The New Reformation

"The New Apostolic Reformation is not a cult" insist its leaders. Those who affiliate with it believe the Apostles' Creed and all the standard classic statements of Christian doctrine. However what the NAR does represent says one of its most respected leaders, C. Peter Wagner, Ph.D. is "the most radical change in the way of doing church since the Protestant Reformation." Drawing from his many years of experience as a full-time missionary on the mission fields of Asia, and thousands of hours of study, Bible teaching, leadership and discipleship training in villages and urban centers he has completed around the world, Frederick Osborn offers a brief, but objective evaluation of the movement so far. The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) has changed traditional Protestantism regarding the quality of church life, polity, worship, theology, missional goals, and our view of the eschatological future. But have all these changes been good? As this movement spreads, questions are being raised by many Christians concerning this movement. Have all the changes wrought by the NAR opened the door for a new wave of false teachers and prophets to come into the ranks of the church? Are these false teachers and prophets like the ancient Gnostics and Judaizers of the early church that brought with them destructive heresies? Must they be confronted and done away with before they run all of Christianity off the rails of biblical truth and into a postmodern no-man's-land where practically anything and everything goes? A definitive answer is not offered here, but some biblical guidelines are offered for evaluating and assessing what this new prophetic-apostolic movement represents.