I am very pleased to announce the publication of a print edition of A Conservative Christian Declaration!
This book as been in the works for over a year now, beginning with a Google Hangout I arranged in July 2013 with Kevin Bauder, Michael Riley, Ryan Martin, David de Bruyn, Jason Parker, and Greg Stiekes. Among other things we discussed, we began making plans to work together on a document that would both articulate our core conservative values as well as dispel caricatures of our positions.
Through all of the fall we collaborated on the document. We started with a list of 25 or so affirmations and denials that David de Bruyn had composed earlier in the year. I reduced his list, added a few, and wrote a preamble; then we proceeded to discuss, adjust, and in many cases re-write progressively through the Declaration.
In January of 2014 we published the Declaration on this site, soliciting feedback from interested parties. We then began posting weekly explanations of each Article.
In May, we began the process of further re-write and editing. Kevin Bauder produced a thorough revision of the Declaration, and each of us combed through the document many times, offering suggestions and noting mistakes. Many friends beyond the authors also helped us, offering suggestions and criticisms, many of which led to changes and refinements in the final product. This new book would not be what it is without the excellent help of friends like Mark Ward, Taigen Joos, Mark Snoeberger, TJ Klapperich, David Huffstutler, and several others.
Finally, we solicited the professional skills of a cover designer (David Fassett) and a typographer (Kevin Mungons) who thoughtfully and accurately captured in their art what we have tried to express in the prose.
This short book is only a starting point. We do not consider this Declaration to be the final word on the subjects that it discusses. We recognize that we ourselves are in the process of learning, and we anticipate that both those who agree and those who disagree with this Declaration will help us to arrive at a more complete understanding of the truth. Consequently, both the statement itself and the explanatory chapters may be revised from time to time. While we have published these pages only after considerable thought, and while we are prepared to defend the ideas that we articulate there, we hold ourselves open to challenge and are prepared to be convinced of error and misstatement. We also hope that this will be the foundation for other work in the future.
Our hope is that this booklet can be used to helpfully articulate the values that we believe to be important, and that it can be used by pastors and others to articulate what they believe and to teach others also.
The book is available on Amazon.com and most other places books are sold. We are also offering a special 25% discount for bulk orders.
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On that page you can also find out how you can receive a free digital copy of the book!
About Scott Aniol
Scott Aniol is the founder and Executive Director of Religious Affections Ministries. He is director of doctoral worship studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in ministry, worship, hymnology, aesthetics, culture, and philosophy. He is the author of Worship in Song: A Biblical Approach to Music and Worship, Sound Worship: A Guide to Making Musical Choices in a Noisy World, and By the Waters of Babylon: Worship in a Post-Christian Culture, and speaks around the country in churches and conferences. He is an elder in his church in Fort Worth, TX where he resides with his wife and four children. Views posted here are his own and not necessarily those of his employer.
