Saturday, April 17, 2010

Whom are you following?

Recently, while reading a history on theology throughout the ages, one thing was made abundantly clear to me — I need to check everything that men claim to be truth against Scripture! And it doesn’t matter how great, brilliant, or well-known they are, either. They’re all just men and therefore fallible.

I know that many people nostalgically dream of returning to the 1st century church, thinking those were times of simplicity and purity of the faith. However, because man has always been man, there was gross immorality and apostasy within the Church even then. The Apostle Paul had to deal with legalism in Galatia (even Peter struggled with this one), Greek philosophic speculation, Oriental mysticism in Colossae, rampant immorality in Corinth, antinomianism in Philippi, as well as rivalries, personal ambition, and perfectionism.

Gnosticism also influenced the 1st century Church. Among its teachings were 1) knowledge is superior to godly living, 2) the non-literal interpretation of Scripture is correct and can be understood by only a select few, 3) the Incarnation is not to be believed because deity cannot unite itself with anything material such as a body (Docetism), and 4) there is no resurrection of the flesh.

As we moved into the 2nd century, these problems didn’t disappear; in fact, a few more were added: the Marcionites tried to corrupt the canon, the Montanists corrupted the doctrines of the Holy Spirit and eschatology, the Ebionites denied the virgin birth and deity of Christ, the Elkesaites claimed an angel had given a book to Elkesia that taught that Christ was an angel born of human parents, while the Nazarenes continued the teaching that it was essential to adhere to the law for salvation.

Okay, we might say, so maybe it wasn’t quite so rosy back then after all. But that was then; now we know better. Not only do we have the completed canon, we also have centuries of biblical scholars’ writings to read and refer to, not to mention all of our Bible colleges, seminaries, etc…

That is certainly true. We benefit tremendously from all the study done by those who have gone before us. Sadly, however, it seems that in many sermons today, biblical scholars are more frequently quoted than Scripture itself, even though they can often be wrong. In fact, here are some of the beliefs of those most frequently quoted:

Clement of Rome (1st century): Taught the importance of obedience in obtaining salvation, confusing the salvation message and detracting from the free grace of God.

Justin Martyr (100-165): Taught water baptism is needed for the remission of sins (baptismal regeneration) and that the name of the Father is to be invoked over the one being baptized. Also taught that after baptism, the Christian is supposed not to sin, and that some sins, if indulged in after that rite has been administered, are unforgivable.

Origen (185-254): Taught that eventually all — including demons — will be saved, after undergoing educative punishment. Is known for unsound theological speculation and allegorizing.

Augustine (354-430): Taught the necessity of water baptism to wash away original sin and sins committed before conversion, and that the elements in the Lord’s Supper become the body and the blood of Christ. Also abandoned the literal view of the Millennium when Ambrose taught him it was okay to allegorize the OT.

Okay, so I guess the early church fathers were confused on a few things, but Christianity was still relatively new. Things improved as time went on, right?

Luther (1483-1546): Taught baptism is necessary to salvation and, in fact, produces regeneration. Also had a real problem with the Book of James and questioned whether it should have been included in the canon. He is quoted as saying, "Many sweat to reconcile St. Paul and St. James, but in vain. 'Faith justifies' and 'faith does not justify' contradict each other flatly. If anyone can harmonize them I will give him my doctor's hood and let him call me a fool."

Calvin (1509-64): Taught infant baptism is necessary — a symbol of assurance to the parents that the child is included in the covenant. Also, basing his actions on the civic code God gave to Israel (Deut 13:6-11), he perpetrated prosecutions (and sometimes executions) of heretics by the state.

Come on now, we may say, it's quite understandable that Luther and Calvin struggled with a few things; look at what they came out of! Besides, things have certainly improved since then, right?!

CS Lewis (1898-1963): Believed in purgatory, prayers for the dead, and practicing auricular confession of sins. Did not believe in eternal security. “The world does not consist of 100 per cent Christians and 100 percent non-Christians. There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name; some of them are clergymen. There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians though they do not yet call themselves so.”

No, the Church’s past is no better than the present; as the old saying goes, "the best of men are but men at best." So, let’s not imitate those reprimanded for following mere men instead of Christ:

Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Cor 1:12-13)

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth (1 Cor 3:1-6).

Instead, let’s imitate the Bereans and check everything we read or hear against Scripture!

The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so (Acts 17:10-11).

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