Posts
I recently listened to a podcast of a Phil Johnson lecture at the Shepherd's Conference titled "What Is An Evangelical?". You can read part 1 of the transcript here: Shepherd's Conference. (It's in two 2 part postings.)
Reading through Phil's lecture stimulated me to re-read Dr. Lloyd-Jones' lectures at the 1971 Conference of the Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Those lectures were published in a small book titled "What Is An Evangelical", published by Banner of Truth Trust.
In the first chapter of the book Dr. Lloyd-Jones recognized that there has been a change in the term "evangelical". What the term used to mean is no longer true. We must be sure of what the term means before we can apply it to ourselves and others and then respond to how this change occurred.
Another observation he makes is that the life of the church is not static. There is always a process of change and development and it is generally one of degeneration because of sin. This process of change is usually subtle and begins on the periphery not at the center of church doctrine. He cites examples such as the change that ocurred at the beginning of the 19th century as a result of the "higher criticism" movement that led to the Downgrade controversy in Great Britain.
The change brought about in America is popularly called the "new" evangelicalism. A change of emphasis and belief in regard to certain fundamental truths. The term "evangelical" has become to mean everything and therefore nothing. It has to have some meaning. It has to be defined and to define the term is to limit it's meaning.
Dr. Lloyd-Jones suggests there are two main dangers in defining the term. One is a too narrow definition which leads to schism in the body. In other words, dividing and separating over matters which are not essential to salvation. The other danger is that of being so broad and inclusive that in the end we have no definition.
He closes his first chapter with the following: "What has been said of the church in the past is true today. The church, though she has been reformed, must be constantly re-formed. The church is always to be under the Word. You must not assume that because the church started correctly, she will continue so. Every generation has got to examine this for itself. You cannot receive these things by tradition alone. So it behoves us in our day and generation to examine this term evangelical anew and afresh in the light of the Scripture and of history, and especially in the light of the dangerous tendencies that surround us at this present time."
posted by john d
Reading through Phil's lecture stimulated me to re-read Dr. Lloyd-Jones' lectures at the 1971 Conference of the Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Those lectures were published in a small book titled "What Is An Evangelical", published by Banner of Truth Trust.
In the first chapter of the book Dr. Lloyd-Jones recognized that there has been a change in the term "evangelical". What the term used to mean is no longer true. We must be sure of what the term means before we can apply it to ourselves and others and then respond to how this change occurred.
Another observation he makes is that the life of the church is not static. There is always a process of change and development and it is generally one of degeneration because of sin. This process of change is usually subtle and begins on the periphery not at the center of church doctrine. He cites examples such as the change that ocurred at the beginning of the 19th century as a result of the "higher criticism" movement that led to the Downgrade controversy in Great Britain.
The change brought about in America is popularly called the "new" evangelicalism. A change of emphasis and belief in regard to certain fundamental truths. The term "evangelical" has become to mean everything and therefore nothing. It has to have some meaning. It has to be defined and to define the term is to limit it's meaning.
Dr. Lloyd-Jones suggests there are two main dangers in defining the term. One is a too narrow definition which leads to schism in the body. In other words, dividing and separating over matters which are not essential to salvation. The other danger is that of being so broad and inclusive that in the end we have no definition.
He closes his first chapter with the following: "What has been said of the church in the past is true today. The church, though she has been reformed, must be constantly re-formed. The church is always to be under the Word. You must not assume that because the church started correctly, she will continue so. Every generation has got to examine this for itself. You cannot receive these things by tradition alone. So it behoves us in our day and generation to examine this term evangelical anew and afresh in the light of the Scripture and of history, and especially in the light of the dangerous tendencies that surround us at this present time."
posted by john d
No comments:
Post a Comment