The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Chuck Colson Reformed?

According to this recent article...he's a reformed Baptist.

Townhall - Colson

Uhhhhhhhhhh.......

Think I should email his ministry to ask what he means by "reformed Baptist"?

Google search for reformed Baptist is pretty confusing. It seems, though, that reformed Baptist claim to be the original church or something (gave me a headache trying to sort through it). The most interesting thing I turned up was a joke about reformed baptists I'll post over in the laugh section.

"Reformed Baptists" technically denotes those Baptists who subscribe to the doctrines set forth in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. See also the Baptist Catechism. Also, since each church is autonomous, there is variation, such as disagreement over what is allowed under the Regulative Principle of Worship (instruments allowed, use of contemporary songs).

The name is a declaration of theology and church practice instead of a denomination, though many Reformed Baptist churches associate with one another. They are non-dispensational, believe in covenant theology, hold to a plurality of elders, believe in the Regulative Principle and the sufficiency of Scripture, and are 5-point Calvinists.

For more information:

The Reformed Reader
ARBCA
Founder's Conference- a mxture of Reformed and other Calvinistic Baptist churches
Johnny Farese's site

Laz

Colson is a Reformed Baptist, but you would not know it by some of his actions.
His involvement with ECT and a few other things in my opinion is not in keeping with Reformed Baptist practice.
To give him the benefit of the doubt, I would call him an inconsistent Reformed Baptist.

I hope that helps.

Tom

What church does he go to?

Sorry, I don't know where he goes to Church. The reason I know he is Reformed is because I used to know of a link that listed well known people of Calvinist, or Reformed persuasion. Someone else that is on that list is Joni Erickson Tada.

Tom

My oh my--While checking out this type of stuff, see if you can find how many angels can stand on the head of a pin. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/3stooges.gif" alt="" />

I must have missed something in that article Laz that says he's a Reformed Baptist. I know that he is a Southern Baptist and his wife is a practicing RCC (which probably explains his sympathy for them) but I didn't see anything in there that said he was a Reformed Baptist. Maybe you could highlight the quote? My old eyes are getting tired.

In the last para of his article we read:

And so now, a man who did not want the job has it. We ought to be glad about that, and we should pray for the pope and the task before him. I speak as a confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool evangelical reformed Baptist, but I can say, “Amen,” to Ratzinger’s statement that “the obligation of the Christian . . . is to recover the capacity for nonconformism.” That is just what we need in our joint worldview battle against the “dictatorship of relativism.”

Well I'll be hornswoggled. And believe me that hurts. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/3stooges.gif" alt="" /> Well I suppose he can call himself anything he wants but I have a hard time reconciling his support for the RCC and the statements found in the 1689 London Baptist Confession. Next I suppose Joel Osteen will say that he's a evangelical reformed Baptist too. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif" alt="" /> And after that David Cloud. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif" alt="" /> Of course I'll be flying home from Tokyo on the next porcine out when that happens.

I can't speak with any authority about Colson's theology but just want to toss out this idea in regard to his ecumenicalism...He's often accused of being ecumenical to a fault but I don't see him having a theological role. More than anything he's attempting to reform culture. When fighting the culture war is it wrong to cooperate with other denominations that share the same values for the same reasons? Can't he do this on the one hand while personally denouncing their theology?
As for his wife being RCC, I assume he was married prior to his salvation. He shouldn't divorce her should he?

I'm not advocating that he divorce his wife I'm pointing to it as a reason for his soft stance on RCC's theology. And as to the culture wars let me reverse the question would you cooperate with Mormons or JW if they held to same position as you on say abortion, or homosexual marriage?

Well, yes. I would welcome their assistance at pro-life rallies and demonstrations. I would welcome their assistance in lobbying for laws against same sex marriage. I wouldn't cozy up to them for worship though.
Do you see this as wrong?

Well I think the answer is obvious to me so I have to ask would Luther have welcomed the papists when it came to issues such as that? Or Calvin? Or Spurgeon? I think that when we enlist the aid of those who are our enemies theologically speaking to cultural causes we are in effect saying that the differences that seperate us are trivial at best. Plus culturally speaking as Christians is it our job to shore up Western Civilization or to proclaim the Kingdom of God?