American Council of Christian Churches
58th Annual Convention, October 26–28, 1999
Hardingville Bible Church, Hardingville, NJ
Is The Protest Over?
Fundamentalism is indebted to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Many Bible believing churches trace their theological roots through the Protestant Reformation particularly in the doctrines of salvation and Scripture. The very term “Protestant” came into being 1529 in Speyer, Germany, when several godly men gathered and delivered a “protestation.” They asked the question, “What is the true and holy church?”
Sola Scriptura. “Scripture Alone,” was the cry of men like Luther, Calvin and Zwingli. These men believed the Scripture is wholly sufficient to meet the need of the human soul. The Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy to “hold fast the form of sound words” (2 Tim 1:13–14). This bedrock principle of “Scripture Alone” set the tone for the Protestant Reformation and was a benchmark for the early Fundamentalists of the 20th century. The contemporary church’s abandonment of “Scripture Alone” as the regulative principle has opened the church of today to some of the grossest imaginable abuses. As Christian Fundamentalists we see Scripture Alone as our absolute authority for faith and practice.
For a millennium the church was bewitched by Rome, it was indeed the dark ages up until the dawning of the Protestant Reformation. When the gospel was under attack, the Reformers cried Sola Fide, “Faith alone.” To this very day, Rome denies that salvation is by grace alone. We repudiate the message and motives by Evangelicals and Catholics in the recent ECT document, the Gift of Salvation document, and the Evangelical Celebration document and the new Lutheran and Catholic document the Joint Declaration of Justification.
The Protest is not over! Rome offers no Gospel. The American Council of Christian Churches, meeting in its 58th Annual Convention, October 26–28, 1999, in Hardingville, New Jersey, declares many doctrinal roots of true Fundamentalism are found in the Protestant Reformation in the matter of the centrality of Scripture and of the certainty of the Gospel. We are yet “Protestant” and call upon all Bible-believing Christians to beware of the bewitching of Rome and of compromising Evangelicals. True Christian Fundamentalists embrace the Reformers’ cry of “Scripture Alone,” “Faith Alone” and “Grace Alone.”
Picture: Martin Luther Memorial, Worms, Germany, Pixabay
Download this resolution:
Is the Protest Over
Is the Protest Over BULLETIN INSERT
