Posts filed under 'Protestantism'
May 2nd, 2012
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Baptist Successionism: A Critical Question in Baptist History – James E. McGoldrick
Rowman & Littlefield (2000)
Topics: Protestantism; Church History; Restorationist Movements
Summary: Critique of the Landmark Baptist movement
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When fundamentalist Christians are faced with the relative novelty of many of their cherished beliefs and practices within the context of Church history, they could react in one of three ways: first, they could acknowledge the facts of history but dismiss the importance of any historical support for their ecclesial tradition as irrelevant; second, they could acknowledge the historical evidence and adjust their beliefs to be more in accordance with historical Christianity; third, they could dismiss the evidence as biased and construct a rival Church history more to their own liking.
Even though any extensive research into Church history renders the latter choice as hopeless, it is all too common within a subculture where conspiracy theories are taken seriously as historical evidence. Through numerous error filled volumes (e.g., J. M. Carroll’s Trail of Blood), revisionist histories have been constructed wherein a supposed alternate strain of Christianity conforming to the faith of the Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Oneness Pentecostals, etc. (according to whomever is doing the reconstruction) is traced in opposition to the known Church of history. This “other” church supposedly can be followed through dissident groups who were persecuted by the Church as heretics but who were in reality the “true Christians”.
James Edward McGoldrick deals with the claims of the “Landmark Baptist” movement (where many heretical movements are considered precursors to the Baptists) in Baptist Successionism. As a former adherent of the movement, McGoldrick understands the appeal of the revisionist product. After all, what Christian wouldn’t prefer to think their movement went back to the Apostles rather that some disgruntled Christians a millennia and a half later? Has the grace of God not been operating all these centuries? Did the Holy Spirit take a vacation?
Landmark Baptists and similar movements solve this problem by placing a rival Church of God alongside the corrupted so-called Church whose “apostasy” is usually blamed on the Emperor Constantine. Of course, one cannot argue from silence and so candidates for the “true Church” are needed and found in various sects throughout history. The effort has been so persuasive in some circles that some Baptists believe they are not Protestants but can trace their lineage back to the Apostolic Church in an unbroken succession.
McGoldrick, a professor of history at Cedarville College, was swept up by such views as an undergraduate but in his later investigations into Church history discovered them to be historically untenable. Such revisionism focuses on a few beliefs where dissident groups might agree with them but ignores the greater picture that demonstrates such groups do not resemble Baptists or any other Protestants and their motivations have nothing to do with Baptist principles. His analysis is comprehensive, impressive, and irrefutable: there were no Baptists prior to the Protestant Reformation and efforts to project Baptist beliefs upon these earlier groups are based upon wishful thinking.
McGoldrick places dissident group after dissident group under the historical microscope: Montanists, Novations, Paulicans, Bogomils, Petrobrusians, Arnoldists, Henricians, Albigenses, and Waldenses. Each group is shown to have no basic affinity to standard Baptist doctrine. Some were in schism on certain issues from the larger Church but had far more in common with them than anything we would consider Baptist. Others were so tainted by dualism as to only be “Christian” in a nominal sense. In no case is any group even remotely attached to Baptist beliefs and practices.
As an example of the methodology Landmark Baptists often employ, McGoldrick examines and refutes the claim that St. Patrick was a Baptist. This contention is ridiculous but it shows how revisionists argue from silence. For example, St. Patrick wrote very little and so they argue since he did not specfically endorse certain Catholic doctrines in writing, he must be a Baptist. The absurdity of this view, not to mention the complete absence of any evidence for the existence of Baptists, should easily disprove such attempts to produce Baptists ex nihilo.
McGoldrick also considers the claim that the Anabaptists were in the Baptist succession. That one could make such claims for a movement known to have sprung from the radical end of the Protestant Reformation is a mystery to all but those with successionist blinders, but McGoldrick patiently examines the claim and easily refutes it. Ending with a careful review of the true history of the Baptist movement, he reaches the obvious conclusion: Baptists are Protestants.
One might consider it unfortunate that a book needed to be written to demonstrate the obvious. However, given the trusting nature of many Christians and the ignorance of Church history within much of Protestantism, McGoldrick is to be commended for taking the time to answer these claims and perhaps preventing others from being swayed by this historically untenable conspiracy theory. Although aimed specifically at the Baptist successionist movement, it also answers similar claims from any group purporting to be the “other Church”. McGoldrick’s unanswerable reply is “What other church?”
April 21st, 2012
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The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind – Mark A. Noll
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (October 1995)
Topics: Christian Culture; Protestantism
Summary: Critique of the current state of intellectual life in the Evangelical movement
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Mark A. Noll starts The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind with a staggering indictment: “The scandal of the evangelical mind”, he writes, “is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” With those words begins one of the most sobering critiques of the place of Evangelical Protestantism within major intellectual currents shaping the culture. This accusation was most striking as it came from within Evangelicalism itself by one of its leading scholars. Since the book’s publication, some have applauded and others attacked its major theses, but most will grant that the intellectual landscape of the Evangelical movement was greatly impacted by Noll’s criticism and future appraisals of Evangelicalism’s place in shaping modern American culture issue have wrestled with points made in Noll’s book.
In the book’s four sections (covering the importance of the scandal, an historical analysis of the scandal, negative repercussions of the scandal, and some hopeful signs of a renaissance in Evangelical thought), Noll meticulously builds a case that the Evangelical disengagement from intellectual pursuits has rendered it impotent to interact within the major intellectual currents of the day. Unable to develop a uniquely Evangelical approach to issues of higher culture, the Evangelical response – if any – is often dependent upon the work of scholars from Roman Catholicism and other Protestant traditions. This sterility of thought fosters a retreat into an “Evangelical ghetto” where the lack of interaction with competing ideas leaves faulty presuppositions unchallenged and its own fruitful sources untapped.
Noll is particularly strong in his insights into the genesis of the current intellectual malaise. Pointing out the efforts of Puritans such as Jonathan Edwards to vigorously address major intellectual themes of their day (following a long tradition of such efforts by Protestants since the Reformation), he traces a number of interwoven factors that produced the uniquely American strain of Protestantism. These include the populist revivals of the Great Awakening, the “common sense” Baconian approach to all inquiry promoted by the Scottish Enlightenment, and the spirit of anti-intellectualism in reaction to modernist views of the Bible and debate on Darwin’s evolutionary theories.
Noll sees in current Evangelical Biblical studies a recycling of ideas discarded elsewhere in the Church as lacking a proper appreciation for historical and cultural contexts. Locked into a system of thought indelibly marked by the nineteenth century, many Evangelicals find themselves unable to respond to intellectual movements far more complex than their narrow categories can handle.
Becoming more optimistic in the last section of the book, Noll focuses on signs of a possible renaissance of Evangelical thinking. Interestingly, much of what Noll views as positive signs are the result of influences from interactions with other Christians. In the process of pointing out many Evangelical distinctives are not essential to Christianity, Noll seems to inadvertently suggest the way for Evangelicals to become more intellectually rigorous is to become less Evangelical.
There has been a reawakening of sorts within Evangelical intellectual pursuits since the book’s publication with many Evangelicals interacting with current intellectual currents in ways that may not have seemed possible a generation ago. It remains to be seen, however, whether this reform of Evangelicalism that downplays those aspects of the movement Noll found most disturbing (anti-intellectual strains of populism, self-righteous separatism, strict interpretations of Biblical inerrancy, methods of hermeneutics based upon outmoded theories of textual objectivity, dispensational approaches to eschatology, attacks on scientific theories) alter the Evangelical landscape so much as to lose any realistic claim of continuity. In other words, can a Christian who eschewed the imminent rapture, did not approach the Bible as a source of “proof texts”, and reconciled his faith with evolution be identified as an Evangelical? Furthermore, Without the emotional hold of these distinctives, would Evangelicalism then descend into the same malaise as undermined mainstream Protestantism?
Noll is not off target in his criticism, but the solution may not lie in Evangelicalism. Many thoughtful Evangelicals, disturbed by the same shallowness Noll decried, have begun absorbin influences from patristic and existing traditions with greater historical roots where a richer theology exists, a more dignified worship of God prevails, and intellectual inquiry is accorded a more vital role. Thus the best solution to the problem of the Evangelical mind may well lie in Evangelicalism turning its back on its recent history.
Regardless of the future resolution of these issues, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind is among the most important books on the state of American Christianity written in the last fifty years. For anyone attempting to understand the place of Christianity in American life, it is a must read. For Evangelicals themselves, it may be shocking to grasp the biases within their approaches to their faith, but it may also lead them to a more faith rooted more in the Gospel than in nineteenth century America.
April 4th, 2012
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What are Spiritual Gifts?: Rethinking the Conventional View – Kenneth Berding
Kregel Publications (October 2006)
Topic: Ecclesiology; Protestantism
Summary: A reconsideration of the commonly held view of spiritual gifts within Evangelical Protestantism
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The discerning of spiritual gifts is a common theme in evangelical Protestantism. Local churches, denominations, and parachurch ministries all encourage Christians to discover the hidden talent that God has given them (it is naturally assumed such a talent exists) and answer the call to use these special gifts in His
service. There are frequent seminars and courses designed to assist Christians in the discernment process. So pervasive is this trend that it is rarely challenged or even given a second thought.
Kenneth Berding, a professor of New Testament at Biola University, is one of the few to buck this trend. In What Are Spiritual Gifts?, he has given the topic careful consideration and concluded the conventional wisdom, however well-intentioned, has little Scriptural support. He effectively argues this common view fails to grasp the scriptural context and imposes an interpretive framework foreign to the understanding of the New Testament writers.
After an introductory section presented in question-and-answer format, Berding gets to the heart of his thesis by refuting the common assumptions within the evangelical tradition concerning spiritual gifts. Rather than special abilities conferred to an individual, he argues spiritual gifts should be seen as ministries conferred
to the church, and it is through the Holy Spirit working within the body of Christ that these ministries are properly conducted.
The passages in the New Testament concerning spiritual gifts are thoroughly examined and, in a careful exegesis, Berding convincingly demonstrates the weaknesses inherent in the conventional view. Citing passages in the epistles of Paul commonly used to encourage Christians to discover their “special gifts,” he points out this is a complete misunderstanding of the apostle’s actual intent in outlining the functions of the early church. Anticipating counterclaims, Berding also clinches the argument in advance.
Berding then fleshes out his arguments within a richer setting for understanding the larger context of the epistles. He considers key elements in the passages (i.e., ministry and service, the role of the Holy Spirit in the church) and gives the larger picture painted by Paul in order to properly understand the more limited context that is the topic of this book. In so doing, the poor foundations for the common Evangelical view of these passages becomes readily apparent.
The final section of the book moves from theory to practice and examines the implications of the previous discussion and its applications within the church. Examples of the use of the spiritual gifts within the church are taken from the New Testament and suggestions as to how the general blueprint given in Holy Scripture may be
applied today are considered. An important conclusion to be drawn is that the focus on a potential role within the church is to be less concerned with any innate ability of our own than it is to consider where we may be needed to build up the body of Christ.
Some have criticized Berding’s view as overthrowing the longstanding view with novelties. One should certainly be suspicious of basing key elements of ministry on ideas that have never appeared in two millennia of Christianity. However, it is the “conventional wisdom” that is the novelty as it has a lineage of less than a century. It could be argued that Berding is making the case for an earlier view overshadowed by individualistic
emphases at the core of modern Evangelicalism and he wishes to return the spiritual gifts to their proper context within the normal means of grace given to the church.
Kenneth Berding has provided a careful, Biblical examination of a topic preoccupying much of the church’s energy. As the Church has sought answers to this problem in a wave of classes, surveys and tools adopted from both the corporate world and pop psychology, Berding has returned to an often ignored source of inspiration: the HolyScriptures. By lending clarity to a muddled situation, What Are Spiritual Gifts? is a
much-needed antidote to the misapplications of foreign methodologies clouding the topic.
March 28th, 2012
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Recovering Mother Kirk: The Case for Liturgy in the Reformed Tradition – D. G. Hart
Baker Book House (2003)
Topic: Liturgy & Sacraments; Calvinsim/Reformed; Protestantism
Summary: Call for the Reformed Churches to return to their historic liturgical practices
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Increasingly one hears of Protestant pastors concerned over a trivial approach to worship, an individualistic understanding of doctrine, and an ahistoric perspective of the Church, turning to historic Christianity as the answer. These converts have often sacrificed promising careers in the Protestant ministry for the chance to experience liturgical and doctrinal roots stretching beyond the last few centuries. Less noticed is a move among Protestants who, while agreeing with some of the criticisms of those who left, believe the Reformation was right in its stand for the supremacy of Holy Scripture and other doctrinal positions expressible only within Protestantism. Rather than sacrifice these Protestant distinctives for a richer worship and a more historically rooted theological approach, they sound a call to recapture the ideals that fueled the Reformation and rethink the direction Protestantism has drifted for over a century. This includes the reaffirmation of the traditional Protestant use of liturgy and its understanding of the historic beliefs of the Christian Faith enshrined in the Creeds.
An important entry in this reevaluation of the direction of Protestantism is Recovering Mother Kirk by D. G. Hart. The title indicates the attachment to the Presbyterian cause of the author but this should not dissuade others from benefiting from his well reasoned analysis. The ills of the modern Church are not isolated by denominational boundaries and, although the author is primarily concerned with the Reformed tradition, his points can apply (with appropriate adjustments) to others as well.
Hart begins by noting the neglect of worship in Reformed circles among even those who are sticklers on matters of Reformed belief and practice. Rejecting the current trend to conform to the theology of Evangelical Protestantism, he counters the Reformed Tradition is better placed among the magisterial Protestants (e.g., Lutherans, Anglicans) and the current drift is a marked departure from their heritage. Although the Reformed Tradition emphasizes doctrine, cultural transformation, and piety, none of this can be properly understood without the context of Reformed worship. The importation of revivalist patterns into Reformed settings inevitably cause confusion and a weakening of adherence to Reformed distinctives elsewhere.
The main part of the book consists of essays on five topics (the Church’s commission, the contemporary worship scene, offices and ordinances, ecumenism, and the influence of revivalism on Reformed worship). In each section, Hart presents evidence, both historical and theological, supporting his thesis that the Reformed Tradition properly belongs to the “high church” end of Protestantism but was sidetracked by the importation of revivalist theology. The chief culprit, according to Hart, was the Great Awakenings and its blurring distinctions between evangelistic outreach and worship. This error, he concludes, continues to this day with the “church growth” and other modern manifestations of the same confusion between worship and evangelism.
Hart closely examines historical sources in painting a picture of a Reformed worship centered upon Word and Sacrament. Although it shares many aspects with “high church” liturgical traditions, it is governed by the “regulative principle” of using only that with biblical warrant. Important to this Reformed understanding of worship was the development of liturgies heavily dependent upon Holy Scripture and the singing of the Psalter. The net result is a worship both reverent and austere.
Overall, Hart presents a compelling case for the place of the Reformed tradition in the Church. He roots much of his alignment of the Reformed Tradition as a high church manifestation of Protestantism by pointing to Calvin’s high view of the Church and call for a weekly Eucharist as evidence. As with others who have made related claims (e.g., Michael Horton and Keith Mathison), there is truth in the claims but it may not be quite as simple as its supporters contend.
Unlike the Lutheran and Anglican reforms that reformed (however successfully) existing practices by pruning what was perceived as excess, the Reformed Tradition began more with its own distinctives and constructed its worship from a new template. These changes could often be highly sectarian splits within the movement appeared almost immediately. The force of Calvin’s theology restored more of a sense of historical order, but some points of his program (e.g., a weekly Eucharist) were never implemented even in Geneva. Straddling the boudnary between catholicity and sectarianism has often left the Reformed less agreed on doctrine than attitude. These contradictory visions have left them prone to division and subject to the idiposyncratic interpretations of individual Church leaders. Even the slogan “Reformed, Ever Reforming,” while intending to indicate the submission to Scriptural authority, also hints at an inherent ecclesial and doctrinal instability.
Another issue that can be raised is the application of the regulative principle itself. Although aspects of worship are considered in Holy Scripture, much of it is not explicitly discussed. This is not surprising since much of early Christian worship had already developed a basic form and was not a point of contention in the writing of the New Testament. The restriction to explicitly provided aspects may in fact give us an unbalanced view of the worship of the Apostolic Church. Indeed, the historical research into early Christian worship gives us a picture far different than that implemented by Zwngli, Calvin, et al who were influenced by historical and social currents not relevant in a first century context.
Yet for those in the high church side of the Reformed faith, Recovering Mother Kirk is a powerful presentation of their beliefs. As a blueprint for what Reformed Christianity should be, this book and other recent releases have identified the movement some call “the Catholic Presbyterians” as one to watch closely. If the Reformed continue their assimilation into the Evangelical mainstream (on the right) and the liberal mainstream (on the left), they at least have been shown another way. Thoughtful Reformed Christians like Hart are now asking the right questions. It will be interesting to see how many other Reformed believers disillusioned by current conditions find in this movement their answer.
