Don Carson on "What is Evangelicalism?" (1)

Today I attended a seminar led by Don Carson on What is Evangelicalism. It was held at St Bartholomew's Church, Bath under the auspices of Bath Word in Action. Here's a report of what he had to say:

Methodology

Trying to define evangelicalism is a complex affair. The word can mean different things in different countries and cultures. We need to bear that in mind. In addition, there have been a number of approaches to the task of defining evangelicalism. Some employ a sociological method. The views of all who call themselves evangelical are collated and synthesised to come up with the main features of evangelical belief and practice. Others prefer a more historical approach, such as David Bebbington in his well known Evangelicalism in Modern Britain. On the basis of his historical analysis, Bebbington proposed four defining features of evangelical Christianity, conversionism, activism, biblicism and crucicentrism.

Carson discussed whether we should employ a boundary-based or a centre-bounded perspective on defining evangelical beliefs. The first category clearly excludes all who fall outside of the clearly-defined boundary, while the second insists on harmony in the centre, while allowing for differences on the outer-edges of belief. He prefers centre-bounded evangelicalism.

Rather than try to define evangelicalism sociologically or historically, Carson proposed a Biblical and theological approach. He set out the formal principle and material principles that govern evangelical theology.

I. The Formal Principle

This, quite simply is the authority of Scripture. Holding the Bible as God's inspired and infallible Word is no late evangelical invention. The Bible's own self-witness as well as the testimony of the church throughout history acknowledges the unique authority and reliability of Scripture. This "norming norm" must be what defines evangelical or gospel Christianity, not sociological or historical factors. But the formal principle is not sufficient on its own, which brings us to...

II. The Material Principle

This is nothing less than the gospel to which Scripture bears witness. Carson focused our attention on 1 Corinthians 15:1-19 to set out the essential components of the Biblical evangel. He did this using eight defining words and five clarifying sentences. I will simply give his headings with a little comment. This, according to Paul is what is of first importance - the gospel which he proclaimed of Christ crucified for our sins, buried and raised from the dead.

1. The Gospel is Christological

Wherever we look in the New Testament, Christ - his Person and work are central. Christ died and was raised the third day. He has been appointed the Last Adam and the world's true Lord.

2. The Gospel is Theological

Christ died for our sins. Sin is a theological category because God is always the most offended party when sin is committed. This takes us back to the fall and forces us to face up to God's wrathful response to sin. Carson traced the theme of God's judgement through Scripture, culminating in the apostolic proclamation that God will judge the world through the risen Jesus (Acts 17). Any account of the gospel that minimises sin and God's wrath is badly deficient. Without this backdrop we cannot understand Christ's propitiatory work.

3. The Gospel is Biblical

Christ died, was buried and raised according to the Scriptures, Paul insisted, which brings us back to our formal principle. It is the Biblical gospel that counts.

4. The Gospel is Apostolic

In the passage, Paul refers to the apostle's eyewitness testimony to Jesus' resurrection. He appeals to his own apostolic proclamation that was based on his sight of the risen Christ "as one born out of due time". The Corinthians received an apostolic gospel "so we preached and so you believed." The apostles teaching is normative for the church.

5. The Gospel is Historical

Not in the sense of a "natural" event in the historical process, but because the resurrection of Jesus was an act of God in history. This is a unique feature of the Christian faith. God has revealed himself most fully in the historical birth, life, miracles, teaching, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Son of God. We cannot meaningfully hold onto New Testament theology without this solid historical basis.

6. The Gospel is Personal

This is the gospel by which the Corinthians were saved and in which they stood (15:1). The gospel must be appropriated personally by saving faith in Christ.

7. The Gospel is Universal

Christ is the Last Adam (15:22, 47-50), he is the head of God's multi-ethnic new humanity. All who are united to him are delivered from sin and death in the first Adam. But all who are not united to him remain in their sin.

8. The Gospel is Eschatological

Salvation is the in-breaking of the future into the present. Believers are justified by faith now, ahead of the day of judgement and raised with Christ in anticipation of the resurrection of the dead. But the gospel is eschatological primarily because its trajectory is the final consummation of resurrection glory (15:50ff).

I'll leave the five qualifying sentences for another post. But even from the above sketch, it can be seen that to be an evangelical Christian is to embrace the good news of Jesus in all its wonderful dimensions. This part of Carson's address was demanding and exhilarating. He made little allowance for the "mixed" character of his audience, leaving some wishing that they had brought a dictionary with them to look up words like "eschatology", "epistemology" etc. But it was a bravura exposition of the gospel that froms the material principle of evangelical theology.

Leadership crisis

The London Theological Seminary

For the first time since its inception in 1977, the London Theological Seminary (here) has failed to attract any UK students for the two year course, due to begin in October 2007. The seminary was founded by Martyn Lloyd-Jones to train men for the preaching ministry in evangelical nonconformist churches. The course does not lead to a diploma or degree, it is simply designed to equip men for pastoral ministry. I studied there in 1988-1990 and found the course intellectually demanding, spiritually enriching and practically helpful.

No doubt some men from evangelical free churches are training at WEST (here), where degrees are awarded. I know of others who have done the Cornhill Training Course (here), run by the Anglican Proclamation Trust. Oak Hill College (here), again an Anglican institution also attracts evangelical nonconformists who wish to train for the role of pastor-teacher. I welcome an emphasis on training pastor-expositors in evangelical Anglicanism. But some of the distinctives of the nonconformist approach to preaching are not necessarily shared by Anglicans. In evangelical Anglicanism, the idea of the anointing of the Spirit in preaching is often downplayed and is sometimes dismissed as little more than a Lloyd-Jonesian aberration. Evangelical nonconformity has a unique perspective on Christian ministry which needs to be preserved.

But, when all's said and done, there seems to be a shortage of godly and gifted men who are training for ministry of the word in the evangelical free churches. I wonder why this is? Here are some suggestions:

1. Training is expensive. When I went to LTS, the Gwent Local Education Authority paid for my fees, board and gave me some pocket money every term. That is no longer the case. But can the churches afford not to invest in leadership training?

2. Ministry is difficult and demanding. Geoff Thomas once redefined the "Five Points of Calvinism" acronym TULIP to mean, "Totally Unappreciated Low Income Pastors". Many a true word has been spoken in jest. Why would promising men be interested in being a pastor, given the way in which some churches treat their ministers. (I should say that this is not a gripe against the churches I serve, just a general point). I may be mistaken, but my impression is that many theological students are hoping to pursue a career teaching theology in the world of academia. They are not necessarily studying to develop their skills as pastor-theologians. How many theology bloggers are training for the pastoral-preaching ministry?

3. The system of calling pastors to churches is chaotic. The relationship between the churches and the collages/seminaries is often poor. Godly and gifted men may finish theological training without a call to a pastorate in view. They may be kept waiting for years before actually entering pastoral ministry. Candidates for ministry can be called to preach several times in a church and then be dropped without a word of explanation. Why would a man give up a good job to train for ministry when the prospects of actually being called to pastoral work is often quite tenuous? We have the bizarre situation where churches have been pastorless for years, while there are men in secular employment who have the spiritual maturity, ability and training to pastor the people of God. The result of all this is that evangelical free churches are left leaderless for long periods of time.

4. Lack of appreciation for the pastoral-preaching ministry. We don't want to return to the bad old days when Ministers were accorded almost unquestioning deference because of their office. Neither am I advocating an "one man ministry" approach to the detriment of other gifts and ministries in the body of Christ. But the work of pastor-teacher used to be regarded as the ministry. The preacher's task is to equip the church for service and bring the people of God to unity and maturity in Christ. (Eph 4:11-16). No more important calling can be imagined than to proclaim the unsearchable riches of the gospel and pastor God's flock. Do contemporary evangelical free churches share the Bible's high view of pastoral ministry?

5. Too much moaning by pastors. Do we (yes, I include myself), sometimes give the impression that being a pastor is such a rubbish job that only a masochistic nutter would want to do it? Have we lost something of the joy of ministry? Yes, times are hard, but our task is a highly privileged one. We are paid to give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. Our task is to read wonderful works of theology and biblical commentary. We get to spend time having fellowship with the saints in their homes as part of pastoral visitation. We share in their joys and sorrows. Around three times a week we have to preach and teach God's word! Can anything compare to preaching Christ when our hearts are set on fire by the Spirit? Often our preaching falls flat. But we can hope that the Spirit will come and set us free not just to expound, illustrate and apply the Word, but to preach.

Who will say, "Here I am send me"? Go on, I dare you.

The Fray: How to save a life

I've just taken delivery of How to Save a Life by The Fray. Haven't had time to give it a proper listen yet, but here is the latest single from the album, Over My Head (Cable Car).

John Murray on The Open Air Meeting

Busy day, yesterday. I conducted my first marriage service and then attended a church fellowship evening in nearby Saltford. The couple were a man from the church I pastor in West Lavington and a woman from the other church I serve in Westbury!

I sometimes preach the gospel in the open air. We hold open air events in our local High Street in the Spring and Summers months. This morning, I'm off to Bridport, Dorset to assist friends from the Baptist Church with their open air witness. The other day, I was struck to read these Rules for Open Air Meetings, drawn up by John Murray for the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the 1930's. Aside from being excellent advice, they show that Murray was an evangelist at heart, as well as a being a theologian. They also tie in nicely with my new series on Preaching and the Power of the Spirit (here).

1. Go where the people are, not where you hope they will come...

2. Go in absolute confidence in the truth and power of the Gospel and in complete reliance on the Holy Spirit to bless. Only as the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit can we proclaim boldly, convincingly, and winsomely the everlasting gospel. Nothing can draw and hold so well and so surely in an open-air service as the preaching of the Word in the power of the Spirit.

From The Life of John Murray by Iain Murray, Banner of Truth Trust, 2007, p. 91.

That's me preaching at the Martyrs Memorial, Oxford last March.

Encounters with Tradition

Ben Myres of Faith & Theology is hosting a number of guest posts on Encounters with Tradition. Theology bloggers discuss why they switched from one Church tradition to another. In my contribution, no. 3 in the series, I tell the story of of how I became a Reformed Baptist, here.

Preaching and the power of the Spirit (1)

It has been encouraging to see a resurgence of interest in expository preaching in evangelical circles. This interest is one that spans the Anglican / Nonconformist divide. Men are being trained to handle the Word accurately and present the truth with clarity. Attention is given to matters of exegesis, illustration and application. All this is good. But it seems to me that little emphasis is given to the work of the Holy Spirit in relation to preaching. All (I hope) acknowledge that the Spirit works through preaching. But perhaps we need to give greater attention to developing a theology of Word and Spirit in relation to the proclamation of the gospel. I can't promise to do that in this post, but here are some rudimentary thoughts:

In this first post, I will make a couple of general points and then focus on the Biblical teaching on preaching with power.

1) The Spirit is at work in the preacher as a believer

A man should not step into a pulpit unless he has been born again by the Spirit of God. Such a man will be indwelt by the Spirit and is being transformed by his work. The Spirit will have gifted the man to preach and called him to the ministry of the Word. That call will have been recognised by the church. Preaching is an expression of a believer's life in the Spirit.

2) The Spirit has given us the Word

All Scripture has been breathed out by God (2 Tim 3:16). The Spirit of Christ was at work in the Old Testament prophets (1 Peter 1:10-12). By the Spirit the New Testament was written and given to the church. Without the Spirit, there would be no Word. When the Bible is read and preached, the Spirit's words are communicated through one human being to other human beings. The Spirit enables believers to understand the Word. The preacher will need the illumination of the Spirit if he is to grasp the message of his text.

3) The Holy Spirit is needed empower the preaching of the Word

It is not enough for a Spirit-indwelt man to speak the Spirit-given word of the gospel. The New Testament insists that preachers need to be filled with the Spirit. The apostles were not to bear witness to Christ until after the Spirit was given at Pentecost. Even after Pentecost, the early church prayed for boldness in speaking the gospel and was filled afresh with the Spirit (Acts 4:29-31). The apostle Peter wrote that,

"To them [the OT prophets] it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into". (1 Peter 1:12).

We find similar words in Paul's writings,

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

This explains how the message of the cross is the power of God to those who are being saved (1:18). The Spirit makes preaching the dynamic medium by which sinners are brought to new life in Christ.

Paul reflects on his preaching in Thessalonica in these terms,

"For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake". (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

The last quoted verse worth pondering. Paul wrote that his preaching was, "not in word only". Now, as I suggested in the previous point, the word is given by the communicative act of the Spirit. What the word says is what the Spirit speaks (cf Hebrews 10:15ff). Paul knew that. But, in addition to declaring the Spirit-given word, the apostle's preaching was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Those who heard Paul's message were impressed with a consciousness that the living God was there and that he was addressing them personally. In this sense, preaching is a revelatory, salvific event.

Paul's preaching had a very powerful effect on the pagan people of Thessalonica. They, "turned to God from idols to serve the living God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." (1 Thess 1:10). The reason for this amazing transformation is that they received the word of God which was preached, "not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which works effectively in you who believe." (2:13). As the Second Helvetic Confession (chap. 1) says, "The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God". But how does the word work effectively? By the power of the Spirit.

Kevin Vanhoozer puts this in theodramatic context, drawing on speech-act theory,

"What God ultimately communicates in his crucified Word is the reality of salvation itself: a share in the divine life. And yet, this intended effect - fellowship with God through union with Christ - is not an automatic consequence of God's utterance. Not all communicative acts are received for what they are. So, the Word accomplished something on the cross (makes atonement for sin; declares pardon); this is the illocutionary aspect. Yet it does not really communicate salvation until and unless it is received and appropriated by the hearer [the perlocutionary aspect]. The Spirit's role is to minister Christ, to make what God is saying and doing in the cross effective. " (The Drama of Doctrine, WJK, 2005, p. 66).

Perhaps one of the reasons that so much of our preaching is ineffective today is that we have forgotten that preaching in the New Testament sense, is not in word only, but also in the power of the Spirit. It is not enough to simply deliver an accurately exegeted, doctrinally sound, well structured, interestingly illustrated and thoughtfully applied message. We need the dynamic presence of the Spirit of Christ to transform our preaching into an encounter with the living God. That, I know is the greatest need in my own ministry.

Quote of the day

"The man who today forbids what God allows will tomorrow allow what God forbids".
(R.B. Kuiper)

From The Life of John Murray by Iain Murray, Banner of Truth Trust, 2007, p. 87.

Ten things on assurance of salvation

1. Every believer should aim for full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22).
2. Assurance is not of the essence of saving faith. One may truly believe and yet lack assurance.
3. True Christians may sometimes doubt the truth of the gospel. Genuine believers may question whether they are truly saved.
4. The objective basis of assurance is that God accepts believers as righteous on the basis of the obedience, blood, resurrection and intercession of Christ. "It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns?" (Romans 8:33 & 34).
5. We know that we are the children of God because we love him and keep his commandments. If we love God, we will love his people as our brothers and sisters. (1 John 2:3, 5:2 & 3). We must, therefore examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith.
6. The Holy Spirit gives believers assurance of salvation by enabling us to cry to God, "Abba Father". He makes us consciously aware of our adoption into God's family by pouring his love into our hearts. (Galatians 4:6, Romans 5:5).
7. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. (Romans 8:16). In "our spirits" we may believe in Christ and be persuaded of the truth. We may be able to detect evidences of a transformed life as we reflect on our love for God and his people. Above the witness of our spirits, the Holy Spirit himself testifies that we are God's children. This direct witness of the Spirit gives assurance at its fullest and deepest.
8. Assurance of salvation will bring forth great delight and gladness in the heart of the believer so that we rejoice in Christ with inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8).
9. By sinful attitudes and actions, we grieve the Holy Spirit by whom we were sealed until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). This may lead to a loss of the witness of the Spirit and undermine the believer's assurance. When this happens, we should ask God to forgive us for Christ's sake and seek him until we know his fatherly smile again.
10. All Christians should pursue full assurance of salvation and be content with nothing less. The Puritan Thomas Goodwin boldly urged believers to "sue God for the witness of the Spirit". For more on this Puritan see my Thomas Goodwin, His Life, Times and Quest for Assurance here.

More from Helm's Deep

Paul Helm has just added two new posts to his blog:

In Analysis 3: Biblical and Systematic Theology, the Prof continues with his series on systematic theology (here).

In John Calvin and the Hiddenness of God, he discusses Barth's conception of a "hidden God" in relation to Calvin's doctrine of election (here).

Thanks to PH for sending me a gratis copy of his John Calvin's Ideas for technical assistance with Helm's Deep, 'not to mention to you that you owe me even your own blog besides'.

Some Welsh Bible Blogs

The other day our old cobber Michael Jensen did a post on hard-working Aussie theobloggers here. He came up with loads of prolific "hats with corks on, crocodile wrestling" theology bloggers. That got me thinking about Welsh theobloggers. I thought hard. Paused, had a slurp of tea and thought again. I know of about four Welsh pastors who blog. One is a proper theology blogger. The others do theology when the mood takes them. "Is that it?" I thought, "Or has being an exile in England put me out of touch with what is going on in Wales? Surely there must be more than four Welsh Bible bloggers!" I e-mailed Martin Downes who is a Welsh pastor ministering in Deeside, Wales. Martin came up with two more. Anyway, here's my list of Welsh Bible bloggers:

Against Heresies by Martin Downes. Check out his recent interviews with some top Reformed theologians. MD's blog is dedicated to exploring the issue of heresy. On his blog you will find theology with no trivia or gimmicks.

Glog by Geoff Thomas. A periodically updated travelogue with the occasional book review.

Heavenly Worldliness by Gary Brady. On his blog you will find helpful articles on wisdom literature (he's written commentaries on Proverbs and the Song of Solomon), conference reports (he goes to lots of conferences) and YouTube prog-rock videos. Gary also likes puns and does a cartoon series called The Bloggy Man.

Les Daveys de France by Alan Davey, a Welsh missionary in France. Alan reflects on his attempt to adjust to French language and culture with his customary dry wit. He does some good theology and Bible stuff too.

Prognosis is a team blog. They focus on theological issues, Biblical reflection and book reviews. (Martin Downes pointed this one out to me).

Truth Shaped Minds is the blog of UCCF in Wales. A recent post discusses the break up of Word Alive over the Steve Chalke controversy. (Thanks again to MD for the heads up).

There may be other Welsh pastor / theology / Bible blogs out there. But that's all I can come up with for now. If you are a Welsh (born in Wales), evangelical and have such a blog, let me know. It's quite lonely being a taffy theoblogger.

Update

Thanks to Alan Davey (see comments) I've found another one:

No Fancy Title by Richard Myerscough, a Welsh exile in pastoring in Ponkystrank, North Yorks. Richard (like me) originally hails from Newport in South Wales and is currently reading The Drama of Doctrine. I am not alone in cyberspace! His blog contains links to several other blogs where he has posted some helpful sermon notes.

4:14 by Mark Barnes. Originally from Wrexham, he blogs on theological and practical stuff. His posts are available in audio as well as written formats. (Cheers to Martin Downes for pointing out this oversight).

Vorsprungdurchtheologie by David Kirk. Although English born, he has begged to be added to the list (see comments) as both his mum and his wife are Welsh and his children have Welsh names. Plus he can spell "Llantrisant". David is a theological student, so you know what to expect.