Commissioner Handbook 2014 1 2 3 4 5 6 A CALL TO FAITHFUL WITNESS 7 8 9 - PART TWO - 10 THEOLOGY, GOSPEL MISSIONS, AND INSIDER MOVEMENTS 11 12 13 14 15 16 A PARTIAL REPORT (PART TWO OF TWO PARTS) 17 OF THE AD INTERIM STUDY COMMITTEE ON INSIDER MOVEMENTS 18 TO THE FORTY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY 19 OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA 20 21 MARCH 19, 2014 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 PCA AD INTERIM STUDY COMMITTEE ON INSIDER MOVEMENTS (SCIM) 30 31 Signatories of the Committee Report (CR) 32 TE David B. Garner, Chairman 33 RE Robert Berman, Secretary 34 RE Jonathan Mitchell 35 TE Bill Nikides 36 TE Guy Prentiss Waters 37 38 Signatories of the Minority Report (MR) 39 TE Nabeel T. Jabbour 40 RE Tom Seelinger 41 2101 Commissioner Handbook 2014 1 The missionary must carefully take into account the specific situation and 2 circumstances of the people with whom he is dealing… It might be held further that theology 3 can contribute nothing with regard to the manner of approach, since it is anthropology, 4 ethnology, and psychology that are here the experts… But such a solution is too simple… No 5 matter how well-intentioned they may have been, those who ignored theological principles 6 have in fact run into great difficulty. Missionaries may adopt the way of life of a people, 7 speak their language, associate themselves with their religious concepts, utilize sayings 8 derived from their religious literature, and from the standpoint of ethnology or psychology 9 all this may be excellent. And yet it still may be necessary for theology to issue a warning 10 that such efforts which seek to draw so close to a people must proceed with caution lest they 11 sacrifice the purity of the gospel. On the other hand, it is also possible to have the best 12 intentions and to ignore the cultural possessions of a people, and to preach the gospel pure 13 and simple, without any application to their specific characteristics. History has shown that 14 such a procedure is also questionable, for in such instances the missionary supposes that he 15 is simply preaching the gospel in its purity, whereas he is unconsciously propagating his 16 own Western way of thought. Here again theology can offer a corrective criticism, since 17 such a method does not take seriously enough the people to whom one speaks. God, in 18 contrast, takes us, and those to whom we speak, very seriously, and as his ministers we 19 ought to do the same… 20 21 It is then impossible that psychology and ethnology should speak the last and 22 decisive word with respect to the missionary approach. The latter involves so many 23 theological points that theology must have an important voice, or rather – the decisive 24 voice. Other sciences can indeed render a most valuable service, and in particular concrete 25 situations they can even be absolutely essential, but the principles of the missionary 26 approach must still be derived from Scripture. 27 28 – J. H. Bavinck, An Introduction to the Science of Missions 29 30 31 “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of 32 the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” – John 15:19 33 34 “. .[L]et your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give 35 glory to your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16 36 37 “Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation 38 they were in when God called them.” – 1 Corinthians 7:24 39 2102 Commissioner Handbook 2014 1 Study Committee on Insider Movements (SCIM) Report 2014 2 3 Contents 4 5 ABBREVIATIONS 2105 6 OVERTURE #9 – “A CALL TO FAITHFUL WITNESS” 2106 7 PREFACE 2108 8 THE STUDY COMMITTEE’S HISTORY, APPROACH, AND PRODUCT 2108 TH 9 1. 40 GENERAL ASSEMBLY (2012) 2108 10 2. 41ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY (2013) 2109 11 3. 42ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2014 2109 12 CONCLUSION AND THANKS 2111 13 STUDY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE 42ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2112 14 SECTION A. ABRIDGED COMMITTEE REPORT 2113 15 INTRODUCTION TO INSIDER MOVEMENT PARADIGMS (IMPS) 2113 16 1. IMP CONCEPTS OF "RELIGION" AND "IDENTITY" FUNCTIONALLY EXALT 17 SOCIOLOGY OVER SCRIPTURE. 2113 18 1.1 Religion 2113 19 1.2 Identity 2115 20 2. IMPS DIVORCE THE CHURCH FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE WORK OF 21 THE CHURCH FROM THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN MAKING DISCIPLES. 2119 22 2.1 The Holy Spirit and the Church 2119 23 2.2 The Kingdom of God and the Church 2120 24 CONCLUSION 2125 25 SECTION B. THE DECLARATIONS: AFFIRMATIONS AND DENIALS 2126 26 WHY AFFIRMATIONS AND DENIALS? 2126 27 BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION AND REDEMPTIVE HISTORY 2127 28 SCRIPTURE, SOCIAL SCIENCES, CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2128 29 MISSIONS AND ECCLESIOLOGY 2128 30 THE HOLY SPIRIT, SCRIPTURE, AND THE CHURCH 2129 31 IN CHRIST IDENTITY AND DISCIPLESHIP 2130 32 SECTION C. ANALYSIS OF MINORITY REPORT 2014 2132 33 ABBREVIATIONS IN SECTION C 2132 34 INTRODUCTION 2132 35 1. MR 2014 AND IDENTITY 2132 36 2. MR 2014 AND THE CHURCH 2134 37 3. MR 2014 AND THE EXEGESIS OF SCRIPTURE 2135 38 CONCLUSION 2136 39 40 2103 Commissioner Handbook 2014 1 ATTACHMENT 1: COMMITTEE REPORT 2013 (REVISED) 2137 2 3 ATTACHMENT 2: ANALYSIS OF MINORITY REPORT 2013 2277 4 INTRODUCTION 2277 5 The Minority Report Intends to be Supplemental, Simple, and Practical 2277 6 The Minority Report Is Not Supplemental, Not Simple, and Not Practical 2277 7 The Minority Report Is IM-Friendly 2277 8 SOME SPECIFICS 2278 9 CR 2013 and MR 2013 Have Mutually Exclusive Understandings 10 of Identity 2278 11 CR 2013 and MR 2013 Have Incompatible Understandings of the Church 2281 12 CONCLUSIONS 2282 13 14 ATTACHMENT 3: CHRISTIANS OF MUSLIM BACKGROUND 15 (CMB) INPUT 2283 16 QUESTIONS 17 Q: What do you think of the insider movement in your country? 2283 18 Q: Should CMBs be encouraged to call themselves Muslims? 2283 19 Q: Should believers and the gospel penetrate Islam like yeast 20 in the dough? 2283 21 Q: Can followers of Jesus have two identities: followers of Jesus 22 and Muslims? 2284 23 Q: Should followers of Christ enter the mosque? 2284 24 Q: Should followers of Christ revere Muhammad? (“Muslim background 25 believers [MBBs] can live with integrity within the Muslim world by 26 honouring Muhammad as a leader without revering him as a Prophet”) 2284 27 28 ATTACHMENT 4: HISTORY OF MODERN EVANGELICALISM 29 AS RELATED TO MISSIONS 2286 30 31 ATTACHMENT 5: GOD AND ALLAH 2289 32 ARGUMENTS FAVORING TRANSLATION AS “GOD” 2289 33 ARGUMENTS FAVORING TRANSLATION AS “ALLAH” 2291 34 MIXED DATA 2292 35 36 MINORITY REPORT 37 38 MINORITY REPORT 2014 2295 39 40 MINORITY REPORT 2013 2333 41 2104 Commissioner Handbook 2014 1 ABBREVIATIONS 2 3 A’s & D’s The Declarations: Affirmations and Denials 4 BCO Book of Church Order 5 CGC Common Ground Conference 6 CR Committee Report 2014 7 CR 2013 Committee Report 2013 (Revised) – located in Attachment 1 8 CIP Covenant Identity Paradigm 9 CMB Christian of Muslim Background (cf. MBB) 10 GA General Assembly 11 EWCW Eternal Word, Changing Worlds 12 IM Insider Movement 13 IMP(s) Insider Movement Paradigm(s) 14 IJFM International Journal of Frontier Missions/Missiology 15 ISFM International Society of Frontier Missiology 16 JBL Journal of Biblical Literature 17 JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 18 JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement 19 MBB Muslim Background Believer (cf. CMB) 20 MR 2013 Minority Report 2013 – located in the GA 2013 Minutes 21 (http://www.cepbookstore.com/p-9209-2013-minutes-of-41st-ga.aspx) 22 MR 2014 Minority Report 2014 23 NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament 24 NovT Novum Testamentum 25 PCA Presbyterian Church in America 26 SCIM Study Committee on Insider Movements 27 SFM St. Francis Magazine 28 SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 29 WBC Word Biblical Commentary 30 WCF Westminster Confession of Faith 31 WLC Westminster Larger Catechism 32 WSC Westminster Shorter Catechism 33 2105 Commissioner Handbook 2014 1 OVERTURE #9 – “A Call to Faithful Witness” 2 3 Approved by the 39th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, June 10, 4 2011 5 6 Whereas: the Church is called to take the gospel to all peoples, including those who have 7 historically been resistant to the gospel; 8 9 Whereas: contextualizing the language and forms of the gospel, while remaining faithful to 10 the truths of Scripture, is good and necessary for the advancement of the gospel; 11 12 Whereas: the Church must exercise wisdom in discerning appropriate expressions of 13 contextualization, reserving its public corrections for genuine and substantive threats 14 to the gospel; 15 16 Whereas: in recent initiatives known as “Insider Movements”, some groups have produced 17 Bible translations that have replaced references to Jesus as “Son” (huios) with terms 18 such as “Messiah” in order to be more acceptable to Muslims; 19 20 Whereas: some Bible translations of Insider Movements have replaced references to God as 21 “Father” (pater) with terms such as “Guardian” and “Lord”; 22 23 Whereas: these Bible translations are harmful to the doctrines of the authority of Scripture 24 and the deity of Christ, bringing confusion to people in need of Christ—concerns 25 that are held by many national leaders and Bible societies; 26 27 Whereas: some PCA churches have knowingly or unknowingly financially supported these 28 Bible translations; 29 30 Whereas: Muslims should not be denied a full and faithful witness; 31 32 Therefore be it resolved that the 39th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 33 America: 34 35 • Affirms