Federal Visionists love Norman Shepherd, which, of course, automatically makes them all heretics. As everyone knows, Shepherd was fired with cause from Westminster Theological Seminary for the heresy of denying the biblical truth of Sola Fide.
Amazingly, Ian Hewitson has just published a book, Trust and Obey: Norman Shepherd & The Justification Controversy at Westminster Theological Seminary, that attempts "to remove suspicion from Shepherd and to restore to him that which is more precious to him than silver or gold - his good name." Of course, this would be tantamount to renouncing our faith in Luther. Me genoito!
Trust and Obey marshalls a ton of evidence to implicate WTS of injustice. The first half of the book proves that WTS "did not have adequate grounds to remove Shepherd." The second half of the book demonstrates that WTS "also had no grounds theologically to remove" Shepherd.
Whether or not the author is correct is irrelevant; expedience is our catapult. In the end, God's will was done, and the heretic was removed. Who cares about justice and integrity? The gospel is at steak! We are ordained to use whatever means necessary to preserve our theological paradigms.
Rest assured, we did not actually read Trust and Obey, as we need to guard ourselves against the schemes of Satan. Just a cursory skim of the book reveals an ungodly obsession with details and a constant footnoting of source documents. Do not let this pseudo-scholarly enterprise fool you into Sympathy for the Devil. God is not in the details.
Here's a howler from the conclusion to Trust and Obey: "Shepherd must be held in high esteem for his solid commitment to Scripture and for his insistence that every generation must continually revise dogmatic formulations in light of the Word of God."
Obviously, the FVers have learned from their godfather, as this is a classic FV ploy: suggesting that the Confession should be revised in light of the scriptures. Don't they know by now that an appeal to sola scriptura is never going to faze us? We read the scriptures in light of the Confessions, not the other way around. We are not interested in getting into a "whose bible interpretation is correct" debate.
Therefore, we at the AFVSB are issuing this grave warning: under no circumstances should you read Trust and Obey. We have worked hard at circulating half-truths and outright lies about Norman Shepherd. A dangerous book like this could undermine all of our efforts. Soli Deo Gloria!
