The Concern of the New Foundation Movement

Author: Lewis Benson

Format: 8.5" x 11" Downloadable PDF

Description: There is a gospel that brings life: all others do not. By making such a statement are we being exclusive? In this tract, Lewis Benson undertakes to point out the distinctive properties of the gospel preached by  George Fox and why the people who receive that message come into the life of Christ, today just as in the 17th century. Benson wrote: 

"Workers in the New Foundation Movement have learned to avoid using the word gospel in publicity announcing their meetings. Many potential attenders of these meetings think of the word gospel as having a meaning that is forever fixed and defined by the way it is used by evangelical Protestants. There are famous preachers in the world today who are preaching that Christ has the power to forgive us and pardon us for offenses against God and humans. He has the power to remove the burden of guilt for sin and to promise the believer a better hope for a future existence after death. He will do all this for all who accept him as their personal savior.  

George Fox preached a different gospel. He claimed that churches of his day were preaching a Christ who could save us in our sins but not from our sins. He maintained that  Christ is able not only to forgive but also to deliver us from captivity to sin and enable us to gain the victory over the evil in our lives, and give us the power to resist temptation. Fox also saw that the church is, or should be, a community of disciples who are taught by Christ and who learn together, obey together, and suffer together. This community is brought into existence by the preaching of the everlasting gospel. At the heart of this everlasting gospel is the proclamation that Christ is alive and actively present in the midst of his people. The purpose of this kind of gospel preaching is to cause people to experience a  personal encounter with the living Christ….This living Christ, who is present in the midst of his people, is present in a functional way; that is, he leads his people, he teaches his people, he orders and governs his people. We know him by what he does."