A recent Christianity Today cover story describes a trend today among younger folks in the Church toward a renewed emphasis on doctrine and on God’s supremacy in all things.
The article is fair-minded and credits the likes of John Piper, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, R.C. Sproul, and J.I. Packer with the resurgence of interest in Reformed Theology and the Puritans, especially Jonathan Edwards.
I find the trend encouraging, but am frankly a little concerned when this sort of thing makes the cover of CT. It is a movement now? I hope not. I pray that this is simply a Spirit-inspired return to taking the Bible and the glory of God seriously.
I am confused… the article, at one point, reports:
Steve Lemke, provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary…warned,
The article goes on to say;
With that last statement, it is clear that Mr. Lemke is not truly an educator in this area since he doesn’t even know his history. Every significant revival that is part of American revivalism was started and sustained by people who believed in our need to have God awaken people from the dead (the term “awaken” was associated with God’s power, not man’s ability, during the “Great Awakening”). I would contend that it is these types of ignorant statements that contribute to an unhealthy controversy and not the subject itself. What is it so scary about opening the Bible and letting the Bible speak for itself? Sure, there are people who handle this subject like a bull in a china-shop. It is also true that this subject is challenging, but the issue itself is not without merit. No educator at a seminary would dare say, “The Trinity? It’s too hard to understand, let’s skip that one.” Or, “God’s eternality? Whew, that subject gives me a headache! Let’s move on to something easier… like the virgin birth.” The extent of our ability to comprehend should never be the litmus test of whether or not it is a worthwhile subject to consider. Good grief, every subject relating to God at some point is over-our-head since God is apart of the discussion.
Let the discussion happen with people retreating to the solace of their Bible to find the truth. We must all remember our God calls all of us to “love one another deeply” (I Peter 4:8), as we discuss issues like this. Those who choose to act in ways detrimental to His call to “love one another just as I have loved you” should be rebuked regardless of which “side” they are on.
God does not play hide-n-seek, He plays seek-n-find and teachers in seminary should know better.