Trueman: Manipulating History
“It is sad but true that there are those whose use of history is part of an agenda which allows them to manipulate the church in the present. This is particularly the case when it comes to doctrinal and moral issues. Claims, for example, that the penal substitutionary view of the atonement or justification by imputation or the inerrancy of Scripture are late innovations, and/or tied to outmoded social or philosophical paradigms, sound like very plausible and persuasive bases for ‘rethinking’ or ‘revisioning’ these ideas, terms which are usually euphemisms for ‘abandoning’ or ‘dispatching to the theological dustbin.’ A careful study of the doctrinal history can at least demonstrate the erroneous nature of such claims.” Minority Report, 114.
