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Is
Evangelicalism Evangelical? Our working theme of Romans: “The righteousness of God” CHARTING
THE COURSE FOR THIS STUDY: Ø Why I am a Reformed Protestant and why I don’t flirt with broad evangelicalism WHY
I AM A REFORMED PROTESTANT AND WHY I DO NOT FLIRT WITH BROAD EVANGELICALISM
A. Most evangelical churches today have no historical solidarity with the church over the past 2,000 years. B. As Reformed Protestants, we are very conscious of our historical solidarity which is expressed in creeds, confessions and catechisms. C. If you read reformers you will find that they frequently quote the church fathers and express their love for earlier creeds. 1. “I venerate them [ecumenical councils] from my heart, and desire that they be honored by all” (John Calvin Institutes, IX.ix.1 “Councils and Their Authority”). 2. Just after the Shorter Catechism, the Westminster Assembly appended the Apostles Creed saying that it is “a brief sum of the Christian faith, agreeable to the Word of God, and anciently received in the Churches of Christ.” 3. “This confession of faith [Apostle’s Creed] we did not make or invent, neither did the fathers of the church before us. But as the bee gathers honey from many a beautiful and delectible flower, so this creed has been collected in commendable brevity from the books of the beloved prophets and apostles, that is, from the entire Holy Scriptures” (Martin Luther). D. The Reformed Protestant view of the authority of the church is summed up in the Latin phrase, “norma normata” meaning that the church and creeds are a rule that is ruled by Scripture. E. Many “evangelical” churches today without historic roots probably don’t have the Gospel right; nor grace, nor faith, etc. F. Creeds and confessions are important because there are no “new heresies.” All heresies today have already been dealt with in one for or another in the first several centuries of the NT church. ü Open Theism ü Mormonism ü Oneness Pentacostalism ü Liberal Christianity ü Jehovah’s Witnesses ü Christian Science ü Word Faith Movement ü Arminianism ü Antinomianism/Lordship Salvation debate No man lives without a creed, let only the feeble minded claim none and let the courageous put forth what they believe that it might be seen by all and defended. G. Some modern evangelical churches were actually founded by men who rejected Reformed Protestant documents such as the Westminster Confession of Faith (e.g. Charles Finney, A.B. Simpson). The most famous evangelist of the nineteenth century declared that The Westminster Divines had created ‘a paper pope’ and had ‘elevated their confession and catechism to the Papal throne and into the place of the Holy Ghost.’ ‘It is better,’ he declared, ‘to have a living than a dead Pope,’ dismissing the Standards as casually as the boldest Enlightenment rationalist: ‘That the instrument framed by that assembly should in the nineteenth century be recognized as the standard of the church, or of any intelligent branch of it, is not only amazing, but I must say that it is highly ridiculous. It is as absurd in theology as it would be in any other branch of science.’ (Charles Finney, Charles Finney’s Systematic Theology [Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1976], author’s preface, xii; quoted by Michael Horton, “Charles Finney vs. the Westminster Confession”) H. My final proof and illustration as to the incompatibility of Reformed Protestantism and Modern Evangelicalism: John Calvin. Why do
so many people despise John Calvin?
3. Martin Luther, like Calvin, taught predestination. In fact, he felt that one of his most important works “The Bondage of the Will.” B. B. Warfield called Bondage of the Will the “manifesto” of the Protestant Reformation. 4. To reject predestination is to reject the Reformed Protestant doctrine of sola gratia (grace alone). |
