RENEWING GOD'S PEOPLE, A REVIEW

Renewing God's People was written by Dr. Douglas Foster and Dr. Gary Holloway of Abilene Christian and David Lipscomb Universities. It is a recent addition to a growing list of titles designed to promote and implement "progressive" changes in doctrine and practice changes among the Churches of Christ.  Recommended for use in adult Bible classes, it offers a revisionist interpretation of the history of the Restoration Movement of which we are part. If members can be successfully reeducated concerning the church, our past and what we believe, they will be more receptive to suggestions to introduce unauthorized changes into their congregations.

The authors' fawning admiration of Alexander Campbell's Lunenburg Letters (pp. 80-81), speaks volumes of their intentions. True, Campbell eventually came to believe that pious unimmersed people in the denominations would be saved.  But Campbell was only a man.  His beliefs and practices were no more authoritative than yours or mine.  He was wrong on this matter as he was when he called for a national missionary organization. To these authors it seems if they can find a line of approval for their ideas from Campbell or Stone that is sufficient to trump any Biblical statement, no matter how plain.

A brief sampling of some of their ideas is enlightening. Note the following:

	"...we do not claim to be the only Christians" (p. 82).
	" ...it was not just the (Civil) war but its aftermath, particularly Reconstruction in the South, that broke Christian Fellowship." They infer that rather than serious doctrinal issues such as instrumental music in worship, missionary societies, women in leadership, fellowship with denominational bodies and theological liberalism it was these social issues that separated us from the Disciples of Christ/Christian Churches (p. 91).
	"Certainly the story of this (break with the Disciples of Christ)...is one of the most embarrassing parts of our heritage"
	(p. 98). Why should it be embarrassing to us that they departed from the faith revealed in the New Testament?
	"...although, we sometimes gave lip service to unity and being Christians only" (p. 113).  Since 1930, "We talked little of Christian unity and practiced it even less. Fewer voices called for Churches of Christ to be truly non-sectarian" (p. 111). Perhaps this was the case in their congregations, but not in the city where this author grew up.

As their liberal cousins in the other realms are wont to do, they see no positive progress in racial attitudes among "White" Churches of Christ.  They are impressed that the president of ACU went to Terrell, TX and made a public apology to the faculty and students of Southwestern Christian College for failures of past generations of his school's administrators.  Such pilgrimages have become a sort of sackcloth and ashes experience for true liberals of our day (See pp. 108,117,121,122).

The authors near their conclusion with a glowing description of the bastions of "progressive," i.e., liberal thought and action in the church.  Highlighted are Abilene Christian University, Pepperdine University, Rubel
Shelly's Nashville Jubilee Celebration and Tulsa's Soul Winning Workshop.  Special attention is given to the New Hermeneutic, developed by the change agents to help them evade the embarrassing  limitations of Bible authority. An attempt is made at discrediting the law of silence mentioned in Heb. 7:12-14 (p. 129).

The authors reflect the typical condescending attitude toward all those not subscribing to their "progressive ideas. "Conservatives tend to be unaware of or hostile to recent shifts in the larger culture"  (p. 130-131). To them our approach to the faith has "led to a severe disconnection between doctrine and life" (p. 122).

The closing chapter, on the church as "a refugee movement" seeks to convince members of the Church of Christ to accept a denominational status; to back away from the Biblical name, "churches of Christ," to get more involved in the civil rights movement and to promote fellowship with our denominational neighbors.  Before elders approve of this book being used in their adult Bible classes they should decided if they are ready to go where Foster and Holloway would like to take them.