Van-guard (văn’gärd), noun: “The foremost or leading position in a trend or movement.”
the journey forward... exploring the emerging church... navigating spiritual formation... seeking to transform the world... ...through Christ
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Van-guard (văn’gärd), noun: “The foremost or leading position in a trend or movement.” the journey forward... exploring the emerging church... navigating spiritual formation... seeking to transform the world... ...through Christ |
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“Modified Reformed Theology” A Clarification By Robert W. Robinson Pastor-Teacher, Vanguard Church This means that members will only be required to affirm the twelve-article EFCA Statement of Faith and may have differences of view concerning the “gray areas” that the statement does not comment on. For instance, you may be believe in Dispensationalism, or Arminianism, or not hold to all “Five Points of Calvinism.” That’s OK. We are an inclusive church family, allowing room for the legitimate differences in the gray areas of evangelical doctrine. While we allow room for diverse evangelical theologies, the primary teaching from the Pastor is what he calls a “Modified Reformed Theology.” The question that naturally arises then, is, “What’s that?” To answer that question is the purpose of this brief paper. Modified Reformed Theology? The term “Reformed” is not easily defined. Reformed theology is not monolithic, but within the Reformed family and in the Reformed stream of theological thought, some distinctives are obvious. The first thing that is clear is that Reformed Christians have always recognized that “Reformed expressions” are understandings of the Christian faith that emerge from and are in dialogue with the whole Christian church and all other theological systems as well. We see ourselves first of all as members of the universal Christian church before we are members of any “reformed” denomination or movement. We are “Christians” (noun) before we are “Reformed Christians” (adjective). In doing so, Reformed theologians embrace this motto: “The church reformed and always being reformed according to Scripture.” As Reformed Christians continue to listen to God’s Word in Scripture and be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, new insights can emerge. Therefore, the term “Modified Reformed Theology” is sort of a misnomer in that reformed theology is always open to being “modified.” We will keep the term “modified,” however, because it allows us to make clear that we hold to two important modifications to what is usually thought of as “Reformed” pertaining to baptism and church government. We at Vanguard Church hold to believer's baptism (believing that baptism should normally follow a person's confession of faith in Jesus Christ), and that churches should be autonomous in their governmental affairs (that's the "Free" part of the name of our fellowship of churches, the "Evangelical Free Church of America.").
A Brief History Lesson 1. The Protestant Reformation. The Reformed churches emerged from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century. The most important Protestant Reformer for us is John Calvin (1509-1564), who lived in Geneva. Calvin was a student of Scripture, teacher, writer, pastor, community leader, and one of the most brilliant theologians in the history of the Christian church. His Commentaries and his Institutes of the Christian Religion are still exerting tremendous influence on the Christian Church worldwide. His understandings of Scripture formed a stream of theological advancement by such leaders as Bullinger, Beza, and Knox, and became known as the “Reformed” tradition, primarily because it emphasized the reform of the church according to the Word of God. As the Reformed churches started to spread throughout Europe, Calvin and his contemporary Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) allied themselves with the emerging Protestantism associated with the reforms of the German reformer Martin Luther (1484-1546). Eventually, four main streams of Protestantism took shape: Lutheran, Anabaptist, Episcopalian, and Reformed. The Lutherans followed closely to the teachings of Martin Luther; the Anabaptists rejected both Roman Catholicism and also many of the teachings of Luther (particularly regarding infant baptism), and embraced Zwingli’s view of the Lord’s Supper (these were the ancestors of today’s Mennonites and also some “Baptists”); the Episcopalian (or Anglican) Church followed the stream that was established with the Church of England; and the Reformed Christians followed the lead of Calvin (and, to a lesser degree, Zwingli). The Reformed stream of Christianity, therefore, is sometimes called “Calvinism.” 2. The Rise of Arminianism. Calvin’s followers built on his work to address issues of their own times and places. One such time was when a controversy between Arminianism and Calvinism arose in Holland in the early 1600's. The founder of the Arminian party (Jacob Arminius [1560-1609]) came to reject certain Calvinist teachings. The controversy spread all over Holland, where the Reformed Church was the overwhelming majority. The Arminians drew up their creed in Five Articles and laid them before the state authorities of Holland in 1610 under the name Remonstrance, signed by forty-six ministers. The Calvinists responded with a Counter-Remonstrance. A Synod (1618-1619) wrote what has come to be known as the Canons of Dort. These are still part of the church confession of the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church. They state the “Five Points of Calvinism” (known by the acronym TULIP) in response to the Five Articles from the Arminians. The Five Points are: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. So the Calvinists did not choose the so-called Five Points as a summary of their teaching. They emerged as a response to the Arminians who chose these five points to oppose. From that point on, Reformed Christians have been very clearly identifiable over against their Arminian Christian brothers and sisters (today Arminian theology is seen primarily in Wesleyan, Methodist, charismatic, and holiness churches). Not all Reformed Christians today subscribe to all of the “Five Points.” Some do not agree that “limited atonement” is biblical or was really part of John Calvin’s original theology. In some Reformed churches, the five points are heavily emphasized; in others they are less so. 3. The Rise of Dispensationalism. At the end of the 19th Century, a new theological system emerged from John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren Church: Dispensationalism. Dispensationalism took root in America when it was systematized in the Bible notes written by C. I. Scofield, and established in a seminary in Dallas under Lewis Sperry Chafer. Dispensationalists maintain that there is a distinction between Israel and the church, therefore, they interpret Old Testament prophecy and New Testament passages of the End Times in light of what they see as God’s different plan for the Nation of Israel. Reformed Theologians did not embrace Dispensationalism. They maintained that the “People of God” of the Old Testament are the same “People of God” in the New Testament. Instead of seeing the New Testament Church as a “parenthesis” in God’s plans for the Nation of Israel, Reformed Theologians see the New Testament Church as the “spiritual Israel.” Therefore, all the promises given to “The People of God” in the Old Testament are fulfilled spiritually in the New Testament when God finally makes a “People of God” who can and will fulfill them—the church is called the “seed of Abraham.” Today, Dispensationalists are refining their system to better reflect the rest of historic Calvinistic thought, while maintaining the difference between the Church and Israel. Reformed and Dispensational theologians are finding much common ground as they work through their differences because of their common high regard for John Calvin’s understanding of the Bible. 4. Major Denominations of the Reformed
Tradition. In America, when one thinks of the Reformed stream of Christianity, one naturally thinks of the Presbyterian Church. The largest is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), which is generally more liberal in its theology, though there is a “confessing movement” within its ranks to keep the denomination centered on what Scripture says concerning the more controversial issues of our day. Among the many other denominations that are Reformed are the Presbyterian Church in America (which is generally more biblically conservative than its sister mentioned above), and The Christian Reformed Church. Vanguard Church So, while there is room for many different evangelical views in Vanguard Church, the pastor does not try to cover over his particular theological understandings. He teaches the Bible verse-by-verse, allowing the Bible to speak—and to change—our theology. That is why he is not a
"stern" Reformed theologian. He has allowed the Bible to shape his theology, as opposed to allowing his theology to shape the Bible. He believes that Reformed Theology is closest to the truth, but even within Reformed theology, there is room for sharpening. Of course, that does not mean that we cannot learn from theologians and those Christians who were before us. It is just that all creeds, councils, theologians, and Church Fathers must be analyzed on the basis of the Bible. That is the fun of biblical study—knowing that we have not yet arrived at perfect understanding, and being humble enough to hear other opinions and working it through with grace (or “charity,” as the EFCA motto goes).
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