By Rev. Donald MacLean, Glasgow
The International Association for Reformed Faith and Action came into being as a result of a Congress held in Montpellier, France, in 1953. Its purposes are to strengthen and advance the Reformed Cause throughout the world and to encourage fellowship between Reformed Christians of every land, together with the interchange of Reformed thought and experience. International congresses have been held every three years. Subsequent to the one already mentioned, Congresses have been held in Detmold, Germany (1955), and Strasbourg, France (1958). As the congress this year was to be held in Cambridge from August 11th to 18th, and as the subject of the congress was “The Authority of the Bible To-day,” the present writer attended in a private capacity and gives this brief account of the Congress itself and his impressions of what took place.
The method adopted at the congress was to give lectures and addresses on various subjects. The Congress then broke up into groups of English, French and German languages, and discussion was held on the various points in the papers given. At a later session the whole congress met together with the Lecturer present and the various points raised in the groups and by individuals were then discussed. The day was opened and closed with devotional exercises. There would be about 90 people present representing the following countries: Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Northern Ireland, Eire, Japan, Korea and the United States.
The opening address on “The Authority of the Bible To-day” was given by Rev. Dr. Leon Morris, Warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge. His paper was a very good summary of the views held by the early Church and the Reformers, showing that from the earliest times Christians have conceived of their authority as rooted in the Bible. Dr. Morris went on then to show that, although this is abundantly plain from the writings both of the Reformers and the Church Fathers, the modern period has shown an unwillingness to accept the position so clearly outlined in days gone by, despite the fact that this position is firmly grounded on the Word of God. Dr. Morris concluded by emphasising and bearing witness to the authority of the Bible as the infallible Word of God in our own day and generation.
This address was followed by a paper on “The New Testament View of Scripture” by Prof. Dr. Roger Nicole, Professor of Theology, Gordon Divinity School, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Prof. Nicole confined himself to a brief study of the various terms by which Scripture is denoted in the New Testament, and then went on to give a brief consideration to certain passages in which it has been alleged that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke disparagingly of the Old Testament Scriptures or, at any rate, seemed to set certain limits to its authority. Dr. Nicole gave a most interesting address, refuting this allegation.
The next address was given by the Rev. Herbert M. Carson, Vicar of St. Paul’s, Cambridge. His subject was “The English Reformers and Martyrs” and he gave a lucid and much appreciated description of the testimony raised by these men of God who testified, not only to their personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to their love of the doctrines of divine truth by sealing their testimony with their blood.
The Rev. Dr. Philip E. Hughes, Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the Association, gave an address on the subject of “Reformed Faith and Action; Challenge and Response.” Dr. Hughes took as his starting point Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders and showed that this admonition of Paul places the whole of church history in perspective. The ever present challenge is that savage wolves are attacking the Church from without, and false teachers arising from within. The response, therefore, must be to watch and remember! While the enemy from without is comparatively simple to discern, the enemy from within is much more subtle and accordingly more dangerous. Dr. Hughes went on to deal with four of the issues which confront and challenge the Church to-day. These are:—
Theological Relativism.
This idea teaches that there can be no such thing as absolute truth. On this basis, the different religions of the world can be seen only as relative to one another, which means to say that Christianity can be no more absolute than any other religion. Consequently, this idea means that Christianity must take its place beside other religions as having some aspects of truth to contribute to religion as a whole. Dr. Hughes pointed out the great dangers involved in this idea and the absolute necessity for declaring unflinchingly that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the Word of God and truth most pure.
The Ecumenical Movement.
In tracing the various dangers in connection with this movement, Dr. Hughes still took the view that instead of holding ourselves aloof from it, we should be ready to take every opportunity to exert an influence within the Movement itself. This is a view with which some did not agree and one with which we would certainly not agree. It seems to us absolutely essential to emphasise the fact that the World Council of Churches—the most virile expression of the present ecumenical movement—has no concern to spread the everlasting gospel in its purity. As such it cannot be regarded as helpful to the cause of Christ but rather as a danger against which Christians in every place ought to be warned.
Rome and Reunion.
The fact that Rome’s terms for reunion can be no other than complete submission and absorption, involving identification with her errors, was pointed out. Dr. Hughes was of the opinion that the interest being taken in the necessity for a more simple religion within the Roman Catholic body indicated the possibility of a new reformation taking place there. It seems to us, however, that if such a reformation did take place, those thus tasting the streams of pure truth would leave the communion of the harlot of Rome and that a reformation of that body as a whole is not to be expected from the Word of God.
The Cultic Hordes.
The grave danger arising to Christian witness from cults such as Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, etc., was indicated and was termed as “a satanic assault on the unique gospel.”
Dr. Hughes concluded by exhorting the Congress “to pray earnestly that God would graciously equip His people by His Holy Spirit to respond to the needs of this age, enabling them to recapture the spirit of dedication and sense of adventure which animated apostles, saints and reformers in the ages that are past to the everlasting glory of His great Name.”
The Bible and the Authority of Reason.
Dr. Packer presented a closely-knit and well reasoned paper on this subject. He first sketched the background which arose from 19th century Biblical Criticism. The idea based upon this criticism was that the historic view of Biblical authority had been refuted, and the final authority of reason as a judge of truth had been established due to the fact that the probing of critics had shown the Bible no longer to be an infallible book. While it is obvious that this position has not been proved, nor indeed can it be proved, yet those desirous of making an appeal to the authority of reason make these allegations. In glancing back at the tendency to appeal to reason in modern Protestant theology, Dr. Packer mentioned three errors which indicated this desire to appeal to reason. The first of these was Arminianism in which God was made to stand back from man by the insistence of the Arminians that man acts independently of God. The second Movement was that of the English Deism which made God stand back from His world. They pictured God as One Who had created all things and then left His creation to operate itself, and this, of course, meant that God had no active Lordship over the Universe. The third instance was the step taken in the nineteenth century in which an attempt was made to silence God. Instead of God speaking through His own Word and by His Revelation, the nineteenth century religionists looked upon the Bible as a record of pious impressions and human thoughts about God but no more. By this method God no longer spoke to man by His Word, but man had certain religious experiences and thoughts about God. In this way God was silenced, as it were. Thus man’s reason was given an authority, not only not granted to it by the Word of God, but which it did not deserve in its own right.
Dr. Packer concluded by stating that the only thing which would break man off from the habit of appealing to the authority of reason in religion was the regeneration of the individual and the revival of the Church.
The Bible and the Authority of the Church
Mr Robinson appeared to have a difficulty with regard to the language used about the Church in many Reformed writings. In particular, he referred to this difficulty in relation to the Invisible and the Visible Church. There does not appear, however, to be any difficulty in the concept of the Invisible Church provided that one remembers that the Invisible Church consists of the whole election of grace. Difficulties are brought into the subject when, instead of regarding the Invisible Church from the point of view of the election of grace, men consider it from the point of view of those who have been the subjects of regeneration. In connection with the term Visible Church, Mr Robinson took the position that the Greek word Ekklesia meant the Church in some local place, or, in other words, a congregation. This view completely ignored the aspect of the Church as a Kingdom with Christ as its King, ruling not only over local congregations but over the Visible Church as a whole in its various branches. Mr Robinson’s position also on the question of the exercise of discipline did not appear to be soundly grounded on the Word of God and indeed his whole concept of the authority of the Church appeared to be a considerable departure from Reformed thinking on this particular subject.
The Bible and the Authority of the State
The lecture by Dr. A. M. Donner, President of the Court of the European Communities, Luxembourg, on “The Bible and the Authority of the State” seemed also to be a distinct departure from Reformed thinking. Dr. Donner was indeed what we would call a Voluntary. He did not acknowledge the obligation of the State to assist and protect the Church, and the whole tendency of his paper was against the principle of Establishment.
The Bible and Eschatology.
The last paper was given by the Rev. J. Marcellus Kik, on “The Bible and Eschatology.” Mr Kik’s paper sought to establish the post millenium position with regard to the Second Coming of Christ. In this respect the paper was agreeable to our mind, as well as to the position of the Reformers. We would not necessarily agree with Mr Kik’s exegesis of the various passages he sought to handle.
The first impression left on our minds by the Congress is that the Association is still not very decided upon which lines it wishes to go. For instance, much that was given in the papers and much that was said in discussion was clearly contrary to Reformed thought and practice. It would appear to us to be much better to insist that speakers and lecturers give a clear delineation of the Reformed position with regard to the subjects given to them and then, proceeding from that basis, to consider their application in the world at the present time. This would have given a purpose and verve to the Congress which we felt to be lacking very much indeed.
The second impression is a rather regrettable one. The devotional exercises appear to us to be of a very superficial nature. Making all allowances for difficulties of language, the prayers and addresses were singularly lacking in spiritual experience and emphasis upon those glorious doctrines which were so triumphantly vindicated by the Reformers in their day and generation. As a result of this, the impression left on one’s mind was that the spiritual tone of the Congress could have been greatly improved and there is need for us all to remember that an intellectual knowledge of the Reformed doctrine is not sufficient. What we all need is, through the baptism of God the Holy Ghost, to have a heart attachment and spiritually-discerning appreciation of the doctrines of divine truth so that their promulgation and defence becomes an all absorbing desire.