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I borrowed the OP title from a book by Martin Buber (1878-1965) in which he discusses the emerging Liberal Christianity and its effects. There is such a profound metaphor in that description and what is happening as a result of the introduction of liberal Christianity, even today, and I would venture to say, even more today, that I could not resist.
The intention of the promotion of a liberal Christianity was to deconstruct the very cornerstone and foundation of apostolic, and therefore traditional, Christianity. The idea was, that in the view of scientific discoveries and a world that was shrinking in size (in that people were not so isolated to one geographic area, but communications and interactions and travel were expanding around the globe) the old way was also antiquated. It was outdated and needed to bring itself into alignment with the modern world. One way this was done was through investigative study into all the religions of the world, gather them together, keep the common denominators, and throw out the rest. The result was the loss of the idea of God as a transcendent personal being with which mankind can have a personal relationship. With this, away went the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, a personal savior, the atonement, resurrection, and ascension.
Today there are many forms of Liberal Christianity, some of which do not deny any of the above, or only some of the above, claim in fact to believe them. In many cases it is just lip service, and in all cases, much that the Bible gives us is lost.
Man's reason is stressed and treated as the final authority.
Science is treated as all knowing, the Bible fable-laden and false.
Man is not seen as totally depraved.
The social gospel is emphasized.
Salvation from sin and its penalty of hell is no longer the issue; the main things is how man treats his fellow man.
Hell is not real.
Man is not lost, and is not doomed to some future judgment.
The most important thing for man to do is love his neighbor. And not according to what the Bible says in any given situation, but what they decide is good.
Not all liberal Christians believe all these things. Some maintain the basic doctrines of Christianity----maybe throwing out the deity of Christ, or the sovereignty of God---but we can see how these things have crept in unnoticed into our midst, and has become the predominant portrait of the visible church.
Solar Eclipse
An eclipse of the sun happens when the new moon moves between the sun and the Earth, blocking out the sun's rays, casting a shadow on the earth.
Metaphor
A solar eclipse does not change the sun. It neither stops it from shining or from being what it is.
The light of the sun is hidden, concealed, because of the moon casting a shadow over the world.
The light is God. The moon in this case is liberal Christianity, that utterly conceals who God is, nor does it care who God is. The focus after all should be entirely on us. It conceals the actual person and work of Christ, and turns the attention to social issues alone. We are after all, are we not, responsible for our own salvation. And not from sin mind you, but from inequities. We alone can change the world and we can do it with kindness. Who needs a personal though mythical Jesus? So goes the result, if not the thought process.
Liberal Christian theologians of whatever ilk, without reservation and full conviction, announce that those who still believe in old fashioned traditional Christianity are stupid. And even if it is not spoken by followers of this "religion", or caged ineffectually in polite speech, often referring to themselves as "enlightened", it believes the sentiment, consciously or unconsciously (unconsciously is best as it give plausible deniability).
To this I say, thank God for the words that He gives us through Paul in 1 Cor 1:26-31 For you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God----and righteousness and sanctification and redemption---that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord." !!!
20-21 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe/ where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
The intention of the promotion of a liberal Christianity was to deconstruct the very cornerstone and foundation of apostolic, and therefore traditional, Christianity. The idea was, that in the view of scientific discoveries and a world that was shrinking in size (in that people were not so isolated to one geographic area, but communications and interactions and travel were expanding around the globe) the old way was also antiquated. It was outdated and needed to bring itself into alignment with the modern world. One way this was done was through investigative study into all the religions of the world, gather them together, keep the common denominators, and throw out the rest. The result was the loss of the idea of God as a transcendent personal being with which mankind can have a personal relationship. With this, away went the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, a personal savior, the atonement, resurrection, and ascension.
Today there are many forms of Liberal Christianity, some of which do not deny any of the above, or only some of the above, claim in fact to believe them. In many cases it is just lip service, and in all cases, much that the Bible gives us is lost.
Man's reason is stressed and treated as the final authority.
Science is treated as all knowing, the Bible fable-laden and false.
Man is not seen as totally depraved.
The social gospel is emphasized.
Salvation from sin and its penalty of hell is no longer the issue; the main things is how man treats his fellow man.
Hell is not real.
Man is not lost, and is not doomed to some future judgment.
The most important thing for man to do is love his neighbor. And not according to what the Bible says in any given situation, but what they decide is good.
Not all liberal Christians believe all these things. Some maintain the basic doctrines of Christianity----maybe throwing out the deity of Christ, or the sovereignty of God---but we can see how these things have crept in unnoticed into our midst, and has become the predominant portrait of the visible church.
Solar Eclipse
An eclipse of the sun happens when the new moon moves between the sun and the Earth, blocking out the sun's rays, casting a shadow on the earth.
Metaphor
A solar eclipse does not change the sun. It neither stops it from shining or from being what it is.
The light of the sun is hidden, concealed, because of the moon casting a shadow over the world.
The light is God. The moon in this case is liberal Christianity, that utterly conceals who God is, nor does it care who God is. The focus after all should be entirely on us. It conceals the actual person and work of Christ, and turns the attention to social issues alone. We are after all, are we not, responsible for our own salvation. And not from sin mind you, but from inequities. We alone can change the world and we can do it with kindness. Who needs a personal though mythical Jesus? So goes the result, if not the thought process.
Liberal Christian theologians of whatever ilk, without reservation and full conviction, announce that those who still believe in old fashioned traditional Christianity are stupid. And even if it is not spoken by followers of this "religion", or caged ineffectually in polite speech, often referring to themselves as "enlightened", it believes the sentiment, consciously or unconsciously (unconsciously is best as it give plausible deniability).
To this I say, thank God for the words that He gives us through Paul in 1 Cor 1:26-31 For you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God----and righteousness and sanctification and redemption---that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord." !!!
20-21 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe/ where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.