Theological liberalism is accepted by many professing Christians in the United States and around the world. It it the underlying theological system of many universities and seminaries as well as that of most of the leadership of the so called mainline Protestant denominations. The mainline denominations include: the Episcopalian Church, Presbyterian Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church, United Church of Christ, American Baptist Churches, and the United Methodist Church. Liberalism has even infiltrated evangelical churches to a certain degree.
The foundation of Liberalism is the rejection of Scripture alone as the ultimate authority. Liberals reject the authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of the Bible. In Liberalism the Bible is no longer God's revelation to us but merely the opinions of men and their experiences of God. This is where we see the elevation of personal experience over Scripture as the ultimate authority. The liberals used to proclaim that Christianity is life and not doctrine.
According to the liberals many of the Old Testament stories were just fiction and the New Testament miracles never happened. They denied that Adam and Eve were real people and the doctrine of original sin. The liberals also denied the virgin birth of Christ, the deity of Christ, his miracles, the substitutionary atonement, the historical/physical resurrection of Christ, and his second coming.
Liberals rejected the wrath of God, his judgement, and the existence of hell. Liberals tried to focus only on the love of God. They rejected the sinfulness of mankind and believed that man was basically good. Since a savior was no longer needed Jesus was not seen as a savior but merely as an example to follow. Since people no longer needed to be saved from their sins the social gospel replaced the Biblical gospel. Personal salvation was no longer needed so the focus was just on relieving suffering and the problems of this world.
As J. Gresham Machen once said, Liberalism is not Christianity at all. Liberalism is nothing more than unbelief. It is simply secularism with Christian language. Liberals adopted secular philosophies such as Darwinism and naturalism. They accepted Darwinism and rejected the creation account of the Bible. They accepted naturalism which denies that miracles can happen, and then concluded that the miracles of the Bible did not happen.
The liberals rejected the authority of God and his Word and were left with human reason, experience, and imagination as their authority. The liberals attempted to sit in judgement of God and his Word, when in reality God and his Word stand in judgement of them. Liberals need to repent of their unbelief and submit to the authority of God and his Word. They must renounce the teaching of mere men and embrace the Bible alone as the ultimate authority. Liberals must repent of their sin and trust Christ alone for salvation.
Monday, September 24, 2018
Monday, September 10, 2018
Friedrich Schleiermacher, The Father Of Liberalism
Theological liberalism emerged in the 1800's heavily influenced by the Enlightenment which began in the 1700's. The Enlightenment elevated human reason as the ultimate authority and placed man at the center of all things. Liberalism has had a great influence on the church and society over the last few centuries.
German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) is known as the father of theological liberalism. Schleiermacher was strongly influenced by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Kant separated things into the noumenal realm (outside the mind) and the phenomenal realm (inside the mind). The noumenal realm referred to the thing in itself while the phenomenal realm referred to the thing as it appears. Kant believed things in the noumenal realm (what exists outside the mind) cannot be known about, we can only know that it exists. Kant believed we could only know things in the phenomenal realm, that is things as they appear.
Friedrich Schleiermacher took the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and applied it to theology. Schleiermacher located God in the noumenal realm where he could not be known. He believed God could only be known through the phenomenal realm, that is only as he appears to someone. Schleiermacher believed one could not actually know God, but could only know his experience of God.
So for Schleiermacher theology was not the study of God but the study of one's experience of God. It is not God revealing himself to humanity in the Bible but humanity experiencing "God consciousness." Scripture was no longer the ultimate authority, it was now replaced by human experience. For Schleiermacher the Bible was no longer the Word of God revealed to us because God could not be known. Instead the Bible was just men writing down their experiences of God.
The Bible was no longer the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. It was no longer considered truth from God, it was nothing more than the writing of mere men. The historical accounts and miracle claims of the Bible were now rejected. In Liberalism the Bible was no longer the ultimate authority. It was now replaced by human reason, experience, and imagination.
German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) is known as the father of theological liberalism. Schleiermacher was strongly influenced by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Kant separated things into the noumenal realm (outside the mind) and the phenomenal realm (inside the mind). The noumenal realm referred to the thing in itself while the phenomenal realm referred to the thing as it appears. Kant believed things in the noumenal realm (what exists outside the mind) cannot be known about, we can only know that it exists. Kant believed we could only know things in the phenomenal realm, that is things as they appear.
Friedrich Schleiermacher took the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and applied it to theology. Schleiermacher located God in the noumenal realm where he could not be known. He believed God could only be known through the phenomenal realm, that is only as he appears to someone. Schleiermacher believed one could not actually know God, but could only know his experience of God.
So for Schleiermacher theology was not the study of God but the study of one's experience of God. It is not God revealing himself to humanity in the Bible but humanity experiencing "God consciousness." Scripture was no longer the ultimate authority, it was now replaced by human experience. For Schleiermacher the Bible was no longer the Word of God revealed to us because God could not be known. Instead the Bible was just men writing down their experiences of God.
The Bible was no longer the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. It was no longer considered truth from God, it was nothing more than the writing of mere men. The historical accounts and miracle claims of the Bible were now rejected. In Liberalism the Bible was no longer the ultimate authority. It was now replaced by human reason, experience, and imagination.
Monday, August 13, 2018
The Problem Of Evil
The problem of evil can be stated in the following way.
(1) God is all powerful
(2) God is all good
(3) Yet evil exists
Unbelievers often say the existence of evil proves that Christianity is inconsistent and untrue. They state that if God was all powerful and all good then evil could not exist. But the Bible does teach that God is all powerful and all good while the existence of evil is a reality. If we add another statement we can remove the inconsistency found here.
(1) God is all powerful
(2) God is all good
(3) Evil Exists
(4) God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil
When we add statement 4 we now have the total picture of what the Bible actually teaches. The logical inconsistency is now removed. Christianity is consistent and true. We may not like this explanation but it is reality. We do not fully understand why evil exists because we do not see the entire picture as God does. We must trust God and realize that the existence of evil brings glory to God. There is a good reason for the existence of evil it has just not been fully revealed to us. The secret things belong to the LORD our God (Deuteronomy 29:29). A good example is the crucifixion of Christ. With the crucifixion a great evil was committed by men. But God brought about a greater good, namely the salvation of his people, which also brought him glory.
We must point out that the real problem of evil does not belong on Christians but on unbelievers. The unbeliever has no basis for anything even being good or evil in his worldview. He has no ultimate moral authority or standard by which to determine good and evil. The unbeliever could not be consistent with his worldview and even call murder or child abuse wrong. In order for the unbeliever to speak in terms of good and evil he must jump out of his own worldview and jump into the Christian worldview. He must borrow from Christianity in order to live his life and deal with reality.
The Christian has a basis for good and evil. The ultimate moral authority and standard is God and his Word. Good is that which is consistent with God's character and law. While evil is that which violates God's character and law. Unbelievers can offer no more than a mere opinion because they have no ultimate authority to which they can turn. If the unbeliever was consistent he could only say "so what?" to everything that happens.
Every time an unbeliever speaks of the problem of evil he actually proves the existence of God. He could not even talk about a problem of evil if God did not exist. When the unbeliever speaks of the logical inconsistency of Christianity he again proves the existence of God because there is no basis for logic without God. If God did not exist you would not be able to prove anything. You would be left with nothing more than absurdity.
The unbeliever cannot escape the fact that he is made in God's image and lives in God's world. In his heart of hearts he knows that the God of the Bible exists. The unbeliever simply suppresses the truth about God in unrighteousness. All unbelievers need to repent (have a change of mind) and trust in Christ alone for salvation. Then their minds will be renewed and they will be in line with reality.
Only Christianity provides the necessary preconditions for intelligibility. In other words only the Christian worldview makes sense of you world and fits reality. Christianity is true because of the impossibility of the contrary. All other worldviews are inconsistent, contradictory, and reduce to absurdity.
(1) God is all powerful
(2) God is all good
(3) Yet evil exists
Unbelievers often say the existence of evil proves that Christianity is inconsistent and untrue. They state that if God was all powerful and all good then evil could not exist. But the Bible does teach that God is all powerful and all good while the existence of evil is a reality. If we add another statement we can remove the inconsistency found here.
(1) God is all powerful
(2) God is all good
(3) Evil Exists
(4) God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil
When we add statement 4 we now have the total picture of what the Bible actually teaches. The logical inconsistency is now removed. Christianity is consistent and true. We may not like this explanation but it is reality. We do not fully understand why evil exists because we do not see the entire picture as God does. We must trust God and realize that the existence of evil brings glory to God. There is a good reason for the existence of evil it has just not been fully revealed to us. The secret things belong to the LORD our God (Deuteronomy 29:29). A good example is the crucifixion of Christ. With the crucifixion a great evil was committed by men. But God brought about a greater good, namely the salvation of his people, which also brought him glory.
We must point out that the real problem of evil does not belong on Christians but on unbelievers. The unbeliever has no basis for anything even being good or evil in his worldview. He has no ultimate moral authority or standard by which to determine good and evil. The unbeliever could not be consistent with his worldview and even call murder or child abuse wrong. In order for the unbeliever to speak in terms of good and evil he must jump out of his own worldview and jump into the Christian worldview. He must borrow from Christianity in order to live his life and deal with reality.
The Christian has a basis for good and evil. The ultimate moral authority and standard is God and his Word. Good is that which is consistent with God's character and law. While evil is that which violates God's character and law. Unbelievers can offer no more than a mere opinion because they have no ultimate authority to which they can turn. If the unbeliever was consistent he could only say "so what?" to everything that happens.
Every time an unbeliever speaks of the problem of evil he actually proves the existence of God. He could not even talk about a problem of evil if God did not exist. When the unbeliever speaks of the logical inconsistency of Christianity he again proves the existence of God because there is no basis for logic without God. If God did not exist you would not be able to prove anything. You would be left with nothing more than absurdity.
The unbeliever cannot escape the fact that he is made in God's image and lives in God's world. In his heart of hearts he knows that the God of the Bible exists. The unbeliever simply suppresses the truth about God in unrighteousness. All unbelievers need to repent (have a change of mind) and trust in Christ alone for salvation. Then their minds will be renewed and they will be in line with reality.
Only Christianity provides the necessary preconditions for intelligibility. In other words only the Christian worldview makes sense of you world and fits reality. Christianity is true because of the impossibility of the contrary. All other worldviews are inconsistent, contradictory, and reduce to absurdity.
Monday, July 23, 2018
Judge Not (Matthew 7:1 In Context)
Matthew 7:1 may be the most popular verse from the Bible in our time. It is often interpreted to mean that we are not to judge anyone's lifestyle or beliefs. But is this interpretation actually correct? Does never judging even make sense? We will look at Matthew 7:1 and see what the Bible actually says.
(Matthew 7:1)"Judge not, that you be not judged." (ESV)
We are to be careful and cautious in making judgments. In Matthew 7:2 we are told the judgment we use will also be the judgment used for us. In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus warns us against judging in a hypocritical way. We should not worry about the speck in our brothers eye when there is a log in our own eye. Then at the end of verse 5 Jesus tells us that once we remove the log in our own eye we will see clearly to remove the speck from our brother's eye. This of course would require that we judge. In Matthew 7:6 Christ refers metaphorically to those who continually and persistently reject the gospel as dogs and pigs. We are told not to continue presenting the gospel to these people. In order to identify the dogs and pigs we must judge.
After Matthew 7:1 Jesus continually judges people throughout the rest of chapter 7. He refers to people as evil (7:11), says many will go to hell (7:13-14), calls some false prophets (7:15), refers to some as workers of lawlessness (7:23), and refers to a foolish man (7:26).
(John 7:24)"Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." (ESV)
So we plainly see that all judging is not forbidden. Hypocritical, self righteous, arrogant judging is what is actually forbidden. We are to judge rightly with a humble spirit. In 1 Corinthians 5:12 Christians are even instructed to judge those inside the church, excommunicating them if necessary.
The concept of not judging people clearly does not come from the Bible. So where does it come from? It actually comes from what is known as postmodernism. At the heart of postmodernism is the denial of absolute truth. What underlies not judging is the rejection of truth. And what underlies the rejection of truth is the rejection of God. The idea of not judging does not come from Christianity but from unbelief.
We must also point out that the idea of not judging does not even make sense. When a person says that another person should not judge, he is judging the other person. When someone says you should not tell another person he is wrong, that person himself is telling someone else he is wrong. It is impossible not to judge. The whole idea of not judging falls apart and reduces to absurdity. It ends up refuting itself because it is opposed to God and his Word.
So we see that the concept of not judging is wrong and foolish. It comes from people who do not want to be told what they do or what they believe is wrong. They do not want to be confronted with the reality of their sin. They are suppressing the truth about God.
We should not judge in a self righteous, hypocritical, or arrogant way but we should judge carefully. We must judge in areas such as morality and doctrine. We must proclaim the truth with love. Our judging must be with a humble spirit. It is not wrong to judge, it is wrong not to judge.
(Matthew 7:1)"Judge not, that you be not judged." (ESV)
We are to be careful and cautious in making judgments. In Matthew 7:2 we are told the judgment we use will also be the judgment used for us. In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus warns us against judging in a hypocritical way. We should not worry about the speck in our brothers eye when there is a log in our own eye. Then at the end of verse 5 Jesus tells us that once we remove the log in our own eye we will see clearly to remove the speck from our brother's eye. This of course would require that we judge. In Matthew 7:6 Christ refers metaphorically to those who continually and persistently reject the gospel as dogs and pigs. We are told not to continue presenting the gospel to these people. In order to identify the dogs and pigs we must judge.
After Matthew 7:1 Jesus continually judges people throughout the rest of chapter 7. He refers to people as evil (7:11), says many will go to hell (7:13-14), calls some false prophets (7:15), refers to some as workers of lawlessness (7:23), and refers to a foolish man (7:26).
(John 7:24)"Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." (ESV)
So we plainly see that all judging is not forbidden. Hypocritical, self righteous, arrogant judging is what is actually forbidden. We are to judge rightly with a humble spirit. In 1 Corinthians 5:12 Christians are even instructed to judge those inside the church, excommunicating them if necessary.
The concept of not judging people clearly does not come from the Bible. So where does it come from? It actually comes from what is known as postmodernism. At the heart of postmodernism is the denial of absolute truth. What underlies not judging is the rejection of truth. And what underlies the rejection of truth is the rejection of God. The idea of not judging does not come from Christianity but from unbelief.
We must also point out that the idea of not judging does not even make sense. When a person says that another person should not judge, he is judging the other person. When someone says you should not tell another person he is wrong, that person himself is telling someone else he is wrong. It is impossible not to judge. The whole idea of not judging falls apart and reduces to absurdity. It ends up refuting itself because it is opposed to God and his Word.
So we see that the concept of not judging is wrong and foolish. It comes from people who do not want to be told what they do or what they believe is wrong. They do not want to be confronted with the reality of their sin. They are suppressing the truth about God.
We should not judge in a self righteous, hypocritical, or arrogant way but we should judge carefully. We must judge in areas such as morality and doctrine. We must proclaim the truth with love. Our judging must be with a humble spirit. It is not wrong to judge, it is wrong not to judge.
Monday, July 16, 2018
Contend For The Faith
The main theme of the book of Jude is contending for the faith, rejecting false teachers, and standing for the truth. Jude was the brother of James and half brother of the Lord Jesus. He wrote this letter sometime around A.D. 66. The book of Jude contains only one chapter.
(Jude 1:3) "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." (ESV)
Although Jude had desired to write to his fellow Christians about salvation, he was compelled to urge them "to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to to the saints." The "faith" referred to the gospel and all Christian teaching. It was "once for all delivered to the saints." This shows that the Apostles teaching which would become the New Testament in the canon of Scripture was already established and fixed. Nothing more could be added to it. We must point out that "saints" refers to all Christians, not just some special class of Christians.
The Bible alone is the ultimate authority. This stands in opposition to groups like the Mormons, the Roman Catholics, and many charismatics. The Mormons insist the Bible is in error and add their own scriptures. Roman Catholics insist that the Catholic Church tradition is an equal authority to the Bible. Many charismatics insist that they receive direct revelation from God, making it equal to the Bible. These groups and many others have rejected Scripture alone and have ended up in serious error.
It is popular in our day for Christians to insist that we just need to love everyone. After all it might not seem nice to contend for the faith, and it might not make people feel good. But the Word of God disagrees, we are told to contend for the faith. It means to contend for a thing combatantly. In other words we are to battle for the truth and against error. Truth should always be accompanied by love, and love must never be divorced from truth.
Sound doctrine is of the utmost importance and Christians must contend for it. Whenever false teachers arise they must be dealt with and refuted as we stand on the authority of the Bible alone. It is not loving to allow error and false teaching to continue.
(Jude 1:3) "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." (ESV)
Although Jude had desired to write to his fellow Christians about salvation, he was compelled to urge them "to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to to the saints." The "faith" referred to the gospel and all Christian teaching. It was "once for all delivered to the saints." This shows that the Apostles teaching which would become the New Testament in the canon of Scripture was already established and fixed. Nothing more could be added to it. We must point out that "saints" refers to all Christians, not just some special class of Christians.
The Bible alone is the ultimate authority. This stands in opposition to groups like the Mormons, the Roman Catholics, and many charismatics. The Mormons insist the Bible is in error and add their own scriptures. Roman Catholics insist that the Catholic Church tradition is an equal authority to the Bible. Many charismatics insist that they receive direct revelation from God, making it equal to the Bible. These groups and many others have rejected Scripture alone and have ended up in serious error.
It is popular in our day for Christians to insist that we just need to love everyone. After all it might not seem nice to contend for the faith, and it might not make people feel good. But the Word of God disagrees, we are told to contend for the faith. It means to contend for a thing combatantly. In other words we are to battle for the truth and against error. Truth should always be accompanied by love, and love must never be divorced from truth.
Sound doctrine is of the utmost importance and Christians must contend for it. Whenever false teachers arise they must be dealt with and refuted as we stand on the authority of the Bible alone. It is not loving to allow error and false teaching to continue.
Monday, June 25, 2018
Three Books On Christian Missions And Evangelism
Here are three excellent books on missions and evangelism. Other books by these authors would also be worthwhile.
Let The Nations Be Glad by John Piper
Radical by David Platt
Evangelism And The Sovereignty Of God by J.I.Packer
Let The Nations Be Glad by John Piper
Radical by David Platt
Evangelism And The Sovereignty Of God by J.I.Packer
Monday, May 28, 2018
Christian Books You Should Read
Here are some books that all Christians (and non Christians) should read. They are books of substance and they are actually Biblical. Also, other books by these authors would be well worth reading.
The Gospel According To Jesus by John MacArthur
Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul
Desiring God by John Piper
God In The Whirlwind by David F. Wells
How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer
The Gospel According To Jesus by John MacArthur
Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul
Desiring God by John Piper
God In The Whirlwind by David F. Wells
How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer
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