This
Appendix appears for the first time in the second edition of Evamngelical Reunion, that is, the web
version. I wish here to look briefly at what has happened in the past decade on
matters discussed in the book. Essentially,
developments have been discouraging, but God’s promises and the Bible’s vision
of the one, true church continue to encourage. As I mentioned in the second
Preface, my book did not set the world on fire. It did not quite fall “deadborn
from the press,” as David Hume described his Treatise of Human Nature, but sales were pretty low, and the book
did not begin a new wave of evangelical ecumenism. Some readers encouraged me. Others
offered criticisms. The critics took me to task either for (1) being too extreme,
(2) departing from my tradition, or the critic’s, (3) setting an impractical
goal. But of course such criticisms cannot be taken seriously if my biblical
argument holds. And nobody offered me a serious biblical rebuttal against any
of my major theses. The fellow from The PCA and the OPC are farther
apart than ever, the likelihood of union, or even joint efforts, fairly remote.
Several new denominations have come into being. Two or more of them have
emerged from the controversy in the Christian Reformed Church over women’s
ordination. Again I asked myself, are these new denominations really necessary?
The former CRC conservatives could have joined the PCA, OPC, RPNA, or any
number of other Reformed bodies. Why did they start their own denomination? The
only reason I can think of, is that they wanted to be part of a church that was
not only Reformed in doctrine, but also ethnically Dutch and that preserved the
traditions of the CRC. But were these goals really worth additional breaches in
the body of Christ? The most famous ecumenical ventures
in the last ten years were discussions between Protestants and Roman Catholics.
Groups of Roman Catholic scholars came to non-official agreements with groups
of Protestants, both Lutheran and American Evangelical. These agreements were
highly controversial, especially among Protestants. Some Evangelicals believed
that the documents “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” and “The Gift of
Salvation” failed to express clearly the doctrine of Justification by Faith
alone, through the imputed righteousness of Christ. I did not sign or affirm
either document, but I was somewhat disappointed at the quality of discussion about
them. My book does not, by the way, urge union discussions between Evangelicals
and Roman Catholics (see Chapter 15). But these doctrinal discussions deserved
sharper and more sympathetic critical analysis from theological reviewers. I should perhaps also mention what
might be called the “New Confessionalism” that is gaining adherents in the
Evangelical community. The Alliance of
Confessing Evangelicals, the periodical Modern
Reformation, and the radio broadcast White
Horse Inn is a sort of ecumenical development: a joint venture among
Evangelicals from various confessional traditions, Presbyterian, Lutheran,
Episcopal, etc. But the The Some in the New Confessional
movement have characterized Evangelical
Reunion as a “big tent” approach to ecumenism. They would prefer a “Village
Green” model, in which Presbyterians, Lutherans, Anglicans, et al. each live in
their own houses, governed strictly by their own confessions and traditions,
and then occasionally go out on the village green to mingle with one another,
before returning to their homes. This way, Christians have primary fellowship
with their own theological communities, but they can sometimes have cordial
relations with Christians of other traditions. Sounds good, but is it biblical?
Does Scripture give us right to regard denominations as our true homes, our
true family, and rest of the world-wide body of Christ as a group of people
outside the family with whom we may occasionally mingle? In my view, Scripture
teaches that our true family is the whole body of Christ, not one segment of
it. And if the whole body of Christ is our family, then it should live in one
house, not just mingle occasionally on the village green. I think we need to do better
thinking in these areas, and we need to act more boldly. But first of all, we
need to pray that God will give us vision and courage, so that he will make use
of our efforts to bring the body of Christ together.
Appendix 2
