A Call To Orthodoxy

Introduction

When I entered the Advent Christian Church, I didn’t realize the nature of our inclusivity. I knew that we had a broad tent regarding the roles of men and women, soteriology, and other doctrines. What surprised me was the neglect and outright rejection of what the church has used historically to define itself. That is Christ as revealed in the Scriptures and the ecumenical creeds who teach what it is to follow him. Although the Advent Christian Church has historically rejected the historic ecumenical creeds as binding in any form or fashion, we must ascend to Christian orthodoxy because it is accurate and faithful to what the Scriptures teach and continued rejection of historic Christian orthodoxy harms our churches, congregants, and mission.

Same Name Different God

Imagine if my wife described me as slender, clean-shaven, neatly dressed, short, and quiet. Then you met me and saw that I towered over most people, sported a Dad-bod, wore crocs, and have a beard that hides my chest. You’d think my wife must be talking about her other husband. That’s quite similar to our disagreements regarding the nature of God. Although we maintain denominational fellowship with those who reject the Trinity, we worship a different God because we disagree as to who God is.  

Some will suggest that the term Trinity is not in the Bible, and they’d be correct. But neither is the term Bible. Should that mean we don’t use a word we’ve used for centuries? The term Trinity conveys the three in oneness of our God. He is of one divine essence, will, and power while existing as three persons.[i] The creeds use the term homooussias to describe all three persons having the same essence (divine nature and qualities) and subsistence. This is in contrast to homoioussiaswhich means similar essence, or heterooussias, meaning different essence; if Jesus and the Spirit are not coequal and coeternal with the Father as some suggest, they are not of the same essence. 

Suppose one believes that Jesus and the Spirit are of a different or similar oussia. In contrast, others believe that all three persons of the Godhead are homooussia, then these two groups are worshipping a different God. When Jesus says that he desires for his disciples to be united just as he and the Father are united, then doesn’t it follow that his disciples would agree to who he is? Just as the Muslim worships Allah and rejects Jesus as the Messiah, the Jew worships Yahweh and rejects Jesus as the Messiah, so does the one who worships Jesus, not as God Almighty but God almost mighty.

When one rejects Christ and the Spirit as subsisting in the same essence as the Father, they enter into tritheism or Arianism.[ii] They embrace either the worship of three gods (tritheism) or three persons who differ in importance and authority in one god (subordination).

There was never and will never be a time in which the Son and Spirit have not been. Instead, historic Christianity from the Apostles until the Enlightenment has maintained that the Son is begotten and the Spirit is spirated from eternity.[iii]Although works are attributed to each person in the Godhead in creation and salvation, each work is a work of God in his divine essence, will, and power because all three persons “share the divine agency of one God.”[iv]

Same Name Different Religion

What makes someone a Christian? In our denomination, it’s long been held that it’s their works. We’ve been reminded time and again that Advent Christians hold that to be an Advent Christian, one must simply demonstrate Christian character. It’s not Christ. It’s character. As long as you look like us, talk like us, and act like us, then you can be part of the club. Although we share the name Advent Christian, we are not a Christian denomination because we do not have a shared creed or confession of faith other than Christian character.

 I can hear the No Creed But The Bible chants coming from the top rope. One might even suggest this goes against the Protestant Reformation ethos of Sola Scriptura. Consider these words from Carl Trueman: 

“Thoughtful Protestants then, and ever since, have understood the Reformers as arguing for what we might call a tradition normed by Scripture. In other words, Protestants know that they use language and conceptual terminology not found explicitly in the Bible; but they understand such are useful in understanding what Scripture says and, at the point where they are found to be inadequate for this task, or even to contradict Scripture, there they must be modified or abandoned.”[v]

Religious freedom is foundational to the modern western society. It is our right to disagree on matters of faith and religion. However, if our consciences are bound to reject the Trinity and historic Christian orthodoxy, let us do so explicitly so those who wish to serve alongside others of the same conviction can do so in good conscience.

It’s been suggested by some in our denomination that I should quietly leave behind my Advent Christian affiliation because we’ve historically rejected any codified and united faith. What I’m seeking cannot and should not be found in the Advent Christian Church. That might be the case, yet I’m reminded by my good friend and fellow pastor Nathaniel Bickford, who says that we must at least try to bring our denomination to a biblical understanding of who God is and what he does.

What’s Next?

2017 ACGC Triennial was historic in that we overwhelmingly approved a statement of faith that reflects Nicene orthodoxy. It is time to make this statement of faith a requirement for ordination and for churches to maintain membership in local conferences. To do therwise would confuse our mission of taking the Gospel of Christ to the world because we’ve confused who and what it means to follow Christ. If we cannot unite under the broad umbrella of Christian orthodoxy, then we must reassess who we are and what we are doing. Each person must search the Scriptures, prayerfully study and discuss God’s Word and plot their course according to their convictions.

Endnotes

[i] Matthew Barrett, Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit(Ada: BakerBooks, 2021), 56.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Ibid., 60.

[iv] Adonis Vidu, The Same God Who Works All Things: Inseparable Operations in Trinitarian Theology(Grand Rapids, MI: William. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2021), 1.

[v] Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 17.