Calvinist Flyswatter

Founders' "party line"

THE "PARTY LINE" OF THE FOUNDERS
AS ELABORATED BY TOM ASCOL

Note: The following is another item from Ian Elsasser who is once again demonstrating from the Flounders themselves that their "purpose" has never been a fulfilling of the Great Commission in winning lost souls and establishing churches, but rather the promotion of "Reformed" theology (Hybrid Calvinism).

Ian:
I came upon a Founders Journal article by Tom Ascol titled "Southern Baptists at the Crossroads: Returning to the Old Paths." This article pretty much reiterates Founder Ernest Reisinger's convictions that the SBC needs to embrace Reformed theology or the Founders' Calvinism to remedy the existent problems in the convention and its churches.

In pointing out that the problems (viz. meaningless membership and moral relativism) are "symptoms of deeper difficulties" and that the root of the problem is in the area of "sound doctrine," Ascol says that it was not just any doctrine but was Reformed or Calvinistic doctrine:

"Call it what you will -- Calvinism, reformed theology, the doctrines of grace -- these truths are nothing less than historic Southern Baptist orthodoxy. This is the theology which gave rise to the formation and early development of the great missionary and evangelistic enterprise which we know as the Southern Baptist Convention. This is what our forefathers believed to be the true teaching of Scripture. These are the doctrines on which they built their churches and which undergirded their ministries. And if these doctrines were true then, they are still true today, because the Bible has not changed, God has not changed, and truth does not change.

"If we hope to see a renewal in our churches (how we live), then we must be willing to seek a renewal in our theology (what we believe). Our doctrinal heritage can be very helpful as it challenges our thinking and points us forward into a renewed understanding of God's Holy Word."

If Ascol and Founders Ministries still believe this to be the case, then we must conclude that their purpose remains unchanged: to make churches Reformed. In the words of the Founders Ministries' Purpose statement:

"The purpose of Founders Ministries is the recovery of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the reformation of local churches. We believe intrinsic to this recovery is the promotion of the Doctrines of Grace in their experiential application to the local church particularly in the areas of worship and witness. This is to be accomplished through a variety of means focusing on conferences and including publication, education, pastoral training and other opportunities consistent with the purpose. Each of the ministries will be developed with special attention to achieve a healthy integration of doctrine and devotion.

BOB'S NOTE: The "purpose" of the Flounders has never been evangelism and soul-winning, but the so-called "reform" of SBC churches to the Reformed theology and to some extent Reformed ecclesiology. That is why they have never engaged in efforts to convert the unsaved and establish churches with the converts. The Flounders have always been a leeching, proselyting entity.

posted by Bob L. Ross @ 9:36 PM