McGrath's Dangerous Idea?

Alister McGrath's new book "Christianity's Dangerous Idea" on the Reformation has been getting some positive buzz lately (here and here). After listening to a recent interview with McGrath (mp3) McGrath repeats something I first heard him say on a documentary on Luther. McGrath summarizes the "Dangerous Idea" as this: The Reformation was about the right of every individual to interpret the Bible for themselves. Now McGrath is 1000 times smarter than me and has been a Luther scholar for longer than I have been alive, but that summary bothers me. Wouldn't that make Luther the father of Liberalism that says "it is all about what it means to you, rather than an objective meaning."

Paul Althaus, a Lutheran scholar, said: “Luther never understands the priesthood of all believers merely in the sense of the Christian's freedom to stand in a direct relationship to God without a human mediator. Rather he constantly emphasizes the Christian's evangelical authority to come before God on behalf of the brethren and also of the world. The universal priesthood expresses not religious individualism but its exact opposite, the reality of the congregation as a community.”

Has anyone read the book yet? Am I getting the wrong conclusion from McGrath? Or is he right about Luther's individualism?

[I've loved McGrath's contributions to a theology of science and spirituality, where evangelicals are intellectually lacking, which is why he is distressing me here!]

Originally posted on Dead Theologians

Lone Star Founders Fraternal

If you are (1) given to Reformed theology and (2) Baptist(ic), particularly Southern Baptist, then the following may be of interest to you, monthly meetings of the Lone Star Founders Fraternal.

In association with Founder Ministries (a group that has been dedicated for 20 years to getting back to the rich theological heritage of the founder of the SBC), local pastors and future pastors meet to discuss topics related to theology and ministry (past meetings can be found on the website).

We typically meet the second Saturday of the month at 9AM at Providence Church in Garland.

The Lone Star Founders Fraternal promotes the fellowship and edification of SBC pastors/elders and future church leaders (e.g., theological students) who seek to glorify God by the preservation and promotion of the doctrines of grace in SBC church life. To the end of fellowship and unity, we request at least general agreement with the "5 Solas" as described in the Cambridge Declaration, but welcome Baptists who can generally affirm any of the following: London Baptist Confessions of 1644/46 or 1689 or the Abstract of Principles (1858).

Our next meeting (4/14 - 9AM) will feature DTS alum James Womack, pastor of Destiny Church in Fort Worth, as we discuss racial reconciliation, church desegregation, ethnic diversity and other related issues.

We have a nice group of pastors and seminary students (including some DTSers), but always have room at the breakfast table for another. If interested, I'd happily add you or someone whom you think might be interested to our email update list.

How Has Your Theology Changed?

Now that we're beginning to add to our list of Preach the Word contributors & readers, I thought I'd jump-start some discussion by posing the question: how has your theology changed most significantly since you graduated from DTS or as you've been studying at DTS? For instance, I know very few classmates who would consider themselves to be "Classic Dispensationalists" which is an interesting development considering the history of DTS. Maybe its something that you have changed your thinking about while attending DTS or maybe you've moved away from a theological position that you learned at DTS since graduating. Let the discussion begin.
[edit - I'm not necessarily attempting to make this about Dispensationalism. I was just mentioning that as an example.]