CHAPTER 4.2
THE EROSION OF BIBLIOLOGY
THE EROSION OF BIBLIOLOGY
The Erosion of Bibliology - Part 1
The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture
Dr. John MacArthur sees the real battle with McLaren over the perspicuity of Scripture. By downplaying propositional truths and embracing postmodern epistemology, Emergents are assaulting the clarity and certainty of Scripture:
Influenced by postmodern notions about language, meaning, subjectivity, and truth, many . . . are questioning whether the Word of God is clear enough to justify certainty . . . on points of doctrine . . . It’s proponents are more interested in dialogue and conversation. As a result, they scorn and rebuff propositional truth (which tends to end dialogue rather than cultivate it) as an outmoded vestige of twentieth-century modernism.[1]
MacArthur has a strong distaste for McLaren’s Bibliology. MacArthur begins with the tradition of the Reformation as a model of the perspicuity of Scripture. In contrast to the Roman Church during their time, who believed that Scripture was difficult to understand thus needing the Church to interpret it, the Reformers believed that anyone who could read could understand Scripture because of its clarity.
McLaren, MacArthur argues, finds this Reformed tradition problematic primarily because McLaren places a higher value on conversation and ambiguity. MacArthur finds McLaren’s words in A Generous Orthodoxy particularly problematic:
A warning: as in most of my other books, there are places here where I have gone out of my way to be provocative, mischievous, and unclear, reflecting my belief that clarity is sometimes overrated, and that shock, obscurity, playfulness, and intrigue (carefully articulated) often stimulate more thought than clarity.[2]
As a result of his “provocative, mischievous, and unclear” rhetoric, MacArthur is not surprised that McLaren is not even certain that what he is espousing is correct. But that’s the point. Truth does not come solely from Scripture or revelation, but, as Tickle pointed out, from community, conversation, and dialoging. As MacArthur sees it, “great reward results in always pursuing but never finally arriving at truth.”[3]
This ambiguity has horrendous effects in MacArthur’s view. One such effect is his treatment of the exclusivity of the gospel, though clearly laid out in the New Testament (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5), McLaren is hesitant to speak so boldly. To McLaren, inclusivism is a must because conversation and dialogue can only take place in a setting of openness. He notes that McLaren goes out of his way to find “truths” from other religions and thus cannot accept an exclusive gospel that would shut out dialogue with other faiths and teachings. By rejecting the perspicuity of Scripture, McLaren flatly denies and rejects the exclusivity of the gospel.
No doubt, some will find the above analysis unfair or unloving. But with Brian McLaren and his collaborators at Emergent, much more is at stake than mere semantics or slight philosophical disagreement. The purity of the gospel itself is at stake. If God’s Word cannot be understood with certainty, a saving comprehension of the gospel becomes impossible. But if the straightforward reading of Scripture is allowed to stand, then McLaren’s system of doctrinal subjectivity crashes to the ground. As D. A. Carson observes: “I have to say, as kindly but as forcefully as I can that to my mind if words mean anything, . . . McLaren . . . have largely abandoned the gospel.”[4]
What is at stake is more than just the Reformed doctrine of Sola Scriptura and the perspicuity of Scripture, but the gospel. To have a weak Bibliology is to have a heretical Soteriology. MacArthur connects Bibliology with Soteriology. A correct view of Scripture leads to a correct view of the gospel. However, an inadequate view of Scripture always leads to an inadequate view of the gospel.
[1] John MacArthur, “Perspicuity of Scripture: The Emerging Approach,” The Master's Seminary Journal 141-158.
[2] McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, 27.
[3] MacArthur, “Perspicuity of Scripture: The Emerging Approach,” 145.
[4] John MacArthur, “Perspicuity of Scripture: The Emerging Approach,” 153, and Donald Allen Carson, Becoming Conversant With the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 186.
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accomodation to the Kindgom of God - Chapter 1
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.1
Thesis| Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.3
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 3.1
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 3.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 4.1a
For more:
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 1
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 2
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 3
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 4
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the emergent Church - Part 5
Theology/Reviews - "A New Kind of Christianity" - A 11 part review and critique of McLaren's book
Reviews - McLaren - A Generous Orthodoxy
Reviews - McLaren - A New Kind of Christian
Reviews -McLaren - A Search For What Makes Sense: Finding Faith
Reviews -McLaren - Adventures In Missing The Point
Reviews - McLaren - Church On The Other Side
Reviews -McLaren - Everything Must Change
Reviews -McLaren - Finding Faith
Reviews -McLaren - More Ready Than You Realize
Reviews - McLaren - The Justice Project
Reviews - McLaren - The Secret Message of Jesus
Reviews -McLaren - The Voice of Luke
Theology - Revelation and the Ambiguity of Justification: McLaren Adds to the Confusion
Theology - Does McLaren Reject Penal Substitution?: A Review of the Evidence
Blogizomai - Where is He Now? McLaren on the Question of bin Laden's Final Destination
Theology - Hamilton: McLaren and Whole Foods Stores
Theology - SBTS and McLaren: A Response to SBTS Panel Discussion
Theology - The Evolving God: McKnight's Critique of McLaren
Theology - The Future of the Emergent Church: McLaren Weighs In
Theology - The Immutability of God: Its Truth and Relevancy - Introduction
Theology - The Postmodern Social Gospel: Brian McLaren Proves My Point
Theology - Where to Begin?: 10 Emergent Must Reads
Theology - Who Isn't One?: Brian McLaren and Social Christians
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Narrative Question - Part 1
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Authority Question - Part 2
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The God Question - Part 3
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Jesus Question - Part 4
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Gospel Question - Part 5
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Church Question - Part 6
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Sex Question - Part 7
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Future Question - Part 8
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Pluralism Question - Part 9
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: Where Do We Go From Here - Part 10
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: Some Final Thoughts - Part 11
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