When Churches head left.
I thought this to be an interesting opinion piece found at The Oklahoman's website.
http://www.newsok.com/article/1336806/?template=news/main
It basically dicussed the political views of the more liberal or mainline denominations in the US toward Israel and how that the more left leaning the denomination, the more anti-Israel the policies of the denomination, despite the atrocities which occur in places like China or North Korea.
I think the big question which the editorial is getting at is "why", and it's a good one, but I don't believe it can be answered in one editorial, or blog entry, but it gives much to think about.
Why do these things happen when Churches become more theologically and socially liberal? Answers can be found in a few areas.
One, being the way truth is viewed. The more liberal, or mainline groups, do not view truth as objective or authoritative, but rather subjective and different based upon the situation. I think that is the heart of the matter because how one views truth shapes their entire worldview.
The second, which is a derrivative of the confusion of the nature of truth, is the loss of connectiveness to the past. Mainline denominations such as the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUSA) and the United Methodist Church (UMC) have a good historical background in what most could safely call Historical Orthodoxy in their theology. But the problem is that this connection to Historical Orthodxy is lost once truth is viewed as subjective. The founders of Presbyterianism and Methodism actually believed in the absolute, objective truth of Scripture, but today the direction of mainline Presbyterianism and Methodism
does not seem to hold Scripture in as high regard as those they claim link to in their past. Even the most liberal Presbyterians will acknowledge John Calvin as a forefather, and even the most liberal Methodist will happily acknowledge John Wesley as a forefather, but if one were to take a look at Calvin and Wesley's own writings and sermons, they would get the sense that Calvin and Wesley would not be comfortable with some of the people who claim them.
A few things come to my mind when I think about this.
One, there is a decline in the membership of the PCUSA and UMC denominations, and it is interesting to read the literature of these denominations, particularly the PCUSA, because they cannot understand why their numbers are declining. Well, they are, and it seems that a lot of it has to do with this: people by nature are looking for "truth". Granted, we cannot understand truth fully apart from Christ's Redemption, but theological liberalism is unable to answer the most basic questions of humanity when it comes to truth and redemption.
Two, there is a decline in general popularity of the writings of theological liberals. This can be proved by looking at the Christian themed, or theological books which are being sold on places like amazon.com or christianbook.com. You don't see Bultmann flying off the shelves, but you do see a resurgance in classical Christian teachings. To prove that just look at the reprints being offered by christianbook.com; Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon, Turretin, Hodge, Warfield, and many, many others, but those people who we would call theologically liberal do not enjoy the same amount of reprint status. Look at the Christian living books being sold. You have people buying books from the likes of Warren, Lucado, Piper, Chapell, and others, but no one seems to be buying liberal Christian living books. Why? It is my honest opinion, that theological liberalism does not have the answers it claims.
Book of the day. Holiness By Grace, by Dr. Bryan Chapell.
http://www.newsok.com/article/1336806/?template=news/main
It basically dicussed the political views of the more liberal or mainline denominations in the US toward Israel and how that the more left leaning the denomination, the more anti-Israel the policies of the denomination, despite the atrocities which occur in places like China or North Korea.
I think the big question which the editorial is getting at is "why", and it's a good one, but I don't believe it can be answered in one editorial, or blog entry, but it gives much to think about.
Why do these things happen when Churches become more theologically and socially liberal? Answers can be found in a few areas.
One, being the way truth is viewed. The more liberal, or mainline groups, do not view truth as objective or authoritative, but rather subjective and different based upon the situation. I think that is the heart of the matter because how one views truth shapes their entire worldview.
The second, which is a derrivative of the confusion of the nature of truth, is the loss of connectiveness to the past. Mainline denominations such as the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUSA) and the United Methodist Church (UMC) have a good historical background in what most could safely call Historical Orthodoxy in their theology. But the problem is that this connection to Historical Orthodxy is lost once truth is viewed as subjective. The founders of Presbyterianism and Methodism actually believed in the absolute, objective truth of Scripture, but today the direction of mainline Presbyterianism and Methodism
does not seem to hold Scripture in as high regard as those they claim link to in their past. Even the most liberal Presbyterians will acknowledge John Calvin as a forefather, and even the most liberal Methodist will happily acknowledge John Wesley as a forefather, but if one were to take a look at Calvin and Wesley's own writings and sermons, they would get the sense that Calvin and Wesley would not be comfortable with some of the people who claim them.
A few things come to my mind when I think about this.
One, there is a decline in the membership of the PCUSA and UMC denominations, and it is interesting to read the literature of these denominations, particularly the PCUSA, because they cannot understand why their numbers are declining. Well, they are, and it seems that a lot of it has to do with this: people by nature are looking for "truth". Granted, we cannot understand truth fully apart from Christ's Redemption, but theological liberalism is unable to answer the most basic questions of humanity when it comes to truth and redemption.
Two, there is a decline in general popularity of the writings of theological liberals. This can be proved by looking at the Christian themed, or theological books which are being sold on places like amazon.com or christianbook.com. You don't see Bultmann flying off the shelves, but you do see a resurgance in classical Christian teachings. To prove that just look at the reprints being offered by christianbook.com; Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon, Turretin, Hodge, Warfield, and many, many others, but those people who we would call theologically liberal do not enjoy the same amount of reprint status. Look at the Christian living books being sold. You have people buying books from the likes of Warren, Lucado, Piper, Chapell, and others, but no one seems to be buying liberal Christian living books. Why? It is my honest opinion, that theological liberalism does not have the answers it claims.
Book of the day. Holiness By Grace, by Dr. Bryan Chapell.
posted by Bobby's blog at 3:21 PM
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