An Evangelical Manifesto May 7, 2008
Posted by Paul Edwards in Uncategorized.Tags: An Evangelical Manifesto, Od Guinness
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Os Guinness and Richard Mouw (President of Fuller Seminary) will unveil their “Evangelical Manifesto” today at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. According to an AP story, the manifesto condemns people of faith for allowing themselves to be “useful idiots” in the political process and calls for a reformation in the behavior of evangelicals.
According to the National Press Club, “An Evangelical Manifesto” was “…drafted by Dr. Os Guinness, vetted by a nine-person steering committee and supported in charter signature by more than 80 of the nation’s leading Evangelical Christians.” The AP reports the Manifesto may be noteworthy because of who DID NOT sign it, including evangelical notables like James Dobson and the SBC’s Richard Land.
The press conference will be webcasted live from the National Press Club at 9:30 am ET today. Go to http://www.alrcnewskitchen.com/webcast/.
Os Guinness will be my guest TODAY at 4:00 pm ET on The Paul Edwards Program to discuss “An Evangelical Manifesto.”
UPDATE: The website for An Evangelical Manifesto is now up: http://www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com/
WOW, can’t wait to read this.
I definitely would be interested in the who DIDN’T sign it and WHY list. However, I suppose that would be a rather unpractical endevor. *: ) We might run out of paper. I still hold to the original Christian Maifesto. Unfortunately because of our finite human minds we are still having problems with unity there. Really don’t think more paper is the solution. Mind renewal, now there’s an idea.
I’m with my mother for the next few weeks, and was having a hard time getting her computer to read the PDF of the Manifesto, but did get to read it. I found it a bit humerous that the final words were THE END.
After all, this is the internet age *: ) haven’t those words kind of lost their meaning?
“Christians become the “useful idiots” for one political party or another.”(From the summary) Bingo, that is what happens when a corrupt political party is viewed as ‘God own party!”. I am suprised that some churches don’t offer up republican party membership forms as part of a commitment to Christ, part of the salvation pac.
HOPE
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Hope; ~~~ What does it mean? What do you hope for, and why?
… our commitment is to a civil public square — a vision of public life in which citizens of all faiths are free to enter and engage the public square on the basis of their faith, but within a framework of what is agreed to be just and free for other faiths too. Thus every right we assert for ourselves is at once a right we defend for others. A right for a Christian is a right for a Jew, and a right for a secularist, and a right for a Mormon, and right for a Muslim, and a right for a Scientologist, and right for all the believers in all the faiths across this wide land.
I had just read the EM yesterday when I took my mother to her radiology treatment. While standing at the reception desk I noticed a desk across the way. There was a long counter filled with items with various notes attached. The person who arranged the items had done an excellent job of making a statement without using words at all. The Items were in 3 categories or sections first was a collection of magic 8 balls in a rainbow of colors, next came an assortment of teddy bears with cheerful notes attached, lastly was an assortment of angels, some very elegant some very cutesie.
A masterful statement without words: Cancer doesn’t discriminate, according to belief and all are welcome to express their thankfulness for the love expressed at the center without fear of rejection.
As an older male Christian, I find the church today corrupt in most part top down, also the spirit of delusion allowed control will not permit any immediate change.
As the Bible commands of the believer, Gods word Spiritually discerned is the best hope for all that want to know Gods’ will, the leadership at best tickle the ear out of fear of losing position.
It is best to believe the Bible about these prophetic times, many will describe a rosy picture of things to come, evidently having never read the Bible. Commitment, unity and maturity, this is Christs teaching and in the true church what the Christian should follow.
“On one side, we repudiate the partisans of a sacred public square, those who would continue to give one religion a preferred place in public life.”
These can’t *really* be Evangelicals saying this, can they? I’ve been led to believe for the past twenty years that you aren’t fully American if you aren’t Evangelical Christian. Surely this “manifesto” is some plot by the liberal elite to undermine the church, subvert the family, and destroy the American way. I’m confident Pat Robertson will come out and say that any day now. Oh, but wait! They’ve gotten to Pat, too… he’s bought into the liberal elite lie of global warming! Is there any hope left?
On a serious note, I hope this manifesto is adopted by a lot of Evangelicals. It appears to be an honorable document that is true to the values Evangelicals claim to espouse without automatically calling everyone but Evangelicals “the enemy.”
HOPE
I Hope for the kingdom of heaven and eternal life - my happiness, placing my trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on my own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Heb 10:23)
“The Holy Spirit . . . he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:6-7)
My Hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in my heart; it takes up the hopes that inspire my activities and PURIFIES them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven.
Hope keeps me from discouragement; it sustains me during times of abandonment; it opens my heart in expectation of heaven. Sustained by Hope, I persevere against selfishness and am led to the happiness that flows from charity.
Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end. (Theresa of Avila)
Hope
“My hope is built on nothing less,
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness!
But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. (the greatest request a man can make),
Today shalt thou be with me. (the grandest response a for mortal ear)
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
Herein is my hope! My reason for joy! My authority to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ!~~~ (also) Ephesians 3
Indeed, “Tis the Grandest Theme…Our God is Able to Deliver Thee”!
i’m enjoying reading the various opinions here and there around w’s internets… i had some hesitations and misgivings before reading the document, but am actually quite impressed and invigorated after taking in the whole of what it addresses.
one of the things i like about the document is that the authors have chosen not to say that creationism and inerrancy are non-negotiables. for the first, there’s very little biblical justification anymore behind whatever the latest flavor of anti-natural-selection dessert is being served up; for the latter, somehow we can admit that we can’t prove the existence of God, but goshdarnit we have a golden egg this unprovable God laid right here. there’s simply too much of a tendency to add items to the ever-increasing laundry list of ideas and doctrines to which we have to pledge allegiance before we’re allowed into the room marked “Christian.”
there are a few things i question, but nothing is going to please everyone, i suppose. for instance, i’m not sure i agree with this statement: We Evangelicals should be defined theologically, and not politically, socially, or culturally. Jesus’ message uses “action” verbs (physician heal thyself - inside joke): teach them to DO as I have commanded you, LOVE God and LOVE your neighbor, by this will all men know … if you LOVE one another. any theology that defines us must have feet.
i did, however, like these words: We are also troubled by the fact that the advance of globalization and the emergence of a global public square finds no matching vision of how we are to live freely, justly, and peacefully with our deepest differences on the global stage. somehow, we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to peacefully share the same bathroom over the next few decades in our ever-shrinking world.
one interesting thing: maybe i missed it, but there doesn’t seem to be a great emphasis on evangelism in this Evangelical Manifesto. do you think that was intentional? i didn’t see a single chick tract referenced in the bibliography…
more than anything, i find myself motivated and energized by the very positive nature of the piece - that it isn’t yet another “here’s everything we’re against” rant but an effort to make the gospel again a message of good news. imagine that - the gospel being good news. American Christianity has lost this defining characteristic that once served it well.
perhaps one unintended benefit of the proposal is a clear opportunity to take this EM (Evangelical Manifesto) and align it with the other EM (Emergent Manifesto) and finally have all our EM & EMs in a row without demonizing the other side.
one can only hope…
mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com