C. Vaughn Doner

The Late, Great Evangelical Church by C. Vaughn Doner had a tremendous impact on me, paradigm shifting to be sure, for showing that gnosticism, the pernicious, age-old heresy, is alive and well in the American evangelical church, robbing it of its power and authority. But Doner takes a diamond and puts it in a tin ring. His inability to organize his thoughts abfuscates his message into obscurity. Every chapter is a restatement of what hs already been said with a few new thoughts along with a string of quotes thrown in, muting the impact of his argument. However, Doner has such a good thesis, that in spite of his writing, he changed the world as I see it.

After two chapters of throat-clearing, Doner shatters the notions of dispensationalism, pietism, and revivalism, all of which have repreented Christianity to me, by showing how gnosticism, though it has been condemned by the Church since the apostles, has come to undergird nearly every aspect of American evangelicalism, making it ineffectual in changing society and nearly unrecognizable as orthodox Christianity. Gnostics claim spirituality through secret knowledge that is imparted to them, making it difficult for one to discuss with anyone who feels this way because how dare one say that the message they received from God is wrong. In addition, Doner shows that the gnosticism as embraced by evangelicalism has destroyed what gives Christianity its strength and that is its historicity.

Other books such as Os Guinness' Fit Bodies or Fat Minds also shows the perils of pietism, dispensationalism, pragmatism, and other blemishes on evangelicalism’s face, but showing the perils is not the same as showing these beliefs to be wrong, but simply beliefs that can lead to wrong conclusions if one isn't careful. But Doner goes a step further to show that the foundation of these trends is not historic Christian doctrine but gnosticism.

Because of the emphasis of spirituality through inner secret knowledge instead of the orthodoxy of the creeds, pastors can become autonomous in their power over their congregations; they profess to have this secret knowledge, and no one dare challenge their decrees. In order to bolster their authority, Doner says that pastors "may employ theological paradigms like dispensationalism--even disqualifying those that show the slightest deviation from dispensational dogma . . .In their little pond, they enjoy more power than the Pope himself, unchecked as it were by the College of Cardinals and the historic rule of faith. In this case, the "rule of faith" is often whatever the pastor feels it should be . . ." p. 217. I know that pastor.

What Doner sees as the solution is not through seeking secret knowledge but through understanding the orthodox doctrine which has been passed down through the centuries from the apostles and church fathers through the creeds and confessions of the historical catholic church. Not a fashionable thing to say, but Christianity is what it was and nothing else.

Until recently, the church believed in sola scriptura. However, "contrary to Evangelical mythology, [the Protestant Reformers] did not mean "only scripture" should be utilized in addressing spiritual issues. The Reformers so respected church tradition and the early fathers that they quoted them extensively to support their argument that the pope had gone too far with his claim of infallibility. In fact, the Reformers claimed it was the medieval popes who were undermining the historic doctrine (tradition) of the church and that they were merely seeking to maintain fealty to the "corporate judgment of the patristic church." " p.201.

Doner points our that while most conservative evangelicals strongly support the inerrancy of scriptures, these same evangelicals also believe that one can have one's own interpretation of scripture, regardless of what has been accepted historically. Thus inerrancy is renedered meaninless. As Doner says, ten commandments become ten suggestions. Whenever anyone says, "what does this scripture mean to you", inerrancy has been plowed under and gnosticism has been planted in its place.

Doner's conclusion titled "Correcting Course", which I was anticipating for the length of the book, is flimsy. He spent the entire book telling the reader that modern evangelicalism is not fulfilling the Great Commission, but when he has a chance to tell us how, he is vague and elliptical. He is excited to tell us about that some young people think that Jonathon Edwards is just all right with them and wear T-shirts that exclaim, "JONATHON EDWARDS IS MY HOMEBOY." Needless to say, I was underwhelmed.

Since Doner recognizes that most American Christians are not knowledgeable of the history of Christianity, a list of creeds, confessions, and books by church leaders through the centuries with synopses would have been helpful to those who want to become founded in orthodox Christianity. He does give a recommendation of authors to read in a bibliography, but only modern authors that he quoted to support his thesis.

Other evangelical leaders need to pick up the ideas of Doner and expound and expand on them clearly. If a poorly organized book such as this one could have rocked my world, I tremble to think what a well-written book would have done.… (mer)