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What is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)

What is the New Apostolic Reformation? It is a religious movement that emerged in the late 1980’s that positions itself as “The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit.” In this view the first wave was the restoration of tongues at Azusa Street, the Second Wave was restoration of the Charismatic gifts via the Charismatic Movement, and the Third Wave is the restoration of the Five-Fold Ministry. Antecedents to this movement include the Latter-Rain Movement and the “Manifest Sons of God.” The term was coined by C. Peter Wagner.

This article was birthed for three reasons:  Reason #1 is that most critiques of the NAR are horrible and often conflate the NAR with the Charismatic Movement and Pentecostalism. Another reason is that many of these critiques neglect to include an analysis of their biggest problem:  denial of the Hypostatic Union. This omission results in complete failure to understand them. The final reason is that the NAR is the perfect counterfeit, having doctrines that look like the early church on the surface but actually lead to a place far, far away from historic Christianity.

 

The Distinctives of the NAR

There are five  distinctions between  NAR and  other groups. The NAR (1) Denies or neuters the Hypostatic Union, (2) embraces the “little gods” doctrine, (3) Embraces dominionism in a Charismatic version of Christian Reconstruction, (4) holds to a Post-Millennial(ish) eschatology, and (5) has a Gnostic/Hermetic understanding of the Anointing

–1 NAR teachers either neuter or deny the Hypostatic Union. The NAR affirms what is called the Kenotic Heresy, which teaches that Jesus was emptied of the divine nature during His early life and lived as a mere human filled with the Holy Spirit. The few who would affirm the orthodox doctrine of the Hypostatic Union would argue that Jesus NEVER expressed the divine nature during His earthly life. In this view, everything He did, including exercise of His royal authority, was as a man filled with the Holy Spirit.

C Peter Wagner, in his commentary on the book of Acts, discloses a nominal belief in the Hypostatic Union while neutering it. He writes the following in his commentary on Acts

As the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus was the only individual who ever existed as 100 percent God and 100 percent human. The doctrine of the two natures of Christ is one of biblical Christianity’s theological nonnegotiables. Although Jesus was, therefore, never without all the attributes of God, He voluntarily gave up the use of these attributes during His incarnation—living, ministering and even thinking with His human nature only. How, then, did He do all the supernatural works and exhibit divine knowledge? It is very simple. He did them “through the Holy Spirit,” as Luke indicates in this passage.

C. Peter Wagner, The Book of Acts: A Commentary (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2008), 45.

Bill Johnson of Bethel, in his book “When Heaven Invades Earth,” chapter 7  “The anointing and the Antichrist Spirit, ” para 4, he writes

“Jesus lived His earthly life with human limitations. He laid his divinity aside as He sought to fulfill the assignment given to Him by the Father: to live life as a man without sin, and then die in the place of mankind for sin. This would be essential in His plan to redeem mankind. The sacrifice that  could atone for sin had to be a lamb, (powerless), and had to be spotless, (without sin).

The anointing Jesus received was the equipment necessary, given by the  Father to make it possible for Him to live beyond human limitations. For  He was not only to redeem man, He was to reveal the Father. In doing so, He was to unveil the Father’s realm called heaven. That would include  doing supernatural things. The anointing is what linked Jesus, the man, to  the divine, enabling Him to destroy the works of the devil. These  miraculous ways helped to set something in motion that mankind could  inherit once we were redeemed. Heaven—that supernatural realm—was to  become mankind’s daily bread.

The problem with denying the Hypostatic Union and embracing full blown Kenotic Heresy should be obvious. If Jesus truly ceased to be divine upon the incarnation, then the godhead changed. If the godhead is subject to time and elemental change, then God is not self-existent but existing in time. The godhead is reduced to a demigod status akin to Paganism.Wagner sought to avoid the obvious charge and argue that Jesus has possession of the properties of the divine Nature but does not have access to them. Johnson would later walk this statement back to appear more like Wagner, arguing that Jesus had possession – but not access to  – the Divine Nature.

 

This nuance does not solve the heretical problem facing the NAR. Objects, by definition, have access to the properties they own.  If Jesus does not have access to the properties of the divine nature, then He did not possess them. If Jesus Divine Nature did not function during his earthly ministry or He had no divine nature to function, then everything Jesus accomplished was spirit aided human effort, including his restoration to the godhead. If one mere man or anyone else who lacks access to the Divine Nature can attain godhood, then other could conceivably do so. The denial or neutering of the Hypostatic Union leads to the little gods doctrine.

 

–2 They teach what they call the “little gods” doctrine. The second distinction is that NAR folks believe that Jesus divine nature was restored to Him upon His resurrection as the result of His life of faith as a man filled with the Holy Spirit, and they believe that the Church becomes part of the godhead upon the general resurrection of the saints. This logically follows from   their neutering of the Hypostatic Union.  If Jesus could attain deification as a mere man, then so can we.

–3 NAR folks are dominionists, who seek to use spiritual power to seize physical power of the institutions of culture. This follows from the .little gods doctrine. If the anointing of the Holy spirit can make Jesus Lord of the earth, then the Church can attain dominion. In their parlance they call this “conquering the Seven Mountains.” One could think of the NAR in this sense as Charismatic Reconstructionism.

–4 They are “post-millennialish.” Many of them would not explicitly identify as such, but the NAR narrative of Charismatic Reconstructionism – the idea of taking dominion of the earth for Christ – requires a post-millennial eschatology.

–5 The NAR has a Gnostic understanding of the Anointing as a result of neutering of the Hypostatic Union. When we read in Scripture concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we  read that “…he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. John 16:13-14″ Jesus taught the He had executive authority in directing the work and anointing of the Holy Spirit. This is an obvious reference to the divine Nature of Jesus as a mere man cannot direct the Holy Spirit. This establishes Jesus as Lord of the Anointing and the anointed life as a .life under the Lordship of Christ. When the gospels speak of the human nature of  Jesus working under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, how does this command apply. The Holy Spirit operated under the direction of the Divine nature of Jesus when He anointed the human nature of Jesus.

Because the NAR neutered the Hypostatic Union, their theology lacks a robust idea of the executive control over the administration of the Holy Spirit. By neutering the Hypostatic Union, they have denied Jesus’ executive control over the administration  of the Holy Spirit and therefore denied Jesus as Lord, as they build their entire theology on  the anointing. If Jesus is not Lord of the anointing, then the anointing is Lord. This creates pressure to devolve into Gnosticism where some have the divine spark and others do not, with those who have that spark wielding godlike authority and everyone else owing absolute allegiance to the little gods among us.

What does not define the NAR; the relation between the NAR and similar movements
At the beginning of this article I wrote that one of the reasons for this article was the the NAR is a perfect counterfeit. This means that on the surface it looks like the best version of the true gospel. Once you start digging you find out it is a monstrocity. Imagine that you are on top of a mountain peak positioned exactly at a continental divide in the Rockies. you are facing north and your feet are 18 inches apart with each foot on the opposite sides of the divide. It is raining. The drops falling on your right foot will end up in the Gulf of Mexico, while the drops on your left foot –  just inches away – will end up in the Pacific Ocean.  This is analogous to the difference between the NAR and true revival. The following is a presentation on the differences between the NAR and similar  movements.

The Charismatic Movement. There are some who would conflate the NAR with the Charismatic Movement. This is a category error. The NAR is a subset of the Charismatic Movement. All adherents to the NAR are Charismatics, but not all Charismatics are NAR. One should not classify Charismatic doctrines concerning topics such as revival, spiritual warfare, spiritual gifts, and the five-fold ministry as NAR simply because NAR teachers also teach on those topics.

The Five-fold Ministry is another area  which is conflated with the NAR in a category error. While all adherents to the NAR believe in the five-fold ministry, not all believers in the five-fold ministry are NAR. The NAR has particular understandings of the four offices apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher in the five-fold  ministry that differ from both Biblical understanding or modern understandings of Ephesians 4:11-16 outside the NAR. Specifically, The NAR purpose for the Five-Fold has little to do with the Biblical mandate of equipping the Saints, but exists only as a stage for the Apostles and Prophets to sit on thrones and have the rest of the Church bow before them.

Revivals, particularly the Endtime Revival or Final Great Awakening, are conflated with the NAR. Revivals and revivalism, however, have been around for over 300 years and have a following much broader than the NAR and even includes non-Charismatic Christians. All who hunger for the experience of the Presence of God long for revival.

The tables below compares and contrast the NAR with several similar movements. The NAR is compared to Charismatics, Messianic Jews, Revivalists, and New Covenant Church of the Apostles.

NAR vs Charismatic Movement

Attribute NAR Charismatic Movement
The Trinity Typically Trinitarian Most are Trinitarian, with notable exceptions such as Oneness Pentecostals
Hypostatic  Union Rejects or neuters Hypostatic Union in favor of Kenotic Heresy The Trinitarian branch typically accepts Hypostatic Union, with notable exceptions such as the NAR
Concept of Dominion Seek dominion of worldly kingdoms as a Charismatic version of Christian Reconstruction
Spiritual Gifts Yes Yes
Five-Fold Ministry Restoration of Apostolic and Prophetic Various views on the five-fold, with a consensus that everyone has a role in  the Church
Eschatology Post-Millennial Pre-Millennial
Basic Narrative Acquire dominion over the kingdoms of this world via carnal actions powered by the anointing Restoration of spiritual gifts to the Church to gain victory over Satan

 

NAR vs Messianic Judaism

Attribute NAR Messianic Judaism
The Trinity Typically Trinitarian Most are Trinitarian, with notable exceptions.
Hypostatic  Union Rejects or neuters Hypostatic Union in favor of Kenotic Heresy The Trinitarian branch typically accepts Hypostatic Union, others are significantly heterodox. Jews for Jesus embraces Hypostatic Union
Concept of Dominion Seek dominion of worldly kingdoms as a Charismatic version of Christian Reconstruction They believe the return of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) will result in a new Israeli hegemony. Most teach a one new man theology of Jews and Gentiles together
Spiritual Gifts Yes Lean towards acceptance of Charismatic gifts
Five-Fold Ministry Restoration of Apostolic and Prophetic Open to it
Eschatology Post-Millennial Pre-Millennial
Basic Narrative Acquire dominion over the kingdoms of this world via carnal actions powered by the anointing Restoration of Israel and her embrace of Messiah Yeshua, with the physical rule of the Messiah Yeshua over the whole world from Jerusalem as the Endgame

 

NAR vs Revivalist

Attribute NAR Revivalists
The Trinity Typically Trinitarian Typically Trinitarian
Hypostatic  Union Rejects or neuters Hypostatic Union in favor of Kenotic Heresy Typically accepts Hypostatic Union, with notable exceptions such as the NAR
Concept of Dominion Seek dominion of worldly kingdoms as a Charismatic version of Christian Reconstruction Typically no concept of dominion beyond Christ’s coming
Spiritual Gifts Yes Some believe in Charismatic gifts, but consensus only around the idea that God can be experienced
Five-Fold Ministry Restoration of Apostolic and Prophetic Various views on the five-fold.
Eschatology Post-Millennial Various
Basic Narrative Acquire dominion over the kingdoms of this world via carnal actions powered by the anointing Gain experience of the presence of God through repentance resulting in a transformed life.

 

NAR vs New Covenant Church of the Apostles

Attribute NAR New Covenant Church of the Apostles
The Trinity Typically Trinitarian Trinitarian.
Hypostatic  Union Rejects or neuters Hypostatic Union in favor of Kenotic Heresy Enthusiastically embraces The Hypostatic Union, and regards the NAR as damnable heresy.
Concept of Dominion Seek dominion of worldly kingdoms as a Charismatic version of Christian Reconstruction Dominion consists of royal standing in God’s courts that exists irrespective of one’s earthly standing. No call to conquer the earth through carnal action, but taking our place as kings and priests in God’s royal courts in prayer and  spiritual warfare.
Spiritual Gifts Yes Yes
Five-Fold Ministry Restoration of Apostolic and Prophetic The five-fold has always existed in  the Church, with a consensus that everyone has a role in  the Church. Apostolic ministries exist mainly as Holy Spirit empowered Church Planters. All Four offices exist to equip the saints for ministry and maturity
Eschatology Post-Millennial Historic Pre-Millennial
Basic Narrative Acquire dominion over the kingdoms of this world via carnal actions powered by the anointing Restoration of spiritual gifts to the Church to gain victory over Satan to liberate people for God, and equipping the saints to fulfill God’s call, with the Galilean Wedding between the Church and Christ the Conquering King as the Endgame.

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Faithful witnesses, Frauds, or Fools!!!

The Trilemma of Lord, Liar, or Lunatic. has been used for over 50 years. C.S Lewis popularized this argument as his answer to those who would say that Jesus  was a good teacher but deny that He is God. As I examined both the logic in favor of and its criticisms, I noticed that the same logic that support the Lord’s Trilemma can be applied  even more rigorously to the Trilemma of the Church: The apostles were either faithful witnesses, frauds, or fools.

This article will have three points. I will first introduce people to the Lord’s Trilemma as presented by C.S. Lewis. I will then discuss the criticisms of this argument. finally I will make the case for the Church’s Trilemma.

The Lord’s Trilemma
C.S. Lewis made the following argument to show the folly of making Jesus out to be a good teacher but not Lord.

Jesus [. . .] told people that their sins were forgiven. [. . .] This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. [. . .] I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.”

That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to1.

Criticism of The Lord’s Trilemma 
Critics of this apologetic argument counter by going through the horns. They would respond that this was legend. In other words, they are saying that the apostles were not reliable witnesses and that Jesus never claimed to be God. This was the premise of the film The Man From Earth.

I believe that the reliability of the apostles is impeccable here, and that this trilemma is valid. It does, however, need to be recognized that the validity of the trilemma depends upon accepting the reliability of the apostles testimony. Those who do not accept that will conclude that the trilemma is not valid. Keep in mind that C.S. Lewis was using this to answer a common but misinformed response to Christ – that He was a good teacher. This response recognizes the sublime nature of Christ’s moral teaching and assumes that the apostles reliably communicated that much. Thus, it is valid to embed the assumption  that the apostles were reliable witnesses in the context in which that trilemma was first deployed.

There is one more assumption that gives the Lord’s trilemma its power: The moral greatness of Jesus and His movement. If Jesus was not  morally great, then the trilemma has no power as it would be easy to peg Him as a liar or lunatic and easy to impugn the veracity of the apostles to the level of urban legend tellers. How do we know that Jesus is good? It is through the advent and influence of the message presented to this world in his name. What does the record say?

A more complete answer can be found in Dr D. James Kennedy’s book,What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?: The Positive Impact of Christianity in History (Here is video documentary on YouTube based on the book.)

For the purposes of space in this article I will list just a few of the  consequences of the rise of Christianity that show its moral robustness:

Jesus Christ brought humanitarianism to the world. The Pagan worldview was very harsh on  women, the poor, and the disabled and had no concept of human rights as we know them today. Jesus elevated marginalized classes and taught compassion. It was within the context of the Judeo-Christian teaching concerning the nobility of humanity, both collectively and individually,  as the image of God that became the foundation of compassion and benevolence. On the other hand, the ethics of the Pagan world throughout much of history bear a closer resemblance of Nazism than to the Classical Liberal traditions that flourished in the West. These traditions were birthed in Christian thought that had its origins in the worldview and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ brought liberty to the world. Paganism has as its premise the idea that the state is god on earth, with no shortage of myths that exalted the king as a god. The Pagan world-view had little  room for  human freedom. It was within the context of the Judeo-Christian teaching concerning the nobility of humanity, both collectively and individually,  as the image of God that became the foundation of  Paleo-Libertarian thought that emerged in the West, influencing such thinkers as John Milton, Samuel Rutherford, and John Locke.

Jesus Christ brought light to the world. While the Pagan world has magnificent accomplishments, it fell short of creating anything that could have resembled modern science. The question of how do we know has been one of the great questions of philosophy. It was within the context of the Judeo-Christian teaching concerning the nobility of humanity, both collectively and individually,  as the image of God that became the foundation of  a framework that justified belief that our subjective categories of knowing corresponded to the objexctively existing cate gories of the external world. God created us in  His image so that we can navigate the world He created. Christian thinkers preserved the Greeco-Roman classic throughout the middle ages and laid the foundation for modern science.

Jesus Christ brought light to YOU and ME. There are millions of testimonies of lives changed through the gospel. Murderer, rapists, slaver-traders, drug lords, etc had their lives transformed from evil to good, and from death to life, by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Church’s Trilemma:Faithful witnesses, Frauds, or Fools.
How did Jesus transform the world when He wrote no books and travelled no more than 100 miles from His birthplace, and made disciples in a backwater Roman province. He did this through the actions and writings of those who followed him. Any trilemma that 21st century people might apply to Jesus must be applied to His apostles and early followers.

Were the Apostles reliable witnesses when they claimed to be eye-witnesses to the resurrection of Christ? Just like Jesus, let no one say that they were good people and good teachers who were sincerely wrong. Let us first consider the possibility that they are not.

If the apostles were not faithful eye-witnesses of the resurrection of Christ, they either (1) did not know they were not reliable, or (2) They knew they were not reliable.

If the apostles were not faithful eye-witnesses of the resurrection of Christ and did not know they were not reliable, then they had a complete psychotic break from reality. This is made worse when you consider the testimony of group sighting of the resurrected Christ. The Ascension of Christ i  this case would be among the most pernicious episodes of a mass psychotic break from reality in  the history of the world. In this case the apostles would be fit for a mental institution rather than leadership of a new religion or of anything worthwhile.

If the apostles were not faithful eye-witnesses of the resurrection of Christ and knew they were not reliable, then they perpetrated the most massive fraud ever perpetrated in  the history of the world. The apostles would be consummate liars whose big lie killed large  numbers of people, including themselves. No reasonable person would die for a lie, knowing it was a lie, with no apparent pathway for any good to be accomplished. If this be the case, such men are moral and intellectual reprobates.

If the apostles were  faithful eye-witnesses of the resurrection of Christ; then Christ is indeed resurrected from the dead, and He is who  the apostles claimed that He is. The resurrection of Christ establishes that He is the God-Man – the Son of God. As God He has access to every divine resource and made these available to the Church. As Man he lived a perfect life and taught others to follow his example.

Conclusion
As I conclude this article, it should be noted that it is absolutely impossible to go either through the horn s of  the Church’s Trilemma or grab multiple horns. Christianity, as we know it, can have exactly one of these three possible explanations. Christianity is either (1) the result  of faithful testimony of its founders, (2) the result of a mass psychotic break on the part of the founders, or (3) The fabrication of the greatest hoax of all time. Which hypothesis has the best explanatory power here.

The idea that fabrication of the greatest hoax of all time could produce the moral and intellectual goods of Christianity is simply not feasible. Hoaxsters do  not inspire sublimely ethical behavior to the extent that its original  practitioners practiced it at great cost and produced revolutions of ethics and compassion throughout the world. Hoaxsters do not produce environments conducive to philosophical and scientific revolutions. Hoaxsters do not create stable regimes as hoaxes are inherently unstable, lasting only as long as people are fooled by the big lie.

The idea that a mass psychotic break on the part of the founders could produce the moral and intellectual goods of Christianity is simply not feasible. People who suffer from a psychotic break can not inspire sublimely ethical behavior to the extent that its original  practitioners practiced it at great cost and produced revolutions of ethics and compassion throughout the world. People who suffer from a psychotic break cannot produce environments conducive to philosophical and scientific revolutions. People who suffer from a psychotic break can not create stable regimes as they are inherently unstable.

The idea that  the faithful testimony of the Apostles could produce the moral and intellectual goods of Christianity is the only feasible hypothesis. The resurrection of Jesus provided the anointing to power moral and intellectual transformation. The gospel of Jesus Christ provided not only robust foundations for religious truth, but the intellectual and social foundations necessary to create stable movements and social structures in which these moral and intellectual goods can flourish. The Church’s Trilemma has found that the apostles are indeed Faithful Witnesses of the Resurrection.

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