Open Debate in the Openness Debate
It's been centuries since Luther nailed his theses to a church door, but the Internet is reintroducing theological debate to the public square.
Elesha Coffman | posted 2/19/2001 12:00AM
2 of 6
But the battle was just beginning. BGC proponents of classical theism, led largely by John Piper, senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, were dismayed by this decision. Groups formed with such names as the Edgren Fellowship (named after Bethel's founder) and Concerned Pastors. Primarily through open letters and print publications, they took their concerns to the conference as a whole, arguing that the denomination's Affirmation of Faith be changed to unquestionably exclude open theism.
As the debate heated up, leaders at Bethel and the BGC discussed ways to maximize the information and minimize the misinformation disseminated to conference members. Out of these meetings, the Foreknowledge Web site was born.
'An equal hearing'
The Foreknowledge site (now housed at BGCworld.org/4know/4know.htm) is maintained by Gary Marsh, director of communication for the BGC. It was launched in late 1998 with content from a packet produced by a BGC group called the Committed Pastors. (To alleviate confusion: the Concerned Pastors believe, along with Piper, that Boyd and his views should be purged from the BGC; the similarly named Committed Pastors believe the openness debate is not essential enough to split the denomination.)
Call the Foreknowledge site edited and organized, but not moderated. Marsh sees it as "an information clearinghouse." Its stated purpose is "to help members understand the biblical and philosophical issues being discussed within our conference relating to God's foreknowledge" and "to give all concerned parties an equal hearing."
Marsh lobbied for the site and its post-whatever-comes-in structure although his bosses were "very reluctant to put anything out other than official notices." Marsh felt this approach was too slow and too limited in scope.
"Once the BGC leadership said that Boyd's position was within the bounds of evangelicalism," Marsh says, "it was incumbent upon them to make information on that position available so BGC members could evaluate it for themselves."
Marsh, whose other duties include video production and oversight of the BGC magazine The Standard, posts everything from official conference communiqués to letters and personal essays. He says he has "no hard and fast criteria" for what he posts and estimates that 90 percent of the material he has received was placed online.
To qualify for the site, posts had to be signed (though Marsh notes that a few unsigned posts got through) and had to address the openness debate. Marsh accepted material equally from both sides. He describes both Piper and Boyd as "sympathetic and anxious to get more material on" the site.
"In general," Marsh says, "everyone was represented who wished to be." But if Boyd's view of open theology raised Baptist eyebrows, so did Marsh's view of the open theology debate.
Openness or anarchy?
This free-for-all approach concerned some Bethel and BGC leaders from the beginning. Marsh says he heard "consistent concern that if we appear to acknowledge a position then more people will see it as viable and be persuaded to join."
But that wasn't the concern of Bethel president George Brushaber (also senior adviser for Christianity Today), who was among those who argued against the site as constructed. Discussing such a charged issue in an open forum, he says, is like "attempting to moderate a divisive, conflict-laden church business meeting without Robert's Rules of Order."
RSS Feeds
Audio
Twitter
share this page
E-mail
Print
Post
Subscribe to Christianity Today magazine today!
