Pr Joshua Yong

Hebrews 13:7-9

Hebrews 13:7 – “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.”

As we have recently remembered the 16^th Century Protestant Reformation, it is appropriate that we also remember the roots of the B-P Movement. Whenever we look back in history, we should always look in light of the providential hand of God and see the people whom God used and how God works His mighty work according to His own timing and His will.

Today, the B-P heritage has come under attack. In 2019, a group of seven Singapore B-P churches – Emmanuel, Herald, Mount Carmel, Mount Hermon, Shalom, Zion Serangoon and Zion Bishan – registered themselves under a new B-P Synod. This group of B-P Churches was at the heart of the controversy that led to the dissolution of the B-P Synod in 1988. Today, this group has expanded to include three other B-P Churches – Grace, Hebron and Mount Gerizim.  In 2018 this same group of churches also published a book called Heritage and Legacy of the Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore. In their book, these B-P churches tried to retell the story of the B-P Movement. But these churches have departed from the historic faith as revealed in God’s Word; these churches have associated themselves with ecumenism, charismatism, and modernism.

Because of such errors and falling away, it is therefore vital to remember our B-P roots. We are Bible-Presbyterians not because of the name – it is not the name that we are defending and remembering, but the Word of God and the Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this first part, we shall consider the first four roots which trace the B-P Movement's history before it arrived in Singapore.

The First Root: The French Root

Rev Timothy Tow wrote regarding the first root: “The Bible-Presbyterian Church of Singapore is first of all a Protestant Church. That brings us back immediately to the 16th Century Reformation when our spiritual forefathers broke the shackles of Rome to return to the apostolic faith; to the faith of an open Bible, liberated from all erroneous and tyrannical traditions of a man-made system.” (Timothy Tow, The Singapore B-P Church Story, 9-10). The first root is called the French root because it was traced back to John Calvin who was French.

John Calvin was the one who wrote and explained Reformed Theology in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. The B-P Church is “reformed” in its theology. This means that we hold on to the “Five Solas” of the Reformation - (1) Sola Gratia, (2) Sola Fide, (3) Solus Christus, (4) Sola Scriptura, (5) Soli Deo Gloria. The Lord used the Protestant Reformation to allow God’s people to rediscover the doctrine of justification by grace through faith in Christ alone. It was also through the work of the Reformation that the Bible was translated into the common language of God’s people, so that it can be read and obeyed.

We are also Reformed because we hold on to Covenant Theology and the Five Points of Calvinism. The five points of Calvinism can be summarized by the acronym T.U.L.I.P. These five points are: (1) Total Depravity, (2) Unconditional Election, (3) Limited Atonement, (4) Irresistible Grace, (5) Perseverance of the Saints.

The Second Root: The English Root

The root of the Bible-Presbyterian Movement in Singapore was also traced back to the English Presbyterian Mission that sent missionaries to China in the early 1900s. Rev Timothy Tow’s father received his training and earned his license to practice medicine from a hospital established by the English Presbyterian Mission in Swatow. When the Tow family migrated to Malaya and Singapore, Rev Timothy Tow’s grandfather became an evangelist and pastor of the English Presbyterian Church in Serangoon.

The English Presbyterians taught us the vital lesson of Biblical Separation. The Presbyterian Church during the time of the Puritans was a separatist church. These Puritans refused to conform to the Church of England because they found the Anglican Church to be not reformed enough; consequently, they separated themselves from the Church of England.

From the English Presbyterians, we also learn about the Presbyterian form of church government. This is a Biblical system of church governance where a plurality of elders governs the church. This is in contrast to the episcopalian form of church government (ruled by one man) and the congregational form of Church government (ruled by all). The Presbyterian form of church governance is the form of governance taught to us in Acts 15.

The Third and Fourth Root: The Scottish and German Roots

Closely related to the English root is the Scottish root. In 1856, the English Presbyterian Church sent the Scottish missionary William Chalmers Burns to China. Burns visited Swatow and founded Swatow Presbyterian Church. It was through this ministry that the maternal great-grandfather of Rev Tow, Tan Khai Lin, was converted. Tan Khai Lin was later ordained and appointed as the pastor of Iam Tsau church, founded by Rudolph Lechler, which leads us to the fourth root, the German root.

In 1849, Lechler, a German of the Basel Missionary Society, visited the village in Iam Tsau and founded a church there, which Tan Khai Lin later pastored. Some of the Christians from Swatow and Iam Tsau migrated to Singapore and Malaya. The English Presbyterian Mission continued to minister to the Christians in Singapore and Malaya. John Cook was sent to Singapore, thereafter the Life Church on Prinsep Street was founded.

It was through these two roots that the Gospel was brought to the people in China and then to Singapore. We learned of the importance of Biblical missions through the examples of these roots.

When we look back at the history of the Singapore B-P Movement, we see the providential hand of God working in history so that His Church might be planted in Singapore. At the same time, we are reminded of the Biblical heritage of the B-P Movement. Indeed the Lord has raised and established His work here for a time such as this.