[From Xanga archive, trying to return to Blogspot . . . meaning a gradual bringing-up-to-date]
There are many Nazarenes (such as the Reformed Nazarenes, see link below) who are concerned with the direction of the COTN, especially as it is embodied at denominational universities like Trevecca, where many students are either losing the Faith altogether or else becoming Catholic. The answer, according to these Reformed/Concerned Nazarenes, is to get back to the Bible-rooted, fundamentalist identity of the COTN. This is an historically amusing assertion, since the COTN was originally separate from 'Bible-rooted' fundamentalist protestantism and much later (in the Southeast U.S.) was largely subsumed within fundamentalism. It is further amusing to consider, on a larger scale, that the COTN has never had a unified identity or a unified 'direction' - which means that those evil 'emergent Nazarenes' and other groups have just as much claim to authoritative teaching as the fundamentalists do. Then again, this is what happens when you have no apostolic authority, no objective claims to authoritative teaching outside of some vague parametres: you go on archaeological expeditions to find the 'real Church' from which we have somehow departed.
Dr. Hoskins and other notable scholars have been pointing Trevecca students to historical Christianity, and many of us students went in search of the 'real Church' that we somehow lost. Some of us have found Her. Don't blame the thoroughly dyed-in-the-wool Nazarene professors for the 'damage' that a simple study of history will render.
'To be deep in history is to cease to be protestant.' -Cardinal John Henry Newman
[Links]
http://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/conversation-with-a-university-president/
http://www.crivoice.org/neofundamentalism.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Newman
-r
