Pastoral Musings

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With regard to the writers and writings of the primitive church in the Ante- Nicene and the Post-Nicene era, it may be said, broadly speaking, that the atonement is presented by them as a fact, with its saving and regenerative effects. The consciousness of the primitive church did not seem to be alive to the necessity of the formation of any particular theory of the atonement. It follows the Apostle’s Creed, which makes no reference whatever to the miraculous words or marvellous works of Jesus, but significantly passes by them all to focus the confession of the Church upon the great purpose and achievement of the Incarnation; His suffering as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. As regards the writers of the post-apostolic age, Clement of Rome, Origen, and Athanasius, may be referred to as outstanding exponents of the Church’s thought in the first four centuries. Of the first and third it may be said that they simply amplified the language of the New Testament. There is no trace of the attitude of the modernist, with its brilliant attempts to explain away the obvious. Their doctrine of the atonement is entirely free, as has been said, from the incrusting difficulties of spurious explanation. There were no attempts at philosophy or sophistry, though, as was to be expected, there was more or less of the embroidery of the oriental imagination, and a plethora of metaphor. (Justin Martyr, Chrysostom, and Augustine, may be mentioned also here).

via Blue Letter Bible – Commentaries – R. Torrey – The Fundamentals.

“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. ” (Luke 1:1–4)

What are these things to which Luke refers as being most surely believed among us? The answer is found in the companion volume to Luke, which is the Acts. There Luke declares that he recorded what Jesus did and taught.

Consider this, now. Luke wants Theophilus to know the certain and sure nature of the things in which he had been instructed. He wants Theophilus to understand the essentials of the faith. I am asserting that Luke wanted Theophilus to understand that the fundamentals of the faith that he had been taught were indeed true. Luke taught the fundamentals, and those fundamentals can be found in the words and works of Jesus.

It is understood that our Bibles would be incomplete without Acts, the epistles, and Revelation. On the other hand, however, we must understand that we can find the fundamentals in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ words and works. Why the emphasis on this? The words and works of Jesus pointed men to the Father and glorified the Father (John 17:1-5), and the reason that He emphasized this is because He is one with the Father (John 1:1-4,14-18;10;27-30). His words and works were God-centered. Jesus’ ministry revolved around pleasing God (John 8:29), and He received word from Heaven that the Father was pleased (Matthew 3:17;17:5). Jesus’ teaching emphasized that we should give glory to the Father in our works (Matthew 5:13-16) and that we should love God and our fellow man with all that is in us and with all that we are (Matthew 22:35-39). When He rose from the dead, He told us that all authority was given to Him (Matthew 28:18-20), and that He was sending us as He was sent (John 20:21). These are fundamental issues. They show us that Christianity is about loving God and giving glory to Him through His Son, Jesus.

Today’s fundamentalism is often more cultural than it is Biblical. It is more superficial than it is from the heart. It is more practical (in the sense of practice) than it is doctrinal and theological. In Jesus doctrine and practice met. He is the incarnate Word Who worked the will of God in His life. If we as Fundamentalists would be true to the Scriptures we must recognize the need to examine Jesus’ words, works, and goals, and then make them ours. We must believe in who He is as well as what He did. We must embrace, not a culture of Fundamentalism, but Christ. Only then will we become what we should.

From chapter 16, volume 1 of The Fundamentals:

It is sufficient to say that while many more positive confirmations of the seemingly improbable statements of the sacred historians can be adduced, there have been no discoveries which necessarily contravene their statements. The cases already here enumerated relate to such widely separated times and places, and furnish explanations so unexpected, yet natural, to difficulties that have been thought insuperable, that their testimony cannot be ignored or rejected. That this history should be confirmed in so many cases and in such a remarkable manner by monuments uncovered 3,000 years after their erection, can be nothing else than providential. Surely, God has seen to it that the failing faith of these later days should not be left to grope in darkness. When the faith of many was waning and many heralds of truth were tempted to speak with uncertain sound, the very stones have cried out with a voice that only the deaf could fail to hear. Both in the writing and in the preservation of the Bible we behold the handiwork of God.

HT Erik

Over on Fundamentally Changed (Soon to be Re:Fundamentals) we have been discussing a new dynamic in Fundamentalism.

There are at present four posts on this topic.

In post one, Will says:

There’s no way we are going to be able to change any of the current institutions. They are what they are. It will have to be us youngsters who buck the system, and work together without anyone having to be in the spotlight to forge a movement that stands for truth. We need to rebel against the political cronyism that dominates the current state of fundamentalism.  Wouldn’t it be great if a new generation of fundamentalism was known for it’s humility instead of its sectarianism? Pride is the pathway to failure in any person, church, movement or institution. I believe that pride has been the distinguishing trademark of fundamentalism in the last century. If as a new generation we could realize that it’s all about Jesus and not about any of us, we could make a big difference that may influence evangelicalism and the rest of the world.

In post two Erik said:

None of us have arrived and have all the answers. No matter how definitive we may sound in our articles, we are striving to grow and learn from God’s Word

In post three I stated:

I would like to bring in another perspective.  That perspective is the value of doctrine..The “New Dynamic” is one in which we long to become a different people and help others do the same.  That will come by becoming a more Biblically and doctrinally educated people.  As that happens we will learn to trust God’s grace and will be transformed into the image of Christ.

In post four Bob says:

One of the important points the fundamentalist movement advanced was the idea that there are certain core doctrines related to the Gospel which should be central.. Adopting a Gospel-centered view frees us to find unity around the great truths of the Gospel and agree to disagree over the relatively minor points where we disagree.  This perspective doesn’t mean we sell out on truth and don’t care about doctrine.  It means we prioritize the doctrine which is essential to salvation.  Historic Christianity has always admitted that certain points in the Bible are more clear than others.  We must admit that due to the fall our reason has been marred, and there are many reasons why some of us won’t agree on minor points.  But when we agree on the major defining truths of the Gospel, that should matter much more than our disagreement on minor points.  Let us be defined by the Gospel!

In post five Damien eloquently call for a Christocentric Christianity:

My prayer is to see the New Dynamic of Fundamentalism become thoroughly Christocentric. I want to see how every issue touches on the doctrine of Christ. I want to always have Christ as the focus of every study, every post, every sermon. I want to see this exemplify the character and holiness of Christ. I want to see Christ lifted up and glorified in our lives, ministries, and even blogs. If we are not doing that, we are missing the most elementary thing and doing this completely in vain.

I would encourage you to click on over and read each of these posts.  Also, please look for re-fundamentals.com to be live soon!