It is no shocker for me to say that I disagree vehemently with almost everything R. Scott Clark writes. Even when he is right on the subject, he is more often than not wrong on the practice and implications. In spite of that very faint praise indeed, I liked a lot of what he had to say about the increasingly embarrassing and tragic Ergun Caner debacle and what it says about the carnival atmosphere found in much of evangelicalism. In his essay
Ergun Caner, the Legacy of Revivalism, and Show Biz Dr. Clark rightly points out that the desire to "make converts" (as if humans can make converts!) encourages us to adopt any methodology that seems wise to the world to make that happen and I believe leads to churches full of unregenerate people who place their hope in a "decision" they made in the heat of an emotional response. Rather than a personal attack on Ergun Caner, and there are plenty of those out there, Dr. Clark looks at the system that led to men like Ergun Caner gaining prominence.
Of course, I can't just let this go without at least one parting shot:
Praise God many covenant children never remember when they did not believe. They feel no need to embellish their personal stories because they don’t live in an ecclesiastical culture where that sort of narrative is highly valued. The reason many "covenant children" don't remember their conversion is that they were never converted in the first place. But I digress. Good essay, give it a read!
2 comments:
" The reason many "covenant children" don't remember their conversion is that they were never converted in the first place. "
Ain't that the truth!!! :o(
Liberty University & Libertines
Speaking of evangelical scandals and Liberty University in the same breath, readers can Google “Appendix F: Thou Shalt Not Steal” (line-by-line proof that THE Jerry Falwell’s 1981 “Fundamentalist Phenomenon” book was a huge plagiarism of George Dollar’s 1973 “History of Fundamentalism in America”!). Also Google “Thomas Ice (Bloopers).” Ice is a prof at LU whose “Ph.D” was “obtained” from a tiny Texas school that was fined by the state of Texas for illegally issuing degrees! When “Dr.” Ice reproduced in 1989 Margaret Macdonald’s short “pre-tribulation rapture” revelation of 1830 (Margaret originated this 180-year-old escapist endtime view which has made millionaires of Lindsey, LaHaye etc.!), he somehow left out 49 words when copying it - the same 49 words LaHaye left out in the same sections when a book of his reproduced it three years later! (LaHaye has been one of LU’s biggest donors.) Ice, BTW, also had the same distinctive copying errors Lindsey had when he had reproduced MM’s revelation in his 1983 book! Since Liberty University is one of the top promoters of the same fringe-British-originated pretrib rapture fantasy, interested readers can also Google “Famous Rapture Watchers,” “Pretrib Rapture Diehards,” “Pretrib Rapture Secrecy,” “Letter from Mrs. Billy Graham,” and “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty” (documented plagiarism and other dishonesty since 1830 by some of the best known names in evangelicalism) - all uncovered by the author of the bestselling book “The Rapture Plot.” (Evangelicals should take some tranquilizers before reading the above!)
(Above piece viewed on the web - Nate)
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