Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

separation

Grudem: 5 Wrong Questions to Ask When Drawing Doctrinal Boundaries

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boundsWayne Grudem, “Why, When, and for What Should We Draw New Boundaries?” in Beyond the Bounds: Open Theism and the Undermining of Biblical Christianity [free PDF] (ed. John Piper, Justin Taylor, and Paul Kjoss Helseth; Wheaton: Crossway, 2003), 369 (numbering added):

Some wrong questions to ask

It is important to add that there are some questions that should not be part of our consideration in deciding which doctrinal matters to exclude with new boundaries. These are questions such as the following:

    1. Are the advocates my friends?
    2. Are they nice people?
    3. Will we lose money or members if we exclude them?
    4. Will the academic community criticize us as being too narrow-minded?
    5. Will someone take us to court over this?

Such questions are all grounded in a wrongful fear of man, not in a fear of God and trust in God.

The Gospel Coalition Network

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Last week The Gospel Coalition Network (TGCN) opened using a version of Zondervan’s “The City.” Adrian Warnock shares the details.

One of the challenges of maintaining a network like this is administrating it. Consequently, last week D. A. Carson drafted the terms of use that distinguish between “participants” and “members” (posted here with permission):

Welcome to The Gospel Coalition Network!

We invite individuals to sign up to TGCN on one of two levels.

  1. Participants need only fill out the digital forms that follow, and join in the discussion. You do not have to agree with The Gospel Coalition; you do not have to be a Christian. The “participants” level is for anyone wanting to engage in networking and in discussion of common themes with other people.
  2. Members are asked to take a further step in the registration process: you are asked to read our Foundation Documents, all of which are available online—Preamble, Statement of Faith, and Theological Vision of Ministry—and signal your agreement with these documents, without mental reservation. Only members will be allowed to start new groups on the Network.

You have every right to know what our reasoning is.

First, we take some inspiration from the brilliant organizational skills of John Wesley. [Read more…] about The Gospel Coalition Network