There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them \u2026 <\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014II Pet. 2:1<\/i><\/p>\n
3066<\/b> Every Denomination Today<\/b><\/p>\n
Beginning with rationalism in Germany and with Deism in England, Modernism now permeates every major denominations. Though there are Bible-believing, God-fearing people in every church, the control of many major denominations is in the hand of the liberals. So-called Christian leaders boldly and blatantly deny the Virgin Birth of Christ, the Inspiration of the Scriptures, and Atoning of Christ, the Literal Resurrection of Christ, and of course they ridicule the Second Coming of Christ. <\/p>\n
3067<\/b> The Issues<\/b><\/p>\n
The Modernist-Fundamentalist controversy was based on:<\/p>\n
1. virgin birth<\/p>\n
2. deity<\/p>\n
3. substitutionary atonement<\/p>\n
4. bodily resurrection<\/p>\n
5. second coming of Christ<\/p>\n
6. inerrant authority of Scripture<\/p>\n
3068<\/b> Those Doubting Churchmen<\/b><\/p>\n
A survey taken of 521 clergy and laymen attending the National Council of Churches\u2019 General Assembly in Miami Beach showed a movement away from traditional belief, as follows:<\/p>\n
Little more than half believed Jesus to be divine. <\/p>\n
Only one-fourth thought biblical miracles literally happened. <\/p>\n
One-third declared the devil \u201cdefinitely does not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only sixty-two percent looked forward with \u201ccomplete certainty\u201d to a life after death. <\/p>\n
3069<\/b> Another Survey Of Seminarians<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the first exposes of the beliefs of our future ministers was made by Redbook<\/i> magazine in August of 1961. The publishers hired one of the top pollsters in the nation to survey a full representation of our seminaries which are supposedly preparing men for Christian service in the Protestant churches. Here are some of the results:<\/p>\n
Of the ministers in training, 56 percent rejected the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ. 71 percent rejected that there was life after death. 54 percent rejected the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. And 98 percent rejected that there would be a personal return of Jesus Christ to this earth. <\/p>\n
\u2014Hal Lindsay<\/p>\n
3070<\/b> Resurrection\u2014\u201dThat Nonsense\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
An Arlington, Virginia, minister said, \u201cWe have closed our minds to such trivial considerations as the question of the resurrection of Christ. If you fundamentalists wish to believe that nonsense, we have no objections, but we have more important things to preach than the presence or absence of an empty tomb 20 centuries old.\u201d<\/p>\n
3071<\/b> To Celebrate Eve\u2019s Disobedience<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cEve\u2019s eating of the apple in the garden of Eden was the first free act of the human race. We ought to recognize that act. We ought to celebrate Eve. She began the process of freedom.\u201d So stated the Reverend Patricia Budd Kepler, director of ministerial studies at Harvard Divinity School. <\/p>\n
Speaking to the Western New York Presbytery, Reverend Kepler said that the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise into reality was God\u2019s way of giving birth to people. The minister went on to say that this made sin possible \u201cbecause sin comes with freedom and choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Pastor\u2019s Manual<\/i><\/p>\n
3072<\/b> Monument To Mother Eve<\/b><\/p>\n
Meanwhile in the little town of Fountain Inn, S.C., on the lawn of the home of the late Robert Quillen, newspaper editor, is a monument to the first woman, the first wife, the first mother of the world\u2014Eve. The Monument to Eve was erected by Robert Quillen in 1926. This is the first and only monument in the world erected to the memory of Mother Eve. <\/p>\n
3073<\/b> \u201cNothing Is Sure\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cThere is nothing I can absolutely affirm,\u201d said the young seminarian as he reflected about his religious convictions. In another month the 25-year-old, dark-haired student will be awarded a bachelor of divinity degree by New York\u2019s Union Theological Seminary. <\/p>\n
\u2014Christian Victory<\/i><\/p>\n
3074<\/b> \u201cI Could Preach With Reservations\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
What would prompt a Princeton Theological Seminary graduate who once drew crowds of 40,000 as an evangelist to wash his hands of the Christian ministry? <\/p>\n
Toronto-born Dr. Charles Templeton was so busy criss-crossing ocean and continent in his new capacity as television producer that he hardly could find time to explain. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to preach effectively,\u201d said the 42-year-old Templeton as he left for Rome and Cairo to secure personality interviews for TV, \u201cyou have to have conviction. My convictions as to some aspects of Christian doctrine have become diluted with doubt. I don\u2019t say I\u2019m right and all others are wrong. But feeling as I do, I could not go on in the ministry. So I left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to change my vocation was a slow and painful one,\u201d said Templeton. \u201cI could continue to preach, with mental reservation, or accept the alternative and leave the ministry. It became clear to me that I had no other choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Christianity Today<\/i><\/p>\n
3075<\/b> He Still Had Bible\u2019s Lids<\/b><\/p>\n
An English minister who was not content with the fragments of the Scripture left by the destructive critics, wrote to a brother minister to inquire whether anything was left to him, and received as an answer that he believed no one had as yet attacked the covers of the Holy Book, and had them still on hand. He closed his letter with the words, \u201cI am still holding on by the lids.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Current Anecdotes<\/i><\/p>\n
3076<\/b> Nothing Left But The Covers<\/b><\/p>\n
A certain clergyman was called by a church to become its pastor. Having been strongly influenced by critical scholars who downgrade portions of the Scripture as myths, he himself doubted the authenticity of the whole Bible. <\/p>\n
About two years after his coming, the pastor visited one of his members who was very sick. When he learned that the man had a terminal illness, he suggested, \u201cPerhaps you would like me to read and pray for you?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d replied the man as he took his Bible and handed it to the minister. When he opened it, he was somewhat shocked at what he saw. Many of the pages were torn away, some of the chapters were missing, and a number of verses were actually cut! It was a terribly mangled volume. <\/p>\n
Reluctantly the pastor asked, \u201cHaven\u2019t you got a better Bible than this?\u201d The dying man replied, \u201cWhen you came to our church, I believed the entire Book. But as soon as you told us that certain sections were not true, I removed them. When you said that some stories were probably fiction and referred to them as fables, I tore them out. I think if I had another year under your teaching, I would have nothing but two covers left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014P. R. Van Gorder<\/p>\n
3077<\/b> Criswell\u2019s Firm Stand<\/b><\/p>\n
We can praise the Lord that Dr. W. A. Criswell, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas and past president of the Southern Baptist Convention has written a book, Why I Preach That The Bible Is Literally True<\/i>. However, teachers from Southern Baptist colleges and universities voted to rebuke the Sunday School Board for publishing and promoting Dr. Criswell\u2019s book. <\/p>\n
They said that the publishing of Dr. Criswell\u2019s book might leave the impression that Dr. Criswell\u2019s stand was the official position of the Baptist Sunday School Board. A few years back there were a few liberals, who had crept into our Christian schools, and few were in the pulpits, but now they have grown in strength to the place where they can openly take their stand against those who stand for the Word of God. <\/p>\n
\u2014Selected<\/p>\n
3078<\/b> Liberal Seminarians\u2019 Evangelism<\/b><\/p>\n
Dr. John C. Whitecomb, Jr., director of postgraduate studies at Grace Theological Seminary, Indiana, once showed his theology class (in which the author was a student) a magazine photo. It was an \u201cevangelistic\u201d campaign being conducted by a group of liberal seminary students. The news photo showed them standing at a shopping center, with hands pointing straight up. That was all they did. Their meaning: \u201cWe don\u2019t know what it all means \u2026 but we are in contact with whoever is up there \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n
3079<\/b> Edinburgh Conference\u2019s Fatal Flaw<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the most appealing slogans to come out of an ecumenical gathering in this country is this one which appeared in 1947: \u201cPartners in Obedience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The phrase is compelling, but it is important to strip away the wrappings and examine what is inside. <\/p>\n
In the case of the above slogan, one must go back to the truly significant World Missionary Conference which met in Edinburgh in 1910. At the helm of that meeting was John R. Mott, a dedicated, evangelical, Methodist layman with a passion to evangelize the world. <\/p>\n
One aspect of the Edinburgh conference was a fatal spiritual flaw. In order to secure the participation of every individual and get on with the missionary task, a decision was made to exclude discussion of \u201cquestions of doctrine or church policy with regard to which the churches or societies taking part in the conference differ among themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, most of the participants at the Edinburgh conference were conservative, evangelical Christians. But by that ill-advised decision, liberalism became pervasive in the direction of the movement. <\/p>\n
It is significant that the ecumenical movement grew out of a desire to cooperate in carrying out the great commission. <\/p>\n
\u2014Bible Expositor<\/i><\/p>\n
See also:<\/b> Ecumenicity ; World Church. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them \u2026 \u2014II Pet. 2:1 3066 Every Denomination Today Beginning with rationalism in Germany and with Deism in England, Modernism now permeates every major denominations. Though there are Bible-believing, God-fearing people in every church, the … Continue reading “LIBERAL THEOLOGY”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}