That is Mark Horne’s charitable and cautious verdict of Mike Horton’s remarks about the Manhattan Declaration.
Horton’s offense was to write this: “This declaration continues this tendency to define ‘the gospel’as something other than the specific announcement of the forgiveness of sins and declaration of righteousness solely by Christ’s merits.â€
But Horne will have none of it:
When Jesus preached the Gospel he did not preach the precise message that Horton says that he was supposed to. When the Apostles preached the Gospel, Luke does us the favor in Acts of telling us what they preached and it does not conform to Horton’s “specific announcement.†When Paul describes the believing response to the Gospel and the specific mental content it entails, he does not specify the reception of any such specific message.
It is not just that Horton is wrong, it is that the content of the Manhattan Document is exactly right to appeal to the Gospel as the Church’s commission to proclaim the justice of Jesus. Jesus is Lord and he has assumed enforcement and arbitration of every violation of those ethical mandates “grounded in creation.†Every violation will be brought before Jesus whom, according to the one and only Gospel, has been given authority as the raised and ascended Lord to Judge.
Horton’s ideas are not as dangerous as Tetzel’s sales pitch, because what he believes is true. But what he teaches is every bit as Biblically illiterate and twisting of Scripture. And the fact that professed Bible-believers cling to these false and groundless claims is as intellectually superstitious as any monk approaching a vial of Mary’s alleged breast milk on his knees.
The comparison of Horton to Tetzel is a deft touch. (With advocates for the Federal Vision like this, is there any wonder why many find it hard to take those Visionaries seriously?)
Important to notice here is not simply Horne’s rejection of Horton’s understanding of the gospel, as if there were any hope for sinners apart from Christ’s righteousness and the forgiveness that comes through trusting him. Also poignant is Horne’s identification of the sanctity of human life and heterosexual marriage – at least two concerns of the Manhattan Declaration – with the gospel.
Horne’s analysis is further confirmation of the dangers that attend not making justification the logical priority of any sort of good works on the part of the believer. If sanctification is not firmly situated within the context of justification, “works righteousness†is just around the corner such that to declare “‘ethical mandates’ grounded in creation†is to proclaim the gospel.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but how exactly do such mandates constitute “good news†to saints let alone to sinners? Careful how you answer. Those “filthy rags†have a way of needing the white robes of Christ’s imputed righteousness.
Old Life 
Imagine if a non-representative number of pastors (say 4) were to rise up from within the CREC and other FV circles and start advocating this not-quite-Tetzel-but-still-dangerous theory of justification through conferences and blogs.
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I haven’t taken FV seriously for quite a long time. I read Mark’s comments, as usual, dismissively.
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I’m very tempted to call him Mark “Mad Libs” Horne.
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Horton’s response to the M.Declaration is his response to most everything (“They don’t understand the Gospel.”) When really what his problem is is like every mainstream academic he fears the opinion of man. If he signed such a declaration he’d have to defend it to secular academia which scares him. “I’m not a fundamentalist!” he says, running to his office. When you confront left-wing dogma you are confronting the great idol of the world. That marks you. The world notices you. Satan notices you. You own inner Old Man challenges you. Oh, look, poor Michael Horton now finds himself on the spiritual battlefield. How did he get there? So uncomfortable! That d*** Declaration he signed! “But I’m not with *those* people! Really!” Horton knows how to keep his comfort zone from being molested. He knows what lines not to step over. Mustn’t upset the world. This is also why the Horton’s of the Reformed Village of Morality don’t actually proclaim the actual living word of the Gospel from their various media platforms. That would bring unpleasant blowback. Better to just talk about informal polls and how the un-lettered don’t understand the Gospel.
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Christian, on what planet do you live? Henry Louis Gates at Harvard is mainstream, not Horton at little WSC.
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Christian,
Your comment proves quite clearly that you have no idea what you are talking about.
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The “un-lettered”? Well if you mean Reformed academics/near-academics who read any tome published by a Reformed author, then please count me out. I’m 18, a university student and most definitely not an academic and I fully understand where the WHI team are coming from. And to say that Dr. Horton and others like him do not proclaim the Gospel is one of those statements that for this journalism student, you’re gonna need to put up the proof for that, because for 2 years of listening, I have Christ and Him crucifed proclaimed time and time again. Oh, and by the way, just what is the “Reformed Village of Morality?”
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Word up Douglas. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth interacting with the comments of someone cowering behind a pseudonym.
Why do some of us have to take responsibility for our comments and not others? Putting your name to a comment is costly. It means you’ve gone public with an opinion and if you change your mind in a week/month/year you can’t just disappear and just come back with a new opinion and a new psuedonym. I say we boycott interaction with all those who are scared of naming themselves.
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To life and liberty as a part of the good news- a hearty amen!
To the pagan sexual practices left behind in Egypt- leave that in Egypt.
What has been gained is to be remembered, what has been lost is to be forgotten.
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