Posted on 03/25/2009 9:59:20 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
"We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." Written in 1939, George Orwell's words might well be addressed to the leaders of today's biblically illiterate church.
The most obvious thing to be said about Christianity is that it rests on historic facts: the Creation, the Incarnation, and the Resurrection. Since our doctrines are truth claims, they cannot be mere symbolism.. This is important to remember as we celebrate the Resurrection, which is often clouded by the pageantry of Easter.
It is obvious to me that doctrine matters. Some years ago, I visited Sri Lanka, just after Anglican Bishop David Jenkins was reported to have dismissed the Resurrection as a "conjuring trick with bones." (It was later revealed that he had been misquoted.) Our ministry leader, who escorted me through the country's prisons, told me the news had cost many conversions, because Buddhists and Hindus used it to convince people that Christianity is based on a mere trick.
Clearly, when we stop taking seriously the historical truths of the church, we undermine our witness, often with far-reaching consequences. For example, Muslim student groups today proselytize with pamphlets asserting that Christians worship three Gods: Father, Mother, and Son. Where did they get that idea? From seventh-century Egyptian Christians who gave up on the Bible and embraced this heresy.
Last June, a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey found rampant doctrinal ignorance among American Christians. Fifty-seven percent of evangelicals believed people who follow religions other than their own can enjoy eternal life. The results were so unexpected that Pew repeated the survey, asking more specific questions. The answers were virtually unchanged. Astonishingly, about half believed that everyone, atheists included, was going to end up in heaven. Heaven for the godless? That's the old heresy of universalism.
Indifference to the truths of the gospel is seen in many other spheres, such as among those who champion "deeds, not creeds" (I do the deeds of prison ministry because I believe the creeds), and in endless discussions about new ways to "understand" or "do" theology. Some embrace another old heresy, that doctrines must be extracted from inward experience—that is, personal feelings. That's a version of Gnosticism.
Still others want to make Christianity "fit" the postmodern era or "work out" their theology in public, with non-Christians helping to shape the outcome. Yes, we need to contextualize the message so that hearers in a given time and culture can grasp the truth we proclaim. But that is radically different from changing the definitive, concise summary of Christian truth the early church fathers accomplished in their councils.
As one reporter noted, even when Christians know correct doctrine, they are afraid of speaking the truth for fear of offending others. What right have I to impose my beliefs on others? is a thought that shapes too many of us believers.
This is why J. I. Packer, on his 80th birthday, said that the greatest challenge of evangelicalism is to re-catechize our churches. More than ever, Christians need to be able to speak intelligently and courageously about the hope that lies within.
Personal faith is of course vital, but it is not sufficient.. And yes, doctrine has often been taught so that it comes across as dry and dusty. But as Dorothy Sayers noted, once we grasp what Christian doctrines teach, "The Dogma is the Drama."
The determination to restore orthodox faith—the faith "that was once for all entrusted" (Jude 1:3)—brought about the Reformation, of which we are heirs. A new emphasis on orthodox doctrine could also transform the church and culture today.
Some years ago, I visited Athens and mounted the slippery rock called Mars Hill. At the top, I stood where I imagined Paul had confronted the Areopagus, the wise men of the cultural center of the world. Paul challenged them by referring to their own literature and false altars, and then boldly proclaimed the gospel, concluding that God had raised Jesus from the dead.
It's the same message I preach in prisons today. I think it's far more exhilarating to stand on a belief that has survived 2,000 years of persecution than to flit from one fad to another.
Few people accepted Paul's invitation that day to follow Christ. But billions have followed him ever since, because Christ has an unstoppable power. He has the power to break Satan's hold on our souls and joyfully transform our lives.
Orwell was right: In a crisis, we often have a duty to restate the obvious. And Easter is a good time for Christians to remind their doctrinally confused brethren of the obvious truths of Christianity.
The greatest challenge for serious Christians today is not re-inventing Christianity, but rediscovering its core teachings.
....In a crisis, we often have a duty to restate the obvious. And Easter is a good time for Christians to remind their doctrinally confused brethren of the obvious truths of Christianity.
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How about the Catholic Church?
Have you noticed how this old world is changing. More than ever now, life needs rearranging. It would be heavenly if we only remember this: The simple things in life are around us everywhere. Right outside your door, why keep reaching for the moon. That hello neighborhood smile will be coming back in style, so will wedding rings and the simple things in life.
So rather than brush up on basic Christian teachings, you’re advocating that we brush up on Shirley Temple movies?
Damn, you’re good! You’re really good!
Did you see Curly Top too? It was aired on Christmas day on TCM and I recorded it for my young daughter and watched it enough to memorize those words.
You’re good!
I also like the message. The simple things in life are around us everywhere.
What say you?
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It’s okay for bubbabasher to be in error.
Doubt it, but your slur is noted. Proably they are getting mixed up about the Trinity. Catholics are usually accused by the bornagains of worshipping Mary, not Joseph as well (unless this is a new one).
I want to know how Alex Murphy recognized the lyrics to a song in a Shirley Temple movie if he’s so up on the New Testament?
All kidding aside, Jesus did say that many would be called but few would be chosen and just being in a church doesn’t mean you are granted eternal life. Christianity is hard and it’s not the easy and cheap grace that much of modern protestantism has become. No offense to protestantism, of course.
The misguided protestants just need to remember that the simple things in life are around them everywhere.
Not sure how that would enter into it, since Catholics don't believe in three gods, but say (every Sunday, quite clearly) "I believe in one God [cue rest of Nicene creed]"
The "Christians worship Father, Mother, Son, three gods" stuff comes straight from the Koran. It's not clear that Mohammed ever met a real Christian, Catholic or otherwise.
(The only Christians he might possibly have met were Nestorians, who had been out of communion with Rome for 300 years or so, but it's not clear that he ever met any of them, either.)
In other words, they "got that idea" from Mohammed's fertile imagination based on mangled hearsay about Christian beliefs, probably received third- or fourth- hand.
Note the equating of "veneration" with "worship" by Cardinal Antonio Bacci, in his devotional material. Although "worship" is further parsed into dulia and latria (veneration vs adoration), Cardinal Bacci specifically refers to the act of bowing to, and the act of praying to saints as worship...
The worship of the Saints is an act of veneration (dulia), not of adoration (latria), which can be given only to God. It is wrong to imagine, as many Protestants do, that by praying to and venerating the Saints we subtract something from the homage we owe to God...From the thread The Veneration and Imitation of the Saints
Dictionary.com gives both “venerate” and “adore” as synonyms for “worship,” and in fact the word itself comes from the OE meaning “to render honor to”. So your point is, I take it, that the original poster used the word “worship” carelessly, when he should have used “adore”?
I don't usually use Dictionary.com to define Catholic terms of worship, so I'll have to take your word that it carries an imprimatur.
So your point is, I take it, that the original poster used the word “worship” carelessly, when he should have used “adore”?
Are you suggesting that Cardinal Bacci is FReeping, three decades after his death?
Alex, you wrote:
” Note the equating of “veneration” with “worship” by Cardinal Antonio Bacci, in his devotional material.”
He’s not equating it. Worship is to show honor to someone. He is defining what KIND OF HONOR.
It's difficult to make people understand that God's Holy days are listed in the bible. It's interesting too that Jesus says to observe his death on Passover yet this message is obscured by traditional Christianity's insistence on creating its own holidays.
Chuck Colson is dipping his toe into the Tiber. If you rediscover "core teachings," you may just rediscover the core institution which promulgated those teachings and which has authority to speak to these issues. Perhaps we should have a pool on when Chuck will take the plunge.
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