Some aspects of the kerfuffle between the president of the Baptist Union of Australia, Rev. Tim Costello and the ‘Reformed’ wing of the Sydney Anglicans, as Alice would say, get ‘curiouser and curiouser’.
A few general observations:
1. I am thankful that some Australian holders-of-high-office (like the recent governor general Sir William Deane, Tim Costello, Ronald Wilson among others) use their position to demonstrate compassion for the underprivileged. May their tribe increase.
2. Having been the guest speaker at about 15 Anglican clergy conferences over the past decade or so, I have come to appreciate many aspects of Anglican theology and life. The Australian Anglican Prayer Book is one of the best devotional aids in print.
3. Some Anglicans (in the Sydney and Armidale dioceses in particular) would describe themselves as ‘Reformed’. A basic principle of the Reformed position is described by the phrase ‘ecclesia reformata semper reformanda’ – ‘the church reformed always reforming’. I believe that’s another way of saying ‘The Lord has yet more light and truth to break from from his Word’. Just about all branches of the church have changed their stance over the last couple of hundred years – to varying degrees of course – on issues like slavery, racism (including anti-Semitism), gender, ecclesiology, worship practices, care for the poor, democratization of political processes in Church and State etc.
4. Tim Costello’s stance on ‘orthodoxy’ is quite compatible with ‘mainstream evangelical’ thinking. Many of us in the ‘Lausanne’ stream would not have any problems here. I was privileged a month or so ago to attend the tribute in London’s Festival Hall to John Stott on the occasion of his 80th birthday. In his classically lucid way he spoke for about seven minutes on what he felt was ‘essential Christianity’. Briefly: ‘Christianity has much less to do with creeds and doctrinal systems, than about a personal relationship with Jesus, the Son of God.’ Amen.
5. Re universalism. My ‘conservative evangelical’ friends have problems getting excited about such statements in Paul as ‘As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive’. They should read these texts in one sitting: Romans 5:18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:20; Philippians 2:10-11; 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 2:11. On the other hand my ‘liberal Christian’ friends don’t seem to have much of a clue about Jesus’ and Paul’s assertions that without Christ humans are ‘lost’.
6. Evangelical scholars like John Stott, Leon Morris, Klaas Runia etc. have been saying/writing for years that there are many metaphors in the New Testament explaining the Cross. Our theology on this issue should be as broad as the biblical teaching on it.
7. Finally, the creative tension between love and truth: My conservative friends need to understand better why Jesus and Paul put love at the top of their hierarchy of Godly values. My liberal friends need to worker harder at figuring out why the apostles were strong on ‘orthodoxy’. Here’s something from a prayer of Spurgeon’s I read in my devotions this morning: ‘Lord… guard our minds from error of doctrine, our hearts against wrong feelings, and our lives against evil actions. ‘
(Rev. Dr.) Rowland Croucher http://jmm.aaa.net.au
30 June 2001
Which are both great incentives for evangelism, in my view.
“Re universalism. My ‘conservative evangelical’ friends have problems getting excited about such statements in Paul as ‘As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive’. They should read these texts in one sitting: Romans 5:18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:20; Philippians 2:10-11; 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 2:11.”
This would have to be the one of worst cases of selective, out of context, proof-texting I’ve seen in a long time.
Surely the full impact of a fair and reasoned reading of all of Scripture is that: Christ died for all (universalism), but not all are ultimately saved by Christ’s death (judgement).