Rev. Dr. Stafford Carson, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, recently visited Westminster. He is an alumnus of Westminster Seminary, MAR 1980, and served from 2000-2005 as WTS' executive vice president and academic dean.
Below is the complete interview with Dr. Carson
Part 1
Part 2
In the Interview, Dr. Carson said: “Westminster had an influence on my life from a very early stage as an undergraduate; I discovered some of the books written by faculty here, particularly J. Gresham Machen’s The Christian View of Man, John Murray’s The Epistle to the Romans, and some of the stuff Harvie Conn had been writing back then.
All of that was very influential in my life in setting a number of very important foundations, and then when I came here as a student I just got this wonderful combination of emphases that Westminster has in terms of presuppositional apologetics, biblical theology, and of course a great urban emphasis that was here in the curriculum. Those things really shaped me in an interesting way for future ministry and actually, they were important pointers in my life and the direction my ministry has taken over the years since then.”
Dr. Carson’s experience at Westminster has shaped his understanding of Theology and has translated into a great respect of the Word of God in the Presbyterian Churches in Ireland. The Centrality of Christ in the education at Westminster gave him a focus that has lasted into his work today as moderator. Dr. Carson emphasizes the importance of a Biblical education when he says “healthy churches are the result of healthy effective ministers… Somewhere like Westminster is critical for the advancement in the church, not only within America, but to the very ends of the earth.”
