Customer Reviews

A History of the Evangelical and Reformed Church

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This was a great survey of the histories of the German reformed Church in America and of the Evangelical Synod both prior to and after the merger of the two churches in 1934. Being a Wisconsin pastor of a former E + R church, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the German settlements in this area and how Mission House Seminary was established by the Reformed Church to train pastors for this area. I also loved reading about the founding of the Neilsville Indian school, and the starting up of what would later become the Eden Theological Seminary.

Yet the book was also haunting because much of the history was first written in the wake of the assimilation of the E + R church into what is now known as the United Church of Christ. In the book itself, you can feel the optimism the leaders of the E+ R church had about the union with the more liberal Congregational Christian churches. Now I wonder how many of them who are still alive secretly wish that the union had never happened. Since that time, the churches have been plagued with liberal Protestant pastors who have lacked the commitment to the infallibility and authority of scripture that prior generations of Reformed pastors always held fast to. This rejection of scriptural authority has led to a theological and moral malaise within the UCC that has led to the present day apostasy now apparent in the mainline denominations nationwide; including support for unbiblical concepts such as abortion on demand, homosexual relationships, religious pluralism, the use of mission monies for left wing political causes rather than for the propagating of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and unholy alliances with other religions which call into question the supremacy and absolute lordship of Jesus Christ over the nations.