Why Cannot a Cessationist Calvinist Theologian Use His Pulpit for Crusades against Abortion, Sodomy and Feminism, But Can Use it for Crusades against Charismatics, Pentecostals and Neo-Pentecostals?
The
church should be concerned about feminism, homosexuality, abortion and global
warming scams, a Brazilian Calvinist leader seemed to suggest at the 2017
Ligonier National Conference held last March.
 |
| Augustus Nicodemus at Ligonier reading his speech paper at the exact moment when he said that Pentecostals have just “static, emotional and mystical experiences.” |
Theological Liberalism in the Most Prominent Calvinist University in Brazil
In his speech at the Ligonier National
Conference, Nicodemus said,
“When the church gives in to internal errors
and external pressures, the effects are first felt in its theology. Then there
are changes in the ethics and morality of the church. It leaves God’s Word
aside and follows what society thinks about feminism, homosexuality and
abortion. It becomes more, much more concerned with global warming than with
God’s holiness. Soon the worship of God is affected. It goes on to reflect the
centrality of men and in the veneration of culture — theology of glory. In the
end all this expels from the pulpits biblical exposition.”
Was Nicodemus talking about
Mackenzie Presbyterian University (MPU), where he was a chancellor? MPU has
prominent professors who are:
* Prominent advocates of abortion. In a Senate hearing on August 6,
2015, MPU
professor Márcia Tiburi said, “To vociferate against abortion
is just a biopolitical way to control women’s lives. Abortion legalization is a
fundamental part of a socially responsible democratic process.”
* Prominent advocates of homosexuality. MPU
professor Marcelo Moreira Neumann, author of
the Brazilian study “Homophobic Bullying and School Performance,” defends
automatic gender neutrality in birth registries.
* Prominent advocates of Marxism. MPU
professor Osvaldo Coggiola has several books defending Marxism,
including the Cuban Revolution.
It
is so no wonder that a radical gay activist in Brazil has
praised Mackenzie Presbyterian University for its secular outlook, even
though it was founded by Calvinists and it is officially owned by the
Presbyterian Church of Brazil.
Nicodemus’s speech at the Ligonier
National Conference was a total contradiction of his 10-year tenure (2003 to
2013) as chancellor at Mackenzie Presbyterian University. His departure from
the MPU chancellery happened after I
exposed that he had invited Jean Wyllys, a prominent homosexual activist, for a
debate in MPU.
So what accounts for the Mackenzie
Presbyterian University to have pro-sodomy, pro-abortion and Marxist
professors?
Let us try the very arguments made
by Nicodemus.
* Has the MPU owner, the
Presbyterian Church of Brazil, given in to internal errors and external
pressures?
* Has the MPU owner, the
Presbyterian Church of Brazil, had changes in its ethics and morality?
* Has the MPU owner, the Presbyterian
Church of Brazil, left God’s Word aside and followed what society thinks about
feminism, homosexuality and abortion?
What is the explanation for the Mackenzie
Presbyterian University to have pro-sodomy, pro-abortion and Marxist
professors? Perhaps because MPU chancellors waste much of their time in
crusades against charismatics, Pentecostals and neo-Pentecostals, but they do
not use their pulpit for crusades against abortion, sodomy and feminism.
Among Brazilian Presbyterians, there
is a fight for the highly paid posts in MPU, which are greatly coveted. He who
has power in MPU has assured power within the Presbyterian Church of Brazil. In
addition of occupying the post of chancellor, which afforded him a very high
salary, Nicodemus had great power in MPU and his denomination.
Nicodemus wasted his 10-year tenure
at MPU attacking charismatics, Pentecostals and neo-Pentecostals, but he did
not attack pro-sodomy, pro-abortion and Marxist activists, especially professors
at MPU.
American
evangelical audiences love conservative stances against abortion, homosexuality
and Marxism, and Nicodemus gave them exactly this at Ligonier. But why did not he
defend such stances at the Mackenzie Presbyterian University?
Ligonier
National Conference was idealized by R.C. Sproul, a notorious Calvinist
theologian who was much more forthright in his cessationist advocacy than
is Nicodemus, whose cessationist advocacy is evasive and dissimulative.
Cessationism is the highly controversial theory that prophecies, revelations
and other supernatural manifestations from the Holy Spirit disappeared after
the death of the original Apostles. Supposedly, according to this theory,
people today having such gifts are possessed by demons or psychological
problems.
Nicodemus is completely right in
saying that when the church leaves God’s Word aside, it follows what society
thinks about feminism, homosexuality, abortion and global warming scams. In a
lesser or greater grade, this is a reality in many Calvinist pulpits in Brazil
where Theology of Integral Mission (the Brazilian version of the Social Gospel)
is prevalent.
The focus of these pulpits on
social issues from a left-wing perspective is not matched by an equal focus by
anti-socialist sermons from a conservative perspective. There is no Calvinist conservative
activism in Brazil to counter the dominant socialist activism in Calvinist
pulpits.
Actually, there is a massive lack
in Brazilian Calvinist pulpits of conservative sermons against pro-abortion and
anti-family issues. So is the explanation for their lack of conservative
stances a lack of concern about God’s holiness?
In his tenure as chancellor at
Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Nicodemus had the power and authority to
fire pro-abortion, pro-sodomy and Marxist professors, but never did so.
In his speech at the Ligonier
National Conference, Nicodemus recognized,
“Ideas born in universities that had a
Christian origin, such as Darwinian evolutionism, naturalistic view of the
world and cultural Marxism to mention a few.”
Harvard University is an example.
Born essentially Calvinist, today is a powerhouse of witchcraft, Marxism,
feminism, homosexuality and abortion. In some point, some Protestant chancellor
of Harvard did not fire pro-abortion, pro-sodomy and Marxist professors, and
the result is an apostate Harvard. Nicodemus could and should have applied his
lessons on MPU.
“The
mistakes that the Protestants in general and the Reformed in particular have
committed… have contributed to the decline of the church in the West.”
Indeed. Harvard, which formed
several U.S. presidents and high authorities, has contributed to the decline of
the West in general and the United States in particular.
Socialism in the Presbyterian Church of Brazil
Even
though there is a massive lack in Brazilian Calvinist pulpits of conservative
sermons against feminism, homosexuality, abortion and global warming scams,
there is no lack of socialist ideas. For decades, Brazilian Calvinist pulpits
have preached a false gospel called “Theology of Integral Mission” (TIM), which
is the Protestant version of the Liberation Theology and the Brazilian version
of the Social Gospel. In fact, TIM was brought to Brazil in the early 1950s by
a U.S. Presbyterian missionary adherent of the Social Gospel and Marxist ideas.
The American missionary, Richard Shaull, became a theology professor at the
most important theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil. He
formed a generation of famous Brazilian Presbyterian ministers in socialism.
In
his book “Christian Faith and Marxism,” Shaull said, “My encounter with Marxism
did not make me a Marxist, but a better Christian.”
In the 1982 book “Inquisição sem
Fogueiras” (available in English as “Inquisition Without Burnings”), progressive
author João Dias de Araújo, who called Shaull “a theologian who foreran
Liberation Theology” (page 10), said,
“One of the leaders who exerted powerful
influence [on the Brazilian Presbyterian youth] was Richard Shaull. A former
Presbyterian missionary in Colombia, Shaull was sent by the New York Board to
Brazil, in 1952. He was chosen to teach at the Presbyterian Seminary in
Campinas, Brazil, where he exerted huge influence on seminarians, because of
his great theological culture and his competence as a master. He introduced in
the seminary the ideas of the ‘neo-orthodox’ theological school of Barth,
Brunner, Reinhold Niebuhr and others.” (Page 37)
According to Araújo, Shaull “awoke
young people for the ‘social revolution” that should be done in Brazil.” (Page
37)
“Inquisition Without Burnings”
presents a significant list of Brazilian Presbyterian ministers involved in
socialism. The usage Araújo does of “Inquisition” refers to alleged
“sufferings” communist ministers and theology professors went through within
the Presbyterian Church of Brazil to spread socialist ideas. He calls
“persecution” of communist Protestants “Protestant Inquisition.”
Yet, actually while Protestant
victims of the original Inquisition suffered and died for the sake of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, the “victims” of the “Protestant Inquisition” alleged
by Araújo suffered for the sake of Karl Marx’s “gospel.” He invented a “Protestant
Inquisition” only to fit his socialist worldview.
Eventually,
the Presbyterian Church of Brazil produced two important liberal leaders who
were influenced by Shaull: Rubem Alves, of Liberation Theology; and Caio Fábio,
of TIM. Both became apostate.
João Dias de Araújo was a minister in
the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, a director of seminaries and author of the
book “O Jovem Cristão e o Jovem Comunista” (The Christian Youth and the
Communist Youth), published in 1964.
Yet, what actually changed years
later? Under Nicodemus’s tenure, Mackenzie Presbyterian University had Ricardo
Bitun as coordinator of theological courses. Bitun is a prominent advocate of
the Theology of Integral Mission.
If Brazilian Calvinist leaders have
for decades used their pulpits to advocate TIM’s theological liberalism, why
are supposedly conservative Calvinist crusades focused on the Pentecostal and
charismatic movements, not TIM, feminism, homosexuality, abortion and global
warming scams?
Nicodemus is an example of crusader
against charismatics. He has a number of articles and books against them, even
though their teachings and spirituality are not present in his denomination and
are no threat to Brazilian Presbyterians. Yet, he has no crusade, in articles
and books, against Theology of Integral Mission, a socialist problem directly
affecting many churches and pulpits in his denomination.
While Brazilian charismatic churches
are crusading against homosexuality, abortion and other evils in the Brazilian
society, Nicodemus has been crusading against those churches.
There is a saying: People in
glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones. How can Nicodemus throw stones on charismatic
glasshouses when his own Presbyterian backyard is full of problems? In other
words, if he can crusade against charismatic churches, why cannot he crusade
against Theology of Integral Mission in his own Presbyterian backyard?
Is charismatic, Pentecostal and
neo-Pentecostal conservatism more dangerous than TIM, feminism, homosexuality,
abortion and global warming scams?
If
Calvinist or Reformed eyes cannot see the reality, through Bible or
supernatural vision, which many of them reject in their cessationist unbelief,
God will use a “stone” (a non-Christian mind) to see and cry out. This is what
is happening.
Rodrigo
Constantino, a Brazilian secular conservative and non-Protestant writer,
published an article titled “Democracy and the Prosperity Gospel,” written by
Claudir Franciatto, who said,
“While
the large part of the Brazilian society that is not evangelical restricts
itself to call ministers, bishops and apostles of neo-Pentecostal (charismatic)
churches ‘thieves’… [those ministers, bishops and apostles] are bringing to
Brazil — secretly and imperceptibly — certain ‘Anglo-Saxon spirit’ of courage,
pioneerism and positive individual attitude, which shaped a nation like the
United States. This spirit was and is very necessary.”
Franciatto
added,
“Neo-Pentecostal
ministers do not stimulate members to pray and remain sitting on their pews,
but to act — within and outside the church.”
This
action outside the church is largely conservative and capitalist.
This
is why Marxist leaders in Brazil say that the chief enemy of socialism in
Brazil is neo-Pentecostal churches and their Prosperity Gospel. Even “The
Nation,” the oldest U.S. progressive magazine, said that the main conservative power in Brazil
charismatic evangelicals.
Besides, while Presbyterians in
Brazil are not known for their defense of Israel, neo-Pentecostal Christians
are the most vibrant and vocal advocates of the State of Israel, including by
leading tours of Brazilian evangelicals to Israel. Brazilian Pentecostals,
especially neo-Pentecostals, are the most important supporters of Israel.
Yet,
evangelicals cannot accept the “Anglo-Saxon spirit” of courage, pioneerism and
positive individual attitude, because theologians influenced by a cessationist
Calvinism think and preach that the Prosperity Gospel is “heresy” — bigger than
all Brazilian Calvinist heresies, including the Theology of Integral Mission.
Neo-Pentecostal Growth versus Calvinist Non-Growth
While
most Brazilian Calvinist churches, which are not growing, are plagued by the
left-wing theological liberalism, most church growth in Brazil is charismatic
and neo-Pentecostal.
Nicodemus conceded that most church
growth today is happening in Latin America and Africa, and that extraordinary
Christian growth has nothing to do with Calvinist churches. He said that most
this growth is neo-Pentecostal, or charismatic. He said,
“Today,
Africa and Latin America together represent 40 percent of the total number of
Christians in the world. So there has been a graphical movement of the center
of Christianity from the North to the South. This is what we call Global South,
where Christianity is growing very, very fast… There are other alarming signs
of the growth in the Global South of strange forms of Christianity. As
neo-Pentecostalism. For one, this movement is marked by syncretism with popular
religions and by strong emphasis on the health and wealth theology. Or
prosperity gospel. Neo-Pentecostal churches use a type of church model that
allows for the rise of totalitarian leaders, many of whom call themselves
apostles. They claim to receive direct revelation from God.”
He
also added, “Preach the Bible and one day they will wake up and say ‘I’m a
Calvinist.’” In Brazil, Latin America and Africa is happening just the
contrary. In these regions, there is enthusiastic and massive preaching of the
Gospel and the audiences are not waking up cessationist as Nicodemus is. In
fact, they are doing what Nicodemus is not doing and they are doing what Jesus
did: Preaching the Gospel, healing the sick, expelling demons, supporting
Israel and advancing conservatism.
If
to wake as a Calvinist is to embrace unbelief against God’s supernatural,
actually Africa and Latin America do not know Calvinism.
Nicodemus
talked as if he were not himself a totalitarian leader in the Brazilian
Calvinism and as if direct revelation — whether by prophecies and other
supernatural manifestations from the Holy Spirit — were impossible or were UFO
experiences: completely negative and strange to the Bible, not supported by the
Bible and never felt by Jesus and His apostles.
He
tried to make prophecies, revelations and other supernatural manifestations
from the Holy Spirit look like as exclusive experiences of charismatic,
Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal individuals, not of Christians in the Bible.
More mistaken than this, impossible. Christians today have supernatural
experiences and gifts for the same reason Christians in the New Testament
church had supernatural experiences and gifts.
Calvinist Misrepresentation of Neo-Pentecostalism
In fact, by connecting syncretism
to direct revelation, he hopes his readers to conclude that neo-Pentecostal
churches in Brazil have demonic experiences. But Nicodemus’s efforts fail
badly. The most syncretic neo-Pentecostal denomination in Brazil, Universal
Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), advocates abortion and completely rejects
prophecies and revelations for today. UCKG, which Nicodemus actually used at
Ligonier as representative of the whole neo-Pentecostal movement, does not fit
Nicodemus’s stereotype of syncretism and revelations walking hand in hand in
neo-Pentecostal churches. UCKG completely rejects direct communication,
prophecies, revelations and dreams.
In contrast, large Brazilian neo-Pentecostal
churches, as Bola de Neve Church, have no syncretism and are pro-life and
pro-Israel, and adhere to prophecies, revelations and other supernatural gifts
of the Holy Spirit. My articles against UCKG’s pro-abortion and cessationist
stances are shared by many neo-Pentecostal churches and published in the largest
Pentecostal website in Brazil.
I
have the following international articles on the UCKG’s founder:
Even
so, by using the isolated example of UCKG as representative of all the
neo-Pentecostal movement, Nicodemus misrepresented the whole neo-Pentecostal
movement in Brazil. UCKG’s pro-abortion, cessationist and syncretic stances set
this church from other large neo-Pentecostal churches. Excluding UCKG, those
churches are strongly and vocally pro-life and pro-family, taking a public
stand, from their pulpits and from their television shows, against the abortion
and sodomy agenda.
Perhaps the biggest similarity of UCKG
with other neo-Pentecostal churches is its strong support of Israel. At
Ligonier, Nicodemus mentioned negatively such support by saying that UCKG “inaugurated
in São Paulo a gigantic replica of the temple of Solomon.” When
former UCKG bishop Marcelo Crivella became the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, his
first act was to celebrate his victory in Israel.
Yet, in the cessationist heresy, UCKG is much more similar to the Presbyterian
Church of Brazil.
Even
though UCKG’s founder, Bishop Macedo, fits Nicodemus’s accusation of
“totalitarian leader,” Macedo has never claimed that he receives “direct
revelation from God.” On the contrary, he has preached and written that prophecies,
revelations and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit were available only
2,000 years ago and that these manifestations today are demonic. Regarding to
prophecies and revelations, he follows the cessationist heresy.
Nicodemus’s
worry about a supposedly general, but unproved, syncretism among
neo-Pentecostal churches is shared by Rev. André Sidnei Musskopf, of the
Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil (ECLCB). Musskopf, a homosexual who is a theology
professor and Gay Theology advocate, said in his book “Theological
Faggoting” that the Catholic Church and the historic Protestant churches have
traditions against homosexuality. But you can understand in his book that both
churches did not know how to deal with spiritualism and witchcraft, which have
much room for homosexuality. Even though both Liberation Theology and the
Theology of Integral Mission are hostile to neo-Pentecostalism, Musskopf, which
is a TIM adherent, said,
“But
who did this articulation in a perfect way was neo-Pentecostalism, because, in
addition of being more accepted among the poor, it ‘represents a theological
movement in contact with worldviews never touched before: the worldview of the
European Reformed Protestantism and the worldview of the new world with the
Catholic Brazil anchored in African and native traditions.’”
In fact, there are examples of
historic churches that do not know how to deal with spiritualism and
demon-expelling. Rev. Marcos Amaral, of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil (the
same denomination of Nicodemus), has become famous for joining Afro-Brazilian
religious leaders to fight “discrimination” against witchcraft. In 2013, Amaral
received from his Presbyterian denomination US$ 50,000 for his
anti-discrimination movement. Why help voodoo priests fight “discrimination”
against their witchcraft activities?
Nicodemus has never preached that
the alliance his colleague Amaral has with witchcraft adherents is syncretism.
Is he too busy in his anti-charismatic crusades that he has no time to denounce
his denominational friends joining voodoo priests?
Calvinist Rejection of Demon-Expelling
In his speech at Ligonier,
Nicodemus said,
“Along with this, there is a strong quest
for the presence of God through static, emotional and
mystical experiences. All this comes together with a world view in which
all evil proceeds from demons and that the only effective form of church
ministry is through expelling demons.”
The
supernatural experiences of Acts 2, as experienced by the Apostles, would be
described in similar terms: static, emotional and mystical experiences.
Actually, Nicodemus criticizes in others what he has not in himself. Instead of
occupying his sermons with God’s holiness, he is very concerned about people
who experience the presence of the Holy Spirit, but he is not concerned about
Amaral, who does not expel demons from voodoo priests, and even joins them in social
efforts to sanitize their witchcraft activities.
Jesus has the power and authority
to deliver Amaral and voodoo priests from deceiving spirits. Has Nicodemus a
hard time to let Jesus use him for such deliverances?
Why is he so critical of church
ministries expelling demons? Did not Jesus spend much time of His ministry
expelling demons? What is the problem if a church ministry today follows what
Jesus did? In fact, why does not Nicodemus invest his time in a better way,
instead of criticizing productive ministries, by preaching the Gospel, healing
the sick and expelling demons?
While Presbyterian minister Marcos
Amaral comes near voodoo priests to offer them alliance against
“discrimination,” neo-Pentecostal ministers offer them what Jesus offers:
deliverance from demonic spirits. Why does Nicodemus criticize neo-Pentecostal
ministers offering deliverance, but makes no criticism of Amaral and his
Presbyterian alliance with voodoo priests?
Who is actually following Jesus’s
ministry: Presbyterian Amaral or neo-Pentecostal ministers?
Demon-expelling, speaking in
tongues, prophecies, revelations and other supernatural gifts of the Holy
Spirit are not just “static, emotional and mystical experiences,” as defined by
cessationist theologians who do not believe and do not accept them in their
lives. They have never been experienced only among Pentecostals. Since the
Apostles of Jesus and throughout the Christian history, whenever the Holy
Spirit had an open door in an individual or congregation, he equipped them
through His supernatural gifts.
Even among Calvinists there are
renewed theologians who accept speaking in tongues, prophecies, revelations and
other supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit for today. Two examples are Wayne
Grudem, author of “Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine”
(Zondervan), and J. Rodman Williams, author of “Renewal Theology: Systematic
Theology from a Charismatic Perspective” (Zondervan).
Among Lutherans, who were the
Reformation pioneers, the Holy Spirit has been working where a door is open. In
his book “Welcome, Holy Spirit: A Study of Charismatic Renewal in the Church,”
(Augsburg Fortress, 1987), page 251, Lutheran theologian Larry Christenson
said,
“The Holy Spirit is no different today than
he was in the days of the early church. He still has this unimaginable store of
spiritual gifts for building up the body of Christ and bringing its witness to
the world. The ‘priesthood of believers’ (1 Peter 2:9-10) becomes functional as
people begin to discover and use their spiritual gifts.”
Calvinist Hope: Pentecostals Becoming Calvinist
Nicodemus said in his speech at
Ligonier,
“In the last few years, however, there has
been a surprising turn of events with the rise of conservative and Reformed
theology among Protestants in Brazil. Some factors may be mentioned as cause of
such development. First the classical Pentecostal churches after 100 years in
Brazil evangelizing the masses have run its course and have left many
Pentecostals hungry and thirsty for a more biblical and solid theology. They
have found it at hand in the Reformed and Puritan literature that in the last
twenty-five years has been increasingly published by several publishing houses
in Brazil. As a result, many Pentecostals have turned to Reformed schools of
theology seeking training in the more comprehensive knowledge of Calvinism. New
independent churches, Reformed in soteriology, the doctrine of salvation,
although still Pentecostal in liturgy, have been founded. Even the largest and
most traditional Pentecostal publishing house in Brazil has made available books
by Reformed authors older than you. They have even published MacArthur. Many
books. However, one thing is clear. That the Reformed faith has received the
fresh and powerful impulse through these Pentecostals influenced by Reformed
theology. And as the traditional, historical, Reformed denominations in Brazil
appeared to go slow, and slowing Reformed in being Reformed, some people are
saying that the future of the Reformation in Brazil is coming from the
Pentecostal turned Reformed.”
Nicodemus was referring only to
Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in Brazil, with
14,000,000 members, according to the “New International Dictionary of
Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements” (Zondervan). In comparison, the
Presbyterian denomination of Nicodemus has only 649,510 members, according to
the official statistics
of his church in 2016.
Nicodemus
recognizes that the survival of his Presbyterian denomination and even
Calvinism in Brazil is dependent on the Calvinization of the Assemblies of God.
This is true in the Mackenzie Presbyterian University, where most of students
of theology are young men from the Assemblies of God. Even with a high number
of Pentecostal students, the Mackenzie Presbyterian University, which allows
pro-abortion, pro-sodomy and Marxist professors, gives no room to accept
charismatic gifts for today. Its official doctrine is cessationism.
The Calvinization of Assemblies of
God has brought an unpleasant side effect: Theology of Integral Mission, which
is present among Brazilian Presbyterians, including in Nicodemus’s denomination
since the 1950s, is slowly being embraced by Assemblies of God ministers and
members. This is, through Calvinization, theological liberalism is penetrating
Pentecostals, especially their theological institutions, in Brazil.
Even
though Nicodemus uses his bully pulpit to attack neo-Pentecostal churches, even
by name, Assemblies of God are spared because, different from neo-Pentecostal
churches, many Assemblies of God ministers and members have been, as recognized
by Nicodemus, seeking Presbyterian theological institutions.
Nicodemus believes that Assemblies
of God can help his Presbyterian denomination to grow by bringing its
Pentecostal members with their dwindling supernatural experiences. They are
easy preys for a cessationist theology that today makes sense in their lives
that hardly experience God’s supernatural.
When
Assemblies of God was founded in Brazil over 100 years ago, there was an
explosion of prophecies, healings, demon-expelling, etc. Today, Assemblies of
God is a pale image of its spiritual past. While many neo-Pentecostal churches
have prophecies, healings and demon-expelling, Assemblies of God has in many
cases lost this supernatural touch. The largest Pentecostal publishing house in
Brazil is owned by Assemblies of God and it has published books by cessationist
Calvinists, including John MacArthur, a Calvinist theologian who exposes the
Pentecostal movement as “demonic.” So the largest Assemblies of God publishing
house in Brazil is endorsing MacArthur’s anti-Pentecostal views by publishing
several of his books.
Nicodemus sees big hope for
Assemblies of God: Its decreasing supernatural experience is making it more
similar to him and his Presbyterian denomination, whose services are devoid of
prophecies, healings, demon-expelling, etc. He sees no hope for neo-Pentecostal
churches.
Yet, perhaps in the future, if
neo-Pentecostal churches lose their supernatural vitality, he may see some
hope.
Nicodemus cannot use his bully
pulpit for crusades against TIM, feminism, homosexuality, abortion and global
warming scams, because he is too busy exposing charismatics. He is so busy that
he cannot launch any conservative crusade to counter the prevalent socialist
activism in many Presbyterian pulpits.
Even
though he condemns experiences with supernatural gifts just as “static,
emotional and mystical experiences,” his attacks are reserved only to
neo-Pentecostal churches. Assemblies of God are spared because they are
experiencing a decrease of such experiences. And this is good, in his view.
Excluding UCKG, which is
pro-abortion and cessationist, neo-Pentecostal churches are vocally
conservative and pro-Israel, in their pulpits and social activities, not
fearing to take a public stand against homosexuality and abortion. They have
been crusading against these evils in the Brazilian society.
Nicodemus and his Presbyterian
denomination should also be, from their pulpits, so vocally conservative and
pro-Israel as neo-Pentecostal churches are.
Nicodemus should show in Brazil
what he showed in his speech at Ligonier to American conservative audiences:
conservative stances against TIM, feminism, homosexuality, abortion and global
warming scams.
He
can also denounce Bishop Edir Macedo and his pro-abortion stance. But he should
not forget that Macedo is, regarding prophecies and revelations, as cessationist
as he is himself.
Conclusions
If Nicodemus and the Presbyterian
Church in Brazil cannot get involved in a conservative activism against the
socialist activism in their own Presbyterian pulpits, why spend time attacking neo-Pentecostal
churches that are making conservative strides in Brazil?
Nicodemus
said at Ligonier,
“What
I’m saying is that we are living in a time where the traditional church
structure has been called into question. For many this is a post-denominational
time. Sorry to say but many historical denominations have not been able to
reform themselves and to adapt to the new times fast enough.”
For
him, Calvinist churches are not growing because they are not reforming themselves,
which means that they need more Calvinism, enough to preach against “static,
emotional and mystical experiences.” This would be a new wave of fanaticism,
because Calvinist theologians and bloggers in Brazil spend most of their time
attacking neo-Pentecostals.
By countering more the
neo-Pentecostal growth and its pro-Israel and conservative advance, Nicodemus’s
cessationist Calvinism will eventually become a powerful ally of secular
left-wing forces, which hate and attack systematically neo-Pentecostalism’s
conservative growth.
Cessationist Calvinist conclusion,
based on Nicodemus’s speech at the 2017 Ligonier National Conference:
*
Cessationist Calvinism is more important than neo-Pentecostal churches that are
advancing conservatism.
*
Christianity is growing very, very fast in the South, and this growth has
everything to do with charismatic and neo-Pentecostal churches, but
cessationist Calvinism is more important than this growth.
* Nicodemus in particular and
Ligonier in general maintain that Pentecostal, charismatic and neo-Pentecostal
churches have “static, emotional and mystical experiences,” which are less
important than cessationist Calvinist theological experiences.
*
Reformed, or Calvinist, churches in Brazil are not increasing and their only
hope of survival is Pentecostals (especially Assemblies of God leaders and
members) becoming Calvinist.
If Nicodemus had lived in Jesus’s
time, he would have had a very hard time to identify with Jesus’s ministry, but
he would have had a very easy time to relate to Pharisees’ theological
concerns. When Pharisees saw Jesus expelling demons, they charged him of
demonic possession. It is hard to see a Nicodemus behaving differently. And if
all Brazilian Protestants, who are mostly Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal, were
like Nicodemus, Brazil would lose its conservative minority that is most
supportive of Israel.
My
conclusion:
If neo-Pentecostal churches were so busy in attacking cessationist Calvinist
churches as cessationist Calvinist churches are busy in attacking
neo-Pentecostal churches, neo-Pentecostal churches would have no time to preach
the Gospel, heal the sick, expel demons, support Israel and advance
conservatism.
Portuguese version of this article: Por que um teólogo calvinista cessacionista não pode
usar seu púlpito para cruzadas contra o aborto, a sodomia e o feminismo, mas
pode usá-lo para cruzadas contra pentecostais e neopentecostais?
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