Evangelical Alliance reconciles with Chalke

The Evangelical Alliance seems to have begun a more conciliatory approach since its recent public outburst against Rev Steve Chalke. Last month the EA publicly criticised and rebuked Chalke for questioning the doctrine of 'Penal Substitution', and urged him to 'think again'.

The EA reported that Chalke had "insufficient appreciation" of the extent to which the doctrine has shaped Evangelicalism in today's world. Also in addition to the EA's disapproval of Chalke’s comments, a number of leading UK Christian newspapers were quick to voice this concerns over what the reverend had said.

However, the EA have seemed to have had a change of heart in their latest statement. Some experts have even interpreted the new release as an apology.

The comments come after Rev Chalke made a humble response to the criticism he received as he said that it was "vital that we don't allow disagreement to become division."

The EA joint-statement replied, "We are disappointed that an important theological debate has at times also been marred by personal attack, which has undermined positive relationships. This is deeply regrettable."

Another thing that suggests that the EA has made a quick U-turn on its approach towards Chalke, is that the original statement which deeply criticised Chalke has now been taken off of the press section of their website.

However, despite all these hints of an apology, the new Evangelical Alliance statement did stop short from expressly making any admission of responsibility, and also the EA have reported that their original critical press release had simply been taken off their site, and that they were still standing firm over their views expressed in the statement.

A recent debate at Westminster addressed in depth the issue of whether Rev Chalke and others should be made to leave the Evangelical Alliance. During the gathering the EA's director Joel Edwards stated that the organisation's statement of faith implied the belief in the penal substitution doctrine.

However, since the debate it has been made known that a number of other Evangelicals have been swayed and back similar views to Chalke.

The EA statement continues, "We affirm our love for each other in Christ, and in recognising the very real diversity within the evangelical family, we affirm our devotion to Christ, our commitment to evangelical unity and our mission to the world."

"As evangelical Christians we also reaffirm our commitment to wrestle honestly together in understanding and applying the truth of Christ's substitutionary sacrifice, which is so central to our faith. We believe that this is fundamentally a biblical imperative, which goes beyond personalities."

"We look forward therefore to discussing these issues in greater detail in the forthcoming symposium, to be hosted by the London School of Theology and co-sponsored by the Alliance next year, and would invite the whole evangelical family to walk with us in making 'every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.' (Ephesians 4:3)"


The full text of the joint statement is as follows:

Since the publication of The Lost Message of Jesus a great deal of discussion, debate and dialogue has been generated.

The book was written to emphasise that God's unconditional and inclusive love for everyone is at the core of Jesus' life transforming message, and to provoke us to think again about the way in which we understand and live out our lives in today's context. However, it has also raised significant questions about the validity of Penal Substitution - a model of the Atonement which has been widely understood to be implied in the Evangelical Alliance's Basis of Faith.

Though the challenges made to Penal Substitution within the work and in subsequent writings and public statements have been raised before by a number of evangelical scholars, the controversy, which has developed since the book was published, has generated renewed concern about this issue and has caused some to question the status of evangelical unity. We are disappointed that an important theological debate has at times also been marred by personal attack, which has undermined positive relationships. This is deeply regrettable.

We affirm our love for each other in Christ, and in recognising the very real diversity within the evangelical family, we affirm our devotion to Christ, our commitment to evangelical unity and our mission to the world.

As evangelical Christians we also reaffirm our commitment to wrestle honestly together in understanding and applying the truth of Christ's substitutionary sacrifice, which is so central to our faith. We believe that this is fundamentally a biblical imperative, which goes beyond personalities.

We look forward therefore to discussing these issues in greater detail in the forthcoming symposium, to be hosted by the London School of Theology and co-sponsored by the Alliance next year, and would invite the whole evangelical family to walk with us in making 'every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.' (Ephesians 4:3)

Joel Edwards - General Director of the Evangelical Alliance
Steve Chalke - Founder of Oasis Global