Our Protestant Friends

WITH this article we are beginning a series of anal­yses that highlight the reli­gious bodies of the Christian church. These studies are in response to a request for such material. There is a deep con­sciousness that today no branch of the church can live apart from the rest, and a wholesome spirit of fellow­ship in communion and joint participation in welfare projects is most evident. Again, the spirit of sharing our Christian faith has brought to the front a new type of commu­nity evangelism, producing in some areas, on a larger scale, revivals, evangelistic gath­erings, rallies, conventions, and interfaith councils. A sleepy church has truly awak­ened during the last decade.

Before we branch off to discuss the vari­ous Protestant groups it will be profitable to consider Protestantism per se. Today evangelical preaching heralds abroad the church's "other world" destiny; there is a new emphasis on eschatology. On the other hand there is also loud preaching on the "earthiness" of the church, while much is said of its "togetherness." Protestantism's colonial divisiveness, which allowed for sep­arations from the established churches with European roots, today produces another problem—church unification. In the proc­ess of an ever-stronger emphasis on reunit­ing some of these offshoots with the parent stock, the church is challenged on many sides to take a "new look" at its theology. On the side lines the Catholic Church plays up these weaknesses in Protestantism, and boasts of her own universal unity as a sign of her superiority and authority.

As the problems of the church become more complex and more deeply integrated, world and national councils find it neces­sary to handle various subsidiary social and economic issues in committees. Just a few of these problems might be mentioned: the population explosion and birth control, ra­cial integration, civil defense and welfare, juvenile delinquency, absorbing the dis­placed peoples of other world areas. More and more the state needs the church, while some alerted Protestants speak out for sep­aration of church and state. These para­doxes become problems, confusing to church leaders, and more so to the laymen. However, the stressing of religious liberty and the separation of church and state by the departments of the church is not popu­lar in all religious groups, and freedom issues are shaping up on the horizon. Unifi­cation may be an ideal for the Christian church, but it must not be on the basis of un-Biblical compromise.

As we borrow the analysis of Henry P. Van Dusen, president of the faculty of Un­ion Theological Seminary, let us bear in mind that he is one of the most distin­guished churchmen of America, and a very active promoter of the World Council of Churches. In the book A Guide to Religions of America (page 112), edited by Leo Rosten, Dr. Van Dusen answers the question: What are Protestants "protesting" against?

They are not protesting against anything. The word "Protestant" comes from the Latin, and means "to profess," "to bear witness," "to declare openly," "to proclaim." Its primary meaning is positive and affirmative. Only secondarily does it mean to "pro­test" against wrong beliefs, false claims, and un­worthy practices.

Much the same misunderstanding attaches to the word "Confession," the name which early Prot­estants gave to their creedal statements. It does not mean "admit" or "acknowledge" guilt; it means a solemn declaration or affirmation of religious belief. Thus, a Protestant is one who affirms or pro­claims this faith.*

* Reprinted from A Guide to Religions of America, pub­lished by Simon and Schuster. Copyright 1955 by Cowles Magazines, Inc

The Protestant cause of the sixteenth century brought separation from Rome be­cause of its positive witness for Bible truth. The witness included a definite protest against hierarchical teachings and encroach­ments. The issue was decisive! Right on this principle the churches of the Reforma­tion today must not weaken or tone down their connotations. The Reformation be­gun in Luther's day is not yet completed. Protestants will again be called on to wit­ness for the full validity of God's holy law. Martyrs will be required if the prophecies are to be fulfilled. Those who understand the issues of the coming conflict should be burdened to prepare their Protestant fel­low Christians as well as Catholics. It will be God's last warning message to the world, and it will reach every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. The more liberal ele­ments in Protestantism may veer away from Luther's protesting witness. Protes­tants should, however, continue protesting for Bible truth and for the rights of the individual conscience. Because of the late­ness of the time it is profitable for the church at large to be reminded of this.

Sectarianism

Another significant trend in Protestant­ism is its growing consciousness of the "fringe sects." The established churches claim to be in the "main line," too fre­quently forgetting their own ancestry, when they were not as numerically strong or popular as they are today. Also there ap­pears to be some confusion in understand­ing the independent groups. Occasionally, polemic zeal, at times self-appointed, has difficulty in classifying them. But when a "main-line" group overreaches and consid­ers itself a high court sitting in judgment on an "obstreperous" minority, the think­ing is balanced when it is discovered that not all polemicists observe the same clas­sifications. Jewels often sparkle with a new luster when a group of believers re-exam­ine their faith. When the church must oc­casionally stand up against heresy and the sword of the Spirit must be employed, the spirit of Christ should characterize the Christian church.

Concerning the sects and isms today we refer to The Church Faces the Isms. **  The author admits that a discovery of the causes, motivations, and outcomes of a sect forma­tion in history would be helpful, but it would be an immense undertaking, "call­ing . . . for delicate insight into human per­sonality in its individual and social aspects, for great breadth of sympathy, and for the apparently opposite quality, decisiveness of judgment. ... A sect, in religion, has been denned as 'a party dissenting from an estab­lished or parent church.'

**By Andrew K. Rule in The Church Faces the Isms, edited by Arnold B. Rhodes. By permission of Abingdon Press.

"In distinction from a sect an ism may be regarded as a more or less coherent body of doctrine which has not been accepted as official by any established or parent church, but which has not objectified itself into a dissenting party. It is from the standpoint of the established or parent church that the dissenting opinion is called an ism and the dissenting party is called a sect. The standpoint here employed is that of main-line Protestantism."—Page 26.

Rhodes continues his discussion on who is who in this "main-line" prerogative: "Im­plied in the above is the fact that to call any body a sect is to pass something of a nega­tive judgment upon it. It is not simply an objective characterization; it is to some ex­tent a condemnation. . . . The task that is before us, therefore, cannot be profitably performed without sitting in judgment upon others in a situation in which evalua­tions must often seem questionable and in which a risk of hurting people for whom one feels fraternal affection cannot be avoided. Perhaps the risks may be mini­mized by pointing out that others are cor­dially invited to exercise their own Protes­tant right and duty of private judgment." —Page 27.

While the entire chapter on sectarian thinking in this book by Rhodes is profit­able, Adventists find a comfortable niche in the truth of the following statement by the same author: "Isms, which may or may not become sects, often result from the fo­cusing of attention by earnest people on some real value which is thus lifted out of the totality to which it belongs—a totality in which alone it is healthy and which is not healthy without it. These people feel, rightly or wrongly, that the selected value is being ignored or at least inadequately dealt with in the prevailing churches or culture. They therefore set out to give it its due. If they can do that, while still being loyal to the other values, some of which at least are being realized in the prevailing culture, a healthy ism will result."— Page 37.

Christianity Is a Life

Another aspect of the Protestant Church is its wrestling against the crimes and frus­trations of the "last days." Intemperance and its associated evils are rampant. Every home in the land is endangered thereby. It is on this platform, without differenti­ating because of doctrinal convictions, that Protestants today should heartily unite their strength. Baptists, Methodists, Pres­byterians, Congregationalists, Episcopali­ans, Disciples, Quakers—yes, Jews and Gen­tiles alike, should wage a gaining warfare. Christianity is God's way of life. Because the human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the evils of liquor, tobacco, and nar­cotics should be dealt with militantly as well as educationally. When church mem­bers in their abuse of health principles be­come a menace to society, how can Protes­tants refrain from lifting their voices in solemn protest against these evils?

A few of the problems that the Protes­tant Church must today recognize are sum­marized as follows: (1) The reviving of its rightful heritage—"other-world" conscious­ness. (2) Separation of church and state issues. (3) Church union, a careful analy­sis of diversity of doctrine and practice. (4) A more amicable settlement of just what constitutes "proselytizing." (5) A more unifying basis for classifying sectarians. (6) A reclaiming of Protestantism's Reforma­tion "protest." (7) New zeal for leading out in temperance and safety issues.