More From Dr. Tom Schreiner - Fundamentalism and the Already/Not Yet

In his NT Theology course, Dr. Schreiner continues to say things that not only challenge those of us in class to make practical application from NT theology, but also shatters the stereotypical understanding of what Southern is teaching and producing.

Yes, Southern is a school that holds strongly to Calvinism. I am currently writing a rather lengthy essay addressing this fact and the fuss it seems to raise in so many of our good Ariminian Baptist brothers and sisters. Put simply, what I see from our "heretical" Calvinistic professors is a passionate, all-powerful and all-loving view of God, a devotion to the substitutionary atonement of Christ, and a zeal for missions unlike any I have ever seen. This week is "great commission week" at the school. Here is just an excerpt from an email the school of theology students received from Dr. Russell Moore, the dean of the school of theology:

"I’m concerned about something, and I’d like to ask you to join me in prayer and action about it. It seems to me that too many of our churches—and too many of us—think of the Great Commission as little more than Jesus’ way of promoting a Christmas offering or of marketing an evangelistic video series. The problem, whenever the Great Commission is taken for granted, is the eclipse of Jesus. . .In the year 2008, I am challenging all of us in the School of Theology—faculty and students—to reinvigorate our place in this cosmic warfare by renewing our efforts at evangelism and missions."

A hyper-Calvinist? Ergun Caner and others can rant and rave all they want, but I have never met one and Southern Seminary had rather teach Hinduism than such a notion.

But anyway, back on point. Perhaps even greater than the Southern's high view of John Calvin is their high view of George Ladd! I am kidding, of course, but just barely. Ladd was a Baptist minister and theologian who taught at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Ladd ushered in the notion of "progressive dispensationalism", a nice middle ground between classic dispensationalism and covenant theology. Dr. Ware is a self-proclaimed progressive dispensationalist. But even the Southern professors who still consider themselves to be more on the lines of covenant theology, the "Already/Not Yet" of Ladd is clearly a driving force behind the understanding of the Kingdom of God at Southern. It has been incredibly helpful for me.

So, finally to the point of this post. Schreiner has been discussing some of the ways we can see the "Already/Not Yet" of the Kingdom of God played out in today's world. Examples such as "church hopping" when church members disagree and the ease at which couples are willing to divorce, he says, shows the overemphasis on the "Already." We expect too much perfection now. Then he said, "this is also why we must be weary of strict fundamentalism." Well, that perked us all up and we wondered where he was going. He then said this (and I am paraphrasing):

"One of the devastating problems with strict fundamentalism is complete isolation from others who think differently than us. We should not waiver from truth or compromise our beliefs, but we absolutely should be willing to work alongside others who think differently, who are Arminian for example, for the cause of Christ."

I emailed Dr. Schreiner when I got home to ask for more clarification about how to know when to unite and when to keep our distance. His response indicated that he believed there were "parting of the ways issues" and that we have to more narrowly draw the line when it comes to our churches and organizations with whom we unite. Nevertheless, "there are good people" he said "who we can learn from and work with who are different than us. Let us live by our convictions, Philip, but let us never think we have it all right."

Wow.