A great deal has now been written about Bruxy Cavey and his theology. From my perspective, this has been going on for a while. But for those who are just recently tuning in, I’ve provided a timeline of events. To better help understand things, I’ve broken things down into 5 phases, with the first phase beginning in February, 2017, and with the fifth phase still being played out.
PHASE 1: THE HOMOSEXUAL APOLOGY VIDEO (February 2017)
I trace all the online discussions back to this video in which Bruxy Cavey appeared, alongside some other leaders, to apologize to homosexuals on behalf of Christians. Tim Barnett provided a critique of said video here on February 2, 2017. Tim Challies featured Barnett’s article in his A La Carte the next day.
Bruxy Cavey also appeared in a similar video apologizing to homosexuals on behalf of Christians here. I wrote a blog in response to that video calling Bruxy Cavey to apologize for specific things he said within the video.
PHASE 2: QUESTIONS OF ORTHODOXY (February to May 2017)
A few weeks later I published another blog, “Bruxy Cavey and the Bible,” in which I questioned his orthodoxy on the doctrine of Scripture and compared some of his statements with statements in Scripture and from church history. Tim Challies featured that article in his A La Carte within a few days.
Two weeks later, I published “Bruxy Cavey and the Cross,” in which I again questioned Cavey’s orthodoxy, but this time as it pertained to his teaching on the atonement. I concluded that blog with a link to a document containing multiple questionable statements by Bruxy Cavey.
At least two blog posts by Bruxy Cavey (here and here) followed all this criticism.
In April 2017, Bruxy Cavey appeared on a panel discussion at Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. In that discussion Cavey denied the necessity of the blood of Christ, and in doing so denied its efficacy (see here). Having watched that video, I became confident that I was absolutely correct to question Cavey’s orthodoxy earlier in the year, but I decided to give things a rest.
On April 14, 2017, Eric Schneider began his own blog here, in which he started documenting Cavey’s teaching and refuting his errors. On April 23, 2017, Eric Schneider wrote a blog asking why Bruxy Cavey is teaching at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto, given the fact that his public teachings appear to contradict Tyndale’s doctrinal statement. Randal Rauser, a professor at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton, defended Cavey against Schneider’s blog here, and then questioned Schneider’s credentials here.
On May 10 2017, Rich Birch mentioned my critique of Bruxy Cavey on his blog here, where he accused me of “horizontal hostility” and listed the ways he believes such hostility is killing the church.
PHASE 3: CAVEY AND THE BIC BISHOPS RESPOND TO CRITICISM (February to March, 2018)
Other than Eric Schneider’s regular blogging, things settled down until February 1, 2018, when Bruxy Cavey along with two of his denominational leaders, produced a podcast in response to concerns over their doctrine of Scripture. I responded to that podcast with more concerns here and here. On March 19, 2018, Dr. Rich Davis from Tyndale University in Toronto released a series of blogs refuting Cavey’s errors here.
PHASE 4: THE ANDY STANLEY GNAT AND THE BRUXY CAVEY CAMEL (May to September, 2018)
In the Spring of 2018, American Christians started to raise concerns about popular American pastor, Andy Stanley. On May 15, 2018, Wyatt Graham wrote a blog in response to Andy Stanley, and he also dealt with some of Cavey’s material in the blog. I noticed more buzz about Stanley online among Canadian pastors, so I wrote “The Andy Stanley Gnat and The Bruxy Cavey Camel” with the hope of spurring Canadian brothers on to deal with Cavey’s errors, errors which I still believe are much more egregious than Stanley’s. Around this same time, Eric Schneider and I started to circulate video footage of Cavey’s more serious errors on Twitter (here, here, here, and here).
On June 27, 2018, The Rebel Alliance released a podcast which featured me as a guest, and in it I used very strong language to denounce and censure Bruxy Cavey.
On July 2, 2018, Bruxy Cavey began a series of blogs (the first here) in an attempt to explain his view of Scripture. The second was released July 13, and the third July 20.
On July 7, 2018, Wyatt Graham issued a partial response to and refutation of Cavey’s first blog.
On July 8, 2018, Pastor Paul Carter released a blog on The Gospel Coalition Canada’s website, “Why I Must Respectfully Disagree with my Anabaptist Friends,” expressing his dissent from some of Cavey’s teachings. Following Carter’s blog, I became concerned that some might perceive that Cavey speaks on behalf of Anabaptists. So I wrote “Anabaptist or Anabruxyists? And Why It Doesn’t Really Matter” on July 9. My desire was to get the focus off Anabaptists and on the actual teachings of Bruxy Cavey. On July 10, Matt Menzel, an Anabaptist pastor from Vancouver, expressed dissent from Cavey’s teaching here.
On July 11, 2018, I published a blog: “Yes, Bruxy Cavey is a False Teacher.” In the blog I documented why I was using such strong language about Bruxy Cavey. Tim Challies featured it in his A La Carte section on July 13.
Bruxy Cavey responded to the barrage of criticism prior to his sermon on July 15, 2018. I quickly followed-up here to outline the issues as discussed by Cavey. Paul Carter, of the Gospel Coalition Canada, offered “Props to Bruxy Cavey,” commending Cavey as an example for the way he responded to criticism. On July 21, I offered eight problems with Cavey’s response to criticism here.
On September 3, 2018, it was reported here that Fresno Pacific Seminary had ousted Cavey because of his teachings on the atonement.
PHASE 5: THE CAVEY/CARTER INTERVIEWS AT TGC CANADA (September to October, 2018)
Things again settled down, until Paul Carter started a series of interviews with Bruxy Cavey on The Gospel Coalition Canada website. According to TGC Canada, the series was “to model a civil and respectful dialogue.” Carter said he started the series because he “wanted to know what [Cavey] meant when he used the expressions and idioms that he used.” The first blog was released on September 10, 2018, and it dealt with Cavey’s understanding of Scripture. As a guest blogger on my blog, Eric Schneider attempted to point out what Paul Carter missed with a response to Carter’s first blog here. The Rebel Alliance once again hosted me on their podcast to comment on the first of the Carter/Cavey interviews. In the podcast, we expressed concern that significant issues had been overlooked by Paul Carter, we called Cavey to repent for his sinful use of language, and we expressed hope that TGC Canada would somehow resolve all of the confusion.
Carter published a second interview with Cavey on TGC Canada’s website here on September 18, this time dealing with Cavey’s understanding of the atonement. I responded to that article here and here with exegetical issues that I think, if addressed, would have buttressed the orthodox position on the atonement.
The third interview was posted September 23 on the TGC Canada site, and in that article Carter interviewed Cavey about methodology.
Carter, on the TGC Canada site, wrapped up the series with this article on September 25. In it, he, with some pastoral cautions, concludes, “Bruxy Cavey is not a heretic. He’s an Anabaptist.”
Dean Lentini commented on the Carter/Cavey series with this article on September 26, in which he concluded that Bruxy Cavey is a heretic.
On October 1, Wyatt Graham (here) outlined some differences between Evangelical theology and what Bruxy Cavey said in the Carter/Cavey interviews. Tim Challies linked to Graham’s blog in his A La Carte on October 7.
Dr. Rich Davis, on October 8, commented here on Cavey’s contradictory statements about Scripture that became apparent in the Carter/Cavey series.
On October 10, 2018, Paul Carter wrote another blog here on the TGC Canada website highlighting a point of disagreement between he and Cavey, as well as arguing for the necessity of a penal substitutionary atonement.
PHASE 6: ?
As for me, I’ve thought a great deal about this, and I look forward to putting the whole thing to rest. Maybe this is the last blog I’ll ever write on Bruxy Cavey. I hope it is. The TGC Canada Council plans to issue a statement in the next few weeks on the matter, and I think a lot of folks remain curious as to what they will say. As for me, I stand firmly by everything I’ve already said. I will only change my disposition towards Bruxy Cavey and his teaching if he becomes better known for repenting over his false-teachings than he is known now for espousing them. So far, with all the ink and the interviews, we are yet to see even the breaking of the dawn of that day. May God have mercy on Bruxy Cavey, on those who enable him, and on all those who’ve been taken captive by his destructive teaching.
In the end, truth always prevails. When I was 23, I started pastoring a small church in central Kentucky. I was cutting my teeth in pastoral ministry, and there were issues in the church even before I arrived. Then surfaced the type of issues you’d expect in a rural Kentucky Baptist church that already had issues, but now had a new pastor to boot, and a young fiery pastor from Canada at that. An older man from the congregation befriended me. Like older men do, and with his thick Kentucky drawl, he often reminded me: “Brother Jacob. It’ll all come out in the wash.” I can still hear his voice, drawl and all.
