Arminius on the Authority of the Bible.

Jacob Arminius

The rule of Theological Verity [truth] is not two-fold, one Primary and the other Secondary; but it is one and simple, the Sacred Scriptures. The Scriptures are the rule of all Divine Verity, from themselves, in themselves, and through themselves: And it is a rash assertion that "they are indeed the rule, but only when understood according to the meaning of the [Belgic] Confession of the Dutch Churches, or when explained by the interpretation of the Heidelberg Catechism." No writing composed by men -- by one man, by few men, or by many -- (with the exception of the Holy Scriptures) is either "credible of itself," or "of itself deserving of implicit credence," and, therefore, is not exempted from an examination to be instituted by means of the Scriptures.

It is a thoughtless assertion that "the Confession and Catechism are called in question when they are subjected to examination:" For they have never been placed beyond the hazard of being called in doubt, nor can they be so placed. It is tyrannical and Popish to bind the consciences of men by human writings [of which the Dutch, Dortian Calvinists were overtly guilty] and to hinder them from being submitted to a legitimate examination under what pretext soever such tyrannical conduct is adopted.[1]

The authority of the word of God, which is comprised in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, lies both in the veracity of the whole narration, and of all the declarations, whether they be those about things past, about things present, or about those which are to come; and in the power of the commands and prohibitions, which are contained in the Divine word. Both of these kinds of authority can depend on no other than on God, who is the principal Author of this word; both because He is Truth without suspicion of falsehood, and because He is of Power invincible. On this account, the knowledge alone that this word is Divine is obligatory on our belief and obedience; and so strongly is it binding that this obligation can be augmented by no external authority.[2]

In what manner or respect soever the church may be contemplated, she can do nothing to confirm this authority: For she also is indebted to this word for all her own authority; and she is not a church unless she have previously exercised faith in this word as being divine, and have engaged to obey it. Wherefore, in any way to suspend the authority of the Scriptures on the church is to deny that God is of sufficient veracity and supreme power, and that the church herself is a church.[3]

[1] James Arminius, "Certain Articles to be Diligently Examined and Weighed," The Works of Arminius, the London Edition, three volumes, trans. James and William Nichols (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 2:706.

[2] Arminius, Disputation VI: "On the Authority and Certainty on the Holy Scriptures," 2:324-35.

[3] Ibid., 325.

Did Emergent Church start in C of E, Sheffield?!

The Nine O'Clock Service was a youth-oriented alternative Christian worship service conceived in the wake of a 1985 John Wimber Signs and Wonders conference in Sheffield, in 1986. At St Thomas' Church in Crookes, Sheffield, United Kingdom  a group of Christian musicians and artists wanted to "do something different," and experimented with light, sound and projections to ambient music. The service, and the group associated with it, grew to national prominence, but was shut down in 1995 following allegations of running a cult within the established church and sexual and emotional abuse. How could a respectable and established institution like the Church of England, have become embroiled in a sex scandal, a destructive cult and virtually invent what we would today call, "The Emergent Church?"

Beginning as a simple alternative format service under the leadership of Chris Brain, the group responsible for it developed a leadership structure that was endorsed by St Thomas' church leadership. The average age of the members was 24 for much of NOS's life. The membership was significantly from non-church backgrounds.

Starting with about 10 people who worked on designing and creating the services, the congregation grew to almost 600 members while resident at St Thomas' Church. Main themes included care for the planet and concern about its abuse, simple lifestyle and development of relationships with non-churched people.

By 1988 the Bishop of Sheffield sanctioned the moving of the Nine O'Clock Service to a new site at Ponds Forge Rotunda in the centre of Sheffield. At the same time Chris Brain underwent training to become a Church of England priest. The Planetary Mass at Pond's Forge was marked by both bold liturgical experimentation and naive hopefulness. The suspended Roman Catholic priest and American Dominican theologian Matthew Fox was consulted. Fox visited the NOS team and was so impressed, that he took many of these ideas back to the States, where he further developed them in the mid 1990s.

The number of community members stopped growing and service attendance plateaued at about 300. A significant practical weakness in terms of duty of care was the lack of accountability for NOS and its absence from diocesan accountability. This was allowed because of its perceived international significance, which in the end came to nothing. Plans for communities elsewhere were in talks.

In 1995 a number of complaints began to surface of sexual abuse by Chris Brain on women in the group. After an investigation by the Diocese of Sheffield the group was shut down in August 1995. The Bishop of Sheffield demanded Brain's resignation after he confessed to having sexual relationships with young women in the congregation. There were also calls from former members of the congregation that he be defrocked. The Archbishop of York banned Brain from acting as an ordained priest. Initially refusing to step down, Brain eventually resigned in November 1995, the week before a documentary on the abuse scandal was aired. He then checked himself into a psychiatric hospital. The Diocese of Sheffield, through a seconded pastoral team led by Rachel Ross, the Reverend Andrew Teal and the Reverend Peter Craig-Wild, attempted to manage the pastoral care both of Brain and members of the community wounded by the scandal. A remnant of the community continued to meet, under different leadership, for some years afterwards in Sheffield.

What lessons can be learned from such a disaster? Primarily, for any church leadership, it should be that simply filling church buildings, regardless of the methodology we use, is a very dangerous route to take. Embracing modern culture and recklessly abandoning Biblical means for evangelism may fill a church building, but at what cost?