Protestantism's Continuing Need for Reformation
From Roman Catholicism to Modernism to Postmodernism
The Protestant reformers of the 16th century formulated the Latin axiom "Ecclesia reformata et semper reformanda," (which translated in English means, "The church reformed is always reforming") as a safeguard against the possible deformation of the churches of the Reformation.
The axiom reflects the reformers' acknowledgment of the continuing need for reformation even among Protestants who may tend to either go back to old man-made traditions or innovate an equally man-made religion that deviates from biblical Christianity.
Such was the case of the almost 500 years of the history of Protestantism, the third major branch of the Christian religion that came out of the Reformation of the 16th century.
Protestantism and Roman Catholicism
From the Council of Trent of the 16th century to the Second Vatican Council of the 20th century to the more recent dialogues of a much smaller scale between Roman Catholic priests and theologians and their Protestant counterparts, the Roman Catholic Church have in many ways admitted its own need for reformation and have, in fact. acted upon it.
In light of this, opportunities for compromise with the Church of Rome have been offered to Protestants in the name of Christian unity and cooperative efforts to resist the growing secularization of the West and to advance Christian missions elsewhere in the world.
Not a few Protestant denominations, churches, para-church organizations and individual ministers have opened their doors to such an offer while many others (especially among evangelicals who remain faithful to the basic tenets of the Reformation) rejected it on doctrinal and theological grounds. For these evangelical Protestants, it is as if Luther is being summoned again to appear before the modern Diet of Worms so as to force him to recant.
For in spite of it all, Roman Catholicism still appears to be decidedly unwilling to yield to the battle cry of classical Protestantism - sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone), sola gratia (by grace alone), sola fide (by faith alone), solus Christus (through Christ alone) and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone). Thus, a great chasm of difference still exists today between the two regardless of all the efforts exerted towards a possible reconciliation.
Protestant Liberalism and Modernism
One of the major accomplishments of the Reformation of the 16th century was that of setting the Western world free from the old religious shackles that forbade preachers, thinkers and inventors of the past to publicize their sentiments, inventions and discoveries. This, however, eventually resulted in the rise of the Enlightenment of the 18th century with its philosophical child called modernism, which until recently has called into question the relevance of faith and religion in the new secular world it has invented for itself.
It must be noted that the last two centuries (i.e., the 19th and the 20th) were largely shaped by the Enlightenment ideals, which was responsible for the birth of Protestant liberalism with its higher biblical criticism and the growth of modern secularism.
Surprisingly, a great number of mainline Protestant denominations and seminaries embraced Protestant liberalism and modern secularism and openly challenged the supernatural element of the Christian faith in the academy. This paved the way for the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy of the early 20th century while a new movement within Protestantism known as Neo-Orthodoxy was also on the rise.
While Protestant liberalism has been somewhat neutralized by the recent development of evangelical scholarship that has somewhat managed to maintain classical Protestantism's sola Scriptura principle, the need to defend the integrity of the biblical faith in the contemporary world still remains.
The Contemporary Challenge of Postmodernism
Probably of greater challenge to the Protestant faith today is the emergence of a new way of thinking that has been lately known, for lack of a more appropriate term, as postmodernism. Like a great number of Protestant scholars and ministers who openly embraced Protestant liberalism that came out of the Enlightenment, not a few Protestant theologians and ministers (many of whom are evangelicals) today appear to have embraced postmodern ideas in the name of contemporary relevance.
Having lately branded themselves as post-conservative, post-foundational, open and progressive evangelicals, many of them have adapted the postmodern way of thinking that celebrates radical relativism, despises classical and modern foundationalism, promotes incredulity towards meaning and meta-narratives, and proposes deconstructionism that suspects political motivation in every statement that claims to be authoritatively truthful.
At stake here is classical Protestantism's sola Scriptura principle, the doctrine that defines Holy Scripture to have the final say in matters pertaining to faith and life, as well as its hermeneutical and epistemological implications. Add to it the growing biblical illiteracy even among evangelicals and the apparent theological snobbery among evangelical ministers, and many may therefore conclude that there exists a need for continuing reformation in today's Protestant community.
Sources:
Carson, D. A. The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996.
Noll, Mark. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. GrandRapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2000.
Wells, David F. The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-Lovers, Marketers and Emergents in the Postmodern World. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008.
Protestant Reformation has Led to Evolution
|
What do you think about this article?
Comments
Latest Articles