On Monday, June 18, the Overtures Committee wrestled with an appropriate response to the recent arguments in favor of theistic evolution. Both the Rocky Mountain and Savannah River presbyteries submitted overtures rejecting all evolutionary views of the origin of Adam and Eve.
Concurrently, Potomac Presbytery submitted a motion (Overture 26) to view those overtures as in thesi (pertaining to a particular topic at a particular point in time). The issue, according to the Potomac overture, is sufficiently covered in the Westminster Larger Catechism Question 17.
Overture 26 also cited three previous arguments (at the 10th, 22nd, and 30th General Assemblies) as precedent for removing the issue of Adam and Eve’s origin as a matter requiring judicial deliberation and/or constitutional revision.
The Overtures Committee, “…while not wishing to diminish the importance of engaging the current controversies regarding the historicity of Adam and Eve, believes that what is most called for is not a new deliverance from this Assembly, but rather a clear and uncompromising appeal to the Scriptures (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-22) and the Westminster Standards (Westminster Confession of Faith 4:2; Westminster Larger Catechism 17).”
For more information, see overtures 26, 10, and 29 here.