The PRCA and the true/false church (3)
Rev. Joshua Engelsma argues for a nuanced Reformed understanding of the distinction between true and false churches, demonstrating that churches can exist in varying degrees of purity and may undergo a gradual process of apostasy rather than being absolutely true or false. Drawing on the Belgic Confession Article 29 and the historical teachings of Calvin, Bavinck, and Hoeksema, he critiques the problematic implications of an absolutist view that labels any church with errors as entirely false, a position often used to claim one's own church as the sole true church.
In this brief series of editorials, I have been setting forth the distinction between the true church and the false church. I have argued especially that one must allow for varying degrees of purity within true churches, and that one must distinguish between an apostatizing church and an apostate church. In my first editorial I examined how this view of the distinction is the teaching of the Belgic Confession in Article 29 as well as the teaching of Scripture. In the second editorial, I walked...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org