Michael Jensen: Is there an evangelical consensus?

1. Evangelicals have historically engaged in cross-denominational co-operation, especially for the purpose of mission. From the first days of NSW, the Anglican chaplains invited and aided Methodist missionaries. This co-operative spirit was of great annoyance to the early Oxford Movement leaders such as John Henry Newman who thought that the Church of England was being sullied by such endeavours.( Note however that the co-operation was not itself the mission: the mission itself made co-operation imperative. )

2. For evangelicals, cross-denominational co-operation has meant finding a common doctrinal ground. This has been very successfully accomplished in the IFES doctrinal statement, which in particular highlights the ‘Redemption from the guilt, penalty, dominion and pollution of sin, solely through the sacrificial death (as our representative and substitute) of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God’ and the supreme authority of Scripture. A few years back, JI Packer and Thomas Oden – a Calvinist and an Arminian - produced a book called ‘One Faith’, in which they surveyed a range of doctrinal statements made by evangelical organizations and were able to point to a surprising unity among them. Read more