I have at last returned from a long journey back and forth across the country visiting our pastors in conference and I will comment a bit on the input that was given by guest speakers.
Allan Hirsch was the guest speaker in an April conference. Hirsch writes from a background that includes a Jewish heritage and also a denominational heritage from the Restoration Movement as it finds itself in Australia.
In one of his blogs David Fitch includes Hirsch in what he calls a “neo-Anabaptist” movement. Calling Hirsch a neo-Anabaptist may be stretching things a bit but there is certainly some crossover between the Restorationists and the Anabaptists in their claims that it is possible to discover and to present pure New Testament Christianity, or what is sometimes known as primitive Christianity. Thomas Campbell, one of the founders of the Restoration Movement, went from being a Presbyterian to a Baptist, and from there became even more radical in claiming that it was possible to “restore” the church to its New Testament simplicity in governance and in practice. From this effort some of the points restoration churches are noted for emerged such as a denial of creeds, self-government of the local church, and not being regenerated until baptised by immersion (for which the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch is seen as the defining model), and in the Church of Christ, no musical instruments in the church. www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/restmov.html
In The Forgotten Ways Allan Hirsch relies on the restorationist meta-narrative that the New Testament church was pure in all things but at one point in history, identified by him as the conversion of Constantine, everything went wrong, and has continued wrong. This meta-narrative has been challenged since the origin of the Restoration Movement in the very early 19th century and I will not discuss it further at this point. One should note that Hirsch sees a recent exception in the house church movement in China.
So much for background. Personally I find that when I peel back the restorationist meta-narrative that Allan Hirsch has many powerful insights and I think these should be listened to. At the same time, all of his work should be subjected to strong critical thinking. And finally I have this recurring question: is either “neo-Reformed” or “neo-Anabaptist” the place where we want to go?
More to come.
4 comments:
Thanks for writing re: Hirsch. Lots of questions were raised at conference, but I think more debrief from our leadership will be helpful. In referring to the "neo-reformed", and "neo-anabaptist", can you clarify whom you're talking about?
(Or will this be in the "More to come"?)
Neo-reformed includes a group that is high lighted by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill in Seattle who connects strongly with John Piper. Many connected to these central people.
As I noted, David Fitch in a blog entry coins the usage (or perhaps he got it from somewhere) of neo-Anabaptist. Fitch includes: Alan Hirsch, Alan Roxburgh, Shane Claiborne, Neil Cole, Scot McKnight as part of this group (which is a category not a formal group). See: www.reclaimingthemission.com
and look for the blog on 05.27“The Gospel Coalition” and Post-Christendom: Will it be a Coalition or an Expedition? Some Reflections and Concerns"
Thanks for the clarification. Some have distinguished between the neo-reformed and neo-puritan influences, so that's why I was asking. (Piper is more Edwards than Kuyper.) Also the ways Collin Hansen and Scott McKnight use the term are a bit different.
I had previously read Fitch's article (an edited version) on the Out of Ur blog,(and thought that some of his criticism missed the mark) but the original post was much more clear, so thanks for the link.
Have you read Fitch's assessment of the neo-reformed church-planting? (http://www.reclaimingthemission.com/church-planting-assumptions-of-the-neo-reformed-some-observations-for-testing/)Particularily interesting is Tim Keller's interaction in the comments.
I think the neo-anabaptists can learn a lot from guys like Keller and Stetzer, as the neo-reformed could learn from Fitch et al. If only we could get them to stop talking past each other...
It was Alexander Campbell not Thomas Campbell.
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