Based upon my observations, there are various significant differences between the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (FPCS - http://www.fpchurch.org.uk/). Here are just some characteristics of the OPC I have noted, that are different from the FPCS and that are un-Biblical:
- The OPC does not have as its
confessional standards the real Westminster Standards, but their own revised
version of it.
- One area where they have revised relates to the doctrine of the civil
magistrate (They reject the Establishment Principle.)
- Another area where they have revised relates to observance of 'holy days'
like Christ-mass. They allow them.
- There are other revisions they have made to the confessional standards.
- They allow musical instruments and uninspired hymnody in the public worship,
contra the Westminster Standards.
-
In general they are often very loose on the regulative principle of
worship in other areas as well, such as incorporating drama, choirs, etc.
- They do not require full subscription to their confessional standards (in
contrast to the FPCS), even of their officers. That means their church
officers can and do take all sorts of exceptions.
- They tolerate ministers (like OPC minister Mr. Thomas Trouwborst) who hold to the federal vision heresy.
- The OPC is much looser in its
observance of the Sabbath.
- Many OPC leaders reject 6 day creation, in favor of erroneous views such as the Framework Hypothesis. This in turn has ramifications on issues such as the Sabbath and the authority of God’s word.
- The OPC by and large rejects the received text and the
providential preservation of God’s infallible word, which in turn undermines
the doctrine of sola scriptura.
- The OPC by and large rejects historicism and the identification of the Papacy with the Man of Sin.
It should be noted that these differences with the OPC would
also generally be the case with the PCA (Presbyterian Church in