ACC Journal of Theology 2.4

8/6/2019 ACC Journal of Theology 2.4

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The Act ".ar ... is published quarterly by the editors. The views ezpressecl i1larticles and letters published in the je.raal are those of the authors and are notnecessarily those oftha editors. telui&r contributors. revinrers, or other me.bers ofthe Apostolic Christian Church (Aa:). The articles &ltdletters selected by the editorsare believed to be relevant to Aa: members and generaJ.Jy helpful i1l improvinl thequality of church thou.ht. discussion and practice. The Ace "..r... is intended toserve u .. free I I . D . d open forum of ezehanle. Contributions and responses are"elcome.

S.'.cri,uSubscription.s to the ACC J r ... are ".00 (U .s.> per .. issues. A ll issues of thecurrent volum.e (Vol. 2. No. l-~) "illbe iocluded io the subscriptioA rate. Volume 3beliAs Yith the Summer 198'issue ud iAc1udes the Autumn ud Winter issues &lonl"ith the 1986 SprUl, issue. Volume" yill coJrLlDencewith the 1986 Su.m...m.erssue. A llsubscription renewals are due at tbat time.

All correspondeace with the Aa: journal should be sent to either editor:,Jim Fodor3815-UtA, St..Apl. 301Edmonton. Alberta .CANADA T6J 1~

Dennis Feucht5275 CrowA S 1 ."est Un.n . e m .U .s.A . 97 068Articles. letters 01' reviews for publlcatioa in the ACC Je.r... should also be seat toeither of the above addresses. For more information on ACC je.rlla! publicationluideliAes. please request &Jl "Information for ACC lourllM/Authors" brochure.

ae.alar C.aui.uto ... IR.yie.......RoUen taster; Tremont.IL joseph Baring; Pasadena, CADennis Feucht; Port1a.n.d,OR David Iapusinsti; Norton. ODJ i m . Fodor; Edmoaton. Alta. Dan Simoo; Issaquah, WAJoha R. Swinford; 'Pasadena, CA

CoTeI 'Artists have always taken a particular interest in depicti.n.1 The Return of theProdi.al. RembraJ1dt not ezc1uded. Of aU the p&r&bles this one is perhaps the mostIrippinl yet it is. at the same time. the most open to variety of interpretations.dependent 00 where the main emphasis is thoulht to lie. Certai.D.lyi t is JDeant toillustrate the pardoning love of G od that cares for the outcasts; the sinfUl son is"elcomed home ud his form.er status is restored. The waiting Father' 10AIing toparticipate in -the joy of repentance" of his younler son is oaly grieved by thensentment mO"A by the older 10.11 to his wayud brother. Granted. the elder 100"relationship to his father is not what It should be; but this seems to be a subordinatedetail. and the questioA of the elder brother's re1atioos.hlp to his younger brothel'seems more lmportant: "illthe elder brother share the father's joy at the return ofthe Prodila17 -- this is the un.usvered question "hich con.froots us today wiLh noless force than it coftfronted the ori&in&l hearers of the parable.


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Ut.rwThe lead.iJlsarticle iJl this issue of the Ace .... r.al is & study O.l l'"Reinstatement" by David Brumm. The question of how weshould de&1.ith post-baptismal si A (more specifica.Uy.semal s iAloCa church member and his/her consequen.tstatus inrelation 10lIle rest of the church community, has emerled as the dominantitem of discussionwithin. our denomi.D.ationtJboundaries.Discipli.D.ehas been an intelrtJ part of Apostolic ChristianChurch life from its very i.n.ceptioJl. The concept of discipJi.D.eimplies, of course, discipleship the adoption andJUiJ1te.D.a.nce.y the ,rouP. of SWldards of faith a.nd life .hich are biJldi1lgUPOJltsindividual members. In other .ords, our spiritual forbears conceived of life wit.hi.n.hechurch as a life of 'holy liviaS', a.ndthus as composedof such persons IS.ere preparedto live and receive counsel in a process o C mutual admonition, to discern God'swill for alife of discipleship. Apostolic Christelldom, therefore. vas to be composedof iadividua.1swho would voluntarily submit Lb.emselvesto the exercise of such spiritual pressures aswere necessary to mainlaiD. standards of ri.hteousness. By a careful and judiciousexercise o C these spiritutJ pressures, as yeU as by the reluJar preachillg of the Gospel&44 systematic cu.echetical nurturiAI, the iAdividual church member .ould beiJnpressedwith the serious nature of sin I.I1dtransgression against the law of Godas setforth .i.D.he standards of the church. Be Tlould be Y&I1led of danlers &.Ddharm tospiritual life result.i..D.grom such transgtessio.D.s and. if cont.i..D.uallyectJcitra.D.t. he.ould eventually be severed from the fellowship of the body IS U.D.worthyof &.D..dd&D.gerous0 that body.At & 1 1 stages of our existeflce "excommu.o.icationhas been a real though unple&SlJ1tpartof church life. There have always been those members who (for one reason 01' another)have failed to comply wiLb.these pressures a.nd have consequently been excluded bytheir brethren from participation .i.D.he .o.orm.allifeof the church. Such a person. CaD .no longer remain. a "free" member but is regularly debarred from sharing in the Lord'sSupper and participating i1l other functions and privileges accorded to members "iA , o a dsta.ndi.n.g." o r course. most ApostolicChristi&n.swill concur that the purpose of all trulyScriptural discip1.i.D.es the correction of errors &.Ddus a.nd the restoration of theoffenders; discipline accordi.D.llycannot be pu.o.itive.but must always be 10viAgandredemptive. But there seems to be a good deal of debate over the proper procedure ofrestoring members who have committed cetWn types of sin.. What of those casesyheresexual s.i.D.fornication or adultery. for eDJllple) isUlvolved? Should that persoll ever berestored, a.ndifso.when and to what status?These and a host of related questions are no doubt a burning concern in the hearts ofmany ApostolicChristi&.Ds.But what mates these questions so difficult to &.D..syers thecomplex interrelation of severt.l Christi&D.doctrines which are all implicated and. in very real way. all ma.nifested in the ptactice of church discipJi.D.e:he doctrines of sio..salvation a.o.dhe church. Hoy is the Christian.to view the conUnui.ngpresence of si.n inhis life while at the same time recogJlizi.n. that he has been freed from s i . o . by the bloodof Christ? Is salvation for a Christian simply a forensic act of God'spardo.o.through thesacrificial death of his Son. an act that is madeoace for all? Or.is salvatio.o.a conti.D.uiAlprocess. the end ofwhich still avaits us? Andwhat of the church? Is the church merely& convenient social-religious entity that meets our basic human lleeds? Or is it the truelocus of God'sgrace outside of "Whichthere is no salvatio.D.?Whatis the church's relatio.o.to the Iiagdom of God? With a very careful i.nd objective approach. DavidBru.mJf1 matesa valla.nt attempt to broach this complex Issue. We trust that our readers Yill fi.D.dhisarticle both informative a.ndprovocative.

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lAtter Ie a..WlenRela.rdiA1 the article. Chrisi'p Faith lAd Politics (Vol. 2.no. 1) and the consequent Letters (Vol. Z.no. Z) and editorial

~---- _ __;;"";"';::.cI COJIUD.eJltVol. 2. no. 3), it appears that we have a m.is-understandiul in our terminololY when dealinl with the nature of Christianity.Cert.ai.D.lythe new relilion YU offici&lJy embraced by the rulina powers of the RoJlWlEmpire. but histories. both secular and ecclesiastical. detail the stories of the subsequentforced conversions ud mass baptism of such 'converts: The misses were notintellectuals and continued to live barely iJlfluenced by the chanKes in officialpilosophy. IJl the end. it WIS the corruptioJl and utter moral dearadatiOJl of thepopulace that permitted the overthrow of the Roman Empire. Christianity. when itbecame a politica.l i1lsititution. was merely a vehicle for the persecutiOJl of theunderlCOund churches which attempted to maintain the apostolic tradition.

There is no araument that the Roma n Catholic Church is the drivina force behind thePolish Solidarity movement. The questio.ll should be asted, however. "Is the Roma.nCatholic Church a truly Christia.n bodyr' A s tudy of its doctrines and methods willquictlyestAblish that Rom&nism is heavlly steeped in lecul.&r buma.nism (the 'Cbristi&.o.'brand). YDur main point is not in conflict yith political activity by Christians. I merelystand behind the stateme.llts of my earlier reply.

Concerni.D.g the article. The 14nue.ace of Greek Thought on CbristiaA Theology (Parts Iud II . Vol. 1. no. 2 sad Vol. Z. no. 3). there appear to be several errors Yhich need to beaddressed. The n r s t has to do with the nature of the body/soul entity. The author hasmade a clear-cut distinction betveen the 'Greek' (Gnostic) &Ildthe 'Bebre. . . (,Wholistic[sicl) views, ud the ugume.llt is the4 advuced that the concept of lOul and b o d y beUlIseparate entities is foreign to &postDlic thou,ht. However. 1Ie might better agree yithBruce (quoted in Vol. 1 . no. 2, p. 20) Ul his statement that such a distinctio.a is &Iloversimplification. The areument stands on some very shaty premises,There C&D. be 40 doubt that the 90ul (DepJII~s1J)is man himself. Neither can there beany doubt that the b o d y is man himself. To illustrate. at this t ime I have no idea whethermy soul C&D. identify your soul. blJt quite definitely my body CaJl identify your b o d y viathe senses. ScripturaUy (and realistica11y):it may be better to say, "Man is a soul whichhas a body: That the two are separate seems clear e40ulh from such passages U: Gen.35 :1 8; 1 Sam . 18:1; 1 lings 17:21-22; Prov.23:1" an d ma.ny others. It.must be stated that asound exegesis will proceed from contestual use. as well IS, ud not just from, a goodlencon.If it ca.n be accepted that the body a.ndsoul are tvo separate entities, then the problem ofthe im.moJ1&loul may be addressed. If G od al04. has imm.ortality (lTim. 6:16), thea forus to say that presenUy the soul is immortal is not Scriptural. Here care needs to beexercised iJl usiJlg terms. A s Batzun and Graff (1970) state. - ... a ,lorious tradition has itthat English canshoy but a single pair of euet synonyms. namely. 'Iorse' and 'furze':Wemust make certain the meanings of the terms"e use lest we fall into yrangling overyords. If the yord 'immortal' means -incapable of dyinl". then we need to eu.mine thephenomeno.ll of death.Scripturally. death is separatiO.ll. G od told Adam that i.D.he day he disobeyed he would die.Adam lived to be 930 years old. but God told the truth. Adam.'WIS sep6r6rctl [rom 00(/when he disobeyed; ergo. he died. A D . examination of Scripture yill show this to be thecase: "hen the body dies. it is separated from the soul (life); yhen the soul dies, it is

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separated fro. God.Siace the Scripture states iaaeveral places that the soul can die. it C&Jl be said without adoubt that the soul of man llre5entfy is not immortal. The more important question isthis: "Is the soul an eternal entity?" Here the annrer is defia.ite yes. as we see fro.jesus ' narration of the story of the rich JIWl and Lazarus, the vision John had of the soulsYaitiAg under the altar. and other such passatB. Those souls exist, 88parated from. theirbodies. for they have not yet been resurrected. aDdvere recolnizable via some spiritual.Ast.We see the statement by Iantonen (quoted id Vol. 1. no. 2 , p. 19) iD . regard to theindivisibility of the soul from the body is false. and the statement by Bruce (quoted inVol I, no. 2 . p. 2 0 ) only presumes to mow what Paul "e~'idenUy could .aot co.atemp1at.e."Paul did state that he desired to be housed id his heavenly tablernacle (2 Cor. 5:1-3).However, he also stated that he wa.a.ted to depart ud be yith Christ but yas Yil l i .D.1 tocontinue to inhabit his present body (Phil. 1:23-24) . In Cact. Paul stated that. he wouldrather be abse.at from the b o d y &t\dbe pnse.o.t with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). bOYinl tullyell that he could not be clothed with immortality ud incorrulltion until the time of thelast trum.pet (1Cor. 15:52-5-0.The comments on Matt. 10:28( Vol I, DO. 2. p. 20) simply reflect poor DRgesis. The Greetyord .jJolluJlJi has. in this ten. the seAse of destroyiA. by completely ruiAing. ormating unfit for service. It does not have the sense of utter annihilation. Thus theargument that the soul does not co.o.ti.o.ueto eIist after the dea th of the b o d y has nofoundation in Jesus' teachinlS. He sought to shoy that there would be a resurrection forall, both those in ud those out of fellowship "ith God. The difference is this: those infellowship yith Christ yill be resurrected (bodily) to eternal life vith Him. having puton immortality and iacorruption at the resurreetioa, and those vho are not in fellowshipwith Christ 'Will be resurrected (bodily) to eternal death -- separation from G od -- withSatan and his ugels. The resurrection is not the destioy of the Lord's people alone. butof all humanity. Contrary to the quota.ti.onfrom Brinsmead (Vol I. no. 2. p. 20. sin stillcae separate us from fello'Wship vith God; ho'Wever. it is the love of Christ that perDtitsthe Father to accept us tJirough His Son that ve can be cleansed from unrighteousnessud restored to fello'Wship vith Him. U john 1:6-9), While the eoaclusions of Part I mayhave some basis in . the "riUngs that its author quotes. they have little basis in faCt in .Scripture.Part II of the article (Vol. 2, no. 3) deals 'With variant vievs of history. It should bementioned that both linear ud cyclic views of history persist today. Some modern cyclichistoria.n.s are Petrie, Spengler. and Toy.nb:ee; among the li1lear histotia.ns are Hegel.Man: a.nd Da.rwin (Barzun aD d Graff. 1970).The statement that the Bible does not contain a single syllogism is "easily refuted from.jesus' discourse with the Pharisees inwhich he reasoned:

If you bul1 d the tomb s o f the p ro p he ts , 0 0c1a r1 1lQthem r 1~ tlD JS .And yo u o on demn you r fDthers fo r killing those prophets ,Then you prove you rs elv e s h e ir s o f those who s hed inoo: :en t bh :01

A quiet g1&.o.ceat the boot of Numbers dispels the .notion that the Hebrevs vere .o.otconcerned yith .o.umerical accuracy. E've.o.hough the ce.o.susfigures seem to be roundedto the nearest hu.o.d.red. it remai.ns a presupposition that the Scripture contains anartifici&1 reco.o.structio.a of history. Battle accounts of recent wars often contain rou.o.dedfigures but are not questioned as to their accuracy. The revised chronology of ucielltMiddJe-Eastern history proposed by IJD.1IlI.DuelVelitovsty (1~2, 19n. 1978) has beensuccessfully defended ud shows the literal Scriptural account of history to be moreaccurate than "as previously allowed by the cenvenuonat Egyptian-based chronologies.

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Inconsistencies in numerical records in Scripture do require careful study. Scrib&lerrors apparenUy have occurred, but to presume pattern over accuracy in the orilin&i isnot y&t'r&.a.ted. The eu.mples livln mow lact of such study, for lMniel "as aotconcerned with plSt h i s t o r y but with th e 1 \J tu re ; Dan. 9 : 2 0 1 1h as nothing to do with the timefrom the Exodus to the time of Zetubbabel. but IS the conten shows. deals with the timeof Cy ru s' d ec re e to th e tim e of Mess i&b .. A q uic t s tudy of A cts 13 puts th e total number ofyears aeaLioned by Paul It5 70 (40 + eo + . c o for Saul + 40 for D av id ) -- which not oAlydoes itot agree with I (iniS 6:1. but it offers no support to a pauern theory. Wem.ustmate a decision ISto how liter&lly we will accept Scripture.-What is in question here is aot the reliability of the Bible but rationalistic approach .s toit:Thus the author of the article offers his final argument. From. the foregoing. it iseasily seen that a rationalistic approach to Bible study hu produced more problems &aderrors than enlightenment. It is the Yord of Godwhich is able to separate spirit. soul.A nd nesh (Heb. " :12) , not L be th ou gh ts of men.In closing. this publication (ACC .... r.a l) may be said to h av e been weighed in theb&la.n.cesa .n d f ou n d wanting. not because of the nature of the often speculative articlessubmitted. but due to the fact that t hose iA positions ot respGflsibility, v ho ..... listed asrev iew ers, h av e f&iled to review and comment regarding which views cont .&i.n truth a.ndwhich COflt&inerror. S ilence is consent .

J im HrubikEdmonton , Alberta...ren.c:1. Barzun , J . , an d H I. Gra f f . !hi!: Como le te Re se ar ch e r. Revised Edition . Ne" . Yort:Harcourt. Brac e a .o .dWo rl d Inc .. 19 70 .2 . Gingerich, F.Y. Shorte r L eJ icon of th e G reek N ew T estAmen t. Chica.go:University. ofCh i c l. 8 o P r es s , 196'.3. Strong, J . Strong's Exhaustive C on cO rd an ce of th e Bible. I ow a F a lls , Riverside Bootud BibleHouse . n.d.". Velitovsty.l. Age:; inChaos. New Yort: Doubleday and C o . 1952.5 . Peoples of the Sell, Hev Yort: Doubleday a.nd C o . 1977.6. Ramses II lAd IDs Time. New Yo rt: Doubleday and cs , 1978.

A lm igh ty G od , since so ma.ny of the people w ho have beengathered by thee have fallen a1lay, and have by their inaratituciealientated themselves from the hope of eternal salvation, It'&Ilt.that they may be reunited with us, and hold with us the trueunity of faith, 90 that with one heart a.nd O.DO mouth we mayprofess thee u our G o d and Father. May we learn to live underthy name, a.cuovledge thee as our Judge, &fldascribe to thee IIIpower over us, until we shall at leneth enjoy that eternalinheritance, into the hope of which thou hast ca.Uedus a.od dailyin vitest u s, throuah Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

john C&lvin

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A STU DY ON '"U INST A TBIIHNT-...yi.......

The subject of reinstate.llle.D.t into the membershi., of the church of those who havefallen into sift. has brought much discussion in recent years in the Apostolic Christi&JlChurch (Nazarean). Those ia . the leadershi., of the churches a.D.deSJ)ecia.l1ythose in theeldership have been very involved i.D.much dia!0lue concerni.D.1 this issue. There are Jitwo oppposiJl. stands, equally strona. that are lake.D.cO.D.cer.D.i.D.shis issue. Without a ) rdoubt then are those who feel very strongly a g & i . D . s t rei.D.st&tementand then are those I \. r /who feel very stronlly f_ reinstatement. There are also those who have not such strong ~ r p l ~convictions either W&y.- but who do desire to s e e more underst&ndinl and respect show~ \ ~,~.liatever one's particular persuuion. ~The diversity of opinion over this issue threatens to brinl yet another eruption ia . ourdenomination. another eruption in aline of eruptions, the most notable beina the split of1906-07 when the Apostolic Christian Church of America a.D.dthe Apostolic ChristianChurch (Nazarean) came into bei.D.a as two denominations instead of the former one.FoUowiAS that. another eruption occurred iAFebrurary 7 . 1 932 and became .t.nO'W.D.as theGerman Apostolic Christian Church (also called the Steidinger side" after one of itselders. Ma.t1.in Steidingel"). There were several smallel" eruptio.D.s occurria., in thevarious churches throuah the years and 'Wehave. as recently as 1 " ' . the formation ofthe Christiu. Apostolic Church. We know from the Word of Godthat schism is .DotGod'swill for His people (1Cor. 12~) . But how the sa.ints CIJl survive in a brotherhood whenthere are disacreements amons them. has been a .,roble& since the inception of thechurch, especi&lly when the disagreements centend over very strona convictions onboth JW1.! (Acts 1':39).What can ve say ecaceralag the current issue of reinstateme.nt? I have pet'SOnaUyspent many hours researching this complex issue. The subsequent paper is somevhat ofa brief I"8sume of the results of that search. I do not offer it as an. exhaustive study.Rather, to my marvel. as I became involved in a diligent SWdy. I found a wealth ofm.ate1"Wthat could be presented on the subject. Indeed, I have concluded it would M . aogreat difficulty to 'Write a boot-size treatise on the matter. It is compleI; many facets areto be considered in a study of this .D.ature. I have e.ndeavored to be objective. honest, a..ndcareful in my approach. I did not 'Want to present only "facts" from one side; to do sowould be to be gUilty of duplicity 0.11 .IIly.,.n. Rather. let me be open and hO.D.estbeforeGodand my fellow brothers on the pilgrimage of life. I present the follo'Wing thoughtsin all honesty a.nd from the depth 'of my sou1 .~INk not that you asl'ee with me. only thatyou prayerfully approach this matter with a Jieut. honest before God, 'Willing to be a"Berean" Bible student. If my mind is closed on a subject, Godwill .n()tbe able to speak tome. But if I open my heart to Him, then Be has the freedom to speat.My paper is presented ln four parts: Part I deals 'With &.ocient Church History. Part IIdeals with Apostolic Chl"isti&llChurch History. Part III deals with a Scriptural overview.particularly from the perspective of the Ne'WTestament. Part IV is comprised of someconcluding remarks. May God live us "eyes of U.D.derstandinS" to the truths of His Word.Part I iJlsla1e_eat ia hdeal C l'cll BisteryA. Tit. La.... The history of the Christian. church reveals a vuiety of respotl.5eS to those who have-lapsedft from their faith. In early times the single greatest cause of believers' lapses vaspersecution agai.nst the church. There were different opinions in the &Ileilnt church.both with respect to the definition of the act itself. a.od with respect to its disciplinarytreatment. The differences ran for 1It&llYyears and yere not fiAa.Uy decided until tho

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third ceatury.Durin. severe persecutions Ul the secoad and third centuries JIWly feU ..,.y. and. witheach ney persecution. the numbers increased. Aner A.D. n o . clifTerent classes at 1apsedChristians vere clist.iJl.uished:(1) Sacrificati - those Yho had sacrificed to the ,ods;(2) Thurificati - those vho had burAed UlCtase to the .ods;

(3)UbeUatici - those Yho by bribery had procured. certJIicate shOYin, thatthey had already fulfilled aU requiremeats;(~) Tradito1'U - those Yho had actually surrendered their sacred boo t s &Ddvessels. or had ,reteAded to do 10by IUbstitutina othert for them.

During this time a t'lJ8.D11! toot place in the treatment of the lapsed and this chanle 'Was,enerally accepted in the church. A Christian 'Whohad relapsed into idolatry could notbe admi t ted to the cOAlrelatioa. The most mcere repe.aWlce vas not sufficient; onlyopen protession under neY tti&f and martyrdom could blot out the ,uilt. In the middle atthe third century a .milder view 'Was adopted. Between A .D . ~I and ~ a completesystem of penitentia.l rules 'Was elaborated by the bishops. Distinctions 'Were madebetvee.a the various otre.aces and regard vas paid to the circumstances of each case.B. Disci.U. ia tit. Pest-A stoUe Tia In post-&90stolic times (immediately tollovinl the death of the &905081) the center ofScripturaJ doctrine of ecclesiastical discipline 1fISMa tt. 1 8:1 '_ 1 8; its practical applicationvas learned from 1Cot. , ud 2 Cot. 2:+8. The development of discipline for the "lapsed"as described in A. above came about during the second century. The church becamequite severe iJl its standards whjch. caused some to follov methods of subterfuge andevasion. From that church discipliJle became Ju. A reaction toyard greater severityfolloved: the MontaD.ists decla.red that the eICommu.nicated ought to remain for their"hole life ina state of penuce. Yhile the Novatians declared that the church had noright at aU to fotlive th e lapsed. though the Lord might be wi1liAg-to do so.C. IIe..... icatiAfter the Councils of hcyra (A.D. 314) ud Nicea (A.D. 325) . four stages of penu.cedeveloj)ed through which the offender had to pass. Durina the first.year he lay prostrateand veepiJ1g at the vestibule of the church and begged those eAterio.g to pray tor him.Nen. commonly for three years, he had a place in the bact of the church. with theu.nbaptized c&techume.ns, vhere he vas allowed to hear the readi.ag of the Scriptures.Theil he yas alloved to enter the body of the church and to pray prostrate, "hile thebishop ud faithful interceded for him. Af'let further penitential exercises he vasalloyed to be present at the most sacred part of the service from vhich the catechumensvere eIcluded. Onlyaflet completion of this long process vas he aUoved to be restored tofull communion.D. MoataaistsMontaJlists yere a Christi&n IrouP that elisted in the latter half of the Second Cellturynamed for their founder. Montanus. MOAta.nUShad tvo temale associates. Prisca andMuimiJIa. vho vere prophetesses. The characteristics of this moveme.nt Yere: first. astron& faith in the Holy Spirit as the promised Parsclete. present a s . heavenly po..,er iathe Church of the day; secondly. speciaJ..lya belief that the Holy Spirit VIS manifestinlHimself supernaturally at that day through entrsaced prophets ud prophetesses; andthirdly. a developm.ent of an especi.&Uystern lAd eucliD, st&n.dard of Christian monlityand discipline. They set up prophets a.g&in.st bishops &Adhad an intense eJ:pectatio.n ofthe imminent return of lbe Lord. In the third century it lained its best bOVA adherent.Tertullian .

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Mont&D.usis said to have JU'oceeded to iIlvolu4atary ecstasy, seeill, ill this suppressio4 ofself-co4scioumcss and ia his submlssio4 to the Godhead IS a will-less iastrum.e4t. theproof of his perfect prophecy. The MOJltanists re.arded seco4d JD.&l"rjqesas impure &Ddelcluded uy who contracted them. They established many fasts in the church.cliKour.ecS ruSht iA persecutiOA lAd eJlCOUraaed .martyrdom. So Kron, did tkeir beliefiJl the imminent rewrn ofChrlst become that they 40 lonler Illowed marriages. Becauseof the shortness of t.im.e.the Paraelete could dau) the yords of Paul just as Christ did ofMoses. Montanism urged its followers to withdraw from their churches and assemble inPeuza iA Phyr,ia. 1VhichMoatanus pl&i1lly cOllsidered the .."ilderaess ..ofReY. 12:14. thattIley might await the second advent.E. ati&a.Novatia.a.ism.was named also for its leader. Novati&D.. This sect was one of the mostnotable ecclesiastical form&t.iolls of the third ceawry. Its history is that of a schism. iathe re&I..m of Catholicism centering on the question of authority, enent, and result of theChurch's power of the keys. During the persecutioas under Decius and Valerian (A.D.2.9 to 2 60 ), DWly thousands of Christians shamefuUy denied the ruth and sacrificed tothe heathea aods. WheA, af'tenlards. m.&AySQuaht 1"8admissioa to the church. NovatiaAinsisted that they be rejected perma.nently .0.0 matter how deep their contrition.Novati&nwas presbyter atRome. Cornelius. the bishop of Rome "Wouldhowever receivethe lapsed bact. into the fellowship o C the church. Afew obscure bishops and presbytersia Italy set up a schismatic J W " tY &Ddin.sta.UedNovatian uheir bishop. NovWanismspread to Gaul . Africa and. Asia . The movement survived until the sinh century.f. Ten.11iaaWe need to consider one more person in this study, Tertulli&n. He 'Vas a I . . a t i 1 l churcb.fllher and apoloaist, borll in. Cart.haae, North Africa. circa 160 -220 A.D. la about 190A.D. be was converted to Cbristianity. Thoroughly educated. he wrote DWly a.rt.icles inGreek ud I..atin defendin.g the Christian faith aaainst the heathe4. jew. and heretic. Helave his life to study & a d the pursuit of a strictmorality. He was married. and thou.h he cOllsideredthe .DW'ried state as very high ud noble, in hischaracteristic ascetic zeal he placed celibacy higherthan marriage and taught that a second m.&rriage(afl.e.r the death of the first wife) was 04 the level ofadultery! He advised bis wife. in case be should diefirst. to remain a "idow ..

Tertulliaii desired to live a pure separated life fromthe world; to keep the Church pure from both heresyand worldliness; and to be ullcompromising i1leverything that savored of apostasy or denial o C thefaith. About 2 02 he cast his lolt "Withthe Mont&Aistschism. Be thrust his "hole energy into the defenseand propogation of the MOlltaJlist views. As aschismatic in the Montanist Church. he used hisareal po"Werof via.dictiveaess "ith both word udpen to reprove what he thought was compromise inthe Catholic Church &1ld to defend Mont&Aistpuritanism. All this time he was bitterly attac.t.ingthe heretics ud faJse te.chers iathe Church.

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G. ~ . r I . r . r . . u . .Itis certaia that, ff"Omthe very be.in~j.n, of the Christi.&AcOm.JD.unities,he Church haspracticed discipliJle for its members. DiscipliJle was generaUy administered ill such afashion that penitence would be evoked and restoration would be possible. The Didiache


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analysis. cannot live us the direction we need to punue today. Either "side" can fiad fuelCo r its&fguments in church history; all you have to do is research it and quote those whosuppart YOUI'viewl But these views are AOtdefiAilive; we Aeed &0 search eJsnrhere forviable conclusions.ParlII iastate ti.a A,.steUe CJtristi Garc .aua..ryThe history of e!Communicatlon and reinstatement in the Apostolic ChrOOan Church is abit more difficult to chart than the history of the Christian Church of the first fewcenturies. Perh .,s there were fewer records main t& iDed in our times. at least in ourde40miAatioA. Perhaps what information we may have is a.lso somevhat ambi,uous. thusleaving us with further questions. In a letter composed in Strassburg. February 1 1 . 1 8 :n .sigAed by the elder brothers oC that congregation (that is. Frederich Pfaff. SamuelHeinrich Froehlich, johann Diebold and Geor, Mangold), there is some considerablediscussion on the subject of treatment of disciplined members. It would seem that thevarious conareaations were reactina differenUy tovard those under ".,unishment" IS"ell as those ezcommuJlicated. Therefore, that letter was composed as an outcome of abrother meeting held in Strassburg to correct understandings (or misundersta.ndinls)about proper vays to treat those so disciplined by the church.At one paint in the letter, Samuel Froehlich addresses the issue personally. It cert&iJllyseems here that Brother Froehlich Y&S himself more lenient tow&rd the"elcommuJlicated oae" than vere many others. for he speciCic&1lyst . .aUs:BEmJSe o f th is I h a v e always h eld in conformance after th e l o v e th et th e reten tiono f the name I S S 8 brother or sister en d ra :: eiv ing the h an ds hake cou ld b e m o e

a::cording t o the word o f the Apostle, that eating with such 8on e sh ou ld n ot be .( 1 Cor. 5: t 1).Froehlich goes on to say that others did not have this freedom and would not call theoffender RbrotherR or "sisterN nor live a handsha.te to them. Be further adds:Howeve r , w he n the purpose is a tt ain ed en d the excommunicated on e r ep ent s e n dw a s humiHated and c o m e s to r'ftNery, then o n e m a y e a s e th e punishment s o thath e can be re1nsta ted excep t for the kIss end communion 50 that one can s ;le1n beg reeted as a broth er an d receive the h a rtd sh ake , a nd eati ng with h im is pe rm itte duntil h e Is deemed worthy to have complete f ellow sh ip w ith the kiss lWldo o m m u n t o n .Froehlich loes on to quote the apostle Paul vho later made Intercession for the onesevered by the Corinthian church and quotes 2 Cor. 2:6-11.

Did Froehlich believe in reinstatement of those falling into sexual sins alterconversion? The statements in the letter ve have leave ao doubtl Be specificallyrefers to the severance of I Cor. 5 and then relates 2 Cor. 2 as a remedy for therepenting offender when he has sufficiently repeated. There cu be no doubt ofthat. I do not read Germ&n so I cannot read the letter in the original (vhich vepossess from the four brothers ceaceraed). Yet those who have made the translationhave endeavored to be quite literal. This is quite apparent since. in the Englishtranslation. the syntax is quite cumbersome for uEnglish reader. I assume thetranslators worked for literalness in order not to be charged with changinl themeaning of the oriainal.This letter has caused a strong reaction from many. Some have stated, "This can't beFroehlich's mind; I can't accept this." It may be hard Cor us to be objective aboutFroehlich's beliefs, and indeed they seem. to be veapons "e can. use aga.i..o.st eachother! I suppose we have teadeacies to be strong in OUt respect of Froehlich as lonlas we can. use his writings 10 support "our cause" and mate them into weapons to beused against those who dis&&reewith us. It is interesting to me person&11y that I havevirtually .8...8.heArd a.ny church minister or elder use Froehlich's vritings tostrongly exhert us to evangelize! Cert&iJlly none of us would deny the fact that

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Froehlich yas a IUoAI eT&Illelist iA the west seA. of the yord. Where has theev&Illellst's spuit lone in our c.burch? By lAd .larle. the missionary andevl.Alelistic york doAe in our c.burches has been by brothers yho are oftenperceived as "suspect" ill their doctrinal vin's. And it .basbeen a relatively smallaumber yho have be.A iAvolvedi1lthat. Is it Aottrue that Froehlich believed that ifthere yere two ministerinl brothers iJl a conlregatJoll for the church service, thateae should minister the yord there and the other 10 out ud evl.Alelize?Ihave digressed from the maiD. subject purposely. You see. ye have leAded 10 useBrother Froehlich for "our advantage'- Certainly we have .n.ottrumpeted his vin-syhea they have aet been iA J.ia.. yith our o"a petsOa&l,deep convictioas.Let me 10 04 "jth a further ev&luatioa of ApostolicChrist.i&nChurc.b h.istory in thematter of reiJlstatement. I.bave had limited access to information concernin& thisissue; my bo"ledge of it is sketchy. Ho"ever, &lready i1 l the fev yell'S that Ibavebeen an elder. Ihave discovered many "notableH thinas. The Apostolic Christiaa.Church of America (our sister church) has practiced reinstatement and continues todo so. When did they start? Didthey do this consistently since the "splitH in 1906-1907? I do not bo,,; perhaps if I had more time I could contact several of theirelders. especially older ones, and find out more information. Suffice it to say. theycertai.nly have for the past several decades. Ihave talted to a brother vho m.i.nisteredin their church for ten years; Ihave talted to the local elder in the PhoeniJ sisterchurch; Ihave talted to others "ho have Mea members of that de.n.ominatio.n.All

~

have informed m.e that reinstatement is practiced. Ivas in.formed of specific casesthat these i1ldividualsboy about. The sister church. by ud large, is regarded byour churches IS beine more Mconservative"th&o. "e are; ye feel they "rua a tiahtershipH than ve do. Yet "ith their "conservative "ays" and "tiehter ship" they havepracticed reinstatement!What about our "side"? Ido not have clear information onreinstatement in the United States ~d Canada. althoughsome European and South American countries havepracticed it. Ihave "hearel" that there have been lOmeiso1a.tedcases many years ago. Ido knOY of a situation"here a brother in a mid-vest church committed adulteryabout thirty years ago. Bewas married at the time and in\i r1\J\ his guilt confessed it to his mi.nister. The minister shared it\ . , . 0 / } t J \\ "ith the local elder and he YIS subsequenUy put underq\. J ) "d.iscipli.ne"in the church. After a period of time he YUV (J ' !re-admitted to the fello"ship of the chu'tch .yitlloul 11I~_ " ? " " , d ureA 1'40Fhli1 FJ "I / J is Ii/IF"S! H.Ia IA Ir .. o v ed '" J J ) " another location and in that last year of his life confessed itJ\ } J to a local minister. Perhaps noae of us boy hoy maay! _ r \ _ situations there may have been lite that.I - C..dloa.

1

What sort of conclusions can ve draw from thisiAformation? What if our churches had .aTa.. reinstatedanyone? What if Samuel Froehlich had vritten that henever reinstated. that he didn't believe in it and youldnever practice it? Does a church heritaae establish thedoctriAe? Does church history. whatever it may teU UI,becomeour Bible? Ihink we all aaree on the 8Jlsver to this. For some, church historyis iAlerestinl; for others. it is boriAg. Church history gives us insjght on hoy thechurch of a puticulat period dealt vith problems, but church history does notestablish our doctrine. Toreally r111ddefi.nitive I.O.svetS "e CI.O. 10 only to one source-- the Wordof God.the HolyScriptures.11


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(PARTS 3 AND 0{ TOBE CONCLUDED IN THE NEIT IS SUE (f'THE ACC J)SOnCES:1. The New Sch&fT-Beno& Encyclopedia of Reli,ious [nowledn (Bater):Volume III - "Post-Apostolic Times"Volume IV - '"EIcoJlUllunication"Volume VI - "Lapsed"Volume VII - ")(ontanw"Volume VIII - "Novatianism"2. Mer's Dictionary of TbeoiolY (&.ter). Further articles 04 above.3. lertu J ..li& 1l" in rho"'l5 rho iJ l Chruch H i s t o r y (Moody Press).4. Schaff, B i s t . o r v of th, Christi&A Church (AP" A)Volume II. -"CJlurch Disciplin.e",. A H istory of the Elp&nsion of Christianity (Zonderva.n)VoluJD.e ,be First Five Ce4Wries"6 . Strassbur, circular letter of Februarv 11 .1851 . Tra.nsJated by Walter H .Meyer .

1. or Y ia tile Charc. Pan I" DeWe F elltWhat does it me&Dto be a Christia.o from a wom&J1'Sperspective?Perhaps part of the a.nsver ca.n be found in John 8:33. " Y o u sha l lkno w the truth Md the truth shan mo t e you free." These words refer tothe relationship we aU (female and male) have with God throu.hChrist. No doubt this concept confounds tile dominant philosophiesof our day, for it says that freedom C&J1e enjoyed regardJess of theexternal circumstances. Biblical freedom means that. as Christianwomen. we are free from conformity to social and intellectual f_.from the arbitrary and changing standards of society. Crom thebuffetinl of external pressures.Enernal pressures begi1l to form at an early age . .,osinl a bil problem to young ladies.According to a study by Don Btyt.b.e,professor of psychology at Ohio State University,college-age litis still feel jlressure to fill traditional female seI toles. the strongest ofwhich is to please others. UJ This sea.rch CO t jlopularity often results in low self-esteem.Girls start oft with IOod self-i.m&&esuntil about the seve.D.th Il"&de. At that time. they arehit with the combination of seeinl their bodies change. movin, into jU.D.iothigh school.IJld startinl new re1a.tions with boys. That comprises what milht be called the "triplewhammy" -- a psychological and emotional complex brist.ll.ng with problems. Boys &Isoface chanles in their bodies. in surroundings. &Adin re1a.tions with litis. But boys havethree distinct advant.a&es:

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f . 1 r : S 1 . they usually m ature m e or t w o yeII"S lster thfrl airls. T t 1 8 t means boys aren'thit by th e three p m - 't s o f the trip le w h8m m y 8t the S8ITletime.~, studies show the c h 8 n I ; J e 1 n su rrou nd in gs f rom graschool to Junior h i~ ismo re d if f ic ult f or g ir ls . who v a lu e f rie nd sh ip s mo re than boys 00. Boys are m uchmo re a::t ivi ty orienta:1I h i . c I : I , ba{s O O n ' t face nearly 8S m uch p ressure from the m ed ia o r peers t o change theW f l Y they shou ld II:t or appear. [2 ]The big roadblock for girls ofle.n takes the shape of peer pressure which is fueled bystereotypes fou.nd in the mass media . Pressure to be lite her other classmates turnsinterests in academics &Adsuccess into devotion to the art of mate-up and the questfor popu1&rity with boys.

D r. Blythe says that another pressure comes from the houn lirIs spe.nd in front ofthe televisio.n watching women fil1i.Jlg traditiOllal roles in which tAllir Fortll isC011SI.otly d~fioed by IAt! .1I10u111f .lIeolio11 tlJey dr.r froJD 1IIt!11.COJIIJIIllrci.ls U FilII U 1111Sp6ptlr 611"m6lUil111 ."s rllil1forcll society'sJIlesslllt! tlJ.t FOJDt!1lAouJdbeIrelllly cOJlct!rllt!dFitlJ IAeir Il.p.pellruce"13]Since truth is what frees us as womc.D.,we aeed to refuse to accept the alterllwveelpia.nations of our time that see freedom in such circumsta.D.ces as economic securityor in the overthrow of the obligations o C traditional morality. The TRUTH must be thefoundation of our roles as Christian women. Moreover. & close relationship with Godin some .. ays separates us from the .. arId. Separation from the world 'I"IS an .importa.nt issue to the early church. james 1:27 tells us to rema. in . unspotted from theworld. lJohn 2:1' says not to love the .. orld. Rom.&.DS2:2says net to be conformed toth e world. Let's let a litUe more definitive about "the ...orId."We have reached a point In history i1l which it is essential to pay closer heed to thefourth. Gospel and associated portions of the New Testament. There "the TforId" isidentified IS the sys tem. of political, cultural, and religious leadership that arnyeditself against G od a.nd refu sed to listen to the prophetic word that exposed itswrongdoings. It is that world which Jesus said "h ates me b e c a u s e I testify of it that itsw orks are ev il" (john 7 :7 ) . The leadership 'in th e early church did recolnize tha tdisciples of Christ were not different in that respect from their Lord . j&mes .(:0{ says,"0 0 you not know th at f riendsh ip w ith the world is e nm ity with (bfl" illeTfise, Paul'ssummary for living an evUlife is found in Eph. 2 : 2 ; that is, "followfng the c ou rs e o fth 1 swo rl d . "There is an "inevitable tension between Christ.iu faith &Ad society. Attempts to re1&l:the tension or to accommodate the church to the "best" of the surroundinl society.surrenders the gospel to what .. ill debase it. Theologies that avoid connict .. ithsociety are ineffective: [ o f ] This happens "hen people don't tate the New Testamentseriously enough. Some think that the teachin.gs of the Bible are dated & D . d thereforenot relevant to today. That's because biblical teachinls cannot be reconciled .. ith theprevailing wisdom. It is easy to forget that biblical teachings have always been datedand for the same reason. The things that were wrong in Christ's day and during thetime of the early church that required biblical texts to be wriUC4 on the economic,social, familial. sexual. and legal aspects of life h&ve &1waysbeen there. {~J Thosetexts cannot, in f&.ct,become out-of-date because they rest 04 truths that come fromoutside t ime a..ndstand in judement of all societies that do not heed them.There are, then, several Ne....Testament passages that call for separation from the"arId. Acts Z:I is yet anoth er: "Sav e yourselv es from th is crooked genereU on." What it13


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means i D . . . practical sense is that we nfuse to thi.nk a.ndact like those around us. Themass media is a primary pressure to conform us to the models of IOciety. The dangeris that the model to which one conforms establishes one's 9&f1,icular vision of reality.For example. once you believe that sensual happin.ess is ultimate. then the Bible.which iD.sists on truth for its own sake. a.nd on mor&l responsibility. a.nd onrenunciation of self for the sate of others. must be seen as od d or abnormal. [6]There are other elements of society that pressure us to conform. The educationalsystem is one other instance. A ll education is of necessity value-laden. and thepublic school is ..powerful instrument of conformity. Its loal is to instill society'snorms &ad to discredit deviant ideas. In other words, it .rves a socializing functionof mating people better balanced and adjusted to the yay things are. The biblicalnorm requires that we renounce this kind of socialization. [7] The best elements ofthe Christ.i&n school movement is a determined "No!" by parents to thehomogenization of American life, & recognition that the model to which theirchildren are intended to be conformed has become evil. For those Christian motherswho have children enrolled i D . public schools. it is import&nt to be involved withtheir children's school program and tate a sta.nd when it deviates from Christianvalues.It is an impo.rta.nt role. IS a Christian WODW, not to try to be satisfied with the "best"of society. Ye always have to keep uppermost inour m. inds that believers in the NewTest&m.entyere urled to live as pillt'ims, str&a.gen. and exiles i D . the midst of an eTilsociety UPet. Z:l1and Beb. 11:13). lie have to recongize that what is thou,ht to bethe best is best only by comparison with a set of standards that is un&Cceptable to aChristian. We have to tate P au l's admonition in Z Cor. 10:1Z seriously: not to compareand measure ourselves amoAg oursefves. That is what society does!!Finally, it is import&nt for us to live by Christia..n principles such as giving withoutexpecting anythinl in return, exercising hospitality. and serving others by findingout their needs ud satisfying them to the best of our ability.Refer.Ace.:1. james Leictly, "Distorted Images." The Ohio State Monthly, November. 198". p . 12 .2. Ibid. II. 123. Ibid. p. 12.f. Herbert Schlossberg. Idols For Destruction. Thomas Nelson Publishers. 1983.pp.308-312.5 . J.hl!...p. 309.6. Ibid. p. 310.7 . l l i l iL. p. 311 .

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What is a sensuous Chri.sti&D?Onedictio.D.arydefines IB,"pertaininl to the sense orsensible objects: highlysusceptible to influence through the senses." The sensuousChristiu, therefore, might be defined as one Yho lives by hisfeelinls rather thu throulh his understa.ndinl of the WordofGod." In other yords, he cunot be moved to service, prayer or study unless he"feels lite it: HisChristian life is only as effective as the intensity of presentfeelings. When he elperiences spiritu&l euphoria. he is a whirlvind of Godly activity;when he is depressed, he is a spiritual incompetent. He const&D.Uyeets neY a.ndfreshspiritu&l elperiences ud uses them to determine the Wordof God. His inner feelings"become the ultimate test of truth.

r5 C.risti ..' y JiaF".r

The sensuous Christia.n does not need to study the Word of G od in any rigorous waybecause he already apprehends the "illof G od by his feelings. Be does aot Yant to iDOFGod;he wants to ~rjJ~rjeJlc~ him. Moreover, he equates "childlite faith" Yithilo.orance ud he assumes that "heo. the Bible calls us to childlite faith itmaa.nsa faithwithout content, a faith vithout underst.a.ndinl. Hedoesnot seem to realize that the Biblesays. "In evil be babes. but in your thinliag be mature" (lCor. 1-4:20).And 10. thesensuous Christia.n loes his merry vay until he encounters the pa.in of life that isnot somerry ud he folds. Heusually ends up embra.cing a kind of "relational theology" "herepersonal relationships and elperience tate precedence over the Wordof God. If theScripture calls us to action that may jeopardize a personal relationship, then, he thinks,the Scripture must be compromised. In short. the hilbest law of the sensuous Chri.stia.nis that bad feelings must be avoidedat all costs.U )The above description of the sensuous Christia.nis. of course, Icaricature - Icartoon. ifyou lIill - of how a good ma.ny of us try to live out our Chri.stia.n existence. Theover-dependence on religious feelings and the under-emphasis OA underst&11dingliveAin . the description has been purposely elalletated. However. just as in a caricature.those parts vhich are enggerated. thougb awkward ud &musing in . appea.t"&J1ce.renonetheless accurately reflective of reality. After all. that iswhy we find the caricatureso appeali.ag; "e perceive a genuine Iikeness in the image because liJlt pllculiilrr~.tures or JD.JlJlerisJ/lsor l.lJe re.1 l.IJiJlI .re slill jJres~Dt although in ahighly distorted form. The caricature. then, can be a very effective tool in . satirizing orparodying certain tendencies a.ndbehavior&1patterns. For our purposes it throws intoquestiOJlthe place of religious experience in . a Christian's life.

'uperieo.ce' is an ambiguous yord. As a reminder that Christ.ia.nfaith ismore thu coldyintellectual assent to statements about G o d . as a pointer to the nature of faith as sure trustin G od through his Son by the poyer of the Holy Spirit. and as a term to describeChristian thinking, feeling and doing in its entirety. 'experience' is a helpful term. Butif it turns our attentio.D.avay from the need to learn about G od ud to consider "hatbelief inhim involves. ifitmakes us impatient "ith the questions that men ast about Godor Yith the statements about Godmadeby Christ and his disciples. or ifit bids us hope thatve can tnov Godfor ourselves in some way that is wholly private. then it becomes ada..nlcrousvord. A4d it is this second "definition" of nperieace that concerns us here.All to o oftetl., it seems to me. Apostolic Christia.ns adopt the latter definition of'uperience' in their religious endeavors. However. once adopted it generates a ra.t.h.ersevere antipathy tovard the usc and value of theological stateme.nts. The popularconception is that theological pronouncements of all types. have. at best. very 1im . i ted

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functions. While feY Apostolic Christ ians imagine that Christian doctrine is entirelyunconnected yith Christian livin&, and Yhile there is lOme fresh ayareness of the placeof sound exegesis in preaching, it is widely held that theology only concerns 'What isdescribed ISwthe intellectw and that since most peo,le are not 'intellectual', doctrine canmatter lilde to them. Moreover. it has beea popular withia our denominational circles tothink of the historic Creeds of Christendom (&ad indeed theololic&i vorks of III tinds) asrepresenliag a degeneration from the simplicities of the 10Spe1.This seems to be further supported by the somewhat intuiUve belief that the lives o CChristi&as ca.n..notbe sust&i.nedby mere words. The fear is that all theololical words are"mere yords". having no referen ee to any non -verbal reality. Therefore. to indul,e inI14Y serious theololY is to become enS1l&redin rather fruitless speculatioo.. A more solidand sure lrou.nd for faith lies in one's oy.n Christia.n eJ:,erie.nce and thus 'espenence'becomes separate from ed primary over doctrine,ATTDIPTS TODIVORa THEOLOGYROil ElPEitIElfCEIn short. life in Apostolic Christendom. may be described IS ". theology of the warmedheart," The early Methodist custom of encouraging recent converts and mature believersto 'live their testimonies' is by no means confined to the Methodist camp nor is itobsolete. It enjoys a vilorous ud healthy life wIthin the ApostoliC Christi&n Church aswell, Of course. the pn.ctice of 'living testimonies' may .tve a very valuable functionin church life. our own .notwithsta.ndina. But o.nce &lain ve must be careful to discernthe rather suspect theological basis on which it resta.Let us loot first at these misunderst&ndi.ngs in their popular expressions. "It's not whatwe believe, but vhat. ve nperience that matters", "It's not boyinl about God, butknowing God". "It's not what the church teaches, but what I knov" -- such lI'e some ofthe h&lf-truths vhich in practice become hindrances to the truth. The effects of thisvay of thinking become quickly apparent to the pastor who listens to those to whom hespea.ts. 8e finds people seeting for an 'nperience' rather the for God; he discoversthem w&iliag (with much or little hope) that somehow their emotions will be stirred; helearns that some yho have Jona been piacUsln& Christians bov vittu&11y nothina aboutthe doctrines of the church and, in many instances, little about the teaching of the Bible.Some Christians even fear that theology must inevitably injure eIperie.nce; ma.nyi.ma.&inethat religious nperience renders needless a.n.yattention to Chrlstian docttiAe.ElISTUTIAL FAI11IThere is.however, suffident truth mil:edwiththese erroneous views to invite us to treadYarily in criticizinl them. But what ean be safely and confidently criticized is the larledose of uistenti&lism that pervades (albeit unconsciously) the minds of many ApostolicChristians.This perspective involves the assertion that. God can only be blown in the actual,concrete existence of venturini faith. As such it is important. but when the furtheropinion is held that person&! decision removes the need for doctrine, and renderssuperfluous all inquiry about historic&l truth ed about the meum, of theololic&1statements, existentialism becomes a snue. Itvery easily leads to the assumption thatwhat 'Webelieve .bout God has little relevance to belief iD H i m . Christia.n doctrinethen becomes, at best. a somewhat unnecessary 'Wayof talkinl about experience. and, atworst, a hindrance to Christ.i&n life.It is one matter to tan about what it means to have faith in a G od about whom much isbelieved; it is quite. different matter to make 'knowing God ' an &.lternative to 'knowingabout' him, or 'decision for faith an escape from the need to learn the facts vithoutwhich Christian faith is impossible. The type of existenti&lism.M vhich I have in . mindrecalls the frequent misUse o C john 7:17: -Ifuy mu's 'Willis to do his will he shall mowwhether the teaching is from G od or 'Whether I am spea.ti.ng on my own authority." Onehas often heard these 'Wordscited as proof of the superiority o C doing to believia&, of

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'practical Christiaaity' & 0 Christian belief. 1.0.fact, of course, the meuin. is verydifferent. It is only those who want to do God'swill rather than their oyn who will beabl. to ncon,ize the divine authority in the teaching of jesus; it is our attitude towardsChrist's doctrine that is the point Itssue, not the relative insilAifiC&.D.cefthlLt doctrine.Wec&nnnot 'boy' G od by sense-elperience--N'o man has seen G od at aa.y time." Layinlaside for the moment questions about mystical experience a.a.dcommunion yith God, itmust be emphasized that it is impossible to claim that any man ca.a.'boy' the Godaa.dFl1h.erof our Lord Jesus Christ unless he 'boys about' him, It is, indeed, true that whe.nwe lurA about Godye discover hoy IreaUy we were indebted to him before werecognized our debt. Insofar as 'e11ste.nt.i&list'hilosophy speats to us about pel'SO.n&ldecision a.a.dabout the response which must be made by the yhole personality. it is to bewelcomed;whe.n it invites us to despise the intellectual element in our response to God, itismischievous.

Perhaps one of the most popular meaa.ings given to 'eIperience' (vieyed as analter.nwve to doetrinal belief) is that of emotional experience, This is the notion thatreligion belon.gs to the 'heart' rather tha.a. to the 'head', Even the collapse of theoutmoded 'faculty' psychology (which treated mind, emotion ud will as sepuate 'parts'of ma.n) has not shuen this view. So powerful is it, that it is read into the biblic&1nferenees to 'heart', althou8h it is quite eleu that neither Old nor New Testamentwriters intended (by words thus translated) to refer particularly to the emotions. 'Heart'.in the Bible, &lYaysrefet'S to the whole inaer life of man, often with specw emphasisupon that aspect of his nature which we call reason.o r course, emotion is of the utmost importa.nce. In Christiaa. living, IS in all hU1l1&Jlactivity, it is the supreme drivi.n8 force. If the sumof God'scOJ!UlWldmentss to love G odand our Aeighbor, emotion can hardly be excluded. even though love ismore than anemotion. Butuntold hum has bee.n done by this contrast between emotion a.a.dthought.Ifthe gospel is believed. it must by its very nature stir us in the emotion.aldepths of ourbeina. but to enjoy our emotions is .D O .necessary part of, and may well be & hindrance to.the tot&! response of thou ght, emotion a.a.dwill to God. Howperverse have been ma.ny ofthe references to \Vesley's warmed heart", a.D.dhow many Methodists (and indeedApostolicChristians) know about the wumed heart without knowing vhy it waswarm.!If these comments appear to be severe. that severity is due to a conviction that allattempts to found Christian life upon feelings is destructive of that life. a.D.d,specially, ofthe profound emotional quality of deep faith. in God. Perhaps no pla.ce is this moreapparent than inour attempts at 'eVa.D.8elism.'All toooften our attempts at proselytizingbecome litOe more than suffocating emotional appeals. MI.npresenting the Christi&ngospelwemust never, Ul the first place, make a direct approach to the emotions or to thewill, The emotions and the will should always be influenced through the mind. Truth isintended to come to the mind. The normal course is for the emotions a.a.dthe will to beaffected by the truth after it has entered and IripJ)ed the m.ind.N(2)

THE IJ lT ERDEP ElID E ICE O f T .B EOLOGTA ID E lP ElID IC EWhat, then, is the true relationship between theology and experience? It is difficult toprovide a co.ncise8.tI.sverto this question, because both 'theology' and 'experience' areambiguous words covering many mea..ni.D.ls.Obviously,some types of theological studymust be reserved to the specie..lists;equally clearly, there is a vast difference between thepossession of theological i.D.formatioDa.nd opinions a.nd commitment to Christiandiscipleship. There is also gulf betwee.n those 'Whorest upon experience. which isindividual, and those who contrast theology with the corporate experience of

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Christendom. To substitute 'my experience' for learning from the Bible and from thechurch is a form of egoism "hich loses none of its vicious.cess because it is camouflaged"ith an appe&rance of piety. To say (as I must) "My faith must be m.faith .. should notimply that Iconsider myself to have "on and tept my faith by m.yself alone. Faith, &fl.erall, is found lAd m.aiD.t&inedvithin the church.1 & may be asked, hoyever, Whether, in the yider corporate sense of 'experience', yeshould not say that experience is always prior to docU'ine. I think not doctrine andexperience, experience and tbeolo8icaJ interpretation, are interdependent. Some haveexpressed the opposite vie,,: "Religious experience produces the interpretation; theinterpretation never produces the experience" Hovever,,,e must not depreciate thedynamic role of traditional Christi&n concepts in creating religious iJlsight. One mayrighUy emphasjze the import&.D.ceof individual huJD&D.experience. but, compared yithtraditional theology. one tunot minimize the creative po"er of the ChristianiJlterpretation, the yord of God. in shaping the individual's experience. In religiousthinting (as in other thinting), there is an intimate interdependence bet1feenexperience and interpretive fra.m.ework. In other words, it seems manifestly false to saythat one's experience always produces interpretation and is never produced by it; ifthatwere so, what would be the point of reading the Bible or listelling to sermons?

Only as we learn that the theology of the Chri.sti&n.church is itself part of the experienceof the church can ve discover both the limitations in aU theology and the llecessity fortheology. Hov can ve love what. ve do not understand? Ho"" ca n we worship an unknown.God? If the character of G od remaios & . D . enigma to us, all our sinein8. praying. andreligious zeal becomes a useless passion.. a beating of the air. Religion degenerates tosuperstition and liturgy becomes a form of magical incantation. Theology itself may be aform of idolatry; indeed. all idolatry is a kind of theology. and only a theology vhich ispart of the worship of the true God C & . D . cast out a theology that is idolatrous. But toabandon theology itself is t o abandon part of our worship of God, and to thint that thecommon people do .Qotneed theology is to despise both Godand them.lererenee.:1 . R.C.Sproul. [noviAa Scripture. Dow.QersGrove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1977.pp. 27 IT.2. D.Ma.rt.in Uyod- Jones. Conversions. Psychological and Spiritual. p.39.

Knowledge of GodKnowledge of God without knowledge of man'swretchedness leads to pride. Knowledge of man'swretchedness without kowledge of God leads todespair. Knowledge of Jesus Christ ts the m1dd1ecourse, because by it we discover both God and ourwretched state.

Billie Plical

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BOO~ REVIEW : IS SU ES O F TH EO LOGIC A L COIIF LIC T' y Ric J. Cel...... 1910reTie y: De iIF clltThis boot offers a description of the relationshipbetvee.n eva.ngelica.land liben.1 Christia.nity. Wriue.nin an iateresti1lg and readable style. it elplores themotivatio.nsfor beliefs held by both co.nservativesudliberals. The approach of the author is to impartu.nderstand.ng rather than aua.ct or defend either{aclio.n;it is hard to tell to which he belonls.Toelplain this rift inChristendom, Colemantraces its historic roots, ma.inly inAmerica.After World War I the tvo factio.ns became polarized bewee.n the fundamentalistmovement and the ney liberal consensus. Since then. the tension in this division hasworn doYn to .here fresh el&m.i.nationsof the original issues are happening in someplaces. Recently, the church has entered a tra.nsitional period accompanied by muchtheolosical activity, but with the outcome not yet in sisM. This is surveyed in chapterone. It provides a succinct description of recent church history to quietly update thereader oa what has been happening. largely in ProtestaJlt American Christendom.The rest of the boot eu.m.ines & major issue in each chapter. They are: how weelperience God, the nature of revelation (absolutes vs relatives), inspiration and theauthority of Scripture, the church a.nd social involvement, ud how Godrelates to theworld. Appendices include reprints of signific&.D.tecent theological position statements.Someaspects of this boot should be p&rticularly appe&ling to Apostolic Christians. Forexample. in chapter two. entitled "The Heart of the Matter", the author discusses theproblem of how a Christian can moW' Christ personally. After describing evangelicalat.t.itudes,in which a personal relationship with Jesus is essential to livi.o.gthe Christiatllife, he describes the apprehension ofthe liberal about religious experience. To theliber&1.it would be "a psychological construction to enter into a personal relationshipwith the spirit of a man who is no longer physically present: (p. 63) Though theevangelical claims to know Christ through a direct spiritua1 relationship. both"experience Christ through a historical image of him." Hethen points out weaknesses inboth positions: "Theevangelical ismistaken if he thinks he has & completely unmediatedrelationship with Christ, unless Jesus is thought to be present as a ghost or someindefinable spirit withi.o.us. The phrase 'historical image' in 110way implies that Jesus isnot real or alive but reminds us that as hum&.nbeings we must be confronted by Jesusthrough somemedium or picture." AAdon the other hud. "The liberal is mist&.tenif hethinks a spiritual relationship with Jesus is impossible since historical research caanotgU&r'&D.teehe details about his life. . .. A relationship with .Jesusis a psychololica1deception only if there is no resemblance between Jesus as he actually -wasand the imagewe have of him." AAdfurther on: 'There exists therefore & common de.no.mia.&torbetween evangelicals and liberals; both are dependent upon a mental picture of Jesus toelpel'ience his presence .... Butwhat really divides liberals and evatlselicals is how thisimage or modelof Jesus becomes central to Christian faith." (p. 67) Such is the Clavorofthe boot; the strensths and weaknesses of each sjdeare weighed.Inv , Theol.ical c..met provides a sood introductio11 to what is ,oinS on inChristendom outside of the Apostolic Christian Church (ACC),and is not litely to beoffensive to our own people. It offers & much-needed perspective withi11the A c e onliber&! Christianity, especially since much criticism of it is given without supporting&t'suments. This boots fills in what is missing by supplying the underlying theologicalmotivations. But it doesmore tha.n that; it also points out weaknesses tha.t libera.1ssee onthe evanselical side. Without this perspective too, we are left with no significa.o.tcha.llenges for self-reflection on our own beliefs and are not as lite!y to discover our

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OWll faults. Colem.&D.hows how the divisive issues he covers are more complu &1ldmulti-faceted thaD. to allow the simple conclusion that one side or the other is & 1 1 right ora u wrong. At the same time though. rat.her thuleavina the reader confused. Coleman isdear in demonstrati.ng what lies at the root of the differences. giving the reader _clearer Ulldet'St&nding from which to ezercise judameilts &1ldtefUle or tenect uponbeliefs.This boot. is p&.rt.icu1&rlyreleva.nt to the ACC& I s o because more members are inquirinamore fully t.b.u in the past about their religious beliefs ud about "hat is taught inChurch. These membe;rs often face more difficult theological questions than areanswered or even cOJ1sideredill Church Bible classes. As. result. theologicalgrovth inthe Church has resulted in Dew question.s that were of DOconcern nor even nowD bythe previous generatio.o.. This book is a lucid e:rPOSitioll of these questio.o.s and theirsurrounding issues and would provide _ valuable resource for members who teach. (AsiJnilar book. and a good follow-on to this eae is G. C. Berkouwer's A Hall Ce.a.tary .rTheololY. IerdmaD.s, 19n) in 'Which the author personally recounts what hashappened in tbeoJolY in the last fifty years. However. it tequires somewhat of afamiliarity with the c urren t th eo lo gic al c ommun ity .)The weat.n.esses I found in the boot vere fev. but in the discussion of hov God relates tothe physical world. the author seems to assume some optioas which are aot particularlyappeallilg. However. this could have been due to a . . n effort to cast the discussions in. theeeatest of hoy liberals and evangelicals commonly think. about science/faith issuesrather than reflect the author's ovn limitations.

OUt of the depths of our hearts "ebeseech God to gather ud keep ill thisland and throughout the world alleternal Christia.n church. through hisdear Son, our Lord and Savior. jesusChrist. lie beseech him graciously tosave us from factions and schismswithin &1ldto give us the courage andstrength to withstand confidently andprofitably oppositio.o. from without.And although ma.n isweat in pover andv idsom . w e pray the eternal Son of Godthrougb his W()rd to pour out on aubelievilll hearts his HolySpirit. to live usunderstandins ud wisdom.to direct and lead us i . n . au100d things. that in us ud inthe entire Cbristi.a.n churchhis A a . . m . e m a y be honored_A d praised noy and forevermore. !meA.

Melanchtbon.. l~O

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Documents

ACC Journal of Theology 2.4