The SA Doctrines - Time for change

Iwould like to open these comments by restating, for reference, the doctrines of The Salvation Army as they presently exist …

1. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
2. We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship.
3. We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead-the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.
4. We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.
5. We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.
6. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.
7. We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to salvation.
8. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.
9. We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.
10. We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
11. We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

I think it is necessary to make the point up front that these doctrines are not the truth. Jesus Christ is the Truth (John 14:6). These doctrines are instead pointers to the Truth (capital T). At times I get the impression that the doctrines are immovable, unchangable and anyone who suggests otherwise is considered a heretic. The major problem with this attitude, whether it’s explicitly stated or not, is that it actually forces its adherents to contradict themselves.

What do I mean by this? Well, the first doctrine states that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments “only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice”. To suggest, then, that the doctrines are beyond the need of regular editing actually contradicts this doctrine. Consider, as well, that most Christians now use a different translation of the Scriptures (the most popular being the NIV) than what was in vogue 100 years ago (the KJV the clear favourite then). What does this suggest about the content of doctrine one??? Yet some would suggest that updating the language of the doctrine itself is beyond suggestion. Seems strange to me…

I have suggested above that the doctrines are not the truth, but rather pointers to the Truth (Jesus Christ). I would like to suggest that the doctrines, in their present format, are deficient in the way they do in fact point to the Truth. Let me suggest a few examples of why this is so:

1. The use of exclusive language (e.g. “men”) excludes half of the population unnecessarily. One of my lecturers wisely said to me early in my study career; “If you can use a word that doesn’t exclude people just as easily as one that will then which one should you choose?” In this example replacing words such as “men” with gender neutral words such as “human” or “humanity” is long overdue. Particularly true for a denomination that has always professed equality for women and men within the organisation (at least in its rhetoric).
2. The change from “Holy Ghost” (D3) to “Holy Spirit” (D7) is confusing and even misleading. “Ghost” is a word with two many science fiction, fantasy world connotations and relies significantly upon the KJV translation which most congregations no longer use in corporate worship. Consistency in this regard would be a simple editing process to use the same language across both doctrines.
3. A major issue is the lack of reference to the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of the body does make an appearance in the final doctrine, but this is not a reference to Jesus’ resurrection but rather the hope of our resurrection. Again, these doctrines are pointers to the Truth (Jesus) and if there is no reference to the resurrection of the Truth, then that is a glaringly obvious omition for me.
4. The separation of Doctrines 2 and 3 is misleading. Whilst I can see that this is an attempt to show that we worship one God who has been revealed in the three persons of Father, Son and Spirit, the importance of stating this mystery together rather than apart is far more necessary in my mind. The Trinity is a central tenet of the Christian faith and the Doctrine of God needs to be, at one and the same time, the Doctrine of the Trinity - together, not apart.
5. Order is also important. Whilst it’s like saying “where do you start on a circle?” or the old “Chicken and the Egg” problem, at the same time it’s necessary to carefully consider this starting point. Is what we believe about the Scriptures foundational to what we believe about God, or is it the other way around? On this particular point my mind is not made up, but I think it’s a discussion point worthy of consideration.
6. The semi-Pelagian nature of Doctrine 9 is a significant problem. There is no mention of grace within this doctrine and so it gives the impression that “continuance” is entirely dependent upon “obedient faith”. Whilst I would automatically qualify this by stating that this “faith” is itself a gift of God’s grace anyway (Ephesians 2:8), still greater clarification of this is needed, lest Salvationists profess to a doctrine that suggests that God has nothing to do with keeping them secure in his love.
7. Doctrine 10 relies heavily upon 1 Thessalonians 5:23, more specifically the KJV of this verse. No modern translation of the Bible uses the word “unto” but rather “at” in reference to the “coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. This is a significant alteration and, if we are to continue to rely upon this verse for our doctrine of holiness then some strong exegetical work needs to be done regarding this.

These examples above are a few of the obvious examples of the need for the doctrines of The Salvation Army to be updated. They have served us well for over 120 years, however they are at risk of not serving the purpose for which they are there for - namely, point to the Truth. If we are forced to exegete them in order to then be pointed to the Truth, then that is evidence enough for me that work need to be done in order to update them.

I would hope that this would happen sooner rather than later. 

Writer: Captain Adam Couchman is currently the Director for the School for Christian Studies at Booth College, Australia Eastern Territory. He loves reading, talking, discussing, thinking, and re-thinking all things theological. Most of all, he just wants to “be Holy as God is holy”. Adam is married to Megan and together they have two girls - Brielle and Annabelle.

Resurrection: Hope for Life

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Jason Davies-Kildea considers the great Christian hope.

The road to despair is wide and runs downhill for many of those who find themselves on the doorstep of The Salvation Army.  The ‘Our Homeless Children’ report included this short quote that is unfortunately indicative of the thoughts of too many people: “What do I most hope for? That I die pretty quick“.

One might rightly wonder why anyone would want to work against such dire circumstances on a daily basis?  For me, the answer is that, despite so many contrary indications, not only is there real hope, but to be a bearer of hope is a deeply meaningful role.  There is something almost counter-cultural about spreading hope today.  In a review of the Oasis movie, Captain Paul Moulds was described as a ‘delusional optimist’ - the kind of description I would proudly share.  Hope may be unexpected, but it is a crucial component of Salvation Army social ministries.  Liberation theologian, Jon Sobrino, says this:

Those who have a radical hope for the victims of this word, who are not convinced that resignation is the last word…can include in their experience a hope analogous to that with which Jesus’ resurrection was first grasped and can direct their lives to taking the victims down from the cross.  Furthermore, those who, in the midst of this history of crucifixion, celebrate what there is of fullness and have the freedom to give their own lives will, perhaps, not see history as nonsensical… but as the promise of a ‘more’ that touches us and draws us despite ourselves.[1]

If, as the apostle Paul claimed, resurrection is the central affirmation of Christianity, then this deep symbol of hope should still be a vital, life-giving metaphor for us today.  In a similar vein, Jewish people celebrate the story of the Exodus, the liberation of an entire people from slavery and the beginnings of new life, new opportunities in the Promised Land.  Both are powerful stories of hope grounded in the historical memory of people of faith.  Yet to leave them entrapped in history is to rob them of much their power to continue to inspire us today.

If our message is to transcend the barriers of the faith community, we may need to learn to find ways of talking about resurrection beyond the category of history - for this indeed has become a stumbling block to many of our current generations.  In Alice in Wonderland, when Alice tells the Queen that one can’t believe impossible things she gets the reply:  “I daresay you haven’t had much practice.  When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!”  This has become the all-too-common picture of a Christian, someone who is able to twist their brain into a doctrine-conforming pretzel - and who can no longer speak sensibly to a post-modern world.

It is important, then, for us to remember that resurrection is firstly a theological proclamation.  It says something about the nature of God.  God is on the side of life!  God cannot be defeated by death.  When we experience suffering and death, this God is not absent but is actively sowing the seeds of new life.

The real challenge of resurrection is not about belief, but about experience.  It challenges us to place deeds before creeds, to live resurrection before we can begin to preach resurrection.  Here the message of Leonardo Boff resonates powerfully with the mission of The Salvation Army:

Wherever people seek good, justice, humanitarian love, solidarity, communion and understanding between people, wherever they dedicate themselves to overcoming their own egoism, making this world more human and fraternal and opening themselves to the normative Transcendent for their lives, there we can say, with all certainty, that the resurrected one is present, because the cause for which he lived, suffered, was tried and executed is being carried forward.[2]

There is only one appropriate response to the reality of resurrection experience: to seek out and work towards creating resurrection experiences and opportunities for new life in the lives of others.  The Salvation Army is continually finding ways to impart hope into people’s lives.  Surely this is something we want to multiply, so that every corps, every social centre can function as a community of resurrection possibility.

May the source of our hope never fail. May we always impart hope with generosity.  May we know the experience of resurrection, of new life, of new hope, in our own lives and in the lives of those whom we serve.

Writer: Captain Jason Davies-Kildea is currently serving with his wife, Michelle, at the Brunswick Corps and Community Programmes in Australia. He received a Churchill Fellowship in 2006 and travelled last year to the US, UK and Kenya to look at “models of holistic service, for highly disadvantaged people, which have been established in faith-based communities”. He recently graduated with a Masters in Theology and writes regularly on his own blog, which you can find here.  

[2] Leonardo Boff Jesus Christ Liberator (London: SPCK, 1980), 219

the Rubicon - BY REQUEST - Reaching the digital generation

We could learn a lot from Mr. Gutenberg and by that we don’t mean Steve Guttenberg of Police Academy fame. The year was 1450 and the man was Johannes Gutenberg, a German goldsmith who invented the movable printing press. This man imagined life differently, invented the most significant gadget of his day and transformed the world, almost in an instant.

It was with his truly remarkable movable printing invention that Gutenberg made his name. Until this point in time, every book in existence was the work of a scribe, usually a monk, who had painstakingly etched each and every word by hand onto expensive parchment and bound the copies between wooden boards. The end result: it took years to copy out a book, and that was without the illustrations. Illiteracy was the norm, accuracy was dubious and mistakes were handed down and multiplied throughout the generations. Gutenberg changed all this - with the power of the printed word, he lifted his culture from the dark ages and watched as a world of new possibilities sprang into life.

His predecessor of the photocopier was so revolutionary, its significance mirrored the invention of the alphabet and the development of language. As it sparked a cultural revolution, it radically transformed the way people worked. By 1501, there were more than a thousand printing shops in Europe and more than 20 million books were circulating and in the hands of the masses. All of a sudden, knowledge came closer to the hands of the people as printed books were sold for a fraction of the price. Previously, those dedicated scribes in the Church had held the keys to learning, but now study was accessible, ordinary folk no longer relied on being read to, but learned to read instead. Education was revolutionized; inventors could share discoveries, doctors could circulate their case-histories in books and the scientific revolution was unleashed. The doors of social debate and critical thinking were flung open as books became part of people’s lives. The press marked a paradigm shift in the way that information and news was transferred in Europe. The fields of science, art, religion, politics and literature were all transformed by printing and a new democratic world was born.

Mr. Gutenberg is a role model for us all, particularly when it comes to the power of imagination and the courage to pursue a dream. Perhaps the inklings of such an invention are not resting at the end of our finger-tips. Men and women like Mr. Gutenberg are once-in-a-generation, dare we say once-in-a-century phenomena. However, for the purpose of this article, the real hero of the story is the church… and yes we did say “church”.

The Church and the Printing Press
It was the followers of Jesus that grasped the potent possibilities in Gutenberg’s device. The church did not stand back aghast and denounce the new technology as demonic. Agitated monks did not form threatening bands of flying pickets, or travel throughout Europe to protest outside the continent’s printing presses. Our predecessors were not luddite technophobes helplessly ordering the reversal of this industrious tide. On the contrary, these early adopters waded into the wash and rode the wave of innovation towards a whole new day. And what’s more monks rested their weary hands, recovered from their repetitive strain injuries and invested their spare hours elsewhere, more prayer anyone?

So what does this history lesson have to teach those of us in the digital generation? Well firstly without this invention, you and I would be in a different place today. Prior to Mr. Gutenberg gaining his patent, books were expensive and a scarce resource - it was said that ‘man would give a cartload of hay for a few sheets by St. Paul’, but within 50 years of Gutenberg’s machine going into production, almost 40,000 editions of the Bible had been printed throughout Europe. Indeed, and here’s the crux of the matter, Gutenberg’s press put the word of God in to the hands of the people like never before. Martin Luther, John Calvin and their followers embraced and used Gutenberg’s gadget for all of its worth. The Reformation spread with the same astonishing rapidity as printing itself -it could not have done so without it. As their ideas and works were re-produced at high speed, so their thinking and following could gather momentum, escalating into the single largest revolution of the means by which we know and experience God and His Church. As these theologians seized their own day, they changed the Church and transformed the future.

The digital generation - an opportunity for the church to take hold of God’s future
In the past, some Christians have waved red flags of caution as technologies flash into new corners of being. The emergence of rapid cultural shifts combined with a suspicion of the unfamiliar has left the Church fearful that the innovative threatens a religion rooted in tradition. Or rather, as new trends explode around us, we develop an arrogant indifference and insist that a transcendent message needs no assistance in its delivery, especially from worldly mechanisms or methods which might detract from our message. Of course, the downsides of technology are real - progress and danger often walk hand in hand and we cannot be ignorant to these. Yet, we live in the communications revolution. We can either seize the opportunities ahead of us, or stubbornly protest and call for our quill so we might scribble out another tract. You see, it’s not just that the digital generation calls us to speak to them in a new language. More than this, these first generation millennials are the way in which God will reform the church, reach the world and renew creation.

It sounds simple, but the essence of our job is communication. To see young people won and re-captured by the Church, we need to use the language of today. We hold bridge-building tools to join God’s dynamic truth with the fluctuating, moving landscape ahead of us. As young people take their communities beyond buildings and into the virtual world of internet networks, new Church movements are imagining experimental forms of social activism, neo-monasticism and new types and styles of community and worship. Gutenberg’s spirit lives on in our 24/7 media culture of broadcasts and pod-casts, uploads and downloads. And while people access information, knowledge and community through mediums unimagined 500 years ago, through it all they continue to search for an authentic reality in a virtual world. One question remains: will we take hold of the unimagined possibilities of our time in the same way as those Christians who came after Gutenberg?

Writers:  After 18 years working with TSA, Russell Rook recently started work with Chapel St a change agency working with churches and communities to bring about regeneration through the delivery of community services and social enterprise. He also works as a writer and speaker and is the chair of the Spring Harvest theme group. Russell helps to lead his local corps, Raynes Park Community Church, is married to Charlotte, a professional cellist and has two sons Joe and Toby.

Sarah Doyle is a journalist for Youthwork magazine, a writer for The Church Urban Fund and a volunteer youth worker at St. Andrew’s, Chorleywood.

Theological Puberty

Jonathan Gainey finds a little gem

Review: A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke

Every once in awhile, a book comes along that literally changes a person’s life. Recently that book for me was A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke.

This very small, 41-page book should be read by everyone who goes about the task of theological study. The sins of young students of the Word are brought out so simply and powerfully that one cannot read this book without reflecting on his or her own arrogance as an adventurer of holy writ.

So much of what Theilicke had to say was powerfully accurate. His insights should be considered by everyone who attempts the task of theological education, formally or otherwise. Just about every page of the book has an amount of highlighting, because I could not resist the urge to be able to go back to his thoughts with ease.

The arrogance or “theological puberty” that Thielicke speaks about is deadon with most of us, and few can resist the urge to “wallow in our ownership” of new findings. These are shared with passionate urgency as if all the secrets of the universe have been discovered by the young theologian, and others have been left in the dark.

The temptation to speak down to the congregation rather than speak with them is also a temptation that is sometimes heightened by theological studies.  Pouring out our defense for hymns of old as more theologically stirring and rich as opposed to the simple and shallow words of newer worship music becomes a constant agenda of the learned master of all things God.

As a Salvation Army officer and pastor, I have found myself with the same urges, especially in Sunday school settings, Bible studies and small groups, to correct all those who have not been privy to my level of discovery. I say that with sarcasm. I can go back and almost hear my words sending the message, “Oh ye of simple faith.”

Even the introduction of Thielicke’s book is full of informational wealth. As Martin E. Marty points out, those who study deeply do change their minds about what they believe quite often. This is a healthy sign of a growing Christian, but the one experiencing such a crisis must be patient with those who rarely question anything spiritual. I find myself in this predicament of philosophical transitioning so often that I have wondered if there are any definite truths to be discovered from the biblical text. And then, I realize that I am also guilty of the tendency to read the Scriptures only to discover what can become a sermon.

This book has truly opened my eyes to the dangers of theological adolescence, and I am determined to get this book into more hands, especially those who are called to the task of teaching.

As for my own ministry, I have been made more aware of my task to learn as much from my pastor - the church, as I teach. Although the need for life-long learning is a given, I realize that there will be times when the learning that I am able to glean from the most humble of theologians may very well contain the richest, life-giving instructions of my life.

As Thielicke so wisely states, “Even an orthodox theologian can be spiritually dead, while perhaps a heretic crawls on forbidden bypaths to the sources of life” (Thielicke, 37).

Writer: Capt. Jonathan Gainey was born in Jacksonville, FL in June, 1969. He has been married to Staci, the daughter of retired Salvation Army officers, for twenty years and they have four children ages 18, 16, 12, and 4. Jonathan was commissioned as an officer in June of 2002, and is currently serving in his third appointment in New Bern, NC, USA. He is working on a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is the creator and manager of the Flocks Diner website, where his passion for learning and teaching is expressed and shared through writing and a weekly podcast.

Gone to the beach

Starting July 1, theRubicon is taking a break… we’ve gone to the beach. While we are away we will be transferring the editorial team for the site, which means theRubicon may be periodically unavailable while the database is moved between servers. This downtime should be minor.

While we are in transition, take some time to look through theRubicon’s archives, where you’ll find 865 articles and almost 3,000 comments. While you are at the beach, if you write something that you think would fit theRubicon’s editorial mandate, send it along: rubiconeditor@gmail.com.

And stayed tuned because we won’t be at the beach for long and when we return Bruce Redman and his editorial team promise to challenge, contradict, confirm, converse and convey with new energy.

With thanks

from behind the scenes

An enduring memory of my time with theRubicon highlights the internationalism of both this magazine and The Salvation Army,  an organization the site spends a lot of time dissecting. An article had stirred the ire of many and at one point we had furious debate between readers in six countries, on four continents. It was the ability of this journal to engage and connect people all over the world that kept me interested in the periodically dreary task of editing and posting.

And whenever I was tempted to wallow in the self-pitying muck of thankless tasks, I reminded myself of our copy editors - Lesley Carter and Maxwell Ryan. Without their vital but seldom noted work, our editorial standards would have been much harder to maintain. Thank you to them and to you…

Bramwell Ryan

The times they are a changin’…

theRubicon | soon under new management

On Wednesday, July 1, theRubicon will head to the beach for a summer break. When it returns (likely in August), it will be operating under a new team headed by Bruce Redman from Australia.

For some time, theRubicon lead team (Geoff & Bramwell Ryan), have been searching for someone to take over the journal. We wanted someone who understands the vision of theRubicon, someone who “gets it” and who can bring new vision and new energy that will sustain and better the site. We’re confident that Bruce can fill that role.

Bruce has been a regular contributor to theRubicon. He is a lecturer in documentary film-making at the University of Queensland and is a Salvationist involved with an inner-city corps plant in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Bruce has the requisite experience, skills, passion and capacity to take theRubicon forward.

We believe theRubicon to be a fundamentally good and valuable thing. It has created a safe place for people to engage, and some to re-engage, with The Salvation Army; it is the closest thing to a non-partisan free press within the Army, and it is a thoughtful and “liberal” voice (in the very best, old-world sense of the word). We are delighted Bruce and his team will continue this 3+ year legacy.

Thanks for your past and present interest, support and encouragement. We can all look forward to journeying with theRubicon as it heads into this exciting new chapter.

Watch for more information about the pending changes next Tuesday, June 30th.

theRubicon team

Hold Fast Hope | Album review

reviewed by Jon Bukiewicz

H

old Fast Hope, an up-and-coming band out of Toronto, Canada, brings us a four song EP entitled Acoustic Ep. The songs on this release The Last, The Lost, The Least, A World That Bleeds, Until Love Comes Through and Never Let Go combine to create an engaging debut that is full of acoustic-based arrangements and challenging lyrics.

Listen to all the tracks on MySpace

With influences ranging from pop/rock bands like Coldplay to Dashboard Confessional and the emotional drive of worship teams like Hillsong United, Hold Fast Hope fill these songs with layers of acoustic guitars, upbeat drums and accents of rock-influenced piano.

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In other tongues

Maxwell Ryan reminiscences…

There was a language barrier, not that we meant it to be that way, but just that I didn’t know German and they didn’t know English - apart from a few tourist phrases on either side. But it didn’t matter, for in this gathering there was operating a powerful means to communication that transcended speech patterns.

But let me set the scene. It was in a town in Germany and an international leader was conducting the final session of officers’ councils. There were problems which could have become hindrances but didn’t. For one, there was translation for which the speaker had to remember that the time for every talk had to be doubled, or if there were two languages for translation, tripled. Then there was the natural fatigue that comes from having a group of active Salvation Army officers cooped up in a relatively small room for lengthy meetings.

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The Twenty-Piece Shuffle

Book review | The Twenty-Piece Shuffle
Author: Greg Paul | Reviewed by Stephanie Hung

“Because when you’re out in the big bad world and things go terribly wrong, or wonderfully right, you want to go home. To mourn or to celebrate. To not have to be strong or reserved anymore - to give in to the need to tremble with fear, or be giddy with joy. To be able to do all of that without being humiliated or alone.”

The first time I saw the movie Amazing Grace on a flight from LA to Sydney it seemed one of the most boring, drawn out movies I could remember seeing, and so I stopped watching half way through. I must have been dead-tired at the time because when I re-watched it a few weeks ago, it struck me as one of the most amazing stories I’ve seen in a long time.

I’m wondering if this might be the case with Greg Paul’s work. When I read his first book, God in the Alley, I thought it was reasonable, but nothing to rave about (like many were doing). So, when I read his newest book, The Twenty-Piece Shuffle, admittedly I wasn’t expecting very much. I may now have to eat my words and borrow another copy of God in the Alley, because if it’s anything like The Twenty-Piece Shuffle, then it’s definitely worth a second look.

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