This past February Mark Dever interviewed my pastor Mark Minnick as part of a forum between conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists. I thought the mp3 recording of this interview wouldn’t be available until August or September, but thanks to Andy Naselli for pointing out its availability now. Check out this interview for insightful comments on the similarities and dissimilarities of different groups of believers as we practice and promote our common faith.__________
Here are some links to discussions on this interview:
- Andy Naselli 5/25/08
- Greg Linscott (Current Christian) 5/25/08
- Don Johnson (an oxgoad, eh?) 5/25/08
- Frank Sansone (A Thinking Man's Thoughts) 5/25/08 more on 5/28/08
- SharperIron's Fundamentalism Forum 5/26/08
- Dr. Bob McCabe's brief comments (Old Testament Studies) 5/26/08
- Chris Anderson (My Two Cents) 5/29/08
- Kent Brandenburg (What is Truth( 6/9/08
- CurrentChristian.com 6/12/08
- Don Johnson (an oxgoad, eh?) adds a transcript of a latter portion of the interview and asks "is there an answer here? 6/14/08
- Mark Dever explains his practices of separation and asks "Mark Dever doesn't practice separation?" 6/14/08
- Don Johnson (an oxgoad, eh?) takes a stab at answering Dever's latest contribution to the discussion - "do conservative "e's" separate?" 6/15/08
- Dave Doran (Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary & InterCity Baptist Church) added some helpful comments to Dever's post at Church Matters, the 9Marks blog 6/15/08
- Kent Brandenburg rants on 6/16/08
- Jeff Straub (Central Baptist Seminary) also added a response to Dever's post at Church Matters, the 9Marks blog 6/16/08
I just finished listening to this interview and found it to be very interesting. I had wondered how the conversation would go. They both are very intelligent and articulate men, but they have very distinct personalities. Dever is very quick as he speaks and Minnick is very cautious as though he's weighing every word before he says it. At times, Dever seemed to run over Minnick and Minnick seemed to be very slow at getting to Dever's point. But that is a part of communication. Isn't it? It wasn't a staged conversation, nor was it a heated debate. It was a real discussion. It was a calm and cordial exchange. At times, you could hear them scratching their heads, not sure how to answer. Even than was helpful. This issue is very difficult to work out at points, and they both addressed this fact.
ReplyDeleteBoth men seemed to tip-toe carefully through the discussion. I lost count of how many times Dever said, "you don't have to use proper nouns," which meant, "Give us an example without naming names." I'm very glad that they were careful not to get into the name game.
It was awesome to hear them take out a Bible and discuss texts of Scripture. That's the way this issue needs to be addressed.
I agree with Dr. McCabe's comment that "not all the issues and questions about the doctrine of ecclesiastical separation are addressed in this interview, the overall discussion provides a helpful framework on some key issues related to this subject." This interview ought to be followed up in the near future!
BTW, Dr. McCabe's very brief comments about this interview are all that I've been able to find regarding this interview. SharperIron hasn't even posted a link. I wonder what other's thought of the interview.
The interview is very enlightening. Both men are striving to be crystal clear on the issues, each not wanting to misrepresent the other side. I’m glad Minnick was careful to note that he was speaking only for the flavor of fundamentalism he is most familiar with and not presenting the movement as a monolith. It’s important to any discussion of this topic to understand that there are differences among professing fundamentalists just like there are among evangelicals. And you’re right: it was good to hear them discussing texts of Scripture rather than mere opinions. Someone may disagree with these men on some position, but it should be obvious that they have struggled to know the meaning of pertinent Scriptures and their proper applications.
ReplyDeleteThis interview proves at least two things: the issue of ecclesiastical separation is very complex and not as cut-and-dried as I once thought. It also proves that there are good men on both sides.
I finally found a discussion of this interview at SharperIron. I'll add a link to it in the post body.
ReplyDeleteUPDATE! Mark Dever has responded to this interview with a rundown of his separation practices. I found this to be very helpful and graciously put.
ReplyDeleteHe concludes with the statement "I want my separation from the world to be more pronounced than my separation from other Christians."
As a follow up, you might like to see my summary of a discussion we had in Calgary with Pastor Minnick. My latest can be found here.
ReplyDeleteMaranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3