{"id":1347,"date":"2009-06-08T15:09:10","date_gmt":"2009-06-08T23:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2009\/06\/08\/shall-we-descend-into-sectarianism\/"},"modified":"2009-06-08T15:09:10","modified_gmt":"2009-06-08T23:09:10","slug":"shall-we-descend-into-sectarianism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2009\/06\/08\/shall-we-descend-into-sectarianism\/","title":{"rendered":"shall we descend into sectarianism?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A frequent commenter on SI <a href=\"http:\/\/sharperiron.org\/forum\/thread-lets-separate-over-calvinism\/\" target=\"_blank\">poses an interesting question<\/a>: shall we separate over Calvinism. He cites these precedents:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Protestant Reformers did not allow latitude on this issue<\/li>\n<li>When Melanchthon drifted away from Luther\u2019s views, other Reformed people considered them as \u201cother\u201d than them<\/li>\n<li>The Dortians condemned the Remonstrants<\/li>\n<li>The Particular Baptists and the General Baptists operated separately<\/li>\n<li>The Calvinistic Methodists and the Wesleyan Methodists operated separately<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Another commenter replies, noting that such division is essentially sectarianism. Fundamentalism, with whatever faults it may be charged with, has essentially been non-sectarian in its philosophy and approach. It is a philosophy that created ecclesiastical coalitions around a common cause, generally laying aside more narrow sectarian concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, we have seen such gatherings as the World Congress of Fundamentalists, efforts to pool fundamentalist thought from the preaching and teaching of men of quite broad sectarian backgrounds. Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, men of other groups, all have been welcome at the table in this common cause.<\/p>\n<p>Some gatherings of fundamentalists, to be sure, have been somewhat sectarian in their efforts. The Fundamental Baptist Fellowship would be one such gathering. It is both Fundamentalist and Baptist. Its goal is to promote the broader fundamentalist philosophy within a Baptist ecclesiastical framework. But being fundamentalist, it has not historically been particular about the distinctions among Baptists. To take part, it is sufficient to be a Baptist and a fundamentalist.<\/p>\n<h5>Sectarian over-emphasis threatens fundamentalism<\/h5>\n<p>Political coalitions are built on compromise. We see this all the time in secular politics. The conservative side of the spectrum politically is usually a coalition of fiscal and social conservatives with a few libertarians mixed in. When one group or another within that group decides its more narrow concerns are more important than the larger concerns of the coalition, the coalition breaks down and electoral defeats become more likely.<\/p>\n<p> <!--more-->  <\/p>\n<p>The right wing of Canadian politics saw such a breakdown in the years following the Conservative Prime Ministership of Brian Mulroney. Years of Liberal government followed, partly because the right was divided. We recently experienced an election in my province, British Columbia. The more right wing party ((called the Liberals, but not the same thing as the federal Liberals \u2026 it\u2019s really complicated up here!)) won the election. A contributing factor is that the left, in this case, was divided between the socialists and the Greens.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever more narrow interests within a coalition become primary interests, the coalition breaks down.<\/p>\n<p>We have seen various examples of this kind of splintering in Fundamentalism over the years. Some decry this splintering, especially when the narrow concern being advanced is not one of their own. One can recall examples of such splintering in the not too distant past:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cI back Jack\u201d \u2013 i.e., Jack Hyles became a polarizing figure who divided fundamentalism over personal loyalty to a very flawed man.<\/li>\n<li>King James Only \u2013 the growth of a more narrow set of doctrines concerning inspiration and then preservation of the Bible creates a division in fundamentalism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The main body of those outside of these sectarian divisions have largely been willing to let such depart from the broader coalition if those issues were to become primary. The departure of the \u201cHylots\u201d, as one fellow calls them, was especially welcome. The departure of the KJO crowd, especially the more extreme versions of it (Ruckmanites) has also been welcomed.<\/p>\n<p>Some who remain in the broader coalition of fundamentalism are, in fact, King James Only in their own approach to Scriptures, but have not chosen to divide from the broader coalition over those issues. That is to their credit, in my view. Nevertheless, there are some who would like to purge them from the coalition. They aren\u2019t needed, they are a blight, etc. (And much less polite statements are also made.) For my part, I see no need to break from brethren who hold a KJO position. If they aren\u2019t divisive about it and are committed to a fundamentalist philosophy, I am happy to work with them where I can.<\/p>\n<p>Well, now we are seeing rising interest in Calvinism among fundamentalists (not all of them young). Fundamentalism is threatened by this sectarian interest. Some on either side of the issue would be happy to purge fundamentalism (or their brand of it) over this issue.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some think that is what Danny Sweatt was trying to do. I maintain that he has been badly misunderstood and unfairly misrepresented.<\/li>\n<li>Some would like to \u2018seize the day\u2019 and use this controversy to advance Calvinistic sectarianism within fundamentalism. ((It is ironic how like the narrow-mindedness of some KJOs some of these neo-Calvinists are!))<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I ask the question, \u2018shall we descend into sectarianism?\u2019 to begin this post. I believe it is a critical question. I am quite happy to coexist in fundamentalist coalitions with men who differ with me strongly over Calvinism, over versions, over church polity [to some extent], and over a number of other issues. I think the cause of fundamentalism is worth relegating some of my sectarian interests to a matter of less importance in order to promote the cause of fundamentalism.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We need to promote fundamentalism in order to be able to have colleges and universities that will support fundamentalist education for our young people.<\/li>\n<li>We need to promote fundamentalism in order to encourage local churches to endure the pressure of conformity to the erring ecclesiastical community in their own cities and towns.<\/li>\n<li>We need to promote fundamentalism in order to support the cause of orthodox missions and missionaries around the world.<\/li>\n<li>We need to promote fundamentalism in order to maintain a vigorous response to the errors and false teaching perpetrated in the broader so-called \u2018Christian\u2019 world.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some think that these causes can be successful advanced by a more narrow sectarian focus.<\/p>\n<p>I doubt that is possible.<\/p>\n<p>When the sectarian interest becomes all important, it becomes the cause. Instead of overlooking sectarian ideas, fundamental distinctions become those that are overlooked because the sectarian cause is the main thing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It explains how conservative evangelicals who unite around Calvinism are able to overlook pernicious doctrines such as ongoing revelation from God by way of so-called prophecy.<\/li>\n<li>It explains how some conservative evangelicals will unite with a man whose behaviour and language is clearly anti-Christian.<\/li>\n<li>It explains how other conservative evangelicals will rebuke the behaviour of such a man, but will continue to work together with others who will not rebuke such behaviour.<\/li>\n<li>It also explains, by the way, how some men who emphasize the KJV as a primary issue are willing to cooperate with&#160; immoral men who speak of the KJV as being inspired and a corrector of the Greek. Sectarianism trumps all other causes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The sectarian cause becomes the focus of unity, not the fundamentals of separation from false teachers, separation from the world, and separation from the flesh.<\/p>\n<p>We need to talk about these things, but we need to do so in this context.<\/p>\n<p>Are we going to descend into sectarianism? I say, for my part, NO!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"don_sig2\" style=\"border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px\" height=\"50\" alt=\"don_sig2\" src=\"http:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/don-sig24.png\" width=\"150\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A frequent commenter on SI poses an interesting question: shall we separate over Calvinism. He cites these precedents: Protestant Reformers did not allow latitude on this issue When Melanchthon drifted away from Luther\u2019s views, other Reformed people considered them as \u201cother\u201d than them The Dortians condemned the Remonstrants The Particular Baptists and the General Baptists [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[37,71],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2fYWj-lJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}