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Christianity Today, October, 2007 |

Tethered to the Center

The Gospel Coalition is committed to core evangelical beliefs and wide-ranging cultural engagement.

Collin Hansen | posted 10/17/2007 02:30PM

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The stakeholders acknowledge that precious few churches fully model this vision for ministry. So the Gospel Coalition's first goal might be aligning its own churches with these standards. Imagine an evangelical movement led by churches that grow by multiplying, preach with theological substance and winsome apologetics, encourage holiness among members, engage their communities in areas such as politics and art, and even share economic resources and welcome the poor. Who can argue with these aims? If the Gospel Coalition's churches can pull this off, they will have a much easier time persuading other evangelicals to return to the theological center.

Collin Hansen, a CT editor at large, is studying theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Related Elsewhere:

The Gospel Coalition's website has posted their confessional statement, ministry vision, plenary talks from the first conference, and an extensive series of interviews with council members. They have tentatively planned the next conference for April 2009.

Other Christianity Today articles on evangelicalism include:

Pastor Provocateur | Love him or hate him, Mark Driscoll is helping people meet Jesus in one of America's least-churched cities. (September 21, 2007)

Young, Restless, Reformed | Calvinism is making a comeback—and shaking up the church. (September 22, 2006)

Go and Plant Churches of All Peoples | Crusades and personal witnessing are no longer the cutting edge of evangelism. (September 27, 2007)

The Coral Ridge Strategy | D. James Kennedy explains how lay evangelism can lead to exponential growth. (September 5, 2007)

Why College Doesn't Turn Kids Secular | Also: Richard Land on the footbath controversy, Falwell's big Liberty gift, and other stories about higher education and research. (August 16, 2007)

Liberate My People | Theologian and educator Ruth Padilla DeBorst says true Christian mission addresses issues of power and poverty. (August 8, 2007)

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October 2007, Vol. 51, No. 10

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Alison

Posted: October 22, 2007 12:07 PM


I'm absolutely thrilled.

Mrs. Donna L. Carlaw

Posted: October 22, 2007 12:02 PM

P: As long as the confessional statement is tied to the outdated idea that women cannot serve as leaders in churches and are not equal to their husbands in providing leadership, ...> I would be interested to know why you say "outdated idea" rather than "unbiblical idea." Is male-only leadership in the church and in the home unbiblical or just outdated? If oudated, it will go the way of the Dodo bird. OTOH, if male-led homes and churches are the biblical norm, then you have a problem. I did not know that truth was a kind of popularity contest as you seem to be saying. J: The Apostle's and the Nicene Creeds are foundational in the confession of the Christian Faith. I think Protestants, particulary Evangelicals and Pentecostals need to get reacquainted with these creeds. > I'm wondering how many women were present when these Creeds were hammered out. Why these creeds especially? In what ways are you saying we have forgotten who the real Christ is?

Darren King

Posted: October 18, 2007 8:36 PM

Postmodern developments have helped evangelicals to realize that what many once considered "a biblical view" was really just a systematic reading of scripture based on one particular view. This is the reason why Carson and gang's perspective on evangelicalism is waning. They are simply defending their one, subjective reading of the scriptures and calling this "Evangelical Christianity". Others, realizing this subjective underpinning, have chosen to see the text more as a living narrative; a narrative that needs to be contextualized (read: "tethered") within 2000 years of Christian history, not merely the last few centuries of the modern era.

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