A SEARCH FOR BOUNDARY IN THE POSTMODERN WORLD John B. Wong, MD, JD, PhD
Copyright
Introduction
Before Jesus was arrrested and put on trial, as recorded in John 17, He prayed for unity among Christian
believers and unity with God. My discussion today seeks to examine whether Seventh-day Adventists as a
Christian body is within the ambit of the larger visible Christian body, namely the Evangelical Church? Or
put the question in a different way, whether the Adventist theology is consonant with the orthodoxy of
evangelicalism as defined later in the paragraphs? And if so, what might be the Adventist contribution to the
Evangelical movement?
In unity, there is strength and evangelistic effectiveness. In diversity, there is richness, fellowship, and
communion. I'd like to use the Trinitarian model as well as the Bible to argue why we should have both
unity and diversity in the Church--the invisible Church of God.
The Christian concept of Trinity states that God is one substance (Greek-ousia) or one essence with three
distinct persons (Greek-hypostaseis)--Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Each of the Trinitarian Person is fully
God--the very God of very God. There is unity in purpose, in the essence of God, but the three Persons in
the Trinity have distinct, different, primary functions and diverse activities in relating to the created order
and to us humans.The three different Persons in the Godhead have one, unified purpose in restoring a
perfect, loving relationship between God and fallen humanity and to accomplish through love and justice this
one goal--peace and perfect harmony in the whole creation. Also take the Bible for example. It is the Word
of God with significant internal coherence and unity in its message and revelation of God's will for
humanity. Yet, this Word of God is rich in its multiple authorship with some forty writers of different
personalities over a long period of time. It is rich and diverse in its metaphors, narratives and perspectives.
Or use a practical illustration of a family which is made up of husband, wife and children. The Christian
family of male, female, young and older members with different temperament ideally is one in purpose, one
in upholding certain values, and unified in modeling after one Lord, Jesus Christ. But the family members all
have different functions, activities, and different expressions of Christian modeling. My point is: unity and
diversity do not have to be mutually exclusive; both can coexist in the Christian context for growth, for
enrichment, for evangelism, and for fulfilling God's purpose in our own individual lives and in the Christian
community. Let us apply this concept to the evangelical churches and examine for Christian unity's sake
whether the SDA church is within the boundary of defined evangelicalism and whether she has anything to
contribute.
Definition Of Evangelicalism
Evangeliscalism, evangelism, evangelist, evangelical, evangelize all come from the Greek root noun
euangelion meaning good news, gospel; or the verb euangelizomai meaning to bring good news or proclaim
glad tidings.1 The German adjective evangelisch means evangelical or Protestant, hence die evangelische
Kirche, the Protestant Church, in contrast to Katholisch, the Roman Catholic.
Through the centuries and also depending on countries, the word evangelical has taken on different
shades of meaning. Historically, evangelicalism 2 is a Christian renewal movement within orthodox
Christianity. The evangelical tradition traces its historical and cultural roots to the Apostolic, early and
medieval churches, the Protestant reformation, the European and English churches, the first and Second
Awakenings, the English, Continental, and American revivals, the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy
and Billy Graham's evangelistic crusades, and other prominent evangelicals' writings. After WWII, neo-
evangelicals have emerged. They not only believe in the truthfulness of the Bible as the fundamentalists do,
but they also pay attention to intellectual vigor, cultural familiarity, social engagement, and political
activism. Some of the well-known evangelicals range from John Stout of England, Allister McGrath of
Oxford, J. I. Packer, Clarke Pinnock, Stanley Grenz, and Ian Rennie of Canada, Geoffrey Bromiley of