Re: [asa] An Evangelical Manifesto

A couple of people have pointed out this section of the statement:
------------------------------
Evangelicalism should be distinguished from two opposite tendencies to which
Protestantism has been prone: liberal revisionism and conservative
fundamentalism. Called by Jesus to be in the world, but not of it, Christians,
especially in modern society, have been pulled toward two extremes. Those more
liberal have tended so to accommodate the world that they reflect the thinking and
lifestyles of the day, to the point where they are unfaithful to Christ;
whereas those more conservative have tended so to defy the world that they
resist it in ways that also become unfaithful to Christ. The liberal revisionist
tendency was first seen in the eighteenth century and has become more
pronounced today, reaching a climax in versions of the Christian faith that are
characterized by such weaknesses as an exaggerated estimate of human capacities, a
shallow view of evil, an inadequate view of truth, and a deficient view of
God. In the end, they are sometimes no longer recognizably Christian. As this
sorry capitulation occurs, such alternative gospels represent a series of
severe losses that eventually seal their demise:

First, a loss of authority, as sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone) is
replaced by sola cultura (by culture alone); Second, a loss of community and
continuity, as the faith once delivered becomes the faith of merely one people and
one time, and cuts itself off from believers across the world and down the
generations; Third, a loss of stability, as in Dean Inge's apt phrase, the
person who marries the spirit of the age soon becomes a widower; Fourth, a loss
of credibility, as the new kind of faith turns out to be what the skeptic
believes already, and there is no longer anything solidly, decisively Christian
for seekers to examine and believe; Fifth, a loss of identity, as the revised
version of the faith loses more and more resemblance to the historic
Christian faith that is true to Jesus. In short, for all their purported sincerity
and attempts to be relevant, extreme proponents of liberal revisionism run the
risk of becoming what Søren Kierkegaard called "kissing Judases" --
Christians who betray Jesus with an interpretation.
----------------------------
 
Two observations here:
 
1) This section, particularly the 2nd paragraph, is lifted directly (with
condensation) from a book I happen to be reading right now, "Prophetic
Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance" by Os Guinness. So I guess we
know who wrote that bit of the document.
 
2) Second, both in this section and in other parts of the document (I am
also finding this true in Guinness' book), it is pretty clear about what it
finds wanting in "liberalism", but criticism of fundamentalism is muted and
vague. It is almost as though they wanted to denounce both "liberalism" and
"fundamentalism" but were afraid to actually call out any fundamentalist
shortcomings for fear of stepping on toes of the many fundamentalist-leaning
Evangelicals (for example, those who would consider Chicago-style "inerrancy" an
Evangelical essential).
 
Nevertheless, overall I thought it was a good and constructive statement. I
note that it rejects "culture-war" approaches to issues and regrets the way
some Evangelicals have promoted "false hostility" between science and faith.
Between those two aspects, one would hope none of the signers is endorsing
"Expelled", but that's probably overly optimistic.
 
Allan (ASA Member)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Allan H. Harvey, Boulder, Colorado | SteamDoc@aol.com
"Any opinions expressed here are mine, and should not be
attributed to my employer, my wife, or my cat"

**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
favorites at AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Thu May 8 22:41:21 2008