More Quotes from Wilkins, Wilson, Barach, and Schlissel
July 2003
Friends,
The April 28, 2003, issue of Christian Renewal, a Canadian newspaper, carried
an interview with the Monroe 4: Steven Wilkins, Douglas Wilson, John Barach, and
Steven Schlissel. The interview reeks of hostility toward thought, especially
systematic thought, evinces an affinity for sacramentarianism, and further corroborates
what their critics have said: These men do not teach – in fact they reject,
as clearly as their deliberately unsystematic thinking will allow – the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Here are their words:
Schlissel denying the Difference between Law and Gospel:
"Have Reformed
folks gotten it wrong? Yes, to the extent that they've followed Luther in
an imaginary Law/Gospel antithesis.... The law as God gave it is the gospel....
And the gospel as announced by Paul is the law.... The gospel brings demands....
The gospel has obligations. Always has.... the gospel is permeated with God's
good law."
Schlissel asserting that sinners can keep the law, and by keeping
it, be saved:
"Rather it
was Christ's teaching [in Luke 10:25-28] that obedience to the law was something
very do-able and that such obedience, which includes repentance and faith,
does save...."
"In Luke 18
we have no hint of a faith vs. works dichotomy, or law vs. grace. Rather we
have Jesus pressing the law as containing that which leads to eternal life."
Schlissel denying
justification by faith apart from works:
"...we insist
that saving faith is an obedient faith."
Schlissel endorsing Norman Shepherd:
"...at the
same time a truly Reformed Westminster subscriber such as Norman Shepherd
can't even be mentioned there [Westminster Seminary]. But the Baptists are
accepted."
Douglas Wilson denying justification by faith alone:
"What drives
apostasy is unbelief, and the engine that drives salvation is faith and only
faith."
[Interviewer: "But
not faith only"?]
[Wilson]: "Not
bare bones faith. Not assent. Devils have that. True faith is more than assent....
we say faith cannot be separated from trust and obedience, and...we say saving
faith cannot be separated from a life of obedience and trust."
Steven Wilkins asserting that everyone who is baptized is raised
to newness of life, but the baptized person can lose that new life if his response
to God is not good enough:
"Romans 6 says
that we've been baptized into Christ and his death, burial and resurrection
and raised to newness of life. That's objectively true of everyone who receives
baptism. That doesn't mean that they are saved no matter how they live or
respond to the grace of God. Indeed, Paul warns them about the possibility
of being cut off because of arrogance and unbelief in Romans 11."
[Interviewer: Can we be in the church but not united to Christ?] [Wilkins]: "That's a distinction the Bible doesn't make...the
distinction is not biblical. The visible, historic church is the body of Christ,
and thus to be joined to it by baptism is to be united to Christ. By baptism
God offers and gives Christ to us...."
Steve Wilkins misunderstanding Titus 3:5 and teaching baptismal
regeneration:
"If we mean
by regeneration a gift of new life that will never die out but produces persevering
faith, then no, I don't believe that is necessarily given at baptism. But
I don't believe that is how the Bible uses the term regeneration. Take Titus
3:5. It says God saves us according to his mercy by means of the washing of
regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Ghost. The word washing plainly refers
to baptism. Paul says that this washing is something that results in regeneration
and renewal by the Holy Spirit. It seems plain to me that Paul was not operating
with our definition of regeneration. It seems to me that our theological definition
is too narrow at this point...."
Steve Wilkins asserting the inseparability of water and Spirit
baptism:
[Interviewer]: Can
you be baptized by water and not baptized by the Spirit?
[Wilkins]: "I
would say no. We may distinguish the work of the Spirit from baptism, but
we should never separate the two."
"Every time
we referred to baptism in the conference, we would deny that baptism brings
automatic or infallible salvation. Faith is required of all who are joined
to Christ in covenant. But we must not separate the work of the Spirit from
the visible elements of the sacrament...though we may distinguish between
the work of the Spirit and the application of water in baptism, we must not
separate the two. When we do so, we become baptistic."
Steve Wilkins misunderstanding what makes a marriage –
the intelligent, rational consent of the parties, not the ritual, makes a marriage
– and applying that misunderstanding to baptism:
"It's [baptism]
like a wedding. There is a transformation that takes place because of the
ritual. A single man becomes a married man. He is transformed into a new man,
with new blessings and privileges and responsibilities he didn't have before.
A similar thing happens at baptism. The one who is baptized is transferred
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, from Adam into Christ,
and given new privileges, blessings, and responsibilties he didn't have before."
Steve Wilkins denying that election is a basis of assurance
salvation, and asserting that baptism, which by contrast is "objective
and certain," is the basis of assurance of salvation:
"The decree
of election is no ground [of assurance] since no one can know if they [sic]have
been chosen for salvation. Men must have something objective and certain.
But if you refuse to look to your baptism then all you are left with is [subjective]
experience...."
Steve Wilkins asserting that baptism, not repentance or belief,
is what unites us to Christ:
"Paul said
you [that is, all the baptized] are all baptized into Christ and members of
Christ's body, each of you – no qualifications. He doesn't say, if you
sincerely repent of your sins and sincerely believe in Christ, then you're
a member of the body."
Steve Wilkins asserting that we ought to tell each man: "Christ
died for you."
"We don't have
to know the decrees [of God] to state these covenantal, objective realities
very plainly and without qualification. Our [Reformed] theology, focusing
as it does upon the decrees of God, has made us fearful of saying something
that might eventually be contradicted by God's decrees. Thus, we don't want
to say, 'Christ died for you,' in case God actually didn't ordain the death
of Christ to apply to that particular individual. Paul wasn't hampered in
this way."
Barach asserting that we can tell every baptized person that
sin has no dominion over him:
"That's [Wilkin's
statement about baptism being like a wedding ritual] why we can say to each
person, 'Sin has no domination over you anymore' (Romans 6:14). You are now
under Christ's Lordship. You've been brought into a new relationship."
Barach asserting that the Bible is not primarily a sourcebook
of theology, but a liturgical book:
"But the Bible
is not primarily a sourcebook for theology. It's a covenantal book, a liturgical
book, a book to be addressed to the church."
Barach asserting that we should tell every baptized person that
God has chosen him for salvation:
"The point
is that Paul isn't merely speaking about the elect [in 2 Thessalonians 2];
he's speaking to the congregation. And we should follow his example. We should
say to the church, 'Brothers, God chose you for salvation.'"
In these quotes, we can see an incoherent theology – incoherent
because it rejects systematic thought – that denies the Gospel. If its
proponents become more consistent in their thinking, they will realize –
as some of their more intelligent followers have already realized – that
they are not theological pioneers offering the church a "new paradigm."
As they round that last curve on their spiritual journey they will see Mother
Kirk standing there in all her splendor, her purple and red robes cascading
to the ground, arms outstretched ready to receive them at last, her lost and
wandering children coming home to Rome.
John Robbins
The Trinity Foundation
July 16, 2003
For further reading go to Review Archives at www.trinityfoundation.org
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