A Fundamental Distinctive

The latest issue of Christianity Today magazine has a very interesting article which highlights the difference between the philosophy of ministry of fundamentalists and the philosophy of ministry of evangelicals.

The article is a glowing report on the prospect of grassroots renewal groups within liberal protestant denonimations gaining control over the denominations over time and turning them back to orthodoxy.

Here is a link to the article:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/008/1.34.html

Renewing liberal churches to orthodoxy is a long-term dream and goal of new-evangelicalism. Billy Graham felt that it was possible to renew them, and that is why he allowed, tolerated, and recruited liberals to sponsor his crusades. He believed that if people got saved and went back into the liberal denominations they would ultimately turn the denominations back to the truth.

Do you think that infiltating and taking over liberal denominations over a period of time is a biblical strategy?

Do you think this strategy will ultimately succeed?

Do you think that the fundamentalist's alternative to this strategy is more biblical?

Do you think fundamentalists are having greater effect in spreading the gospel because we practice seperation?

 

Sorry, but I think you have it wrong. The SBC is a work in progress as Dr. Bob said. The success they have achieved to date is not because they practiced unity with liberals, but because they kicked the liberals out! Oxen don't work well with jackasses and such should not be tried!

In his book Reclaiming Authentic Fundamentalism, Douglas McLachlan illustrates from an earlier article in Christianity Today(from 1990) with a specific case of of the failure of the infiltration strategy.

However, the article continues by noting that though a high percentage of clergy in the Church of England claim to be evangelical, when pressed as to their specific theology they are weak on the doctrine of scripture (evidenced by the lack of expository preaching), on the doctrine of the cross, and on the definition of sin. Their theology is actually liberal, they have only adopted the name evangelical.

McLaughlin concludes by asking

The fundamentalist's strategy of separating from liberals, planting new churches, discipling believers, and training Christian workers is the biblical strategy.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Sorry that I misunderstood what you meant, Ed.