Calling the Church to the Deep Well of Biblical Orthodoxy
(Following is an article by Tom Terry, Greensboro, GA re: the North American Consultation on Theology dealing with 20 Topics of the International Church Council Project held in Ft. Lauderdale on Aug. 6th - 9th.)
It was more than coincidental that in the same week that the American Episcopal Church was demonstrating the logical conclusion of a relativistic approach to the truth of Scripture by accepting an openly gay priest as bishop, the International Church Council Project (ICCP) was launching its ambitious plan to arouse the evangelical church throughout 70 targeted countries on 5 continents to stand firm on the Biblical doctrines of the historic, orthodox Christian Faith. For the next 5 years, ICCP is planning to conduct consultations among evangelical leaders in their own country on statements of Biblical theology that address 20 topics facing the 21st Century Church. The first consultation for North America was held at Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale on August 6th through 9th.
The 20 topics themselves are a mix of restatements of essential, historic Christian doctrines in response to heresies confronted by the earlier Church Councils at Nicea, Chalcedon, and Wittenberg and of statements that address issues that have emerged in today's post-modernist climate. (The 20 topics and other documents of the ICCP can be found at www.ChurchCouncil.org .) What is perhaps most remarkable about this effort by the executive committee of the ICCP is that as the successor to the former International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI) that formulated in 1978 the evangelical benchmark statements known as the Chicago Statements on Biblical Inerrancy and on Biblical Hermeneutics, their work of fidelity to the Scriptures continues to slowly gather momentum among evangelicals as the liberal church separates its life and practice further from the classical Biblical teachings and orthodoxy of the Church. The analogy of a tropical depression fits well with what ICCP sees as its possible future: when the project moves from the lukewarm waters of the American church's spiritual malaise into the hot waters of the international Church where persecution and oppression are producing great revivals, the project's intention of calling the universal Church to faithfulness to the inerrant Bible will grow into a full-blown, classified hurricane. The expected impact will not only be a theological one, but also a social, philosophical, and economic one as well.
Topical addresses at the Ft. Lauderdale consultation were presented by Dr. Ted Baehr, nationally known Chairman of the Christian Film & TV Commission; Dr. Jose Gonzales, Director of Latin American Leadership Program at Regent University; Dr. Jay Grinstead, Director of the Coalition on Revival; Dr. Josef Tson, President of the Romanian Missionary Society; Dr. Cal Beisner, Professor at Knox Theological Seminary; Dr. Cornell "Corky" Haan, Executive Coordinator of Mission America; Dr. James Borland, Secretary-Treasurer of the Evangelical Theological Society; Dr. David Hesselgrave, Professor Emeritus of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; Dr. John Eidsmoe, Professor of the Jones School of Law; and Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr., Director of the Highland Study Center. The participants all signed a "Declaration of Biblical Truth" which exhorts signatories to stand firm in their Biblical affirmations and denials concerning the 20 topics. (One can access and sign the complete declaration on ICCP's website).
Maintaining fidelity to the revealed Word of God and communicating the Gospel offer of grace to repentant offenders simultaneously in a written statement became an interesting theological dynamic for the participants as they crafted a carefully worded statement on homosexuality. Through open discussion and several revisions to the document over the 3 days, they worked at completing a statement that offered sensitivity to the practicing homosexual and that equated homosexuality's sinful offense as no less comparable to the sin of heterosexual adultery, fornication (sexual intercourse outside of marriage), and other heterosexual sexual sins. Yet, none would abide any discussion about not confronting sin within or outside the church as when Dr. Grinstead informed the group that while reliable polls show that a majority (78%) in the evangelical church say they believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, less than 35% regularly read or study the Bible.
The issue of Biblical inerrancy was the starting point and was foundational for all the ICCP statements about the Christian doctrines and current day issues facing the Church. During the topical presentations in plenary sessions, the illogical and faulty conclusions by representative opponents of the truth claims of the Scriptures were logically dissected and laid bare. As Grinstead reminded and as his deceased friend Francis Schaeffer taught decades ago, the Bible, through its propositional truth claims, is the power of God brought to bear on man's needs. "In the Scriptures are all the answers to all of life's basic problems," said Grinstead, a look-alike of the late Schaeffer. "Without an inerrant Bible, we are locked into relativism. Contrary to the liberals who indulge in these long-standing heresies, we (Biblical inerrantists) trust in the law of non-contradiction in logic, have a general reliability of sense perception, though not absolute, and treat the laws of cause and effect as real."
The continuing focus of ICCP for the remainder of 2003 and 2004 is to continue arranging consultations with national evangelical leaders in the 70 countries and to create effective ways, including an interactive website, to engage American evangelicals in the pulpit and the pew. They will work to bring to the forefront of the Christian Church the same call that has been issued for the past 2000 years by the historic church: come to the deep well of the revealed truth of God's Word in which one can find the power of God to address life's challenges.