Let me begin by correcting any preconceived notions you might have in your head because of the title. I do have a Reformed understanding of scripture. I believe in the doctrines of grace and many of the other doctrines that the Reformed hold to. It is not the doctrine I have a problem with, it is the type of churches that spring up from those who hold those doctrines, and the type of Christian these type of churches are producing. The fruit is terrible, even as the fruit of the Pharisees was terrible in the days of Jesus, even though they may have had a proper understanding of the scriptures as a whole. Consider the words of Jesus:
"Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not." -- Matthew 23:1-3
Understand that my point here is not to compare the actions of the Pharisees with the actions of today's Reformed. I think I have heard enough sermons and read enough documents on the so-called dangers of Pharisee-ism that it makes me want to choke someone. My point is that the Reformed stand in the place of holding the authority of God's word; they teach the correct doctrine, but they do not live a lifestyle or behave practically as one would expect of those who are closest to the truth of God's word.
The Anabaptist has a theological problem because he views the New Testament apart from the Old Testament. He almost practically takes the Old Testament and rips it out of his Bible and throws it in the trash... almost. And because of that he has huge theological issues, such as non-resistance and dispensationalism, and an over-emphasis on foreign missions.
The Reformed has a Theological problem because he ignores what the Anabaptist sees as obvious; there is a fundamental difference between the spirit of the Old and New Covenants. But the Anabaptist takes this way too far, and justifies corrupt notions such as two kingdom theology. The Reformed, he ignores it altogether. As Brother Denny [Kenaston] put it in the Godly Home Series:
In the Old Covenant you gave 10 %
But in the New Covenant you give everything
In the Old Covenant the first born son belonged to the LORD
But in the New Covenant you all of your children belong to the LORD
The Reformed has an Old Covenant mindset. He has a bare minimum type of Christianity. He prefers order and structure more than he does spiritual life (and no, I am not against order and structure!!). He loves to go to church. We are going to God's house! says he. So make sure you dress in your Sunday best [clothing] for God!
Of course, this attitude and mindset is repugnant to the Anabaptist, because he values spiritual life more than he values the order and structure. And he loves to have fellowship with Jesus and give his best every day, not just Sunday. I love these lines from Keith Green in To Obey is Better than Sacrifice:
To obey is better than sacrifice
I want more than Sundays and Wednesday nights
'Cause if you can't come to me everyday
Then don't bother coming at all
To obey is better than sacrifice
I want hearts of fire, not your prayers of ice...
The Reformed is so caught up in correct theology that he will pick apart an excellent sermon, article, family, person, or whatever and condemn it or that person because they are not exactly correct in doctrine; even if causes people to turn from darkness to light! Even if it produces more fruit of godliness than something that is correct doctrinally. This is totally insane. The Reformed is like the establishment who would rather have a birthing mother die in birth than have a midwife save the mother's life by "practicing medicine without a license". We know a certain church elder who hates all Anabaptists and most non-reformed. And even if you produce a godly family that honors Christ with everything they are, if they are Anabaptist, then they did not turn out right and he will never thank God for that family (or learn from them)! Wow! So the Reformed cares more about being right than doing right. This is absolute and utter pride and an abomination to God.
Knowing God or Knowing About God?
The Reformed values knowing about God more than he values knowing God. The Reformed has failed to take to heart and meditate on these types of passages:
"Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." --1Corinthians 8:1
"And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." -- 1Corinthians 13:2
The Reformed values Biblical understanding more than he does charity, more than he does humility, more than he does self-denial and cross bearing; yea, more than he does following the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing him, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings (Philippians 3:10).
The Reformed looks to the law to see what he is permitted to do, and if not forbidden, he indulges himself, citing scripture to back up his view. The Anabaptist generally looks to see what is the maximum he can do in order to glorify God with all of his life (see But the Bible Does Not Say Woman cannot wear pants). He looks at life as a chance to deny self and take up his cross, and forsake all that he has (Luke 9:23,24, Luke 14:33). This does not mean you become a monk or a nun so please, put that false image out of your head. I am not saying you cannot have any pleasure at all, and you know that.
And may I say it this way... this is why your Anabaptist brethren do not take any of what you say concerning doctrine, seriously. Seriously folks, why would I listen to someone's philosophy on child training if he has bad results with his own children? And why would I listen to your scriptural philosophy and interpretation if you are living a life of bare minimum obedience? And while you are scoffing at him because he mistakenly (with a sincere heart) does not physically defend his family with force, and because he righteously takes standards of holiness serious, he is at home praying for you.
Disclaimer!!!
Oh, I almost forgot my disclaimer! I forgot that in America it is illegal (well, not quite) to speak about anything in general terms. You must speak about each individual. Whoops! Anyhow, yes, I am not speaking about every single individual Reformed person. I am speaking of Reformed Christianity as a whole, in general.
The Anabaptist is not without issues, as mentioned previously. He would reject just about every Keith Green song, just because it does not line up with a set of principles they ascribe, even though Keith Green turned many away from unrighteousness, and his songs, for the most part, are entirely beautiful and Christ-honoring. His music is not like today's garbage "Christian" music.
Conclusion
Both Reformed and Anabaptist theological problems lead to practical problems that are hindering the church of Jesus Christ; they are hindering the army that should be making Satan tremble. Let us attack the gates of hell with the correct doctrine and the correct lifestyle. I am praying toward the end that one day we will see the strengths of both groups merge together and bring glory to Jesus Christ in this land once again.
Swiss Kinist
"Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not." -- Matthew 23:1-3
Understand that my point here is not to compare the actions of the Pharisees with the actions of today's Reformed. I think I have heard enough sermons and read enough documents on the so-called dangers of Pharisee-ism that it makes me want to choke someone. My point is that the Reformed stand in the place of holding the authority of God's word; they teach the correct doctrine, but they do not live a lifestyle or behave practically as one would expect of those who are closest to the truth of God's word.
The Anabaptist has a theological problem because he views the New Testament apart from the Old Testament. He almost practically takes the Old Testament and rips it out of his Bible and throws it in the trash... almost. And because of that he has huge theological issues, such as non-resistance and dispensationalism, and an over-emphasis on foreign missions.
The Reformed has a Theological problem because he ignores what the Anabaptist sees as obvious; there is a fundamental difference between the spirit of the Old and New Covenants. But the Anabaptist takes this way too far, and justifies corrupt notions such as two kingdom theology. The Reformed, he ignores it altogether. As Brother Denny [Kenaston] put it in the Godly Home Series:
In the Old Covenant you gave 10 %
But in the New Covenant you give everything
In the Old Covenant the first born son belonged to the LORD
But in the New Covenant you all of your children belong to the LORD
The Reformed has an Old Covenant mindset. He has a bare minimum type of Christianity. He prefers order and structure more than he does spiritual life (and no, I am not against order and structure!!). He loves to go to church. We are going to God's house! says he. So make sure you dress in your Sunday best [clothing] for God!
Of course, this attitude and mindset is repugnant to the Anabaptist, because he values spiritual life more than he values the order and structure. And he loves to have fellowship with Jesus and give his best every day, not just Sunday. I love these lines from Keith Green in To Obey is Better than Sacrifice:
To obey is better than sacrifice
I want more than Sundays and Wednesday nights
'Cause if you can't come to me everyday
Then don't bother coming at all
To obey is better than sacrifice
I want hearts of fire, not your prayers of ice...
The Reformed is so caught up in correct theology that he will pick apart an excellent sermon, article, family, person, or whatever and condemn it or that person because they are not exactly correct in doctrine; even if causes people to turn from darkness to light! Even if it produces more fruit of godliness than something that is correct doctrinally. This is totally insane. The Reformed is like the establishment who would rather have a birthing mother die in birth than have a midwife save the mother's life by "practicing medicine without a license". We know a certain church elder who hates all Anabaptists and most non-reformed. And even if you produce a godly family that honors Christ with everything they are, if they are Anabaptist, then they did not turn out right and he will never thank God for that family (or learn from them)! Wow! So the Reformed cares more about being right than doing right. This is absolute and utter pride and an abomination to God.
Knowing God or Knowing About God?
The Reformed values knowing about God more than he values knowing God. The Reformed has failed to take to heart and meditate on these types of passages:
"Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." --1Corinthians 8:1
"And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." -- 1Corinthians 13:2
The Reformed values Biblical understanding more than he does charity, more than he does humility, more than he does self-denial and cross bearing; yea, more than he does following the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing him, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings (Philippians 3:10).
Consider the hero of many Reformed Christians, particularly among Kinists; Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson did not have the mind and attitude of today's Reformed. He
lived his life in complete dedication, always looking for ways that
he could deny himself and instead glorify the Lord. Here is an excerpt from Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend:
“After
professing his faith in Christ, he set his face against all worldly
conformity, giving up dancing, theater-going, and every amusement that
had the tendency to lead his heart away from holy things. When a
question was raised as to the right or wrong of indulgences which may
consider innocent, he would say pleasantly: 'Well I know it is not wrong
not to do it, so I am going to be on the safe side.'”
And may I say it this way... this is why your Anabaptist brethren do not take any of what you say concerning doctrine, seriously. Seriously folks, why would I listen to someone's philosophy on child training if he has bad results with his own children? And why would I listen to your scriptural philosophy and interpretation if you are living a life of bare minimum obedience? And while you are scoffing at him because he mistakenly (with a sincere heart) does not physically defend his family with force, and because he righteously takes standards of holiness serious, he is at home praying for you.
Disclaimer!!!
Oh, I almost forgot my disclaimer! I forgot that in America it is illegal (well, not quite) to speak about anything in general terms. You must speak about each individual. Whoops! Anyhow, yes, I am not speaking about every single individual Reformed person. I am speaking of Reformed Christianity as a whole, in general.
The Anabaptist is not without issues, as mentioned previously. He would reject just about every Keith Green song, just because it does not line up with a set of principles they ascribe, even though Keith Green turned many away from unrighteousness, and his songs, for the most part, are entirely beautiful and Christ-honoring. His music is not like today's garbage "Christian" music.
Conclusion
Both Reformed and Anabaptist theological problems lead to practical problems that are hindering the church of Jesus Christ; they are hindering the army that should be making Satan tremble. Let us attack the gates of hell with the correct doctrine and the correct lifestyle. I am praying toward the end that one day we will see the strengths of both groups merge together and bring glory to Jesus Christ in this land once again.
Swiss Kinist
I'd be interested to hear your view on theonomy, given what you said here.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically, theonomy is often accused of being too legalistic, and is mainly promoted by Reformed Christians. I suppose this would be another area where the Reformed are correct in doctrine, but misguided in emphasis and practice?
DeleteHi Clement, yes, I definitely advocate for Theonomy. I admit that I am not fully informed about all aspects of it, and am still learning, but from what I have read and heard via audio from Rushdoony, I am definitely in agreement with it's principles.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, as you have hinted at, today's Reformed do not put Theonomy into practice at all; or at least, they do not put Reconstruction into effect the way Rushdoony teaches (from what I heard on pocketcollege.com). Rushdoony was highly critical of the Reformed on the lessons that I listened to, and called for much practical application of his doctrine.
I was astonished to see how much he criticized the reformed for not taking any action in the world; considering how much Kinists and other Reformed follow Rushdoony, they do not follow his teachings at all when it comes down to real life practice. It's all head knowledge and internet theories and dreamland fantasy. You have to take little steps of action. Little steps of action is better than all the dreaming in the world.
When I stumbled upon your site I was confused about how one could be Reformed and Anabaptist. This post makes perfect sense of it, and being Reformed, a bit "plain" in the sense that I practice an extent of worldly separation and an agrarian on top of it all my confusion is now satisfied. I wish we had different words to label ourselves. For example, I would be more accurate to say I'm "Doctrines of Grace" instead of saying I'm Reformed. But who would understand that? And I consider myself quite "plain" in my approach to making life choices concerning dress, technology, etc though I'm not part of the kapp and cape dress wearing club, which is usually the default when one thinks about "plain people."
ReplyDeleteHi Judy! I am so glad you ran into my blog. I remember you being on Scott Terry's Christian Farm and Homestead a couple of times. I used to be a regular listener of his show before we got rid of our home internet, but I try to download his shows still.
DeleteThanks for the encouragement. Yes, it is difficult to describe beliefs without using labels. On my about page, and on my original blog post I tried to go into a little detail of what I mean by my word descriptions. The Lord Jesus bless you! My family is thankful for your family and your blog.