In
Philadelphia on September 25, 1929, J. Gresham Machen declared the following in his inaugural address: "We believe, first, that the Christian religion, as set forth in the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church, is true; we believe, second, that the Christian religion welcomes and is capable of scholarly defense; and we believe, third, that the Christian religion should be proclaimed without fear or favor, and in clear opposition to whatever opposes it, whether from within or without the church, as the only way of salvation for lost mankind. On that platform, brethren, we stand. Pray that we may be enabled by God’s grace to stand firm. Pray that the students who go forth from Westminster Theological Seminary may know Christ as their own Savior and may proclaim to others the gospel of his love." The current board and faculty continue to hold to this original vision. All trustees and faculty members are required to affirm their agreement with the theological perspective presented in the
Westminster Confession of Faith and the
Larger and
Shorter Catechisms, the core doctrinal statements of many
Presbyterian denominations. Westminster's strict adherence to the
Westminster Standards and to Protestant theology in general has led to several dismissals of tenured faculty members since 1980. In 1981, theology professor
Norman Shepherd was dismissed from Westminster due to his views on
the doctrine of justification by faith alone. In 2008, Old Testament professor
Peter Enns was dismissed from Westminster over controversial views expressed in his book
Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament, and in 2014 Old Testament professor Douglas Green was terminated from his position over his views on the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the early 1990s,
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools threatened Westminster's accreditation because of the seminary's refusal to give women membership on its board of trustees. The accrediting body backed down after the
United States Department of Education took the seminary's side in the dispute. ==Accreditation==