|
Evangelical statements of belief:
The Amsterdam Affirmations
Sponsored link.
About the Amsterdam Affirmations (1983):
The Affirmations were composed by the attendees of the International
Conference for Itinerant Evangelists which was held at
the Rai Conference Center, in Amsterdam, The
Netherlands, during 1983-JUL. The conference was organized by members of the
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Campus Crusade
for Christ. Attending "Amsterdam '83" were about 3,870 invited conservative
Protestants from 133 nations. "These statements were individually and
corporately affirmed by the assembled evangelists at the conclusion of the
conference." 1 The
text below was taken from Billy Graham's "A Biblical Standard for Evangelists."
2
"A second, larger conference, sponsored by the BGEA and on the same model
as Amsterdam '83, was held in 1986 in Amsterdam. It was also called the
International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists and is commonly called
Amsterdam '86." 3
M. H. Reynolds, writing in the Fundamental Evangelistic
Association's Foundation magazine severely criticized the
conference, claiming that it allowed heretical teachings by Dr. Robert Schuller;
it soften opposition to communism; it promoted wordliness, the charismatic
movement, ecumenical movement, and female ordination, etc. Referring to the
delegates, Reynolds wrote: "With their hearts and minds filled
with so many conflicting ideas and principles about evangelism; with so much
written material of various sorts to review; with such a vast difference between
what they saw and heard in Amsterdam and the situations they actually face at
home; confusion will be the inevitable result unless someone sounds a warning
and urges them to stay by the Word of God and reject the unscriptural teachings
they received at Amsterdam!" He concluded that the conference was "a
confusing page in church history." 4
Sponsored link:
The text of the Amsterdam Affirmations:
 | We confess Jesus Christ as God, our Lord and Savior, who is revealed in the
Bible, which is the infallible Word of God. |
| We affirm our commitment to the Great Commission of our Lord, and we declare our
willingness to go anywhere, do anything, and sacrifice anything God requires of
us in the fulfillment of that Commission. |
| We respond to God's call to the biblical ministry of the evangelist, and accept
our solemn responsibility to preach the Word to all peoples as God gives
opportunity. |
| God loves every human being, who, apart from faith in Christ, is under God's
judgment and destined for hell. |
| The heart of the biblical message is the good news of God's
salvation, which
comes by grace alone through faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ and His
atoning death on the cross for our sins. |
| In our proclamation of the Gospel we recognize the urgency of calling all to
decision to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to do so lovingly and
without coercion or manipulation. |
| We need and desire to be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit as we bear
witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because God alone can turn sinners from
their sin and bring them to everlasting life. |
| We acknowledge our obligation, as servants of God, to lead lives of holiness and
moral purity, knowing that we exemplify Christ to the church and to the world.
|
| A life of regular and faithful prayer and
Bible study is essential to our
personal spiritual growth, and to our power for ministry. |
| We will be faithful stewards of all that God gives us, and will be accountable
to others in the finances of our ministry, and honest in reporting our
statistics. |
| Our families are a responsibility given to us by God, and are a sacred trust to
be kept as faithfully as our call to minister to others. |
| We are responsible to the church, and will endeavor always to conduct our
ministries so as to build up the local body of believers and serve the church at
large. |
| We are responsible to arrange for the spiritual care of those who come to faith
under our ministry, to encourage them to identify with the local body of
believers, and seek to provide for the instruction of believers in witnessing to
the Gospel. |
| We share Christ's deep concern for the personal and social sufferings of
humanity, and we accept our responsibility as Christians and as evangelists to
do our utmost to alleviate human need. |
| We beseech the Body of Christ to join with us in prayer and work for peace in
our world, for revival and a renewed dedication to the biblical priority of
evangelism in the church, and for the oneness of believers in Christ for the
fulfillment of the Great Commission, until Christ returns. |
Site navigation:
References:
-
"EMNR Doctrinal Statement," Evangelical
Ministries to New Religions, at:
http://www.emnr.org/lausanne.html
-
Billy Graham, "A Biblical Standard for Evangelists,"
World Wide Publications, (1984).
Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
-
"Records of the 1983 International Conference for Itinerant
Evangelists (Amsterdam 83) - Collection 253," Billy Graham Center Archives,
at:
http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/253.htm
-
M. H. Reynolds, "Amsterdam 83: Billy Graham's
international conference for iterant evangelists. Planting the seeds of
ecumenical apostasy in the name of evangelism," M. H. Reynolds,
Foundation magazine, Fundamental Evangelistic Association, Vol. 4, #4, 1983.
See:
http://www.wayoflife.org/
Copyright © 2003 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2003-OCT-22
Latest update: 2003-NOV-2
Author: B.A. Robinson
| |
|
Page Translator: