Whither the National Confessionalism movement/website?

[RamistThomist]

In the collection of (admitted quality) essays in God and Politics: Four Views, one of the groups was National Confessionalism (the other groups represented were Principled Pluralism, Theonomy, and Christian America). I no longer have the book, but is there a website that continues to promote the National Confessional view?

 

[FCC]

Jacob,
I am unaware of any web site that promotes the National Confessionalism view, at this time. It is a very small movement that is kept alive by a remnant of believers. I believe that J. Parnell McCarter is attempting to establish something along these lines, his group can be found at THE PURITANS’ NETWORK. I haven't kept up with them in the recent past due to studying out the implication of the Solemn League and Covenant myself. Please let me know if you locate any other groups promoting this view!

 

[RamistThomist]

I came across that site, too. I think that and SWRB are the main ones. From what I gather the National Reform Association headed by Einwechter isn't a Covenanter group, since they allowed Catholics to speak at meetings (or so one someone charged) and it is headed by a Baptist (which seems to be precluded by the Solemn League and Covenant).

 

[Fly Caster]

For what it's worth, here's a link to the essay presenting that view in the book.

http://www.westminster.coresense.com/pdf_files/9780875524481.pdf

 

[R Harris]

I came across that site, too. I think that and SWRB are the main ones. From what I gather the National Reform Association headed by Einwechter isn't a Covenanter group, since they allowed Catholics to speak at meetings (or so one someone charged) and it is headed by a Baptist (which seems to be precluded by the Solemn League and Covenant).

Jacob, I was on the board of the NRA back in the 90s, so I will attempt to speak to some of your issues.

To my knowledge, and I have been involved with the NRA since 1991, I am not aware of any NRA sponsored event where a Roman Catholic spoke, so this must be some urban legend you have heard. Again, to my knowledge, there has not been a president of the NRA who was Baptist probably in the last 100 years or so. The Covenanters did head up the NRA for at least the last century, but the presidents since the mid 1990s were not Covenanter (such as Jeff Ziegler, Andrew Sandlin, Bill Einwechter, and John Fielding. I never knew any of these men to be associated with a Baptist denomination).

Recently Patrick Marx was the President, and he is an ordained Covenanter minister. The publication of the NRA, the Christian Statesman, has not been published for the last 5 years due to lack of funds. The entire NRA organization is sadly at present in a "dormant" state due to lack of funding. Consequently, the website we did have is no longer operational.

 

[RamistThomist]

Thank you. I withdraw some of my statements. I thought Bill Einwechter was a Baptist. If I recall correctly, he did a series of lectures on credo-baptism. That's why I called him a baptist.

 

[KMK]

William O Einwechter is a Reformed Baptist.

Immanuel Free Reformed Church

However, I am not sure about his relationship with the NRA.

 

[RamistThomist]

I ask the OP in a sense that is largely appreciative of the National Reform Assocation.

 

[KMK]

Here is William O. Einwechter's bio from his Sermon Audio page:

William O. Einwechter is a teaching elder at Immanuel Free Reformed Church. He is a graduate of Washington Bible College (B.A.) and Capital Bible Seminary (Th.M.) and was ordained to the Gospel Ministry in 1982. He is the vice president of the National Reform Association and editor of the periodical "The Christian Statesman." He is the author of "Ethics and God's Law" and "English Bible Translations: By What Standard?" and editor of the book "Explicitly Christian Politics." His writings have appeared in "The Christian Statesman," "Chalcedon Report," and "Patriarch." He and his wife Linda are the parents of 10 children.

 

[R Harris]

In my personal conversatons with Bill, this never really came up. To simply see "Immanuel Free Reformed Church" does not immediately or necessarily convey "reformed baptist." I am aware that he had some lectures or sermons on credo baptism, and I think his credo positions were something that evolved in the early 2000s, but again I am not certain of that since it never has been a discussion item.

National Confessionalism is certainly not a Covenanter distinctive, as many men of different denominations have held to that position over the past 150 years or so. At one point in the history of the NRA (1865-1900), the NRA board and membership had representation from as many as 11 different denominations, but the Covenanter influence was in the majority. Membership numbers peaked around 1919-1921, with the count as high as 50,000 - a pretty large national number for that time period. As of 2005 or so, the number was around 1600, with that count really being the number of subscribers to the Statesman.

 

[FCC]

For what it's worth, here's a link to the essay presenting that view in the book. http://www.westminster.coresense.com...0875524481.pdf

Thank you for that link Timothy! I have not read the book, as of yet, and I am very interested in continuing to study out this issue. We are working our way through several documents on the U.S. Constitution and it's failure to recognize God or Christ or Biblical law and the implications of that down to our time. I found this article very interesting and share it in the hopes that others will read it and share their thoughts, The U.S. Constitution Weighed in the Balance.

My family had wondered what had happened to the NRA. We sent in a donations several years ago, but then heard nothing further from them. It is a shame that the church's testimony in this area is missing!

 

[RamistThomist]

The book is worth getting as a historical reference. The essays are quite different. Bahnsen's essay on theonomy is cogent. The one specifically arguing for Natl. Confs. by Edgar is weak (I say this as one who is in the Covenanting position).

For laughs, one should read John Knox and Calvin's view of the magistrate using the sword to protect the Reformed religion, and then reading the principled pluralists' essays! I always get a good chuckle noting the contrast. All of the responses to the pluralist position are quite good and devastating. The actual essays are of mixed value.

For what it's worth, here's a link to the essay presenting that view in the book. http://www.westminster.coresense.com...0875524481.pdf

Thank you for that link Timothy! I have not read the book, as of yet, and I am very interested in continuing to study out this issue. We are working our way through several documents on the U.S. Constitution and it's failure to recognize God or Christ or Biblical law and the implications of that down to our time. I found this article very interesting and share it in the hopes that others will read it and share their thoughts, The U.S. Constitution Weighed in the Balance.

My family had wondered what had happened to the NRA. We sent in a donations several years ago, but then heard nothing further from them. It is a shame that the church's testimony in this area is missing!