Re: Theological reasons for TE/EC

Justin Keller (jkeller@merle.acns.nwu.edu)
Tue, 14 May 1996 10:19:21 -0600

Hi Denis, thanks for responding:

>Hi Justin,
>Your FUNDAMENTALIST dispensational eschatology is showing . . .
>
>Regards,
>Denis

Sorry to disappoint, but I am not a dispensationalist. I am much more
comfortable with covenant theology. As for being a FUNDAMENTALIST, if you
mean that I think all Scripture is literally breathed by God (2 Tim 3:16),
that it is able to be understood, with the help of the Holy Spirit, by
anyone who reads (Deut 6:6-7; Psalm 19:7; 119:130), and that Scripture is
to be interpreted in the context of the genre employed by the human author
(in the case of 2 Pet 3:4-7, that would be straightforward narrative), then
yup, I gladly accept the title of FUNDAMENTALIST. I usually, however, refer
to myself as an evangelical in order to avoid the negative political
connotations associated with fundamentalism and to distance myself from
some of the extrabiblical conservative stances taken by some
fundamentalists on "gray areas."

You wrote to Jim:
>Well, I think you are more of a Fundamentalist than an evangelical from
>all that I have read in your posts. So how about the
>epistemology that supports your hermeneutics Jim, is it
>Biblical? If so, how about citing chapter and verse? Do you really think
>you are so "hermeneutically pure" as to not have any "extra-biblical
>justifications" in your theology?

Most of what I've seen you write, Denis, has been critical and negative.
Would you explain the distinction you make between Fundamentalist and
evangelical? And I would turn your questions back on yourself, and add to
them. What is the hermeneutic you use to interpret 2 Pet 3 and the book of
Revelation? Is your epistemology and hermeneutic "pure," or do they
contain extra-biblical justifications?

Thanks for your response,
Justin Keller

==============================================================================
Justin Keller
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Jesus, my all in all thou art:
My rest in toil, my ease in pain,
The medicine of my broken heart,
In war my peace, in loss my gain,
My smile beneath the tyrant's frown,
In shame my glory and my crown.
--Charles Wesley