Ingrid began by quoting from the website of an EWTN program called, “The Journey Home”. The website text describes how this program highlights conversion stories of former Protestants that have been brought back to Rome because of a specific teaching in the Catholic Church or experience that influenced their decision.
Pastor DeWaay believes that the seedbed of this disenchantment within Evangelicalism involves several factors. This includes the seeker movement that took the clear, authoritative, solid Bible teaching out of churches; the influx of mystical practices such as contemplative prayer; and seminaries that are turning out therapeutic practitioners rather then theologians.
These factors appear to have left in their wake a number of Protestants and Evangelicals who are frustrated with the lack of reverence, along with a missing sense of authority in their church community.
Pastor DeWaay goes back into history to briefly review the problems in the medieval church that led to the Reformation, along with mentioning three modern, failed reformations that have only added to the Evangelical identity crisis. They include Robert Schuller’s self-esteem movement, C. Peter Wagner’s New Apostolic Reformation, and the Emergent Church movement.
Why are Evangelicals either so blind or cavalier regarding the unbiblical practices that these so-called reformations have produced? It gets back to Sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone, as opposed to today’s push to seek an experience with God, in some cases through mystical practices. As pastor DeWaay noted, the fight for Sola Scriptura is the battle because if we can’t keep that principle, we’ve lost the tools to fight every other battle.
Pastor DeWaay summarizes by pointing out that we live in an era where people are being told you can’t know the truth. This leads some people to the conclusion that perhaps they should just turn themselves over to a huge, human organization and let them solve things.
Interview – May 2008
Related Post: Sola Scriptura for Charismatics vs. The Madness of Mysticism
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