April 1, 2002
Truett theologian among evangelicals urging broader definition
___By Adelle Banks
___Religion News Service
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--A group of evangelical scholars is urging leaders in the Christian movement to broaden rather than narrow their definitions of what might be considered evangelicalism.
___Sparked in part by last year's controversial meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, three scholars developed and have circulated in recent months a statement titled "The Word Made Fresh: A Call for a Renewal of the Evangelical Spirit." The statement now has been signed by 107 evangelical scholars.
___"We oppose unfettered theological experimentation and accommodation to culture that threatens the gospel of Jesus Christ," the statement reads.
___"But we also deplore a present tendency among some evangelicals to define the boundaries of evangelical faith and life too narrowly. For this reason, we call evangelical leaders and thinkers to make room for reverent exploration of new ideas and reconsideration of old ones without assuming too quickly that we know what Scripture clearly does and does not teach."
___The drafters of the statement were Stanley Grenz of Carey Theological College andRegent College in Vancouver, British Columbia; Roger Olson of Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University; and Jonathan Wilson of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif.
—Statement from "The Word Made Flesh: A Call for a Renewal of the Evangelical Spirit"
___They said they believe theological debate is a sign of "vitality" and should not be prematurely ended.
___"Therefore, we admonish all evangelicals to resist attempts to propagate rigid definitions of evangelicalism that result in unnecessary alienation and exclusion," they wrote.
___The discussion at the November meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society was one catalyst for the statement, Olson said. At that gathering in Colorado Springs, Colo., society members approved a resolution rejecting "open theism," the belief that God does not fully know the future because people have been given the freedom to help shape it through their decisions.
___The theme of the annual meeting was "Defining Evangelicalism's Boundaries."
___In addition, Olson pointed to the more recent debate over the newly announced revision of the New International Version of the Bible called Today's New International Version."The International Bible Society and Zondervan Publishing House have said it will include "gender-accurate" language, prompting criticisms by some who say it will include "troubling translation inaccuracies."
___"We felt that the boundaries discussion was taking on something of the tone of an inquisition," said Olson. "We're not necessarily against boundaries, but it's the way that they are drawn that concerned us. ... The end result, we thought, could be the exclusion of some very good evangelical scholars."
___Wilson said the statement was prompted by a concern about the future shape of evangelical theology.
___"It boils down to how do we engage a changing world in faithfulness to our evangelical heritage," he said. "Faithful change is the challenge for every generation of the church and of theologians in the church."
___Wilson said he hopes administrators at evangelical institutions will not be fearful of creativity and will permit it among their faculty.
___"I'm concerned that ... evangelical theology is moving in a direction of it being petrified ... petrified in that it becomes hardened and brittle and petrified in that it becomes fearful and timid," he said.
___In past decades, issues of inerrancy divided evangelicals, with some institutions declaring belief that every word of the Bible is without error was a requirement for hiring and others leaving that stipulation out of their confessional statements. Now, issues regarding women's roles are ongoing and matters related to open theism are prompting more controversy.
___School administrators at Wheaton College in Illinois and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts--both prominent evangelical schools--responded to the statement, both declaring that, at least on its face, they could agree with it.
___"Since we have over 100 denominations represented in our student body and over 17 denominations represented in our faculty, our teaching and hiring of faculty continues to be known for its diversity of denominational thought while emphasizing the Christian distinctives that unify all Christians worldwide," said Gordon-Conwell President Walter Kaiser Jr.
___Wheaton College President Duane Lifton said the scholars' statement reflects a semantic battle that has occurred over recent decades regarding the term "evangelical."
___Although Lifton said he could have signed the statement, he is concerned that it doesn't address the larger issue of the "very serious theological fissures" within the movement.
___But Wayne Grudem, a past president of the Evangelical Theological Society who served on the committee that drafted the "open theism" resolution, said he does not believe the group of scholars involved in the "Word Made Fresh" statement "represent conservative evangelicalism."
___"Basically, it's a statement of the evangelical left and a few who are sympathetic to the evangelical left," said Grudem, a research professor of Bible and theology at Phoenix Seminary in Scottsdale, Ariz. "There's always been a threat of deviation from true biblical doctrine. I think this is an appeal to evangelical leaders to allow much wrong doctrine in the church."
___Drafters of the statement said though some of the signatories may be identified with evangelicalism's left wing, its 107 endorsers range from scholars at conservative to liberal institutions.
___Olson counters that Grudem's statement "is false, and anyone who knows evangelicalism and its theologians and scholarly leaders well knows this if they look carefully at the list of signatories and if they read the statement for themselves."
___"Nothing in the statement in any way calls for evangelical leaders to allow any wrong doctrine in the church," Olson added. "I cannot imagine where Professor Grudem gets such an interpretation of the statement. I would say it comes not from a hermeneutic of charity but from a hermeneutic of suspicion."
___Editor's note: The complete text of the statement may be viewed at www.thewordmadefresh.com.
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook