Limited atonement means limited Gospel

Sorry to go all theological, but this Sunday I attended an independent Baptist Church and experienced a quite different place on the theological spectrum.

I found there a great deal to admire - quite a few very normal looking people pace ones stereotype of Reformed Baptists (assuming one has one); a warm and comfortable building which must have been quite a stretch for what is relatively small congregation to purchase; several very positive points of engagement with the local community e.g. a Sunday School in an area of local deprivation a commitment to servant ministry in at least two old people's homes; a number of more traditional hymns, including one on the incarnation to the tune 'Morning has broken' which I'd never heard before but must track down; a varied and keen programme of events during the week which included a meal provided by the church's international students and, finally, a friendliness and hospitality towards the visitor, that is, me. They even had unfairly traded coffee, what more can I say?!

So what's not like to like? Well there's nothing wrong with a bit of angularity, its quite endearing these days given the 'namby pamby' climate that pervades much church life, but, on reflection what's not to like is the subtle and sometimes not so subtle insistence that they are right and everybody else is wrong. Everything appears to be sewn up and there is one point only of authority. Naturally and rightly this is the bible, but the bible as refracted through, at the level of principle, one tradition and, at the level of practice, one man, that is the man at the front leading the service and delivering the message.

Listening to the sermon, prayers and notices during the service and reading through the blurb afterwards, I gained the distinct impression that God's purpose in the world is focused more or less exclusively on the church with little room for anything or anyone else beside. And the reason? Augustine, of course, or rather Augustine as misrepresented and misunderstood by those who came later (though not, on my understanding, John Calvin). As the title makes clear, limited atonement really does means limited Gospel.

By the way, you'll have to work out the picture above for yourselves. Take a deep breath, then follow the dark line down....