Note: this is a timely article from Paul Dohse in that the Basic Christian Ministry in the future is going to concentrate almost exclusively on the very important Believers Priesthood aspect of Christianity. Though with a slight difference in that Mr. Dohse is saying that the Believers Priesthood is separate from Protestant Christianity while it is my understanding and [conservative Baptist] upbringing that considers the Believers Priesthood to be the true essential Protestant Christianity.

Also Note: recently a blog (TheWartburgWatch.com) was involved in a mild controversy regarding their desire to reform or rehabilitate Reformed Theology (Calvinism), saying that Calvinism could be a viable and sustainable form of Christianity if it underwent some simple changes in adhering to ‘genuine’ Calvinism and the controversy ensued in that ‘genuine’ Calvinism in its inception [i.e. limited atonement] is thought by some [myself included] to not be Orthodox. In his article Mr. Dohse is somewhat concluding that both Calvinism and Protestantism need to be replaced with the Believers Priesthood but it is the position of the Basic Christian Ministry that true Protestantism is the Believers Priesthood as presented in the Christian New Testament Bible.

Reblogged from: Paul’s Passing Thoughts

Protestantism is [somewhat] predicated on confusion [i.e. the deliberate and confusing change of the start of the Christian Church from Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost, relocating Mt. Sinai from Arabia to Egypt, the eventual removal of the Believer’s Priesthood and authority from among the people, etc.] … But I wonder if those in authority even understand. Frankly, I doubt it, and in many cases those who have the authority to take such action simply don’t know what is really going on while using confidentially as a pious cover to conceal that fact.

Protestantism is [somewhat] predicated on confusion. It is no friend of thinking people or critical thinkers. The foundations of Protestantism are elitist, caste, and fraught with mysticism and superstition [i.e. relocating Mt. Sinai from Arabia to Egypt]. The Reformers were murdering bigots. Martin Luther could not be a pastor in any American church upon the reading of “The Jews and Their Lies” [a disastrous rant of a book written in 1543 AD by Martin Luther]. His statements concerning women would raise some brows as well. The problem would be the “upon the reading” part.

For revival to take place in the American church Protestantism must be scraped completely and the church must return to an emphasis on the priesthood of believers. We must rethink all of the traditions of men that are the American church. It’s called, “orthodoxy.” We must become Bereans and take back the church—the God-breathed word must be our authority and pastors must bow to its authority or be rejected as leaders. We should submit to leaders who submit to the authority of the word. They do not have the authority to be wrong.

New Calvinism is a return to authentic Protestantism amidst anemic Protestant Light that has plagued the American church since the unfortunate arrival of the Pilgrims on America’s shores with their European Calvinistic Puritan virus. They never made it far inland for lack of curiosity and vision. Spiritual tyranny soon followed and has always been repackaged as heroism by the traditions of men. As good Protestant anti-thinkers, we deem their behaviors like a bad hair day. Quakers and women hanging at the end of a rope, their only crime being the desire for some clarification, must not be relevant; our Protestant philosopher kings pat our little heads and tell us so—all is well, nothing here, return to the Protestant merry-go-round and commendable idiocy. Because it is “humble.” Proof? How about Reformed/Calvinistic anti-spiritual abuse bloggers? Where do they think the abuse comes from? Again, like the Puritan issue, behavior is separated from their ideology like the two are mutually exclusive. This is the acceptance of tradition over sound thinking.

Authentic Calvinism is so viral in reasoning and behavior that even the overseers of our present mental leprosy are beginning to reject it. New Calvinists are being fired from religious positions of authority from coast to coast. However, in many cases, it is not known that they are New Calvinists, and in most cases they are dismissed because, “something doesn’t seem right, but we don’t know exactly what it is.” I suppose this is a good start. It’s better to fire people if you can articulate their specific faults, but nevertheless, something is better than nothing. The Feds couldn’t indict Al Capone on what he was really guilty of, so they changed the standards in order to indict him on something else. This is sort of the same thing.

A disclaimer: I know little of the Baptist stripe that supports Northland International University, but they are among the latest evangelical organizations to fire someone in a position of authority; in this case, a university president. The name of this president is Matt Olson, and a cursory observation of his blog reveals the fact that he is a New Calvinist. Literally ten seconds into surfing his blog, I locked in on a post that touts the idea that we can eclipse the majesty of Christ as seen by the world through an emphasis on obedience. So what’s the alternative? What exactly do we emphasize over obedience that doesn’t obscure the “personhood” of Christ? He doesn’t say, and nobody asks—it sounds spiritual—and he is a philosopher king. And so it goes.

Par for the course: the university is not stating specifically why he was terminated, but nevertheless, also par, people will continue to donate money to the college because it is not their place to know what the controversy is. Thou in authority has spoken. Let it be written—let it be done. Besides, the donors probably wouldn’t understand.

But I wonder if those in authority even understand. Frankly, I doubt it, and in many cases those who have the authority to take such action simply don’t know what is really going on while using confidentially as a pious cover to conceal that fact. But it’s a good start.

paul (Paul Dohse)