In the early sixties the United Church of Canada wrote a new curriculum. The reason for this new curriculum is stated in the introduction to Book I, “God and His Purpose,” as follows: “In a time of confusion, men and women look to the Church for a clear statement of those things most surely believed among us . . . . The Church exists for the people who must live in the world. The Church’s message must be clear for adults who hope to carry out the Church‘s mission” (lntrod. pp. VII, XI).
Scripture speaks of the church as “the pillar and foundation” of the Truth (I Tim. 3:15). To be that, the members must know and live that Truth. Most Reformed churches are deeply concerned with the education of their members from their youngest years up. Hence we can subscribe to this statement of the United Church. We have indeed a mission in this world which can only be carried out by an informed membership.
The new curriculum is well written. Able men formulated its teachings, most of them masters in the important art of pedagogy. This new curriculum addresses itself to and seeks to answer three questions, found in the book, “The Word and the Way.” They are stated in the introduction, page V, as follows, “First, how can we know God today, hear his word, and respond to his claim? Second, who is Jesus Christ and what is the meaning of his life for us? Third, what is the church and what does it mean to belong to this community?”
Reflecting on these questions we wonder why a church should be asking them . Most of our younger members could answer them without hesitation. But as we read into this new curriculum it becomes clear why these questions have been formulated in this way. For the United Church the old answers no longer suffice. For this day and age we must find a different God and Saviour and directives for our life. The Bible was good for the time in which it was written, but not for our time. We can indeed learn from the writers of the Bible, but it is not at all a true guide for our lives today, and it certainly has no authority.
The reading of this new curriculum is an eye-opener. Those who are somewhat acquainted with the history of the United Church are not surprised that it came to its present predicament. In 1925 it came into being when the Methodist, Congregational and Presyterian churches (about 70% of the latter) joined to form one large denomination. One of the reasons for this was that the Roman Catholic Church was growing rapidly in the new world. and the forces of Protestantism were too divided and thinned out to counter-act the mission work of the Catholic Church. A drive began to unite all Protestant churches. But many drew back when they realized that this would mean, as was only too evident, a compromise of that which a denomination holds confessionally as precious and according to God’s Word. It follows that when a new denomination is born out of a compromise of the Truth that compromise will affect the entire life and thinking of the compromise will affect the entire life and thinking of the members. Unity at the expense of the Truth spells disaster. Disaster certainly followed. The writing of the new curriculum was an attempt to salvage something from this disaster.
But how can one salvage what is called “Church” except it be through the sound preaching and teaching of the Word of God? How can the United Church of Canada hope to effect a renewal except it return to the faith of the fathers, that is, the sound historic Christian faith? And the new curriculum does anything but that.
Why should we be interested in this history and its consequences? Everyone should be fully aware of history’s lesson for us as a Christian Reformed denomination. Although the new curriculum was born out of a desire to revive the United Church, the hermeneutic or method of Bible interpretation used to accomplish this will bring it to still further disaster , if such is possible. For the new curriculum has set aside the Word of God and put in its place the word of men. Here arc a few examples of how the Bible is set aside. On page 92 of The Word and the Way we read, “When Jeremiah says, ‘the word of the Lord came to me,’ he is not talking about being given some words of wisdom to pass on, but about coming face to face with holiness and justice and majesty, about being shaken in his shoes by seeing the truth. He is talking about encountering God himself.” On page 95 we read , “So the revelation of God can never be merely something written in a book; it must be always meeting a person. We call the Bible the word of God because it tells us about meetings with God, about how God encountered men in their lives, and because through this book we also can encounter God.” Then on page 96 we read, “Christian faith doesn’t really mean believing the things that you read in the Bible: it means believing in the God that the Bible tells you about, trusting him and obeying him.”
Many more such quotes could be made from these very vague writings, but enough is said in the above quotes. It is saddening that a denomination should seek to bring its members to a renewal through writings that disclaim the authority and infallibilty of the Scriptures. Then the norm for human behavior is made the experiences of each person as he or she thinks to meet, understand and worship God. Perhaps one should write “god” for no one comes to know the living God in Christ Jesus except it be through obedient hearing of the Gospel of Salvation. If we do not have an in fallible Word of God we have nothing!
What has this to do with the Christian Reformed Church? One hardly needs to ask that question. We have among us a new way of interpreting Scripture that will surely end up where the New Curriculum is. We are told that in the Bible there are things only meant for one time. That would be true if one would say, for example, that the Bible gave directives for the practices of a certain time. It is false when we say that this was only true for that time, for then we make the Bible a book that is determined and speaks only for a certain time and culture. It is alleged that what the apostle Paul has said (as though God is not speaking through him) concerning the role of men and women in the church was for that time only. What we have to do is discover just how God wants us to be re levant in this time. And since Paul ‘s teachings do not apply to our times, we are on our own.
Scripture warns us against such distorting of Scripture (2 Peter 3:15, 16). The apostle Peter referred to the apostle Paul’s writings as “the Scriptures,” and the apostle Paul did no less. To the Galatians Paul wrote, “If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned, . . . I want you to know. brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:9, 11). To the Corinthians Paul wrote, “If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored” (I Cor. 14:37). It is a serious matter to tamper with God’s Word (Rev. 22:18. 19; Deut. 4:2).
To reject part of the apostle’s writings as culturally conditioned and hence of no force today is to reject all o f his writings. Where do we then draw the line as to what is for us today and what is not? And what is this but saying that the Bible is indeed the infallible rule for faith and life but contains teachings that are not for our present faith and life. They have had their day, so to speak. Then the declaration of Prof. R.B. Kuiper applies when he wrote, “He who would decide by his own wisdom what in the Bible is the Wo rd of God and what is not, is not going to lose the entire Bible but has lost it. By the very act of setting himself up as the judge of the Bible he has denied that it is the Word of the sovereign God” (The Bible Tells Us So, p. 24).
Leaders in the church today tell us openly in writing and speaking that if the apostle Paul lived today he would write a very different set of directives that would be applicable for the culture in which we live. Some dare to suggest that the apostle Paul contradicts himself. What is this but to declare that not the Sovereign God is speaking in these Scriptures, but only a me re man? Where then is our teaching different from the doctrine in the New Curriculum? With such “new” views we too cannot be satisfied with the old answers our forefathers found the Scripture to give, and we ca n no longer be satisfied with the old creeds and teachings of the Church.
In this kind of a development among us, the result of a new hermeneutic, it does not surprise us that two of our leaders, in obtaining Doctor of Ministries degrees, should address themselves to this question in writing a thesis for these degrees (Banner, Oct. 15, 1984. p. 7). And what do they suggest? A break with the past and a striking out on unchartered courses not known before. How go about this? Let the Spirit work among us and somehow things will work out for the better. That is also what is suggested by others questioning Paul’s directives regarding office bearers in the church. We are, it is suggested, on our own now and must somehow let the Spirit show us how we today are to adjust to our culture and fulfill our calling within it.
That leaves us with so me questions as to what we must do with the admonitions of Scripture when it declares, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, . . .” (2 Thess. 2:15). “Remember therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it and repent” (Rev. 3:3). “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of so und teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:13). “Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (Rev. 3:11). Let us not be misled! The Holy Spirit has always led and kept the Church in the Truth of the Scriptures. If we cut loose from that the Holy Spirit will no longer guide and keep us in the truth. By all means, let us hold to our rich God-given heritage.
Cecil Tuininga, Edmonton, Alberta