the Synod of the BPC voted to dissolve itself. According to Roland Chia, it was "mainly due to strong differences in interpreting the Doctrine of Biblical Separation, Fundamentalism, and Neo-Evangelicalism"—as in the statement issued by the BPC on 30 October 1988 describing the dissolution.

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". 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 over the B-P's own seminary, Far Eastern Bible College, which is fundamentalist.