10 March 2011

What Theological Liberalism Demonstrates: Unbelievers cannot understand the Bible

I heard this sad and outrageous interview today. It reminds me of several I've heard in the past. It just goes to show that unbelievers absolutely cannot grasp the message of the Bible.



This woman calls herself a pastor and theology teacher but believes the Bible to be a pack of lies and a fraud. She calls herself a scholar but reads it through a super-warped anachronistic lens. The scholarship she leans is so defective it would be comical if the implications were not so dire.

The problem here and with many theological liberals is they do not have the integrity to just come out and say they don't believe any of it. Of course that would mean losing your job and career.

But look at what happens when unbelievers try and interact with the Word of God....they do not understand it. The Bible itself tells us....without the Spirit, they cannot understand it.

This is a theological point that I think has pretty profound implications for those who would try to use the Bible to shape a sacral society.

This is pretty typical of what comes out of modern Mainline seminaries and most of your Mainline pastors have sat under this type of teaching. What's really insidious is that they have no problem standing up on Sunday morning and using Christian terminology and walking through a historic liturgy while not believing any of it.

Seriously if you're not familiar with theological liberalism....listen to this interview. This is pretty normal fare for seminarians who will be entering the United Methodist, Presbyterian Church USA, Episcopal and mainline Lutheran bodies....or in the case of this woman, American Baptist. By the way I would argue strongly....congregations that belong to these bodies are NOT Churches. If they are, then they need to repent and separate from these apostate denominations.

I've asked so many of these 'pastors' over the years if they believe in the Inspiration of Scripture, the Deity of Christ, the Resurrection etc... and they usually reply in the affirmative. But then if you know how to phrase the questions, probe a little further, they'll start admitting all kinds of things to you....they don't believe in sin, hell, or sometimes even God Himself.

For years I've listened to Reformed pastors and teachers encourage people to attend these Mainline churches....better to go there than to stay home.

No way. You might as well go to a Mosque on Sunday morning. At least there you're not pretending to be Christian for the Christianity of the Mainline is just that...another religion.

J. Gresham Machen said as much when he wrote 'Christianity and Liberalism' back in the 1920's, but his Reformed descendants don't seem to agree with his analysis. Why?

I have a pretty good idea.