tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28988815.post6661134655994944230..comments2023-08-15T06:44:05.705-05:00Comments on Pure Church: Can the Predominantly African-American Church Be Reformed? 8FellowElderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08590139703839397873noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28988815.post-44275192987032639272007-03-09T19:39:00.000-05:002007-03-09T19:39:00.000-05:00Anonymous,Thanks for dropping by and asking a real...Anonymous,<BR/>Thanks for dropping by and asking a really good question. It's a statement that shouldn't go uninspected. <BR/><BR/>I make the statement on a couple of grounds, if you'll allow me to speak in general (too general?) terms about "the African American church". <BR/><BR/>I'm making this comment about the church between the rise of independent black churches (1770s by most accounts) and 1830 (before the radicalization of the abolitionist movement). That church:<BR/>1. Held the gospel with a clear conscience;<BR/>2. Held a consistently (and universally) high anthropology which can't be said of the "white church" (again, generalizing);<BR/>3. Was quite active in missions to the Caribbean and Africa; <BR/>4. Practiced church discipline and membership pretty regularly; and<BR/>5. Worked out a strategy for social engagement from a gospel center as opposed to a later social gospel, etc.<BR/><BR/>Off the top of my head, those would be my reasons for stating that. I think other churches pretty much failed on 1 and 2 when it came to the African question, and all of the churches would drift on 3-5 beginning in the 1800s.<BR/><BR/>Hope that helps.<BR/>ThabitiFellowElderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08590139703839397873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28988815.post-77614651474187287102007-03-09T19:25:00.000-05:002007-03-09T19:25:00.000-05:00"The African-American church" was once the home of..."The African-American church" was once the home of the purest form of Christianity practiced on American soil and she can be the fulcrum of reform in not only the African-American Christian world but the larger Christian world as well."<BR/><BR/>On what grounds do you make this claim?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28988815.post-71950069000815874002007-03-06T16:50:00.000-05:002007-03-06T16:50:00.000-05:00Excellent series Thabiti, Thanks so much for writ...Excellent series Thabiti, <BR/>Thanks so much for writing them.<BR/>I was directed toward your blog via Phillip Fletcher's new blog (<A HREF="http:///www.christgloryalone.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">Christ Glory Alone</A>).<BR/><BR/>I am glad to see you mention brother Michael Leach -- he doesn't know it yet but he is my mentor. He is doing excellent work at not just calling for Reform among the African-American Church but for the Church in its entirety.<BR/><BR/>He has inspired me to do work in this area & I have since conducted several audio discussions on the topic:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://thekingdomcome.com/black_calvinism_discussion" REL="nofollow">Black Calvinism</A><BR/><A HREF="http://thekingdomcome.com/origins_of_racism" REL="nofollow">The Origins of Racism</A><BR/><A HREF="http://thekingdomcome.com/race_and_the_bible" REL="nofollow">Did God Make Them Black?</A><BR/><BR/>These are some great, honest discussions.<BR/><BR/>Michael Leach says that one of the keys to getting not just the African-American Church but the entire Church back to a Reformed perspective is more teaching on what it means to be <I>"in covenant"</I>. This division between black & white Christians is no less an error than was the division between Jewish & Gentile Christians in the first-century. We need to realize Christians are to be identified not primarily by their ethnicity but by their confession of the faith -- by the <I>"convenant"</I> into which we all have been re-born.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again, I hope I can help.<BR/>In Christ alone,<BR/>RoderickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com