Posted on 03/03/2015 10:50:38 AM PST by Gamecock
As you may have heard, a few days ago Jason Stellman, a PCA pastor in Seattle area, announced on his blog that he was leaving the PCA because of questions surrounding sola Scriptura and sola fide. By all appearances Stellman, a graduate of Westminster Seminary (Escondido) and the author of a 2009 book arguing for a Two Kingdoms theology, is leaving Protestantism for Rome. This move has generated even more interest because Stellman recently pressed charges against Peter Leithart in the Pacific Northwest Presbytery for deviating from the Westminster Standards with the latter’s Federal Vision theology. Not surprisingly, Leithart has weighed in on Stellman’s announcement, with Stellman explaining his actions in the Leithart prosecution here and saying more about his decision to leave the PCA here. If you’re interested, Doug Wilson and Carl Trueman have also had something to say about the whole mess.
What should be said about such an ordeal? I’ll leave it to others to dissect the ins and outs of Leithart’s trial and Stellman’s prosecution. I’m not qualified to do so. I’ll also leave it to others, for the time being at least, to mount a defense of sola Scriptura and sola fide. Without knowing Jason, I’m not going to judge his motives or how he’s handled the process. It looks to me as if Jason kept his ordination vows by making his reservations known to the presbytery and resigning his position. He appears to be a man of honesty and integrity, even with mistaken theological conclusions.
Instead of weighing in on any of that, I simply want to remind of us two points that we can easily forget when a somewhat high profile evangelical converts (or seems about to convert) to Rome.
1. Let’s remember that the traffic across the Tiber is not one way, not by a long shot. Because we live on the Protestant side of the river many people notice when one of our guys becomes Catholic. That’s natural when we may know the person’s books or have heard him at a conference or recognize him from the academy. But when a prominent Catholic becomes Protestant, we are unlikely to know about. How many evangelicals can name one prominent Catholic writer, speaker, or theologian alive and popular at the moment? I bet most evangelicals can’t think of more than two or three, like Scott Hahn and the Pope Benedict XVI, but Scott Hahn we know only because he used to be Protestant and the Pope is rather an unlikely convert. If there are Jason Stellman’s or Christian Smiths making the pilgrimage to Colorado Springs (or Grand Rapids, or Dallas, or Orland), few of us would know anything about it.
More importantly, we should remember that almost any Protestant church of any size in this country will be well populated with ex-Catholics. I know we have many in our congregation. They often come because their Catholicism was an empty tradition or they never knew the gospel or they never really heard the Bible taught. I’m not indicting every Catholic or claiming to explain every Catholic conversion to evangelicalism, I’m simply reminding us that the flow across the Tiber has benefited evangelicals more than it has Catholics.
Chris Castaldo, a former Catholic himself, understands the reality well:
According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey Changes in Americans’ Religious Affiliation there are currently 15 million former Catholics in America attending Protestant Churches, two-thirds of whom do so as evangelicals. Inactive or “lapsed” Catholics are 27.5 million strong in the US according to the Pew Forum. They constitute roughly 10 percent of the U.S. population, making them the second-largest religious demographic in America behind Roman Catholics at 77.7 million and ahead of the Southern Baptist Convention (at 16 million plus).
All that to say, let’s not think the Catholic church is emptying our evangelical churches. Quite the contrary.
2. Let’s be cautious about tracing a straight line of historical determinism which can explain someone’s change of mind. Why steps occurred and what thinking got in place which led Jason Stellman to reject sola Scriptura and sola fide? Only Jason and the Lord know for sure, and maybe only the Lord. Was Two Kingdoms theology the gateway drug? Confessionalism? A high view of sacraments? An appreciation for history and liturgy? It could be all or none of the above. And even it were all of the above that would not necessarily indict anything on that list. Granted, there are some common themes that surface among converts to Rome (e.g., tradition, beauty, authority), but it’s best to stick with the stated reasons for jumping the good ship Protestant and refrain from the temptation to psychoanalyze.
The human head and heart are complex. Even when patterns and missteps are noted in hindsight, we should be wary of creating tidy sequences of first this, then this, then that. As David Powlison points out in his masterful essay “The Ambiguously Cured Soul,” this historical determinism is what mars so much of today’s counseling. We think Judy hates women because her mom was mean, but the same mean mother could have just as likely “produced” a Judy that craves the approval of women, or becomes addicted to bad men, or dedicates her life to making sure women have the affection she never knew. In the same way, it’s tempting to think we know which doctrinal emphases might lead someone to Rome (or worse). But as a general rule such warnings are worth little. Someone might first get attracted to Rome because of a robust view of church tradition, or because he read G.K. Chesterton, or because he saw A Man for All Seasons, or because he loves the music from The Mission, or because he once went on a tour of Italy out of his deep love for lasagna.
If our theology is unbiblical or imbalanced let’s talk about that. But if our theological interests overlap with those typically associated with Catholicism, don’t send out the doctrinal fire trucks just yet. There is no straight line from Wheaton to Rome, no one wrong turn at Orland Park that gets you on the fast track to the Vatican. I’m not sure what else Stellman might have gotten wrong on his way to leaving Protestantism, but I do know that he’s sadly getting sola Scriptura and sola fide wrong. And that’s what should concern evangelicals.
IBPASI
An old friend of mine was AG for his entire life. Then he got tired of his wife and left her (at age ~42) and hooked up with this Catholic girl. He’s now a Catholic. I’ve discussed it with him. He can’t really justify the choice to me. He’s just taking up her religion.
I guess one bad decision deserves another.
Does he take communion?
I would guess since he wasn’t “properly” married in a Roman Catholic church it is just fine.
The blog post was in 2012.
I dunno. He’s still in Seattle and I’m now in KY. I only see his rare posts on FB.
Bookmark
***The blog post was in 2012.***
June 7, 2012 to be exact. (As noted in the title)
Does that somehow invalidate what the author wrote, or is there some other point you are trying to make?
Is that better than Latvian Orthodox?
Good article and even better wisdom. On the subject of Jason Stellman:
On September 23rd, 2012 (two years ago today), I was received into full communion with the Catholic Church. Humanly speaking, it was one of the worst decisions I have ever made....The last two years have brought me almost nothing but loss. Most of my fellow alumni and former professors at Westminster Seminary no longer speak to me..., I am denied entrance into the church I planted (where my family still attends on Sundays) — I wasn’t even allowed to attend the Christmas Eve service last year and just sit and sing the hymns. To most of my old Calvinistic friends I am simply a traitor to the gospel.... With exceptions that I could count on one hand, I have attended my last 150 or so masses alone. ...To be honest, I don’t really know why I am posting this. I know for a fact that much of the information I am divulging will be received with glee from many in the Calvinistic world. But I’m in a reflective mood, sue me. Catholicism is true, even though I don’t like it.... Catholicism is true, even if embracing it has been an unmitigated disaster.Related threads:
-- from the thread Jason Stellman’s Unmitigated DisasterI write this to make a plea with those who are still engaging Jason, listening to him, or considering following his path. Look at the real problem here. The radical nature of the paradigm shifts that have taken place in Jason's short life should say something. And the question of why Jason has to make every shift a public event with public attention should say even more. How much attention does Jason really need?....Jason did understand the gospel and decided it was not the answer for him. I repeat, it was not that he misunderstood it, and has departed in ignorance. Jason grasped it, confessed it, was ordained to it, promised to defend it, and then defected consciously from the system of doctrine he promised to uphold.
-- from the online article The problem of theological narcissism-- stop giving Jason Stellman attention, please!
Roman Catholics who are not in the state of Grace cannot accept Communion. If this person is taking Communion, he is simply doubling down on his sin.
.
So, another well known heretic has departed the faith to join Rome!
I’m shattered.
.
No, I just thought that posts were normally somewhat contemporary or pertinent to a recent event.
.
The things one will do to satisfy his libido...
(I was planning to phrase that differently, but don’t want the post deleted)
.
“When Evangelicals Turn Catholic!!”
Sunday!
On FX!
If you're going to go apostate ... order the super size and go with the original.
More importantly, we should remember that almost any Protestant church of any size in this country will be well populated with ex-Catholics.
But those fallen away Catholics are NOT Jason Stellman, a PCA pastor or Tim Staples a Baptist minister, or Scott Hahn a protestant Scriptural expert and Theologian, or Fr Dwight Longnecker, an Anglican priest.
The witnesses of the Protestant ministers who have converted to Catholicism can be found here:
http://www.ewtn.com/tv/live/journeyhome.asp
Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam
Appeal to authority much?
FWIW it seems like you just might want to distance yourself from the claim that Hahn was a good Presbyterian. There are some pretty serious claims refuting his Presbyterianism, with sources, posted here. Towards the end of the thread.
Sola Deo Gloria.
Two things.
1) He was never saved to begin with.
2) He converted to Catholicism so he could get remarried after a divorce.
You would guess wrong.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.