It seems that we live in a push-button world (or probably more a 'mouse-click' world). We want to look it up quickly. We seek and find a website that affirms what we think so we dig deeper into a hole that takes us nowhere. Dr. Ben Witherington addressed this in a conversation and stated that we live in a time where our informational access is a million miles wide and an inch deep. He also stated that we are in unprecedented (at least in the modern era) time of Biblical illiteracy.
Let me flesh this out. By informational shallowness I mean that there are ideas and theories that are offered with little scholarly backup just because people like what they say. Rob Bell's assertion that hell (in the classical sense) does not exist ... he just likes a God that doesn't do that sort of thing. A book on Hebrews is being circulated that asserts that the author really didn't mean that the Jewish sacrificial system was inadequate and superseded by Christ ... the 'new' idea (which in the early Church was called heresy) is that God somehow was mistaken over this idea that Jesus was a 'once for all' sacrifice that is totally sufficient and totally complete (Jesus' words from the cross ... "it is completed/fulfilled/finished"). Both 'new' ideas are really not new (the early Church called them false teachings and heretical). They accept the popular but put aside the real/correct/Scriptural concept.
By Biblical illiteracy I am suggesting that few are critically looking at Scripture and listening for what God said to the original audience and what God (thus) is saying to us. I have a friend who claims to have been given special revelation from the Holy Spirit, therefore shutting down any argument about scholarship ... real meanings ... historical context ... and what that Scripture really means to people living in 2012. Fact is, when we are honest about seeking God's truth, that truth does not change over time ... as The Revelation states, we worship the God who was, is and is to come. As a conclusion to our teaching on essentials and an expression of what the early Church wrote down as 12 (interesting number) concepts that were essential for new believers, here is the Apostles Creed. It reminds us (all from Scripture) what is truly foundational:
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: GOD CREATED IT ALL
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord: GOD PROVIDED A SAVIOR
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary: THE SAVIOR WAS FULLY GOD AND FULLY/PERFECTLY HUMAN
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell: THE PERFECT SACRIFICE WAS MADE
5. The third day he rose again from the dead: GOD DEFEATED HELL/DEATH ... HE IS RISEN
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: JESUS IS EXALTED AND RESIDES WITH THE FATHER
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead: JESUS IS RULER
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost: GOD'S SPIRIT LIVES AND INDWELLS GOD'S PEOPLE/CHURCH
9. I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints: THERE IS ONE CHURCH WHICH IS UNIVERSALLY UNDER GOD'S AUTHORITY, PROVISION, POWER AND CARE
10. The forgiveness of sins: JESUS' SACRIFICE WAS MADE ONCE FOR ALL PEOPLE/SINS
1l. The resurrection of the body: JESUS WAS RESURRECTED AND HIS HEIRS WILL FOLLOW
12. And the life everlasting. Amen. WE ARE BEING BROUGHT TO GOD'S PLACE TO LIVE ETERNALLY WITH HIM
While the road back to our foundation might be long, it is not impossible if we stick to essentials, give grace on the non-essentials and calling false teachings what they are ... false, rebellious and divisive. What do you think? Pastor Randy
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