You can drink the perfume of praise,
Win the empirical with flattery,
Be drunk on applause all your days,
And liken negative preaching to battery,
But can you raise the dead?
You can dance to appease the masses,
Entertain with your sermonettes,
Kiss your hearers’ gluteus maximusses,
And give them therapeutic tourniquets,
But can you raise the dead?
You can baptize if you dare,
Get them to walk the aisle mile,
Have them pray a prayer,
And win them with your style,
But can you raise the dead?
You can polish your personality,
Polish your talks,
Make the dead enjoy your amity,
And cast vision for your flocks,
But can you raise the dead?
You can impress,
Win them to yourself,
Use positive preaching to relieve their stress,
And encourage them to place sin on a shelf.
But can you raise the dead?
You can have them ask Jesus into their hearts,
Without having them to repent,
Just so you can add their numbers to your charts,
For, to the SBC your numbers will be sent,
But can you raise the dead?
Twice as much sons of hell,
That is what you make,
For to them you sell,
Therapeutic deism cake,
But can you raise the dead?
The answer is no,
The dead you refuse to raise,
For patting yourself on the back is the goal,
And Satan is the source of your praise.
Repent, or to Hell with your soul,
For the gospel, the dead will raise,
But you must change your goal,
On Christ alone must be your gaze.
I recently read Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s arguably finest work Lectures to My Students. All pastors or those considering ministry should read this book; however, one negative aspect is found in chapter 7, when Spurgeon encourages his hearers to spiritualize the Bible within certain limits and boundaries. He vehemently comes against those that are against spiritualizing, those that are against going beyond the plain meaning of the text. To prove his point, he simply details his own opinions. He calls the standard homileticians have set up a “golden calf,” but then he proceeds to set up his own “golden calf” for spiritualizing. He quotes Paul’s finding of metaphors in Hagar and Sarah as a basis for our ability to find allegories in other places besides the two mentioned. The problem with this purported proof is that the Apostle Paul was an apostle, one who came with divine authority. One must ask if the Apostle Paul saw Hagar and Sarah as a metaphor because he was a pastor or because he was an apostle? This writer believes he saw the metaphor because he was an apostle, for there is no way apart from God the Holy Spirit that someone could come up with this metaphor. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul was “carried along by God the Holy Spirit,” Spurgeon was not, and neither are his readers.
Also, Spurgeon encourages ingenuity, imagination, etc. with the text, but without violating “common sense,” “good judgment,” etc. He even criticizes John Gill and others for violating his purported terms. Though this writer agrees with Spurgeon’s criticism, this writer cannot understand how he can condemn the spiritualizing of others and then argue for his own relative spiritualizing. The problem this writer has is that Spurgeon gets to determine the definition of “common sense,” “good judgment,” and the boundaries for spiritualizing. He also neglects proper hermeneutics and does not even mention understanding the Holy Spirit’s meaning when He divinely inspired the text. Spurgeon’s emphasis in this chapter is on the pastor, the interpreter, instead of the Author of the text Himself. He neglects the fact that words mean something; and God the Holy Spirit meant something specific when He wrote the Word of God.
Finally, Spurgeon believes that spiritualizing the text will help keep the audience’s attention, interesting them and keeping them awake (109). The pastor’s concern however must be with preaching the truth instead of using his imagination to stretch the text beyond the words and context present simply because he has a lazy congregation. Also, by encouraging pastors to use spiritualizing to keep attention, Spurgeon suggests that the text alone is incapable of keeping attention. This writer understands Spurgeon’s belief in the depravity of his hearers and their desire to be “kept awake,” but none of the pastors in the Old and New Testaments “spiritualized” for this reason. The sermonizers in Scripture demanded to be heard, not because of their ability, ingenuity, or imagination, but because they came with a message from God. In this writer’s opinion, this chapter seems inconsistent with the rest of the book. It calls into question the sufficiency of Scriptures and arguably the inerrancy of the Scriptures.
Tags: allegories, apostle paul, chapter 7, charles haddon spurgeon, definition of common sense, divine authority, god the holy spirit, golden calf, hagar, hearers, Hermeneutics, ingenuity, john gill, lectures to my students, metaphor, metaphors, negative aspect, pastors, should read this book, understanding the holy spirit
I recently read Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s arguably finest work Lectures to my Students. I’m convinced that all men in ministry or thinking about ministry should read this book. There are a couple negative aspects however, for example, in chapter 6 Spurgeon tells pastors how to select a text to preach. He argues that God will tell pastors a text to preach; as well as, that a pastor needs to be observant of his congregation in order to discern the texts they need to hear. Believing to possess a Bible that is authoritative, it is interesting that Spurgeon would suggest an extra-biblical leading of God the Holy Spirit for the pastor to know what to preach. After all, if the entire Bible carries authority, and the hearers are all sinners, doesn’t this mean that they need all the Word of God they can get? Furthermore, is there any moment of any day that a believer can say that he or she does not need certain pieces of the Bible? Is not the natural tendency of sinners to be prideful and arrogant, to think themselves strong in an area when they are really weak? So, as long as a pastor preaches from the Bible, can he really preach “the wrong text”? This writer believes that he cannot fail when he preaches the Word in context.
Spurgeon also argues that if a man is not given the text extra-biblically from God through some relative leading, then he is arrogantly using his own faculties to choose the text (86). This is an interesting argument considering Spurgeon believes a pastor is capable of discerning the textual needs of his congregants, but is incapable of picking the right text to preach using his faculties. In other areas of this book, Spurgeon encourages his readers to use their faculties to carry out their ministry unto God’s glory. This writer understands Spurgeon’s high view of the Scriptures, but Spurgeon fails to realize that the reader cannot escape his faculties in choosing a text. Spurgeon even suggests that “when your verse gives your mind a hearty grip, from which you cannot release yourself, you will need no further direction as to your proper theme (85).” This writer would like to ask Mr. Spurgeon how a man can know that his mind is gripped without using his own faculties. The answer is that a pastor’s faculties are impossible to divorce from the process. Furthermore, there is no example in the Bible where God “gave a text” to someone to preach, relatively “gripping them with the text” as Spurgeon suggests. Also, even if this happens in a pastor’s life, how does one know that God is the one gripping him since the Bible details no similar gripping or even encourages pastors to wait on such gripping? The answer is that a pastor cannot know; so Spurgeon’s suggestions are merely his opinion.
Finally, Spurgeon neglects the way God the Holy Spirit ordered the text for His own glory. In picking a text, does not the text demand to be exposited, since it is organized expositionally? God wrote specific words, in specific sentences, in specific paragraphs, in specific genres, organized in a specific order to detail a specific message. To deny this order is to hear the text differently than the early church would have heard it. They would not have merely plucked a few sentences here and there; nor would they have waited for a specific leading to a specific sentence. Spurgeon should not ignore the order of the Word, for whether God divinely tells his hearers what to preach today, one still cannot deny that He ordered the Word to be understood the way He organized it. Since He already organized it the way it is written, a preacher has authority from God to preach it the way it is already organized instead of waiting for God to reorganize it through relatively “gripping” the pastor’s mind.
Critical Missiological Issues in reaching the Quichua
There are many critical missiological issues that must be understood in order to reach the Quichua. First, they are largely an oral culture. This simply means that they learn largely through oral means. For them, story-telling is something that is common practice in everyday life. Probably around half of the Quichua can read, and half cannot. Even if they can read however, due to their learning being largely through oral means, giving them literature to read would do them little good. So, even if they can read the Scriptures, they have great difficulty understanding them.[1]
Second, the Quichua distinguish themselves from one another in a way unfamiliar with Americans. Each community of Quichua people distinguishes itself from other communities by how they dress. Each color they wear stands for a virtue they possess or hope to possess. For example, the various colors of their clothes, hats, and ponchos represent wisdom, courage, purity, etc. In America, clothes do not represent virtues, but are largely worn with little thought beyond, “I think this looks good.” So, this poses a problem relating to the Quichua for missionaries from the United States.
Third, the overall majority of Latin America claims to be Christian; however, the Quichua believe a mixture of Roman Catholicism and Incan animist beliefs. Understanding exactly what they believe would take much effort; and it basically cannot be thoroughly accomplished without being on the field among the people. With the subtlety of dress and customs ranging from one Quichua community to the next, it is difficult to hammer down a detailed belief system for the Quichua. Furthermore, because they claim to be Christian and Evangelicals claim to be Christian as well, the exact distinctions between Catholicism and Evangelicalism will be hard to communicate. Also, it is debatable just how “Catholic” the Quichua really are. They largely believe they are Catholic because their ancestors believed they were Catholic; however, if Catholic belief makes one Catholic, the Quichua are animists.
Fourth, because they are not staunch Roman Catholic, when it comes time for the feasts, the Quichua get drunk and celebrate. Alcoholism thus is a large problem, for it does not hinder their worship in the Latin Catholic Church. Furthermore, there are many who profit from the sell of alcohol. So, to come preaching the saving gospel of Christ makes the repentant realize that alcohol is not the gospel; and thus, the result is a loss of business for those who sell alcohol. To hurt the economy of the community is a huge excuse for rejecting the gospel or persecuting the Quichua that submit to it.
Fifth, the Quichua are a communal people. Family is more important to the Quichua than to most Gringos. Whenever they change the belief systems of their families, they are rebelling against their ancestors. In order to accept the gospel, they must first admit that their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. were wrong.
Sixth, though Catholicism is no longer the state religion, it is still indirectly the state religion. The citizens now have religious freedom in Ecuador, but there is still persecution that takes place against Protestants. When Catholic Quichua become Evangelical, they no longer can receive the sacraments of the church; so they are automatically condemned to hell by their peers, unable to be buried with their families, and are often labeled heretics by their friends and families. This is much for a new believer to handle. Though this persecution has been alleviated as of late due to the trickle down of Vatican II[2], the religious freedom of the nation, farming coops, and the growing evangelical influence, there is still a communal persecution that often takes place.
Seventh, Evangelicalism is not as flashy as Latin Catholicism. The Catholic Churches are arguably the most beautiful buildings in all of Ecuador. They are clearly and distinctly set apart as places to worship God. When a Quichua leaves the Catholic Church, he or she leaves the “divine” communication displayed through the architecture as well. He or she leaves the most beautiful buildings in all of Ecuador for some of the ugliest buildings in all of Ecuador. He or she goes from worshipping God in a place that appears to be “fit” for Him, to a place that appears to be merely fit for the poor. The architecture of these Catholic Churches at least seems God-centered, while the Evangelical architecture appears man-centered.
Eighth, in Latin Catholicism, Mary is clearly portrayed as the co-redeemer with Christ. In Catholic Churches in Latin America, Murals of Mary are painted on the church walls of the various miracles she has performed in the community. Jesus, if He is emphasized at all, is largely revealed as either a baby or dead. His physical resurrection is not emphasized. This blatant minimizing of Jesus and exaltation of Mary seems peculiar to Latin American Catholicism. So, there is not a clear victorious Christ to build on where one must simply emphasize His place as Prophet, Priest, and King and properly eliminate the concept of infused grace through penance and the sacraments; for missionaries must communicate the Jesus of the Scriptures as the Son of God instead of the son of Mary. Instead of having something foundationally to build upon, missionaries must destroy the foundation, relay, and rebuild.
Ninth, there are those among the Quichua that are tired of the Catholic Church, so they will simply associate themselves with Evangelicals as an act of rebellion. Though they have not accepted the gospel, they will gladly associate themselves with the group that teaches the opposite of the Catholic Church. This poses a problem for young Quichua Christians, for possible family members and friends may seem enthusiastic about joining the Evangelicals, but as lost men, women, and children. Furthermore, with pressure to report numbers or see tangible results, missionaries and the Quichua will be tempted by the evil one to allow these rebels to join their Evangelical churches.
Strategy Outline for future Work among the Quichua
Concerning future work among the Quichua, there are many issues that need to be addressed. First, the oral nature of the culture must be addressed. Missionaries need to respect this oral nature, seeking therefore to share the Scriptures through telling Bible Stories, using story boards, etc. This however cannot be the only emphasis. The negative aspect of a story is that there is nothing tangible to revert back to. After a missionary has worked for twenty years among a people, when that generation dies, the following generation may taint what their parents and grandparents shared with them. Furthermore, without any bedrock foundation such as a Bible, any Catholic, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, etc. can come in and tell the stories incorrectly, injecting heresy into the Quichua’s understanding of the truth. One could easily “poison the well” if there is no absolute standard to judge the stories by.[3]
Because of these realities, it is important to start teaching the Quichua to read. Missionaries could either teach the head of the community to read, the fathers in the community to read, or the children to read. Each individual would then be responsible to teach others to read as well. I think that the children should be taught to read and understand the Scriptures while encouraging the parents to learn as well. I believe missionaries need to begin their ministries sharing Bible Stories with the adults, while teaching the children to read the stories themselves. Eventually, within a few generations the Quichua community will be changed from an oral culture to a literate culture. Thus, they will have a better understanding of the Scriptures. Realistically however, though the first generation of children will have a better understanding of the Scriptures, it will actually be their children who benefit more, for if their parents understand through reading, then that will make all the difference for the children to understand through reading as well.
Second, because each Quichua community subtly distinguishes itself from the next community, missionaries can use their desire for this distinction and their desire for virtue as well, for teaching points about the gospel. Each community of Quichua distinguishes itself from other communities by how they dress. Each color they wear stands for a virtue they possess or hope to possess. If the virtues they admire are wisdom, courage, purity, etc., then missionaries can teach that each of these characteristics is possessed ultimately and perfectly in Christ. These qualities can then be avenues to share the gospel as they detail the perfect righteousness of Christ, His wisdom and purity, and His perfect courage displayed in His willingness to endure His father’s wrath for the sins of humanity. Though the Quichua may not realize it, they cannot possess these virtues perfectly. They must run to and depend on the righteousness of Christ by faith alone. Like all sinners, they must be told that perfect obedience to the Law of God is not something sinners can achieve.
Third, in order to understand the Quichua’s animistic beliefs, one must read as much as possible, but there are certain aspects that may vary from one Quichua community to the next. Missionaries need to live among the people, seeking to understand exactly what they believe so they can decipher what is true and what is not. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul teaching the Athenians the true identity of the “unknown god” in Acts 17. Like Paul, missionaries must understand enough about the Quichua’s religious system in order to understand how to engage them with the gospel. They must find the common ground where the Quichua reveal that they live in God’s world. So, I suggest missionaries live with the Quichua, in the same community, possibly teaching them a wood-working trade, providing medical attention, etc. until the Quichua are willing to converse about their belief system. Once the missionaries understand in what aspect the Quichua live in the Christian God’s world, this can then be used as an avenue to share the true gospel. The reality is that all humans live in God’s world; therefore, every person can be shown where they live in God’s world, whether it is presuppositional or evidential, they operate in the Christian God’s world; for no other worldview is consistently livable.
Fourth, due to the Catholic drunken feasts, missionaries must address the issue of alcoholism. Since American doctors are calling this a disease now, it causes a problem, for missionaries are often not medically trained or psychologically trained enough to deal with such an addictive disease. The treatment will vary from case to case, for there will be those that trust in Christ and never struggle with alcoholism again; and there will also be those who literally have a disease. Furthermore, a missionary’s philosophy of counseling will be a factor as well. So, missionaries will need to be prepared to help the Quichua with alcohol addiction, pointing to or providing the necessary support to break the addiction; plus, they must be prepared to constantly encourage the new converts under an onslaught of persecution.
Fifth, to answer the Quichua’s tie to ancestors, missionaries must tread lightly. They must be delicate in dealing with the Quichua and their concern for their ancestral beliefs. This will take trusting relationships. Once there are families of Quichua that are coming to Christ, the process will be easier. If a missionary is trying to reach an unreached Quichua community, the process will be much harder. The missionaries will need to be longsuffering, gradually showing the love of Christ to the Quichua, and telling them the gospel on a consistent basis.
Sixth, to answer the Quichua’s familiarity with Catholic architecture, missionaries can either build similar buildings, or they can make their worship more formal. Something I did not witness in the Quichua churches we attended was a liturgical worship system. Missionaries could make the worship closer to a Catholic service without the heresy and Latin. This could possibly make the transition from Catholicism to Evangelicalism easier for the Quichua. I suppose some missionaries may want the converts to make a complete break from Catholicism, making the worship services purposefully different from the Catholic services. Cases can be made for either direction so long as the worship is biblical.
Seventh, to deal with the heresy of Mary being the co-redeemer, missionaries simply need to consistently preach the truth. Christ must be exalted and Mary must be diminished. The best way to do this is to exalt Christ; for, if Christ is exalted to His proper position, Mary will be diminished to at least a lower position than Christ. Once they understand that she is not the co-redeemer, understanding she is merely the mother of Jesus is not that far of a step.
Eighth, there are those among the Quichua that are tired of the Catholic Church, so they will simply associate themselves with the Evangelicals as an act of rebellion. Though they have not accepted the gospel, they will gladly associate themselves with the group that teaches the opposite of the Catholic Church. This poses a problem, because the immature in Christ will struggle with how to deal with those who want to be associated with the church, but not through repentance and faith in Christ. So, there may be many in the community who are immoral that claim association with the Evangelicals, possibly blurring the line between the church and the world. Missionaries will then need to encourage young churches to practice biblical discipline. I imagine many missionaries will struggle encouraging this, for they probably have never witnessed biblical discipline being practiced, or been taught how to implement it. However, biblical discipline is biblical; so, the Quichua need to understand how to lovingly hold one another accountable; as well as, how to separate the wicked from the Christians for the good of Christ’s church.
[1]This missiological issue and all that follow were personally inferred from a mission trip I took to Ecuador to work with the Quichua December 12-19, 2009.
[2] Maust, New Song in the Andes, 84-85.
[3]This strategy and all that follow were personally inferred from a mission trip I took to Ecuador to work with the Quichua December 12-19, 2009.
The first Protestant missionary activity in Ecuador began in 1824 when a member of the British and Foreign Bible Society came to sell Bibles.[1] No permanent mission was established until 1896 when three Gospel Missionary Union (GMU) missionaries began work.[2] They arrived at the time the liberal government of General Eloy Alfaro repudiated the 1862 concordat with the Holy See permitting Protestant missionaries into Ecuador.[3] In 1902 Julia Anderson and Ella Ozman moved to Ecuador’s Chimborazo Province and began ministry to the Quichuas in the village of Caliata. The GMU has actively served among the coastal Mestizos, the Jivaro Indians in the Amazon area, and mostly among the Quichua Indians in the Andes.[4]
The Evangelical Missionary Union Church, begun by the GMU, is the largest Protestant church in Ecuador.[5] They also started two Indian radio stations which are now under the leadership of Quichua believers. In 1961, Quichua Christian radio station HCUE-5 was inaugurated in Colta.[6]
One of the largest Protestant broadcasting projects is HCJB (“Voice of the Andes”), located in Quito and owned by World Radio Missionary Fellowship. Started in 1931, it now broadcasts in 17 major languages, and is aired in short-wave, long-wave, and local radio programs. In 1975, the Colta-based radio station was turned over to the Quichua Indigenous Evangelical Association of Chimborazo (AIECH).[7]
The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) began work in 1897. Although it is concentrated in the same areas as the GMU, it employs its staff largely at Alliance Academy in Quito, attended by missionary children from many missions, including Serving in Mission (SIM). Seventh-day Adventists arrived in 1905, but have not been as successful here among the Indian populations as in neighboring countries. In 1945, four large United States denominations began work as the United Andean Indian Mission.[8]
In 1950 the GMU opened a second mission station for Quichua work in Pulucate.[9] In1953, the Foursquare Gospel denomination began work and presently has the second largest Protestant church in Ecuador. The work grew rapidly after 1964. In 1954, The Quichua New Testament was published and arrived for distribution in Chimborazo. The following year, after over 50 years of mission work among the Quichua, the first three believers were baptized in Lake Colta.[10] In 1956 the now-famous Auca Indians became known to the outside world with the martyrdom of five missionaries by this tribe. This story is recounted in the book, Through Gates of Splendor. Most of the Auca, who are more appropriately called the Waorani, and other small tribes have indigenous churches now.[11] In 1958, the first church was built in El Troje. The Ecuadorian government passed land reform legislation in 1964.[12]
In 1966, Quichua believers formed an association, the Indigenous Evangelical Association of Chimborazo (AIECH).[13] As Evangelicalism spread among the Quichua, in 1971 three Quichua were ordained as lay pastors. Around 155 believers were baptized in one service at San Bernardo. In the same year, the GMU turned over their Atahualpa School to the community. In 1973, a new translation of a Quichua New Testament was formally presented to the people with more than 5,000 in attendance.[14] The Old Testament Quichua translation was completed in 1988, and the complete Bible was scheduled for publication by the United Bible Societies. Furthermore, estimates of total baptized evangelical Quichua in Chimborazo ranged from 30,000 to 50,000.[15] In 1991 there were an estimated 335 Quichua evangelical churches and congregations, 78,500 believers, and a Christian constituency of 100,180.[16] As of 1997, forty-eight mission agencies serve in Ecuador.[17]
[1]Serving in Mission (SIM), “Ecuador: History of Missions,” (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.
[2]Ibid.
[3]John Maust, New Song in the Andes, William Carey Library, (Pasadena, CA: Gospel Missionary Union, 1992), 1.
[4]Serving in Mission (SIM), “Ecuador: History of Missions,” (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.
[5]Ibid.
[6]Maust, New Song in the Andes, 140.
[7]Ibid.
[8]Serving in Mission (SIM), “Ecuador: History of Missions,” (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.
[9]Maust, New Song in the Andes, 139.
[10]Ibid.
[11]Serving in Mission (SIM), “Ecuador: History of Missions,” (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.
[12]Maust, New Song in the Andes, 139.
[13]Ibid., 140.
[14]Ibid.
[15]Ibid.
[16]Ibid., 141.
[17]Serving in Mission (SIM), “Ecuador: History of Missions,” (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.
An Honest Book Critique of God in the Wasteland by David Wells
I. Introduction
Dr. David Wells is the Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Gordon-Conwell’s main campus in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, and an ordained Congregational minister. In 1966 he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from London University, England; in 1967 a Master of Theology in church history from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois; and in 1969 a Doctor of Philosophy degree in theology from the University of Manchester in England. Dr. Wells began teaching at Trinity Divinity School in 1969. In 1977 he was named to the chair of the division of systematic theology. He joined the faculty at Gordon-Conwell in 1979.
Dr. Wells is widely respected for his writing and teaching on understanding the modern world from within the framework of biblical truth. He is the author of the well-known trilogy No Place for Truth, or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology; God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams; and Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision. He is the editor of Christian Faith and Practice in the Modern World: Theology from an Evangelical Point of View; The Gospel in the Modern World, and general editor and co-author of Eerdmans Handbook to Christianity in America. Dr. Wells and his wife, Jane, live in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, and are the parents of two grown sons.
II. Brief Summary
David Wells seeks to show Christians how to live in their present culture without compromising the historical and theological heritage of Christianity in his book God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams. Wells believes modernity has subtly, yet surely invaded and corroded the evangelical church. In order to explain and remedy this problem, Wells details accidents in history and faith (ch.1-2), the “Alternative to God (ch.3), Clerics Anonymous (ch.4), the Weightlessness of God (ch.5), the Outside God (ch.6), God on the Inside (ch.7), the Coming Generation (ch.8), and Speaking with a Different Voice (ch.9).
To begin, in the Prologue, Wells details accidents in history (ch.1) and faith (ch.2). In this section he argues that western culture is being upended (6). This however is not the result of intentional revolution, but rather an accidental one that is ultimately spiritual in nature. He argues that modernity has swept American culture through capitalism, technology, urbanization, and telecommunication (7-10). Through these avenues and various subtleties, modernity has virtually eliminated God from the public realm in which He used to be celebrated. Thus, the answer to the church’s entanglement with culture, the restoration of authentic Christian practice, and the resurrection of bold Christian witness, is God (31).
Wells then details the “Alternative to God” (ch.3). He argues for a biblical description of the world, instead of the typical Christian assumption that the culture is neutral (35-36). He argues that evangelicals are largely both in and of the world without even realizing it, for they lack discernment (55). They have largely bought into modernity, not realizing that it is counterfeit, and will eventually kill the church.
Wells then moves to discuss “Clerics Anonymous” (ch.4), specifically the church’s obsession with consumerism (62). Instead of being motivated theologically, the church has become church-centered. Pragmatism reigns as the church seeks the world’s approval. They have substituted technique for truth (86). Thus, this is a guised liberalism that will ultimately lead to the same fate of Protestant Liberalism, decline and eventual death.
He then examines “the Weightlessness of God” (ch.5), which is a by-product of the loss of truth. The culprit is modernity, but the problem is the church’s adultery with this anti-God mentality. God has been modernized to a mere feeling or a subjective thought, instead of as an objective, absolute reality (90-91). People are interested in religion and even god, just not the objective, absolute God of Christianity. Wells then details the “Outside God” (ch.6) where he argues that the remedy for modernity is the deep waters of God’s transcendence (151). Furthermore, he argues that the church must theologically understand, trust, and live that God is in control and that the cross is the answer to the sin problem (ch.7). Otherwise, modernity pressing on the church walls from without will crush the church if God’s sovereignty, holiness, goodness, triumph over evil, etc. are diminished (184-185).
Wells concludes this work detailing the “Coming Generation” (ch.8) and “Speaking with a Different Voice” (ch. 9). He examines seminarians from seven evangelical seminaries in the United States in order to understand these possible future leaders. His conclusions are that these future leaders 1) take the Scriptures seriously; 2) affirm that theology must be central to the life of the church; and 3) are dissatisfied with the current status of the church (212-213). These future leaders will have to respond to these truths that they claim to affirm if the church is indeed going to be the church (214-215). They must possess a “new voice”, but this voice is really the voice of Christians who have come before them. The church must rediscover what it means to be the church (225). Wells finishes this book by providing a detailed appendix that thoroughly details his survey of the seminary students from seven seminaries.
III. Critical Interaction with the Author’s Work
Wells clearly longs to make the evangelical church relevant to God, yet again. The churches fascination with numbers, marketing, technology, etc. and ultimately its succumbing to the deception of modernity have left the evangelical church relevant to the culture, but not to God. The purpose of this book is to briefly assess the problem and to offer an answer; and this answer is God.
Wells comes from a conservative Christian perspective. He is probably an inerrantist; and at the very least, he affirms that salvation is found in Christ alone. He also believes in the authority of the Scriptures over the church; and the entire world as well. The reaffirming of the transcendence of God, the otherness of God, is part of his suggested remedy; and thus, this doctrine must hold an authoritative place in his own theology.
One would think that in evangelicalism, everyone would know that God is the answer to the various problems encountered in the church. Evangelicals though do not realize there is a problem. As Wells emphasizes, the modernization of evangelicalism is largely subtle. Because evangelicals live in the culture, modernity is largely natural to them. The problem is that modernity is direct rebellion against the gospel. It is a philosophy that cannot and will not exist in heaven. It is a philosophy that does not flow from God’s nature. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: andrew mutch, bachelor of divinity, book critique, book god, congregational minister, divinity degree, doctor of philosophy, evangelical theology, faith and practice, gordon conwell, honest book, losing our virtue, master of theology, philosophy degree, south hamilton massachusetts, systematic theology, theological heritage, trinity divinity school, trinity evangelical divinity school, university of manchester
Introduction
John Calvin has been celebrated and hated ever since his public rebellion against the teachings of the Catholic Church. Many have argued that his doctrine of predestination killed his evangelistic fervor; and that it will also kill evangelistic fervor in anyone who believes or teaches it. Some have argued that Calvin had no missionary enthusiasm at all.[i] Others have gone so far as to discount all the Reformers and Puritans as being too busy with local concerns to be concerned with foreign missions.[ii] Even those who affirm predestination in the same vein as Calvin are accused of neglecting evangelism as well. Currently in Southern Baptist life, some four hundred and fifty years after the death of Calvin, this writer hears many non-Calvinist pastors and laity come against Calvinism because “it will destroy evangelism.” The arguments are not new, but are simply presented with new garnishes. Joel Beeke however disagrees with those who argue against Calvin’s destruction of evangelism. Evaluating Calvin’s evangelistic lifestyle Beeke writes,
If Calvin could not shield himself from critics even when he worked twenty hours a day, preaching, teaching, and writing, what does that say about our work for God’s kingdom? If Calvin was not evangelistic, who is? Are we willing to confess with William Carey as we labor for the souls of sinners, “I had rather wear out than rust out?”[iii]
This writer hopes that at the very least, readers will examine their own lives, the lives of their evangelical heroes, and compare them to Calvin to see who is truly evangelistic; for if Calvin was not evangelistic, then who is? The answer is virtually no one. Few in history accomplished more in the name of Christ as Calvin.
With one group arguing against Calvin’s “lack of emphasis upon evangelism”, and another group arguing that he is a great model for evangelism, one must thoroughly examine Calvin himself in order to decipher the truth. Though Calvin did emphasize the sovereignty of God in salvation, he also strongly emphasized the responsibility of the church to share the gospel. In spite of the aforementioned indictments, Calvin affirmed the church’s responsibility in sharing the gospel both through his teaching and his actions.
Calvin taught that the church should be evangelistic
Regardless of the assumptions of those who do not understand how Calvin’s doctrine of predestination and man’s responsibility can co-exist, Calvin’s own writings testify that he taught and believed the church must be evangelistic. Calvin believed first of all that jealousy for God’s glory should motivate Christians to share the gospel. Secondly, he argued that the church should be evangelistic out of love for her neighbor. Thirdly, he believed the church should pray for the salvation of the lost regardless if there is visible fruit present from her ministry. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Calvin was not evangelistic, calvinism, Calvinism kills evangelism, calvinist, Calvinistic evangelism, catholic church, Evangelism, fervor, fifty years, foreign missions, garnishes, heresy, heroes, joel beeke, john calvin, laity, lifestyle, pastors, puritans, rebellion, reformers, rust, southern baptist life, william carey
John Calvin vs. Martin Luther
Introduction
Timothy George seeks to detail the lives and beliefs of the Reformers in his book Theology of the Reformers. Two of the Reformers he examines are John Calvin and Martin Luther. This paper will seek to critique and examine the clear similarities and differences specifically mentioned by George concerning Calvin and Luther. According to His distinctions between these two men, concerning the essentials of the Reformation, their similarities in life and theology far outweighed their differences.
Similarities in Life and Theology
Unlike Luther, Calvin was born into the church. His father was an administrative assistant for the Bishop of Noyon. His mother also was considered a very pious woman (168). Both these men however studied law, with Calvin graduating, and Luther foregoing finishing law school to become a monk; and eventually a Doctor of Theology. Calvin however was not a novice in the biblical languages, but was not formally theologically trained like Luther.
Though their upbringing and education were similar, their personalities were different. Calvin was shy to the point of being unsociable. Luther however was a man of action; and is described by George as having a “volcano of a personality” (175). In spite of these differences in personality, both Calvin and Luther were reluctant to fight the opposition, but Calvin was more reluctant than Luther. In similar fashion though, both were brought into the fight by the encouragement of those who surrounded them.
With this training in the biblical languages came an emphasis upon the authority of the Scriptures. George indicates that Luther and Calvin both affirmed that the church was born from the womb of the Scriptures, instead of the Scriptures being produced by the church (197). This is one of the main “flags” of the Reformation. The Scriptures alone are authoritative. This was direct rebellion against the current thought and government of the day. It was a capital offense to usurp the absolute authority of the Catholic Church and the pope. These men however sought to please God rather than men. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: acts, biblical, christianity, christians, churches, conclusion, critique, discipline, distinctions, doctor of theology, faith, faithfulness, flesh, foundational, god, gospel, gospels, john calvin, languages, law monk, likeness, luther calvin, man of action, martin luther, obedience, pious woman, rebellion, reformation, saints, salvation, school, scripture, scriptures, similarities and differences, sinfulness, theology of the reformers, timothy george, truth, upbringing, womb
An Honest Book Review
Little, Paul. How to Give Away your Faith. InterVarsity Press, 1989. 202 pp. $10.40.
Introduction
Paul E. Little and his wife Mary worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for 25 years. Paul was also the associate professor of evangelism at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He wrote several books besides this one, with such titles as Know Why You Believe and Affirming the Will of God. Since Paul’s death in 1975, his wife and InterVarsity have continued his ministry through publishing his works and a website (http://www.ivpress.com/paullittle/index.html) dedicated to his legacy.
Summary
Little hopes to help Christians “give away their faith” in this work with a similar title. In order to accomplish this goal, he begins by detailing the foundation for witnessing. First, in order to witness Christians must understand the culture they live in. They must care about the people they are seeking, caring for both their spiritual and physical lives (23). This care will always lead to understanding, and the more a Christian understands his or her culture, the easier it will be for him or her to carry the gospel to the people in this culture. Second, Little argues that Christians must be real and live out the Christian life, for those who carry the gospel must show the change the gospel produces (36-37). In reality most people read the Christian before they listen to the message.
Little then moves to show his readers how to be effective in pointing to Christ. Believers often doubt the power of the message they possess, and this is what often hinders their witnessing. To remedy this he argues that the gospel is the best gift that can be given in the world (42-43. If Christians believe this, then they will seek to give this gift to everyone, according to his logic. The gospel is thus worth more than all the money or health the world can muster. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: affirming the will of god, apostles, associate professor, benefit, bible, biblical, book critique, christianity, christians, churches, conclusion, critique, deerfield illinois, evangelicals, Evangelism, faith, fervor, foundational, fulness, god, gospel, gospels, honest book, inerrancy, intervarsity christian fellowship, jesus, legacy, logic, money, paul e little, prayer, pulpits, salvation, school, scripture, scriptures, seminaries, senses, trinity evangelical divinity, truth, wife mary, witnessing
Summary
Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart wrote How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth to help Christians understand how to handle the Scriptures in context, by showing them how to properly approach the basic genres within Scripture (9). They are concerned with teaching Christians how to properly apply the Scriptures. In order to accomplish this goal, they begin by showing their readers the need to interpret and the importance of a good translation. Following this, Fee and Stuart detail how to properly handle the various genres of Scripture, including the epistles, Old Testament narratives, Acts, the Gospels, the parables, the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, Wisdom Literature, and Revelation.
Beginning with the need to interpret and the importance of a good translation, Fee and Stuart hope to help readers to rightly handle what they probably already have experience in, namely interpretation. Everyone who reads anything is an interpreter (14). People are either good interpreters or bad interpreters. Fee and Stuart argue that good interpreters understand the Scriptures in light of the historical and literary contexts. Furthermore, once interpreters understand the proper meaning of the text, they can properly apply this meaning to their current culture and life. Fee and Stuart then encourage their readers to use various translations when studying to compare and contrast the text in question, but to use one bible version for the aid of Scripture memory (31). They then argue for the superiority of the New International Version over the use of the King James Version due to the date of the copies used for the translation in relation to the originals.
Fee and Stuart then tackle how to properly handle all genres within the Protestant Bible. They encourage readers to think contextually and applicably concerning the letters in the New Testament. Furthermore, they encourage interpreters to handle the New Testament narratives, the book of Acts and the Gospels, in light of the historical context. Acts is given repetitious attention, though it is a narrative, due to its narrative nature often being ignored by readers because it is in the New Testament (94-95). Difficulties in the Gospels are then detailed because of the various genres contained within these four narratives.
Fee and Stuart conclude this book detailing how to handle the Old Testament Covenant in Israel, through showing readers how to handle the Law, Prophets, Psalms, and Wisdom Literature. In order to bring this Scripture to bear on the current culture, Fee and Stuart believe Christians must be careful and meticulous for the Old Covenant is not their covenant, at least not completely (150-155). From this discussion, Fee and Stuart detail how the interpreter is to handle the book of Revelation, acknowledging the fact that this book is made up of the apocalyptic, prophecy and letter genres (232).
Analysis
Fee and Stuart seek to do Christians a great service by helping them to properly understand the Word of God in How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. In this writer’s estimation, they succeeded in their endeavor. Most of this book is worthy of praise, and thus, it is only in need of a few minor critiques.
With postmodernism and empiricism gaining steam within Evangelicalism, such a work is needed. Churches within Evangelicalism often do not teach Christians how to handle the Scriptures today. Fee and Stuart are spot-on in addressing this need. This writer loves their emphasis upon context and the practical aspects of interpreting the Scriptures. They have produced a book that all laity and leadership should read. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: acts, apostles, benefit, bible, bible version, christianity, christians, churches, conclusion, critique, emotion, emotions, epistles, evangelicals, Evangelism, faith, faithfulness, feelings, foundational, frustration, fulness, genre, gentile, god, gordon d fee, gospel, gospels, hebrew, how to read the bible, interpreter, jesus, king james version, literary contexts, literature, narrative, narratives, old testament, parable, parables, pastors, phrases, prophecy, prophets, protestant bible, redemption, revelation, scripture, scripture memory, scriptures, sinfulness, superiority, truth, wisdom literature
