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Summary of content in Promise Unfulfilled: The Failed Strategy of Modern Evangelicalism by Dr. Rolland D. McCune

Dr. Rolland McCune has faithfully invested himself in the life of his seminary students for some forty years. There are hundreds of men serving across the country and around the world who have profited from his teaching on systematic theology, dispensationalism, apologetics, and biblical separation. Now the fruit of his scholarly work is being made available to those outside his seminary classroom.
Promise Unfulfilled: The Failed Strategy of Modern Evangelicalism will be released in October 2004 by Ambassador-Emerald International. It is a thorough work of 416 pages, including a Scripture index, a topical index, and an annotated bibliography. It will be a valuable addition to the pastor’s library and a strategic resource for theological education in Bible colleges and seminaries. A synopsis of the book is included below.

The New Evangelicalism was conceived if not born with the formation of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1942. This new group was in the main led by younger professing fundamentalist scholars and leaders who had become dissatisfied with their heritage and wanted to carve out some evangelical middle ground between fundamentalism and neo-orthodoxy. This book is an analysis of the break-away movement in terms of the issues, ideas, and practices that led to its beginning, its expansion to an apogee in the 1970s, its subsequent loss of biblical and doctrinal stability, and its slide toward virtual irrelevancy in a postmodern world culture of the 21st century.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xv

PART 1: HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
1 The Rise of Theological Liberalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 The Great Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

PART 2: THE FORMATION OF THE NEW EVANGELICALISM
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3 Four Crucial Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4 Other Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

PART 3: ECUMENISM
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5 Ecumenical Evangelism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
6 Ecumenical Church Councils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7 Ecumenical Accolades and Ecumenical Journalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
8 The Charismatic Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
9 Roman Catholicism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

PART 4: ECCLESIASTICAL SEPARATION
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
10 The Rationale of Evangelical Non-Separatism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
11 The Biblical Idea of Ecclesiastical Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

PART 5: THE BIBLE AND AUTHORITY
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
12 Biblical Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
13 Biblical Inspiration and Inerrancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
14 Further Issues, Events, and Publications Related to Inerrancy . . . . . . . . .187
15 Aftermath of The Battle For the Bible. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

PART 6: APOLOGETICS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
16 The Development of New Evangelical Apologetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
17 An Analysis of New Evangelical Apologetics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

PART 7: SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
18 New Evangelical Social Activism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
19 The Biblical Idea of Social Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259

PART 8: DOCTRINAL STORMS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275
20 The Status of the Unevangelized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
21 The Destiny of the Finally Impenitent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291
22 The Open View of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .299

PART 9: CONCLUSION
23 Evaluations and Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309
24 Addendum 1: The Younger Evangelicals, A Book Review . . . . . . . . . . .321
25 Addendum 2: Major Events in Evangelicalism, 1942-2003 . . . . . . . . . . .337

Selected Annotated Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349
Scriptural Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .361
Topical Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369