An Evaluation of Waggoner's
Covenant Concept
In evaluating Waggoner's views of the
covenants, one must remember the views others had of the subject during
the same time period. There was tension within the Christian community
concerning the covenants at the time the Seventh-day Adventist church
was in the process of formation. The two major traditions, Reformed and
Anabaptist, were in many respects, contrary to one another in the area
of the covenants. This was due to their different emphases, the former
upon the sovereignty of God and the latter upon the importance of man.
De Jong states that the Reformed-Calvinist position had been eclipsed by
the more individualistic and experimental approach of the Anabaptists by
the time of the Second Great Awakening.107
His solution to the covenant tension in the church is to return to the
Reformed position. By doing this God would be again seen by sinful man
as the only source of salvation and restore man to his proper relation
to God.108
More recently, McMahon has echoed the same sentiments, but arrived at
his conclusion by actually comparing the Reformed view of the law and
the gospel to Waggoner's views.
McMahon states that Waggoner denied the
Protestant doctrine of justification by faith by teaching, 'effective'
justification, sanctification by faith alone, the sinful nature of
Christ, perfectionism, and the mystical atonement. He also claims that
this was the reason for Waggoner's fall into pantheism.109
But one must understand that McMahon is judging Waggoner's teachings by
his understanding of Reformed theology. The question that needs
answering is whether or not the Reformed position is really the solution
by itself.
There are, however, serious problems
with the Reformed concept of salvation. This is best explained by
Sequeira in his pamphlet, "How Can We Know The Truth Of
Righteousness By Faith?". He suggests that the main weakness of
Reformed position is that it fails to deal effectively with the
"central issue of justification", namely, how God can justify
the sinner and still be true to the law which condemns the sinner to
death. Although Christ is our Substitute, by law, the results of sin
cannot be transferred from the guilty to the innocent. The position
really fosters a kind of "legal fiction." Due to their stand
upon legal justification, the Reformed portray Christ as unable to
deliver man from the principle of sin and self. Because of the doctrines
of predestination and election, they deny that Christ's death gave legal
justification to all men. This results in a misunderstanding of the new
birth experience, the relationship of sanctification to justification,
and the nature of faith.110
The Reformed position is also weak
because of its beliefs concerning the application of the covenant
concept to church polity and political theory. The great emphasis upon
the "theocratic ideal" has many times in their past been
another name for the combination of church and state. The weakness is
not so much the ideal of a "holy community" as it is the ways
in which attempted. The New England theologians consistently developed a
theocratic ideal which, to an observer, resembles the establishment of a
second Israel.111
The "nation under God" ideal was a vestige of the national
church concept that these settlers brought from Europe. True, democratic
tendencies were latent in some of their theories of church government,
but they resemble Anabaptist theology and not Reformed. This is
supported by the history of the strict Calvinistic covenantors of
Ireland and Scotland who applied the covenants to church and state
issues.112
De Jong identifies the Presbyterians as being those who brought this
concept to America.113
This emphasis would prove to be the foundation for the National Reform
Association of the late 1800's.
Many good points can be found in the
Reformed position. The covenants were understood not as a doctrine of
the church but as a "basic motif or pattern continuing and
modifying various doctrines in systematic theology." The Fall of
Man is seen not only as the breaking of law, but also the breaking of a
relationship or covenant. Salvation was to restore that relationship.
God is always pictured as inititiating all covenants and defining all
limits and requirements. the view of the Christian life is one that the
entire life and everything with it should be consecrated to God, not
just one's spiritual life. Finally, history should be interpreted from
Eden lost to Eden restored in light of the covenant relationship.114
The Reformed position, due to its
weakness in the area of "the central issue of justification",
really does not offer the solution to the tension within the Christian
church in regards to the covenant question. It does hold certain views
that enhance the covenant concept which truly aid in affecting a
unifying influence in the religious and practical life of the church.
The Anabaptist tradition also has its good points, such as the voluntary
membership in the covenant. This would be considered more in line with
Christ's legal justification for all men and the nature of faith which
affects regeneration of the heart of man. Historically speaking, this
approach has placed less emphasis upon ritual and sought to incorporate
religion into one's daily life. Civil government should be obeyed unless
it conflicted with Scripture.115
All these positions strengthen the moral side of the church in ways that
the Reformed position has failed. The revivals of the 1700's changed
many religious notions within this tradition.
Revivalism set its mark indelibly on
American church life. It explains the intensely emotional quality
which has persisted in certain strains of American Christianity; it is
responsible for the slightly defiant repudiation of the intellectual
elements in the faith. Undoubtedly it met the basic needs of the
frontiersman: the stark simplicity with which it set forth sin and
salvation as alternatives demanding an immediate choice were close to
his experience and within his grasp. … The profounder regions of
Christian experience remained outside of the grasp of the revivalist.
The crudity and violence of frontier life naturally resulted in a
strong emphasis on the moral transformation which faith effects. But
morality was conceived wholly in personal terms. Its wider
implications were ignored, and its attack was often limited to the
more obvious evils—drinking, swearing, gambling. … It lacked
theological depth, but like the society which it served it was
possessed of abundant vitality, and had as little doubt of its power
to claim America for Christ as of its duty to do so.116
The danger that the revival movement
represented to the Anabaptist approach can be understood when one
remembers that it already tended towards the practical instead of the
theological.117
With the coming of the revivals of the 1800's, there was a the great
difference between, say, Menno Simons' teachings, and that social gospel
of the revivalists. Thus, due to the overbalanced preaching during these
periods, much of the good doctrine had been neutralized into simple
legalism, moralism, and emotionalism.
The National Reform Movement that arose
during the mid-19th century was a mixture of the above traditions.
Unfortunately, it appeared to have the worst of both. It combined the
"theocratic ideal" of the Reformed theology with the
emotionalism of the revivals. The results were bad, not only for those
it discriminated against but for the churches that espoused it. By
accepting such a position, spiritual matters were forgotten by the
all-consuming crusade to make everyone religious. It is ironic that in
striving so hard to institute religion, many would actually lose their
ability to represent God aright as One who seeks the best good by love.
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