Keith Fordham and parakaleo

Broadus · Feb 23, 2005

From the quote below, notice some of Keith Fordham's justification for having an altar-call type invitation following a sermon. BTW, Fordham is president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists, and the interview is with the Georgia Baptist Christian Index and carried online by Baptist Press.

Index: I have heard you speak of the importance of a "come forward" invitation. Why do you speak so emphatically about that?

Fordham: I believe it is a biblical command. Of the 108 times the Greek verb parakaleo is used in the New Testament, five times it is used in conjunction with preaching and means give a “come forward, stand by the preacher" invitation. In Acts 2:40 Peter exhorted [parakalei] the people on the day of Pentecost. He asked those who believed on Christ to come forward and stand by him publicly and 3,000 came. He kept on calling them and they that received Christ were baptized.
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Did anyone else learn in Greek class that parakaleo, when "used in conjunction with preaching . . . means give a 'come forward, stand by the preacher,'" or were we both sleeping? Or is this one of the best (worst?) cases of eisegesis proposed lately? Since such invitations are only two hundred years old, it seems that many have failed to grasp Fordham's language scholarship.

Blessings,
Bill

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Keith Fordham and parakaleo

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