The full text of the article BRAININESS: GOOD BUT NOT SUFFICIENT follows with some comments at the end. Emphasis in italics mine.

“Modern Reformation” is a bimonthly magazine published by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. Its editor is Michael Horton, and among its advisors and contributors are W. Robert Godfrey, Ron Rosenbladt, R. C. Sproul, Timothy George, Douglas Groothuis, Carl F. H. Henry, and John Warwick Montgomery. If you read the more scholarly Evangelical journals, you will recognize some of those names.

Once upon a time, “Christianity Today” was the intellectual center of Evangelicalism, but CT long ago ceased to devote its pages to serious writing. Today it represents Evangelicalism Lite–not a liberal version of Evangelicalism but an intellectually lightweight version. “Modern Reformation,” which is a dozen years old, has filled much of the gap.

A recent issue was devoted to the theme “We Believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” And these Evangelicals do, but it is one thing to believe in something and another thing to locate it. I admire the seriousness that infuses the articles in this special issue, and I wince in sympathy at the lack of success in finding that one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

In his contribution, Michael Horton tries to define what is meant when one says the Christian Church is “catholic.” “At one end of the spectrum are Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and specific Protestant bodies that often claim simply to be the catholic church without remainder.” This won’t do, he says, because the real Church is not mainly a visible body, and these churches are all visible.

“On the other end are most evangelical and pentecostal groups that, in their ‘nondenominational’ denominationalism, understand the church as simply the sum total of individuals who are truly born again.” That won’t do either.

The answer is to be found among the “churches of the Reformation,” Horton says. They “reflect a somewhat mediating position.” They have visible elements, such as “faithful preaching and right administration,” but they also take into account that the true Church is present wherever the gospel is preached. These Reformed (Calvinist) churches thus are one step up from the atomism of nondenominationalism but one step down from the rigor of the pre-Reformation churches of the East and West.

As I said, I wince when I read such arguments. I wince because the arguments are so unconvincing, as splitting-the-difference arguments usually are. I don’t want to pick on Michael Horton. Those writing in “Modern Reformation” on the three other marks of the Church are in the same predicament.

Paul C. H. Lim, for instance, laments that a friend has left Evangelicalism for Rome, but this only encourages Lim “to take a journey of his own to discover what true unity means and why, as a Protestant, he can assent to being part of ‘one, holy, catholic, and apostolic’ church.”

Well, Mr. Lim can assent to that, but he is not assenting to a fact, because the church he belongs to does not in fact have those four marks. Wishing does not make it so, and, reading between the lines and taking into account the evident intelligence and sincerity of the writers, I am led to think that they know–either consciously or subconsciously–that their position is not tenable.

Some Catholics think that Protestantism, being a truncated form of Christianity, must appeal only to people of restricted intelligence. Sure, there are many fine people in Protestantism, but those with brains move elsewhere. It’s not as simple as that. I know many highly intelligent Protestants, including several of the men whose names are listed above, and their remaining Protestant is not a matter of a lack of brains.

Why do they seem convinced by arguments such as those in this issue of “Modern Reformation,” when I and others think the arguments are so weak that, in a way, they prove the opposite of what they were intended to prove–that is, that they prove the necessity of joining the real Catholic Church (I mean the one headed by the Pope)?

Why are these intelligent people happy with arguments that others find flawed–and not just flawed on the periphery but flawed in their core? I have no answer for that. The situation may be something like that famous line drawing of a vase. Squint your eyes just so, and the image becomes two faces. Squint again, and it’s back to a vase. So near, yet so far.

Mr. Keating in saying the following presumes we trust he understands and is part of the one true church, that being the Roman Catholic church.

I wince in sympathy at the lack of success in finding that one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church…. I wince because the arguments are so unconvincing.

Keating argues that the Reformed understanding of the church is unconvincing yet offers no defense of his own position on the definition of the church.

Keating goes on to say, speaking of those in the Reformed camp:

I am led to think that they know–either consciously or subconsciously–that their position is not tenable…. Why do they seem convinced by arguments such as those in this issue of “Modern Reformation,” when I and others think the arguments are so weak that, in a way, they prove the opposite of what they were intended to prove–that is, that they prove the necessity of joining the real Catholic Church (I mean the one headed by the Pope)? Why are these intelligent people happy with arguments that others find flawed–and not just flawed on the periphery but flawed in their core?

It’s interesting to me that Keating expects readers to move in his direction simply because he and others think the Reformed view of the church is weak. Keating is hardly convincing to me. Really, who does Mr. Keating think he is?

In the absence of Keating’s defense of his idea of ‘the church’ and his lack of reference to scripture, I will provide here a summarized explanation of the Reformed understanding of the church with scripture references.

systematic theology, chapter 44, the church: its nature, its marks, and its purposes — Wayne Grudem

The church is the community of all true believers for all time. This definition understands the church to be made of all those who are truly saved. Paul says, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). Here the term “the church” is used to apply to all those whom Christ died to redeem, all those who are saved by the death of Christ. But that must include all true believers for all time, both believers in the New Testament age and believers in the Old Testament age as well. So great is God’s plan for the church that he has exalted Christ to a position of highest authority [not a Pope] for the sake of the church: “He has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.” (Eph. 1:22-23).

Jesus Christ himself builds the church by calling his people to himself.

A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, chapter 20, the nature and foundation of the church

…. we can assert here that the church in Scripture is composed of all the redeemed in every age who are saved by grace through personal faith in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ, “the seed of the woman” (Gen. 3:15) and suffering Messiah (Isa. 53:5-10).

The church is one by virtue of its union with Christ. All its members are baptized by one Spirit into one body having one Head and one Lord. There is one building with one foundation, one flock under one Shepherd. Dissensions and divisions among Christians obscure the oneness of the body of Christ. Hence, we have various appeals in the epistles for unity through patience and love [not through a Pope]. The church’s “oneness,” as both fact and ideal to be achieved, is taught particularly by Jesus and Paul. [John 10:14-16; John 17:20-23; Romans 15:5-6; Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 2:14-16; Ephesians 4:3-6; Philippians 2:2; Colossians 3:12-14]

To rap this up, I would just say there is an overwhelming body of biblical evidence to support the Reformed concept of ‘the church’ as being the body of Christ; those who are partakers of Christ and the blessings of salvation that are in Him.

On April 24, 2008, Dr. Doug Sweeney and Collin Hansen discussed Hansen’s Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008).

An MP3 of this discussion, sponsored by the Henry Center, is now available from the Henry Center’s media archive (MP3 | video).

Publisher’s Description: From places like John Piper’s den, Al Mohler’s office, and Jonathan Edwards’s college, Christianity Today journalist Collin Hansen investigates what makes today’s young Calvinists tick.

Church-growth strategies and charismatic worship have fueled the bulk of evangelical growth in America for decades. While baby boomers have flocked to churches that did not look or sound like church, it seems these churches do not so broadly capture the passions of today’s twenty-something evangelicals. In fact, a desire for transcendence and tradition among young evangelicals has contributed to a Reformed resurgence.

For nearly two years, Christianity Today journalist Collin Hansen visited the chief schools, churches, and conferences of this growing movement. He sought to describe its members and ask its leading pastors and theologians about the causes and implications of the Calvinist resurgence. The result, Young, Restless, Reformed, shows common threads in their diverse testimonies and suggests what tomorrow’s church might look like when these young evangelicals become pastors or professors.

Related Links:

1. Mike Corley interviewed Collin Hansen
2. Collin Hansen’s article in the Sept. 2006 edition of Christianity Today
3. Amazing Grace – The History and Theology of Calvinism
   

This is the first video documentary that answers many of the questions asked about Calvinism or the Reformed Faith. This three-part, four-hour presentation is detailed enough so as to not gloss over the controversy. At the same time, it is broken up into ten “Sunday-school-sized” sections to make the rich content manageable and accessible for the average viewer. Rich in graphics, dramatic vignettes, and biblical analogies, it also features many of the finest reformed thinkers and pastors of our time: Dr. R.C. Sproul, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Dr. George Grant, Dr. Stephen Mansfield, Dr. Thomas Ascol, Dr. Thomas Nettles and more. Visit The Apologetics Group Now to Order!

The New Birth (.pdf) Essays by William Plumer, Octavius Winslow, Arthur W. Pink, John Gill, James Buchanan, J. C. Ryle, John Owen, Charles H. Spurgeon — These are very helpful essays from the Free Grace Broadcaster’s Winter 2007 edition. Very edifying and crucial to understand if one is to have a well-rounded ministry. John Owen said, “THE work of the Spirit of God in regenerating the souls of men is diligently to be inquired into by the preachers of the Gospel and all to whom the Word is dispensed. For the former sort, there is a peculiar reason for their attendance unto this duty, for they are used and employed in the work itself by the Spirit of God and are by Him made instrumental for the effecting of this new birth and life…Now, certainly it is the duty of ministers to understand the work about which they are employed, as far as they are able, that they may not work in the dark and fight uncertainly, as men beating the air. What the Scripture hath revealed concerning it, as to its nature and the manner of its operation, as to its causes, effects, fruits, evidences, they ought diligently to inquire into. To be spiritually skilled therein is one of the principal furnishments of any for the work of the ministry, without which they will never be able to divide the Word aright, nor show themselves workmen that need not be ashamed.” We agree with Owen and believe that if you are not going to a church that preaches the kind of Christ-honoring principles in the following essays, then we are only getting a partial gospel at best. Set aside some time to read and linger over these Bible-saturated essays.

PDF

You will want to bookmark this excellent resource and return often.

SGCB has a great deal on the COMPLETE 26 VOLUME SET OF JOHN MAC ARTHUR COMMENTARIES. The complete set is being sold at 50% off list with free shipping.

We have just received a copy of Our Sovereign God from SGCB and highly recommend this treasure of truth on God’s Sovereignty. Find more details below.

Our Sovereign God — Addresses from the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology 1974-1976

Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 179
Publisher: Solid Ground Christian Books
ISBN#: 9781599251349

Description: These addresses are taken from the messages delivered at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology in 1974-1976, the first three years this conference was held. These were selected as the very best of the numerous addresses delivered those three years.

Part One: The Sovereign God: An Introduction

1. The Sovereignty of God the Son by John Stott
2. The “Five Points” and God’s Sovereignty by Roger Nicole
3. The Doctrines of Grace in Jesus’ Teaching by Roger Nicole
4. God’s Sovereignty and Old Testament Names of God by Stuart Sacks

Part Two — Knowing the Sovereign God

5. On Knowing God by James I. Packer
6. Why We Do Not Know God by R.C. Sproul
7. Why We Must Know God by R.C. Sproul
8. The Key to Knowing God by Ralph Keiper

Part Three — Serving the Sovereign God

9. Discerning the Will of God by R.C. Sproul
10. Disobedience and God’s Sovereignty by James M. Boice
11. Prayer and God’s Sovereignty by R.C. Sproul
12. Witnessing and God’s Sovereignty by Ralph Keiper
13. Optimism and God’s Sovereignty by Ralph Nicole

Part Four — The Sovereign God: A Conclusion

14. The Sovereign God and the Church by John Stott
15. Soli Deo Gloria by Roger Nicole

1. I believe that my one aim in life and death should be to glorify God and enjoy Him forever; and that God teaches me how to glorify and enjoy him in His holy Word, that is, the Bible, which He has given by the infallible inspiration of His Holy Spirit in order that I may certainly know what I am to believe concerning Him and what duty He requires of me.
2. I believe that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and incomparable in all that He is; one God but three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier; in whose power and wisdom, righteousness, goodness and truth I may safely put my trust.
3. I believe that the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is, are the work of God’s hands; and that all that He has made He directs and governs in all their actions; so that they fulfill the end for which they were created, and I who trust in Him shall not be put to shame but may rest securely in the protection of is almighty love.
4. I believe that God created man after is own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, and entered into a covenant of life with him upon the sole condition of the obedience that was his due: so that it was by wilfully sinning against God that man fell into the sin and misery in which I have been born.
5. I believe, that, being fallen in Adam, my first father, I am; by nature a child of wrath, under the condemnation of God and corrupted in body and soul, prone to evil and liable to eternal death; from which dreadful state I cannot be delivered save through the unmerited grace of God my Savior.
6. I believe that God has not left the world to perish in its sin, but out of the great love wherewith He has loved it, has from all eternity graciously chosen unto Himself a multitude which no man can number, to deliver them out of their sin and misery, and of them to build up again in the world His kingdom of righteousness: in which kingdom I may be assured I have my part, if I hold fast to Christ the Lord.
7. I believe that God has redeemed His people unto Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord; who, though he was and ever continues to be the eternal Son of God, yet was born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem them that are under the law: I believe that He bore the penalty due to my sins in His own body on the tree, and fulfilled in His own person the obedience I owe to the righteousness of God, and now presents me to His Father as His purchased possession, to the praise of the glory of His grace forever: wherefore renouncing all merit of my own, I put all my trust only in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ my redeemer.
8. I believe that Jesus Christ my redeemer, who died for my offences was raised again for my justification, and ascended into the heavens, where he sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty, continually making intercession for his people, and governing the whole world as head over all things for his Church; so that I need fear no evil and may surely know that nothing can snatch me out of his hands and nothing can separate me from his love.
9. I believe that the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ is effectually applied to all His people by the Holy Spirit, who works faith in me and thereby unites me to Christ, renews me in the whole man after the image of God, and enables me more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness; until, this gracious work having been completed in me, I shall be received into glory: in which great hope abiding, I must ever strive to perfect holiness in the fear of God.
10. I believe that God requires of me, under the gospel, first of all, that, out of a true sense of my sin and misery and apprehension of His mercy in Christ, I should turn with grief and hatred away from sin and receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation; that, so being united to Him, I may receive pardon for my sins and be accepted as righteous in God’s sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to me and received by faith alone: and thus and thus only do I believe I may be received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
11. I believe that, having been pardoned and accepted for Christ’s sake, it is further required of me that I walk in the Spirit whom He has purchased for me, and by whom love is shed abroad in my heart; fulfilling the obedience I owe to Christ my King; faithfully performing all the duties laid upon me by the holy law of God my heavenly Father; and ever reflecting in my life and conduct, the perfect example that has been set me by Christ Jesus my Leader, who has died for me and granted to me His Holy Spirit just that I may do the good works which God has afore prepared that I should walk in them.
12. I believe that God has established His Church in the world and endowed it with the ministry of the Word and the holy ordinances of Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Prayer; in order that through these as means, the riches of his grace in the gospel may be made known to the world, and, by the blessing of Christ and the working of His Spirit in them that by faith receive them, the benefits of redemption may be communicated to his people: wherefore also it is required of me that I attend on these means of grace with diligence, preparation, and prayer, so that through them I may be instructed and strengthened in faith, and in holiness of life and in love; and that I use my best endeavors to carry this gospel and convey these means of grace to the whole world.
13. I believe that as Jesus Christ has once come in grace, so also is He to come a second time in glory, to judge the world in righteousness and assign to each his eternal award: and I believe that if I die in Christ, my soul shall be at death made perfect in holiness and go home to the Lord; and when He shall return in his majesty I shall be raised in glory and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity: encouraged by which blessed hope it is required of me willingly to take my part in suffering hardship here as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, being assured that if I die with Him I shall also live with him, if I endure, I shall also reign with Him.

And to Him, my Redeemer,
with the Father,
and the Holy Spirit,
Three Persons, one God,
be glory forever, world without end,
Amen, and Amen.

Other Resources

1. Books and other resources by B. B. Warfield
2. A Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith (PDF)
3. Religious Life of the Theological Student (B. B. Warfield)