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Where does the Evangelical Belong Today? -- White Paper
The modernist heresy will pass with the pandemic
Unbiblical teaching has become the norm in many American denominations
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
September 9, 2021
The post-pandemic church will not be the same church that emerges from it, say the authors of an evangelical white paper.
Citing the 1665 London plague, "God is using this time for the removal of things that are shaken when churches long in decline will close. Many aging (and often progressive) clergy are deciding now is a good time to retire because God has set a limit on error."
"We do well to pray that the modernist heresy will pass with the pandemic. A great sorting is underway. Regardless of whether churches stayed open, met online, or met in secret, the Lord has said of them all, 'I know thy works'."
To some He has said, "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly." To others, He has said, "I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not." To the Evangelical Anglican He says, "that which ye have already hold fast till I come."
"Unbiblical teaching has become the norm in many American denominations, with ever-evolving liturgical variations quickly following each novelty. Americans are afraid of the Bible! That's because they've been told it teaches patriarchy, the oppression of women, and is pro-slavery. They are afraid to call God, "Father."
The Son is known as the "Redeemer," but what does He redeem us from? And for what are we redeemed? The Holy Spirit has become the Sustainer, as if Jesus did not teach us that we are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. What this means is that throughout the land the Bible remains untaught, unread, and that the old heresy of modalism is back. For the Evangelical Anglican, the lex orandi does indeed determine the lex credenda -- and both must be conformed to the Word of God.
Anglicans have never come to terms with two great historic losses: The Great Ejection of 1662 and the Methodist schism. Both events deprived the Church of England and her successors in the Communion of the biblical witness and passion of two mighty generations. Both non-conformist and Methodist were used powerfully by God, but not in the English Church.
Later, what was left of the low-church Protestant tradition in the United States drifted into broad-church modernism, ceding much spiritual vitality and gospel witness to Anglo-Catholics. We live with the results of this today.
Evangelical Anglicans in America are confused. Are we reformed? Are we charismatic? Do we wish we were British? And that word -- Evangelical!
People don't understand it. They think it's a political party. We need to acknowledge our history hasn't always helped us and the culture now works against us. Yet we persist: because an Evangelical Anglican is a Christian Anglican, no more, no less.
You can read more here: https://efac-usa.org/where-does-the-anglican-evangelical-belong-today/
An EFAC-USA conference focusing on evangelism is being held in Dallas, Oct. 20 -23. See more here: https://efac-usa.org/
