Calling for a Return to the Doctrinal Ideals and Kingdom Ethics of the First Reformation
The History of the Protestant Church in Hungary from the beginning of the Reformation to 1850 is a commendable historical work. It value is both inherent as a historical text and in what can be extrapolated from it – which in some cases may result in observations and applications beyond the intention of the anonymous author. The work first appeared about 1854 and was translated into English by one Dr. Craig.
Trumpites and Conservatives are desperate to pin the insurrection (in reality a failed coup) on groups like BLM and Antifa but despite their aggressive propaganda campaign, the argument continues to fall flat. What motives would Antifa have to stop the electoral vote? Would they want four more years of Donald Trump?
I've been struck by the number of Trumpites and Republicans that seem genuinely shocked at the 6 January storming of the Capitol. 'That's not us' they insist. 'Those people don't represent us.' It only shows that these same folks not only do not understand what has happened in American society, they don't understand their own movement, the people they've allied themselves with and what Donald Trump's presidency means.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XXII/Final)
We ought to understand that technology and art are not easily
separated and both are to some extent inseparable from questions of
epistemology and morality. Additionally, if we grasp that socially conservative
attitudes toward the arts and culture (while inconsistent) cannot be divorced from
their larger cultural narratives surrounding epistemology and previous
generational progress and values, it behooves us (lest we be swept away by
these powerful cultural forces and heavily promoted arguments) to apply the otherworldly
and non-conformist ethos of the First Reformation to the present day. Our
culture is in crisis and thus to many, the arguments made by conservatives seem
very persuasive and grounding but from a New Testament perspective they are flawed
at almost every level.
An otherworldly and non-conformist ethos leads us to a
cultural posture and interaction that embraces neither the Classic nor the
Enlightened. In fact in many ways we are better able to resonate with the postmodern
critique and even the cynical. We benefit from critiques that expose the world
system's inherent flaws and contradictions, that reveal it to be an idolatrous
fraud and resting on transient and degenerating foundations – as Paul teaches
in 1 Corinthians 7.29-31 and Romans 8.19-23. This should not upset us but
rather drives us all the more toward the inescapable choice between dependence
upon revelation and the hope it grants or a collapse into nihilism.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XXI)
This topic may seem off-base or represent a strange sidetrack
and it must be admitted not all will be interested in this discussion or even
be able to follow it. Nevertheless these are issues of practical importance,
all the more given the way in which such questions (presented within the
framework of a holistic system) permeate Evangelical discussions and dominate
airwaves, pulpits, and an endless stream of books and cultural commentaries.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XX)
The dominant monism of today is a result of the Constantinian
synthesis that birthed Christendom and the Scholastic impulse. Though a
minority movement within the larger fold of Evangelicalism, Calvinism has also
exercised considerable influence in terms of monistic thought and tendency.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XIX)
There are several additional areas that are relevant to the
larger discussion of reform, the application of Scriptural authority and
especially the question of Scriptural Sufficiency. These are all issues that
have been visited throughout this larger body of writings. Not all require a
hard-line stand, not all are what we might call gospel issues but given the
scope of today's problem and since the ideas surrounding the question of reform
and its implications are on the table, they're worthy of consideration.
What a catastrophe. What a shame and disgrace. Covid cases are increasing and even our small town newspaper is reflecting this – the obituary section keeps growing and inordinately so. But identity confusion reigns. Confusion over questions of 'Christian Citizenship' and the like have led to bifurcated ethics – a split between New Testament values and the Enlightenment rooted thought of the American system. Throw in the cultural mythology, decades of brainwashing, and conditioned consumerist individualism and we have a recipe for both heresy and disaster.
I have paraphrased the question(s) below:
If the Decalogue is
technically defunct in the New Covenant era and yet still expresses the Eternal
Law of God albeit in its specific Mosaic and Pre-Christ form - can it nevertheless
be utilised by Christians to point out and expose sin?
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XVIII)
While our Biblicist theology is necessarily high and has high
regard for revealed mysteries and supernatural efficacious elements and means –
our ecclesiology is about as low as it gets – but this in no way implies
casualness or irreverence.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XVII)
The time is now.
These essays have attempted to survey Church history and
re-cast it in a narrative frame at odds with the often tight, packaged, and frankly
sometimes disingenuous renderings provided by denominational partisans and the
advocates of Christendom – or the fiction that is often referred to as
Judeo-Christian civilisation. This revisiting and questioning of common
Protestant and Evangelical narratives of Church History is essential if one is
to understand and navigate the present context.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XVI)
The time is now.
The revisiting and recasting of Church History along with the
aforementioned crises drive us to step back for a final time and to consider
and survey the state of Evangelicalism and the magnitude of its compromise and
its moral and spiritual collapse.
Has Xi extended his power or has he been rebuked and curtailed by elements within the Beijing bureaucracy? It depends on how you read the 19th Congress and interpret its events.
Clearly on a war trajectory with the United States with the
flashpoints being Taiwan and Hong Kong, one could argue that Xi's plans have
been limited or restrained. The generals are resistant to his plans which would
result in inevitable confrontation. No one doubts that Beijing could wound the
American military – perhaps even inflict some stunning losses but ultimately
the Chinese military thinks the cost would be too great. And for Xi, that would
mean the end of his rule. And thus one interpretation was that this Congress
represents a rebuke of Xi's aspirations.
And yet on the other hand Xi's maneuvering suggests a
consolidation of power within the bureaucracy. In other words he's bit by bit setting
himself up for more autonomy, for more comprehensive control which will become
manifest in the near future. As master of the Beijing bureaucracy he won't
easily be stopped.
Moreover I also gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.(Ezekiel 20.12)
The Sabbath was a covenantal sign that was to 'mark out' the
people of God as distinct from the Gentile nations. The Sabbath therefore was
not universal, it was not a law that was to be applied in all places and at all
times. This is actually fairly clear when one reads the Old Testament and it is
even explicit in places like Ezekiel 20.12. It was a covenantal sign and as
such was only binding upon those in union with Jehovah.
But this presents a real dilemma for some Christian groups
today.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XV)
The time is now. Dominionism and the reactionary re-casting
of Sacralism in the wake of 19th and 20th century
secularism is on the verge of swallowing up the remaining (if paltry) testimony
of the First Reformation, its lifeline to the Early Church and New Testament
Christianity.
The panicked reaction to Trump's planned troop withdrawal from both Iraq and Afghanistan has been palpable. The media and the US Establishment in general are hostile to the move and trying to sound the alarm. And yet at the same time they struggle with providing solid reasons for remaining in these seemingly endless conflicts – both of which have gone sideways and evolved into something other than what they originally were purported to be.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XIV)
Once again we are reminded of the strange relationship
between separatist Christianity and the forces of secularisation and how the
pluralism generated by the latter leads to a more congenial environment for the
Church than the monistic sacralism of the Constantinian paradigm. Indeed in
addition to the folk of the First Reformation, even the early beleaguered Magisterial
Protestants understood that an environment of pagan or even secular opposition
is preferable than persecution at the hands of a hostile Christendom. Better a Turk than a Habsburg is a lost
sentiment but in light of today's Dominionism and its aspirations it's one we
would do well to reconsider. While I don't think the Dominionists are going to
'win' today's struggle they are nevertheless scoring 'victories' and if they
should win and attain the cultural supremacy they so badly want – the old
phrase will once more have relevance even though the context is very different.
They won't hesitate to use the power of the state to silence Christians who
oppose them and use the Bible to expose their error.
Though he's a bit late to the discussion I'm glad to see some
other Christian leaders come to the realisation that persecution and state
oppression are going to look different in the 21st century. The
technological leaps are such that old methods of underground life are going to
be quite different in this new age. I think the biggest struggle for White and
all those who run in his circles will be the end of middle class life and
affluence.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XIII)
Not all among the Czech Brethren and Waldensians greeted the
Magisterial Reformation with joy. Some were alarmed and not a little put off by
some of the ideas which they believed were being forced upon them by the
Reformers. There was (at least in the case of the Cottian valleys) a degree of resentment
with regard to the patronising attitude which they encountered from Guillaume Farel
and what would become the Calvinist wing of the Reformation.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XII)
The First Reformation it would seem embraced theological primitivism
– unelaborated and limited doctrinal concepts. Like the Early Church they
weren't terribly worried about seeming contradictions or doctrines that seemed
to defy sense-experience or logical categories tied to it.
Why The Church Must Reject Politics (Part II)
Peter knows that these teachers will be engaged in activity
that will lead to the Church being associated with evil action. In his second
epistle he also speaks of those who despise government and speak evil of
dignities.
Why The Church Must Reject Politics (Part I)
These are questions that I have addressed many times but I'll
address some specific points that have been raised and are worthy of
consideration given the present moment.
Romans 13 makes it abundantly clear that the powers that be
are ordained by God and to resist the power is to invite judgment and
condemnation.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XI)
The first
half of the Twentieth Century saw the collapse of the Kingdom-progress
narrative and eventually an attempt was made to re-cast it but this time in
much more specific and deliberate terms. Postmillennialism didn't die but it
took a backseat. However its ethos was perpetuated in the form of Dominionism –
a theological spectrum that was able to penetrate virtually every facet and
faction of the Protestant and Evangelical movements.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (X)
There is value in a further elaboration of this contrast
between the First and Magisterial Reformations and thus as an exercise it's
worth briefly surveying the latter's historical and ethical legacy as it
transitioned from the Renaissance era into modernity.
I am certain that attitudes have changed in Europe since I
spent considerable time there in the 1990's. At that time homeschooling was
novel and while it was becoming popular in the United States, such expressions
of individualism and counter-culture were not popular in Europe – even among
Christians.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (IX)
Another way of reviewing and emphasizing the characteristics
of the First Reformation and the various proto-Protestant movements is to
juxtapose and contrast them with the Magisterial Reformation and the type of
Protestantism that it produced. This is seen in two areas – doctrine and
ethics. Questions of Biblical authority and general understandings of how
doctrine functions were answered differently. And, there were profound
differences in how the First and Second Reformations interacted with society,
power, wealth and the state. In other words the two movements had radically
different concepts of ethics in light of the Scriptures – at which point we
will begin.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (VIII)
The question of Waldensian placement becomes complicated as
they transcend the three epochs we're touching upon – the pre-Schism First
Reformation, the post-Schism shift and fragmentation, and finally the
Magisterial Reformation.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (VII)
The Great Schism which erupted in 1378 generated a new wave
of dissent which while not unrelated to the earlier movements and impulses,
nevertheless generated more radical factions which for a season took up the
sword. These movements failed and yet in most cases the core ideas and
commitments endured and the survivors would eventually merge back into the
non-violent sword and coin rejecting, non-Sacralist and separatist posture of
the movement's first wave. They would not be challenged or tempted again with
regard to Sacralism until the time of the Magisterial Reformation.
(updated and amended)†
Taking in all the drama and pending procedural battles over
the Amy Coney Barrett nomination I was struck by the numerous ironies that are
at work. Given that the background has grown rather complicated it's something
that few outlets bother to probe or pursue. And yet there's an interesting
story and both political factions come out looking pretty bad.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (VI)
Some would date the First Reformation to the era of The Great
Schism (1378-1417) when the papacy was split between the Avignon and Rome
factions. Lollardy proper (it is argued) arose in England during this period
and Czech Hussitism arose immediately after it. The already established
Waldensians also flourished during this era and some believe the period
represents a first wave of doctrinal protest movements – a case of all of these
groups (to varying degrees) appealing to the Scriptures to argue against the
developments within Catholicism.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (V)
The growing
apostasy at work in the post-Constantinian period was challenged and it seems
clear there was a lasting testimony of extra-Roman and anti-Roman resistance
well into the Dark Ages. A dissenting geographic belt (deemed heretical by
Rome) would appear cutting across the Pyrenees through Southern France and
across the Alps into Northern Italy. With Switzerland serving as a knot,
another branch roughly followed the course of the Rhine through Germany and the
Low Countries.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (IV)
The following is by no means exhaustive but it is my hope
that it provides an alternative (or at least a working alternative) basis for a
metanarrative to Church History. While I've been critical of the aforementioned
narratives the concept of a metanarrative itself is not invalid – even while it
has its dangers. Painting with a fairly broad brush I hope to establish some
principles that will (in the most general of terms) provide a framework for an
alternative view that some will identify as a kind of Third Way – a positive
narrative that avoids the traps and pitfalls of both Roman Catholicism (and by
implication Eastern Orthodoxy) and Magisterial Protestantism.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (III)
Nevin imposes a theological paradigm and metanarrative on his
reading of Church History but ignores the fact that the New Testament
repeatedly and forcefully warns of apostasy and appeals to the Old Testament as
a pattern which is replete with examples of corruption, defection and
compromise. In other words the Scriptures all but told us to expect this course
in terms of the history of the Church and yet Nevin's progression paradigm has
no room for it.
Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (II)
In his Early
Christianity series, Nevin goes on to attack figures like Aerius, Jovinian
and Vigilantius – all 4th century dissenters treated by his
colleague Philip Schaff in vol. 3 of his History of the Christian Church.
Nevin argues these figures and groups were aberrations and
represented no serious opposition to the post-Constantinian changes – but we
cannot accept this verdict.