Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

Archive for the ‘Theology’ Category

The Reformed Evangelical Synod of America is developing Guidelines for Catechesis to guide congregations in the implementation of regular catechesis of both those preparing for baptism and those baptized in infancy.

Your thoughts on the task of catechesis in the Post Modern West are welcome as comments.  Your experience catechizing those preparing for baptism, catechizing youth, and engaging in the ongoing catechesis of entire congregations is welcome.

Let us know your experience and findings.

Let us know the catechism(s) you have used.

Your discussion of how to address issues such as the breakdown of the family in the church, the glorification of “youth culture”, pervasive biblical illiteracy, and other impediments facing the catechist today are welcome.

John Wesley preaching at his father's grave

For a deacon in formation for the presbyterate…

Preaching is a divine enterprise and impossible apart from the Holy Spirit. Pray as Luke 11:13 encourages for the Father’s most amazing gift – the help, anointing and empowering of the Holy Spirit so that you and those who hear will increasingly grow in the grace of Christ through the Word. I have always sensed a great burden to be faithful to what I believed the text to be saying to me and those listening. I do not try to amaze myself or the listeners with too many big words, obscure quotes, or pretend to be some original language expert who says “The Greek means…” to the point that people do not trust their English language bibles to communicate the Word of God. I am a “big picture” guy who sees everything – and particular texts no less – through the sweep of Holy Scripture and therefore I aim not to declare them as individual “loose ends” but as parts of God’s great revelation and the unfolding of His plan. I preach the integrity and interrelatedness of Holy Scripture and defy those who consider themselves wise in the wisdom of this age to refute it. A resource like Alvin Schmidt’s “How Christianity Changed The World” will aid you in this task of explaining the wonders of what Jesus our Lord has done through His Body the Church concretely and objectively in history, not simply in the fond imaginations of the pious.

I remind myself and the people from time to time why the color of my stole matches the color of the paraments. As the minister of the Word I am not my own but am part of the furniture in God’s house. I as a preacher exist as a living stone in God’s Temple to declare the Word of God as Christ’s servant and not in my own service. That is why I am a man in clerical uniform – I am like any mechanic, fireman, or other person whose vocation is primarily a service instead of a “profession” per se. My service is not primarily to people but to God as the bearer of His Word for the people He providentially sends.

This is why I also preach from a lectionary. I know its inadequacies. I know that from time to time it is required that we change the text to address an urgent situation in the congregation or society. I know that other opportunities should be provided for indepth study of the text. But the most urgent need before us – the need that never departs from day to day, from age to age, in tumult and in alleged peace – is for we and those who hear us to be continually immersed into Jesus Christ. The Epistles exist to explain what this means to be sure and they must not be neglected. But study the epistles however we will, we cannot know the meaning they intend without continually reflecting on our Lord as He is revealed in the Gospels as the fulfillment of all God the Father’s promises to revealed from Adam onward. Those who would occupy the Lord’s Day mornings with extended expositions of the Torah or who preach for years through an Epistle in the name of expository preaching often claim Calvin as their guide in this. But even he, though he eschewed the lectionary, confined himself to preaching the Gospels and Acts on the Lord’s Day. How do lesser men dare to rob the Lord’s people of the Life of Christ and assume they know it as it should be known? God forgive us the horrible mischief that has been done by our reducing the Gospel to abstractions ripped from the narrative of our Lord’s life and presented as cold dogma!

Systematic theology has it’s place in preaching. Last week’s homily (in printed form at least) alluded to both Luther’s catechism and the Heidelberg Catechism. That is because they summarized a point I considered necessary to be addressed in the exposition of the text in question. Never forget that our confessions and our systematic theology must emerge from our reflection and submission to the written Word of God. Our “systems” and confessions aim to crystallize the thrilling revelation of the Saving Christ who unites us to Himself and ushers in a New Creation through His Cross, Resurrection and Ascension. We systematize in order to communicate but our systematics must never become an ax by which we chop the scriptures in pieces to conform either to our pride or our prejudice. When we do so, we have become hirelings who have attempted to master God and bend His ways to our convenience. God deliver us from that and forgive our ignorance and discipline our pride.

As you know, our lectionary covers the life of our Lord annually via the respective “Synoptic” Gospels with flourishes courtesy of St. John. Our other readings attempt to form a thematic unit to inform and expand upon the Gospel portion by way of cross reference, parallel, and biblical – theological continuity. These can be useful keys or preaching tools at times when you wonder “what should I say”? Other biblical-theological connections can be found readily in modern resources unavailable just a few years ago. For instance, Carson & Beale’s Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament will allow you to discern the proper connections between the testaments. You will learn that the Septuagint (LXX) is a fine bridge between the Hebrew and the NT Greek and that our New Testament is a Greek fundamentally shaped and informed by the Hebrew Scriptures mediated through the LXX.

Note these things now. I trust they will come alive for you as you engage in the act of studying and preaching. It’s hard when you don’t have a large congregation. But as my wife told me – preach as if you were preaching to a full cathedral. She’s absolutely right! Your audience of one deserves your full attention, because for them in that hour, you are God’s appointed messenger! The same goes for those who hear you online and those who may read your homilies on line.

Why would an ecclesiastical community bearing names like reformed and evangelical seek to practice the historic episcopate? Isn’t that Roman Catholic? In a new article available on our resource page, Father Robert Lyons, a presbyter of our Synod, explores the meaning of the historic episcopate in our fellowship.

You may directly link to this resource by following this link.

The Vincentian Canon discusses what we call the Consensus Fidelium or the “Consensus of Faithful Christians”. It refers to what has been believed by the large body of Christians in all places and at all times. Defining that is not an exact science but the task has it’s benefits in my opinion.

In our era, the American Church is primarily known for it’s herd mentality and penchant for following the latest fads. To some, the word “Evangelical” means “the church of what’s happening now” – a full dose of zeitgeist covered with a thin scriptural veneer to attempt religious respectability. The emphasis, however, is on doing what we feel is right.

A body – synod or congregation – heeding the consensus fidelium will take a different tack. They will ask “what is essentially Christian?” and to derive their answer they will begin with the study of scripture but seek to check their conclusions against the conclusions of others whom the Holy Spirit has called before us to the task of discerning God’s will. In our age that’s so suspicious of the “traditions of men” (our own favorite mindless traditions excluded of course!), seeking to learn the consensus fidelium on a matter is nothing other than a form of “historical and transcultural humility”.

Thomas Oden’s Systematic Theology “Classic Christianity” is helpful in that regard. A former worshiper of every innovation however destructive offered by “progressive Christianity”, he was converted to “paleo orthodoxy” when his experiments with theology left him cold. His advice?

“What I needed to do was listen. But I could not listen because I found my modern presuppositions constantly tyrannizing my listening. I realized that I must listen intently, actively, without reservation. Listen in such a way that my whole life depended upon hearing. Listen in such a way that I could see telescopically beyond my modern myopia, to break through walls of my modern prison, and actually hear voices from the past with different assumptions entirely about the world and time and human culture. Then I began reading the decisions of the ancient Ecumenical Councils. Only then in my forties did I begin to become a theologian.”

The day for theological experimentation at the expense of human souls is over. The day for theological restatement and the reinvigoration of the life of the Church is upon us. Our text is, of course, the whole of Holy Scripture. But with a new historical humility, our pathway to the prophetic word of the hour is through the central tradition of the Church and consistent with the prophetic word before. The day for engagement in mission is upon us as well. It is here that experimentation is called for as we seize the day and live out the Word of God afresh, yet in a way consistent with the consensus fidelium. In the first century, Christians did so by rescuing infants left to die from exposure and wild animals. In this century, Christians may accomplish the same thing by embracing in any number of ways those facing unexpected pregnancies. The times have changed but the calling remains the same.

As Reformed and Evangelical people, we emerge from the Reformation and cherish its affirmation of the “five solas”. Embracing the heritage of the Reformation is not a calling distinct from pursuing the consensus fidelium. In an age when some consider anything resembling a “denominational” term passe, we embrace the name. We recognize that our fathers in the faith affirmed these “solas” precisely because they were confronted by a schismatic hegemony that had seriously compromised the testimony of the Body of Christ. How? By departing from the ancient consensus fidelium! In pursuing a faithful restatement of the Reformed, Evangelical, Protestant, and, yes, Catholic faith for today we simply live our our calling as Reformed and Evangelical people. Because our roots run deep into history and through the historic church, that means we likewise pursue the consensus fidelium. Will you join us as we do?

One question our Synod has fielded in the past is “Why the Heidelberg Catechism?”.

As our Synodical work progresses, we will be issuing a revision of the Heidelberg Catechism adapted for our own use. But why not begin de novo?

Hopefully our introduction we provide to a work on the Heidelberg helps answer that question.

The Heidelberg Catechism reflects the fruit not only of that generation but represents a crystallization of thought within the Western Christian tradition itself. It stands as witness to the “Catholicity” of the doctrine of Justification by Faith available to all those who find their hope in Jesus Christ alone through faith alone. In our day of increasingly “churchless” Christianity, the Catechism also bears witness to a paradigm for the Christian life that emerges from the Baptismal Covenant.

With Baptism as the starting point, our faith resides in the objective promise of God through the Church (the Body of Christ in its witness). The other alternative is that we are left disastrously to the subjective experience of the autonomous individual who considers himself free to interpret the Bible however he may will and yet claim to be a “Christian”. In other words, the Heidelberg stands as document that connects the primitive catholic tradition with the challenges of our own day.

For these reasons, our Synod builds upon this classic symbol of the faithful and hopes with it to forge a new Reformed and Evangelical consensus. We pray that such a consensus results in a vibrant contemporary mission and ministry for this day and age.

John Nevin’s History and Genius of the Heidelberg Catechism is a short yet powerful work that introduces the Heidelberg Catechism in its original German context.

In the American experience, the Heidelberg Catechism is normally interpreted in correlation with other confessions. In the German Reformed setting in America, it stood alone as the sole confession of that church. That was a unique situation. In Hungary, the Heidelberg Catechism is held in conjunction with the 2nd Helvetic Confession and in churches descended from Holland, that catechism is juxtaposed with the Belgic Confession and the Canons of the Synod of Dordt. American Presbyterians while holding to the Westminster standards often esteemed the Heidelberg catechism highly alongside those documents.

In the original context of the Palatinate, the Heidelberg can be said to be held in conjunction with the prevailing Protestant confession of that day – Melancthon’s Augsburg Confession! When the catechism was tested for it’s orthodoxy, it was by Melancthon’s document that the catechism was judged.

As the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America continues to form, we will adopt a modern language version of the Heidelberg and it will be held in conjunction not only with the historic creeds but also with our own Articles of Religion. These articles are based on the 39 Articles of the Anglican church with our own concerns thoroughly expressed.

Our intention in following this pattern is to create a synod where the Heidelberg Catechism can be lived out in a context very similar to that which formulated the document – a churchly body committed to the historic faith of the church across the ages and renewed in the age of Reformation.

For us, the History and Genius of the Heidelberg Catechism are too wonderful to be left in the past. They must be fleshed out in contemporary mission!

+Chuck Huckaby
Bishop
Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

Father Robert Lyons
robert.lyons@resynod.org

It seems unthinkable to many that a believing Christian could make a statement such as “We (i.e., the Church) wrote the Bible, so we can rewrite the Bible”, but the Christian Church today finds itself in the midst of such a battle. They might be surprised to learn, however, that the battle they face is neither new, nor exclusive to any one Christian denomination or tradition, for the battle it is at the heart of the answer to the Christian’s query: Are the words of Sacred Scriptures our own, or God’s.

While we may focus on many varying issues that impact the life of the Church today, none is as vitally important as the place of God’s Word in the life of God’s people. To put it another way, arguments about women-pastors, homosexuality, social justice, and virtually any other topic you can think of that plagues the Church today can find their root in how we choose to answer the question posed above.

How we choose to view Scripture makes all the difference in the world. If we choose to view the Scriptures as ‘containing God’s word’ or ‘a vehicle of God’s message’ that can be consulted or disregarded like a self-help book, we have already begun on the path to ruin. If we choose to view the Scriptures as insufficient to the task of affirming faith and morals in the lives of believers, we begin to open the floodgates to any number of vain blasts of doctrine that can beleaguer the Christian ark, sending her on an unsteady course in the face of the blowing tempest.

This is not to say that writings outside of Sacred Scripture are not valuable; indeed, over the past two millennia there have been countless believing Christian brothers and sisters of ours who have penned awesome and inspiring works covering personal devotion, doctrine, worship, and the life of the Church – but all of these are authoritative only insofar as they do not contradict the plain word of God. The minute our human traditions begin to destroy the reliability of God’s Word or its impact upon us, the traditions must be decried as false and misleading, and the people of God must flee.

We live in an era that would teach us that Scripture is neither reliable nor necessary. As the well-known Atheist ad campaign would have us believe, “You can be good without God.” But the truth is that there is no way for us to be good without God. Without the prevenient grace of God going before us, we are incapable of even desiring to do good. Without his Word to steady us, our steps become unsure and our path falters. We should learn this from looking at the world around us (i.e., natural law), but the fact of the matter is that we are so blinded by our own sins that – left to our own devices – we refuse to see the obvious; we live in a world created and sustained wondrously by our great heavenly Father, but one in which the perfection he created is marred and disfigured by the darkness of our sins.

Scripture does not paint a pretty picture of our natural state, but it lays before us an amazingly complex and inspiring canvas of what we can become when we place our trust solely in Christ and his merits for our salvation. This is the path of sanctity that Mary and Joseph, Peter and Paul, and all the saints of every time and place have embraced and made their own – and it is the path that we are called to embrace today if we would know the gift of everlasting life, won for us by the atoning passion and death of Christ.

To embrace that saving work, we must embrace God’s infallible Word, without deception or slick-handling; we must embrace it and recognize our fallen state and the resurrection promise within it. We must recognize that, while human beings put pen to papyrus, it was God who inspired every word of the Scriptures, and who gave us the promise that his Word shall never pass away.

Father Robert Lyons is a presbyter of the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America. He serves as the Manager of Chaplaincy Services at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, and is leading the effort to plant a new congregation in Central Indiana. He and his family reside in Bargersville, Indiana.

Dr. Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the University Church at Wittenburg.

How can one be both Catholic and Protestant? The two camps seem to be completely opposed to one another, and yet for the better part of five hundred years, there have been those who have walked the journey of faith maintaining both a Catholic and Protestant identity. In order to engage in a fruitful dialogue on this topic, it is important to get behind the evolved meanings of both words to discover their roots.

The word Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek καθολικός (katholikos), meaning ‘universal’. Any Church holding to the theological and moral concepts expressed in Sacred Scripture and the Nicene Creed are rightly called Catholic Churches, for they have maintained the one truth that has been handed down by Christ through the Church. Such a definition of the word Catholic is defended by Vincent of Lerins in a work known as the Commonitoria.

The word Protestant is an adjective derived from the Latin protestari meaning ‘publicly declare’. The use of the term dates to the Diet of Speyer, held in 1529. Since that time, the term Protestant has been used in many different senses, most often as a general term describing those, rooted in Western Christianity, who believe that the true Christian Church can exist independently of the Roman Catholic Church.

For a long time, many of us outside of the Roman Church have struggled with the term ‘Protestant’, finding it to be an insult or an affront; but the meaning of the word is a noble one. Protestants are those who make a public declaration of their faith against all adversaries, heresies, and wiles of Satan. When one comes to a proper understanding of the term Protestant, it is not a term of shame, but a badge of honor.

At the same time, many Protestants shirk to be called Catholics, fearing that they, somehow, will be associated with the Church of Rome; yet history teaches us that the ancient Church was not initially centered on Rome, and her influence can be seen to have changed over the centuries through a collusion of civil and religious authority in the Roman Empire and, after the Empire’s fall, through mandated expressions of civil religion that spread throughout Europe in the Dark Ages and into Medieval times. To be a Catholic, one need not subscribe to the superstitions and false teachings of these eras; one need hold fast to the Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

A true Catholic will have no problem with the ‘five solas’ of the Protestant Reformation, properly understood, for they will require the Catholic to simply affirm what Scripture clearly teaches and what the Church Fathers reliably taught.

At the same time, a true Protestant will rejoice in the nature of the Church itself – a body we are promised will never die or pass away, but one which shall be perfected and brought into the eternal presence of God at the last great day. The idea that the Church and faithful preaching has been absent from the earth for even a day since her birth on the first Pentecost Day must be rejected as flying in the face of the very words of Christ. While we can always seek to reform and refine the Church to be more purely what Christ intended, we must never confess that the Church has disappeared.

Certainly there remain matters that are unresolved between the Catholic and Protestant mindsets. Indeed, even within the Protestant realm there are many varied views on the how’s and why’s of the faith – but following Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is and must be the central focus of the life of any individual, community, or ecclesial assembly that professes to be Christian.

To be both Catholic and Protestant may be an uneasy coexistence for many, but when faced with a right understanding of what it means to be both, their coexistence becomes a joy – for it is always a joyful thing to stand up for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.

Father Robert Lyons is a presbyter of the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America. He serves as the Manager of Chaplaincy Services at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, and is leading the effort to plant a new congregation in Central Indiana. He and his family reside in Bargersville, Indiana.