It’s All in Knowing When
I have developed a new philosophy. Its purpose is to assist the pastor in knowing when he should resign. I call it Exit-stentialism, and its many profundities are explained in my latest book, When Shall We Then Leave? I hope you will purchase a copy because I need the money to pay Allied Vans for my last moving bill.
The “Personal Inventory” alone is worth the price of the book. You cannot help but become excited and enlightened as you seek to answer these questions, a sampling of which follows:
1. Has your church board ever offered you a one-way trip to the Holy Land? Would you accept it?
5. Does the church janitor open the doors and then go home?
7. Are the trustees dragging their feet about repairing the sound system?
9. Do some of the women bring their knitting to church and coyly remark, “Pastor, you keep us in stitches”? Does this needle you?
14. What is the condition of your sermon notes? Have you used some of them so often that they are now unreadable?
16. At summer camp this year, did the counselors throw you in the lake and hold you under?
17. Do the trustees keep changing the locks on the church doors without telling you?
18. Has the number of anonymous letters and phone calls increased?
23. Do the members keep giving you books about how to improve your preaching?
Of course, the Personal Inventory is only the first part of the book. (There are 237 questions in all.) The section on “Signs to Watch For in a Business Meeting” fills 125 pages, and is illustrated with photographs donated by my personal physician and my plastic surgeon. (Believe me, I have been in some interesting business meetings.) There are also sections for your wife, your children, and your staff members, if you have any left.
I predict that Exit-stentialism will sweep the country. Get smartre and purchase a copy. I’m getting tired of receiving bills from Allied Vans.
EUTYCHUS X
Science
My thanks for “Who Sets the Stage for Understanding Scripture?” by Mark Noll (May 23). Not so much for myself, but for so many evangelicals who remain unable to work with the message of Scripture because of their mechanistic perspective of truth and revelation.
Evangelicals need to understand this point: that it is the scientist, and not science, that either confesses or rejects the notion of God and revelation, and that the very tools used by a materialistic scientist to deny God can be used by a Christian to affirm or testify to the reality of God and his revelation.
REV. THOMAS P. EGGEBEEN
First Presbyterian Church
Sapulpa, Okla.
Mark Noll’s exhortation about evangelicals’ naive acceptance of inadequate philosophies of science is well taken. However, his understanding of these philosophies and their alleged influence on Christian theists leaves something to be desired.
For example, to my knowledge no Christian theist ever held that “the existence of God and the truth of his revelation [is] dependent on our ability to verify them by the methods of science in general.…” Here Noll confuses the epistemological and the ontological realms.
Also, few theists argue that “the proofs of science … become the basis for belief in God and in scriptural revelation” (emphasis mine). Reason and evidence aid in establishing that God exists, but belief in God is a matter of the will.
NORMAN L. GEISLER
Professor of Systematic Theology
Dallas Theological Seminary
Dallas, Tex.
Suggestion
I appreciated Allyn Sloat’s article, “Lifelong Learning: The Centerpiece of Christian Education” (May 23). For years I have felt that evangelical churches should make much more of adult educational opportunities. Why not offer courses for credit? Assignments, assigned reading, textbooks, papers, tests, lectures.… Many churches have the people resources to do it. I am sure a denominational college or two could be found to go along with the idea. Why not make Sunday school the most valued hour of the week? Why, we might even introduce the serious study of missions into the church/college curriculum!
ROGER HEDLUND
Coordinator
Church Growth Research Centre
Madras, India
Methodists
John Maust’s report on the sad state of the United Methodist Church (“Methodists Grope for a Common Center,” May 23) was accurate, expected, and obvious. When groping about for a common center, any church suffers, unless that center be the gospel of Christ and the authority of Scripture.
When membership declines, the reason is not difficult to come by. It’s a matter of priorities. Christ said that we are to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, not some common center of consultation, for that would be compromise. When the Methodist church had its priorities right, it grew, not only numerically, but spiritually.
WALDO W. SPEAR
Sarasota, Fla.
Black Evangelicals
It was a joy to see your coverage of the National Black Evangelical Association Convention (NBEA) this year (“Theology-Culture Rift Surfaces Among Evangelical Blacks,” News, May 23). In the past I have found very little coverage of this annual meeting in your magazine.
But what a disappointment to read an article which caught nothing of the spirit of the convention. In capitalizing on a story of rift, you missed the real story.
Such an atmosphere of brotherhood prevails in the NBEA that the “rift” (as you called it) only served to bring people closer in the Lord. There are differences. Thoughtful consideration of theological differences should be undertaken. And it will. You mentioned all too briefly that a resolution was made to discuss differences, and the resignations were tabled. NBEA did not split—the roots go too deep.
I hope you will follow up on the NBEA story, and continue to give attention to a group of black evangelicals who are determined to bring Christ to communities long neglected by any evangelical.
ELIZABETH PETERS
Open Door Press
St. Louis, Mo.
No Cure
John R. W. Stott, in his Cornerstone article “The Just Demands of Economic Inequality” (May 23), states that “what we should be seeking is equal opportunity for all human beings (through education, medical care, housing, nutrition, and trade) to develop their full, God-given potential.”
While this “social gospel” attitude is evidence of the Christian virtue of “loving thy neighbor,” it is no cure for man’s fallen nature. The social gospel is directed to man’s outward condition, while the real good news is that Jesus Christ has provided salvation without reference to worldly goods. Man’s problem is that he is a rebel against God and no amount of sumptuous living in this world will cure it. “What does a man profit if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?”
Real culpability arises when the twice-born acquiesce to the status quo of sinful men.
DANIEL. C. BAILEY
Elk River, Minn.
Socialism
Thank you for Klaus Bockmühl’s helpful discussion, “The Socialist Ideal: Some Soul-Searching Constraints” (Current Religious Thought. May 23). It certainly appears that younger evangelicals are generally rejecting traditional capitalism, mainly for the reasons Bockmühl indicates. But socialism is no better option, even though the socialist ideal is compatible with Christian ethics at several points.
Neither capitalism nor socialism will work for the future, for they are both based on unlimited economic growth and are therefore ecologically irresponsible. They are becoming, in fact, fundamentally impossible in a world of limited resources. Given the law of entropy and God’s “economy” as revealed in Scripture, the only way to avoid total chaos is for the world to move rapidly to a conservation ethic and economy and to recover what the Bible says about our stewardship of God’s creation.
HOWARD A. SNYDER
Executive Director
Light and Life Men International
Winona Lake, Ind.
Lacks Balance
I have recently read the news article about the Billy Graham mission in Oxford and Cambridge (Mar. 21). As one fully involved in the Cambridge mission, I am rather disappointed with the report. The author’s account fails to capture the momentous impact on the whole university here at Cambridge.
Although naturally the national press was cynical throughout (as it would be to any evangelistic effort), the reaction among students was markedly different. Despite a few outspoken critics, the vast majority of students “voted with their feet” by coming to hear Billy Graham. It would be impossible to describe the eager anticipation of those packed into Great Saint Mary’s Church each night, and the rapt attention maintained through every talk.
It was quite remarkable how many who were most suspicious and hesitant before the mission were impressed and surprised by the quiet but authoritative way Mr. Graham spoke. Many who had never understood the gospel before were forced to face up to the claims of Jesus. The Christian message became the talking point of the whole university. Students showed an openness and interest which often took us by surprise! Among Christians too there has been a noticeably deepened level of commitment.
I hope these comments help to give a more balanced picture of the lasting impact of Mr. Graham’s visit.
JOHN BARCLAY
Former President
Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union Cambridge,
England
