Erskine President Dr. John Carson

It all started with a book.

Erskine College and Seminary President Dr. John L. Carson opened a bicentennial celebration of the Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Monday with a history of the denomination’s secession from the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, led by brothers Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine, for whom the Due West school is named.

Carson, a former professor at Erskine Theological Seminary, lectured ARP pastors and other denomination leaders, citing a book written in the 1600s called “The Marrow of Modern Divinity.” Based on the book, Thomas Boston, Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine and other church fathers advocated the doctrine of the free offer of the gospel from the reformed position.

The Erskines and their followers were called “Marrowmen,” Carson said, and he outlined three examples of how the future seceders were “contending for the gospel” in the days leading up to secession.

Secession would eventually happen in 1733. The new denomination would take hold in America, and a century later a seminary and college were founded in Due West bearing the Erskine name.

Carson finished his address to the pastors and church leaders by outlining how the denomination’s fathers also struggled with what Carson called “quarrelling about words.”

Carson quoted both Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine before concluding that “principles and profession without performance are insufficient.”

Carson fielded questions from the crowd before leaving the podium, providing more information on ARP history.

Synod meetings began Sunday night and will conclude Thursday. The lectures on denominational history precede the business portion of the Synod meeting. Synod also includes women's programs and events for children and youth.

Carson, the 13th president of Erskine, is a former ARP moderator and pastor who was instrumental in bringing the Synod meetings to the Erskine campus this year.
Carson served from 1994-98 as pastor of First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, N.C, before accepting the Erskine presidency.

A native of Gastonia, N.C., Carson served as Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Erskine Seminary from 1985-94. He was an E.B. Kennedy Scholar and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Erskine in 1967, and in the same year married Sarah Ellen Patrick, also an E.B. Kennedy Scholar and 1967 graduate of Erskine.

A graduate of Ashley High School in Gastonia, Carson returned there as a teacher and coach following his graduation from Erskine College. In 1970 he began studies at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., where he received the Master of Divinity degree in 1973.

Following his ordination by the First Presbytery (North Carolina) of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian General Synod in 1973, Carson's first pastorate was Ebenezer Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, N.C., where he served for 10 years.

Carson earned his doctoral degree at Aberdeen University in Scotland in 1988, where he had studied from 1983-85. He then began teaching historical theology, systematic theology, and ethics at Erskine Seminary.

He has served on various boards and committees of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. He was Vice Moderator of General Synod in 1982, Moderator in 1989, Chairman of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council in 1991, and Program Chairman for the Westminster Assembly 350th Commemoration in 1993.

A member of the Evangelical Theological Society, he is co-editor of To Glorify and Enjoy God, published in 1994.