📄The Areopagus Update – May/June 2021
“I am astonished that you are so quickly… turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Gal. 1:6-7)
Like every other institution in contemporary American life, the true church of Jesus Christ is under intense assault. We are well aware of the venomous hostility toward traditional Christian theology and morality on the part of left-wing authoritarians who increasingly dominate the “commanding heights” (to use Marxian terminology) of our culture in the media, the education establishment, Silicon Valley and Big Tech, Hollywood and the entertainment industry, and corporate America. However, much of the damage to contemporary Christianity is being wrought by those inside the church under the guise of “liberal” or “progressive” (or “woke”) Christianity.
In reality, the Christian Left is merely a pawn of the anti-Christian political Left. While posing as advocates of diversity, tolerance and “social justice,” in fact they are naive utopian idealists who, like their authoritarian masters in the modern Democratic Party, seek to politicize, racialize and sexualize everything so as to utterly transform Christianity and everything else in American society and culture. In the process, their goal is nothing less than the eradication of those core principles on which the United States of America was founded as a unique and exceptional nation in human history. Masters of deceit, they are literally hell-bent on subverting, corrupting and destroying not only the Constitutional rule of law, freedom of expression and religious liberty, but any last residual vestiges of biblicallyinfluenced harmony, civility and morality in our society and culture.
In our ongoing Sunday morning class at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church on “A History of Christianity in America” we recently finished an indepth study of evangelical Christianity in the first half of the 19th century and began a new section on the emergence and growth of theological liberalism during this period preceding the American Civil War. The differences between traditional/orthodox biblical Christianity and theological liberalism are not merely a matter of degree. As the chart below reveals, these differences are stark, incompatible and irreconcilable. In reality, liberal (or “progressive”) Christianity is what the apostle Paul referred to as “a different (i.e., heretical and perverted) gospel.”
For more on so-called “progressive Christianity,” check out our Sunday morning “History of Christianity in America” class. Also see the following articles by John Zmirak: “Progressive Christianity Is Nothing But a Political Cult” at https://stream.org/progressive-christianity-is-nothing-but-a-political-cult/ and “Today’s Progressive Christians Are the Best Christians in History: Just Ask Them!” at https://stream.org/to days-progressive-christians-best-christians-history-just-ask/.
| Theological Conservatism | Theological Liberalism |
|---|---|
| Basis of Authority: Special revelation as mediated through the Bible (as properly interpreted), and general revelation as mediated through God’s creation and the moral truths inherent in natural law. John Chrysostom: “A Christian is one who agrees with Holy Scripture, and he who does not agree with it has deviated from the one true faith.” Conservatives accept the core doctrines of the historic Christian faith as summarized in the early church creeds. Philosophy of the Bible: Divinely-inspired. Historically reliable. Doctrinally and morally authoritative. The Bible has been accurately preserved and transmitted through the centuries. If the Bible seems to contradict our current understanding of history or science, either… our biblical hermeneutic is wrong; or current historical or scientific theories are incorrect. Doctrine of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are three co-equal and co-eternal Persons who share a single divine nature. Christology: Jesus Christ is God incarnate and the spiritual Savior of humanity who died an atoning death on the cross for the sins of humanity and was raised from the dead. The Human Condition: Due to the effects of the Fall, human beings are naturally sinful and in need of divine salvific grace. Basic Christianity: The true essence of Christianity is the salvific mission of Jesus Christ who reconciles us to God and who is the sole Mediator between God and mankind. Christian orthodoxy and orthopraxy are indivisible. | Basis of Authority: Rationalism – Knowledge gained through the natural sciences, the social sciences, and human experience. William Ellery Channing: “I am surer that my rational nature is from God than that any book is an expression of his will.” Liberals question or reject core doctrines such as God’s active involvement in human affairs, the divine inspiration of the Bible, the Fall, the reality of miracles, the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, the deity of Christ, the Atonement, and the Resurrection of Christ. Philosophy of the Bible: An ancient religious text of mostly (or entirely) human origins. A mix of history, myth and legend. There are no doctrinal absolutes; beliefs are subjective and relative. Morality is relative; the Bible contains some profound wisdom but also many outdated moral and social values. The biblical text has been corrupted in the transmission process through the centuries. If the Bible contradicts our current understanding of history or science, these disciplines are correct and the Bible is wrong. Doctrine of the Trinity: The traditional Christian doctrine of the Trinity is an irrational superstition. Christology: Jesus Christ, although merely a man, was a great rabbi, social prophet and spiritual leader who lived an exemplary life and taught some profound moral and ethical truths. The Human Condition: Human beings are basically good; evil is the result of biological factors and/or unjust social and political systems. Basic Christianity: The essence of Christianity is ethical humanitarianism based on the moral teachings of Jesus as summarized in the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount. What truly matters is orthopraxy, not orthodoxy. |
