Christianity Astray: The Link Between Theological Illiteracy and “Spirituality”
Posted By MSH on December 19, 2009
It’s never been more apparent than in this latest research poll by the Pew Forum. You have to read it to believe it. When pop culture Christianity sows “naming and claiming” and “being a better you” this is what is reaped.
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22 Responses to “Christianity Astray: The Link Between Theological Illiteracy and “Spirituality””
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Interesting article, it may not be as clear cut as the stats show though. I myself was born into catholosisim and was converted in 2007, before my conversion i done a lot of searching and got my theology off T.V and books, I thought i had it down, until i went through some hard times and I heard the Gospel and believed. All that to say the stats may show people who are struggling and searching but if the point of the research is to show how diluted Christian beliefs have become, i agree and that why the Gospel must be clear 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 if the Gospel is not correct there is no foundation and people will be wondering around looking and not finding. The Gospel is everything.
I’m pretty sure projects like the Manhattan Declaration will be the cause of such confusion, not to mention the sloppy T.V religious programs and authors.
THE on thing that helped me find the Truth (Yeshua) was when He isolated me from seeking Him in all the wrong places………even to the point of my car breaking down (beyond repair) and being left without a way to ‘find a home church’…… Once things got really bad in terms of being so isolated, I had only Him to turn too…so when prayers got answered, there was NO way I could explain things away and not give Him the Glory.
There were many lessons in that…one is understanding the times we’re living in – and that He wanted me to come out of Babylon……..and so it began…first it was coming away from all ‘man’s’ teachings….then He showed me how unpleased He is with the vain traditions of men (xmas, easter, valentines, etc) so I turned away from all that. And there has been much more that the Holy Spirit convicted me of – so He really does teach us line by line, precept upon precept, little by little if we seek Him first in all things.
That ‘first in all things’ thing? Is something He’s been patiently working on with me recently. Through all this – I’m humbled by HIs amazing patience, grace and love He has for us – and how He REALLY does not want any of us to perish. I just pray I’m worthy to stand escape whatever is coming and stand before Him.
Yaweh bless you brother.
lisa
correction
THE *one* thing….
argh…type…thowwy
He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked but He will by no means pass over transgressions of the guilty, He is Just and Holy. I dont want to hurt your feelings but nobody is worthy to stand before Him. The only way is Faith in His Son and the sacrifice He gave… becoming sin for us,and giving us His righteousness (imputation).
You may well be aware of this, if you are accept my apologies it’s just that your last sentence concerned me a little, if your in Christ by faith you can have assurance that you WILL be counted worthy to escape the wrath to come
These are the concerns i have about the Gospel. Sorry if i’m out of line.
@Nobunaga:
Hard to believe you could have possibly misconstrued this — I don’t agree at all with the pop culture gospel, which is what I was shooting at. And THAT is what produces theological confusion. I don’t think I was at all unclear here.
I think we have crossed wires ? i was in no way saying that you support it, i was just commenting on it. You weren’t unclear i was agreeing with you and adding my thoughts on the statistics as they could show more than one thing as raw data.
I was highlighting the problem stemming from the confusion of the Gospel, resulting in a pic and mix of religious beliefs. I re-read my post and dont know how it could cause you to think i was saying you are agreeing with pop culture Gospel, sorry if this is the case. I wold not be reading your material if i thought that.
Peter Pan Christianity is the label that I give to contemporary Christianity. The church has separated itself from sound doctrine, basic teaching litergy and traditional hymnody. We have tried for the last thirty years to keep entertained that we have a generation of adults that think of church as a health club that exists to meet their needs The result is old infants raising little infants. The prognosis is not good.
@Nobunaga: my bad then – sorry!! I’ve been accused before of “another gospel” and that is turf I defend. My bad.
@Dan Nieman: boy, there’s a term / word picture that hits home.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for that post it really blessed me. Right on the money!
DJ
Dr. Heiser, I was wondering which of the statistics, if any, particularly bothered you or struck home for you? I couldn’t believe the one about Reincarnation…I mean, serioulsy? How in the world do that many “Christians” think that could possibly have come out of orthodox Christianity in ANY century? So, yeah, that one bugged me…which one (s) did it for you?
No problem at all, i’m glad you defend the Gospel so stringently, i have heard you explain the Gospel in interview so i have no doubt about your integrity.
@Nobunaga: THANKS
@Jonnathan Molina: Boy, this is tough. There are so many striking things. Large % of married couples saying their spouse was of a different faith, nearly 50% saying they had a mystical or religious experience, then there’s this quote: “The proportion of Americans who say they have interacted with a ghost has doubled over the past 13 years (9% in 1996 compared with 18% today). The number saying they have felt in touch with someone who has died has also grown considerably, from 18% in 1996 to 29% today.” There were other nearly doubled observations, too. I think the survey confirms the content of Christopher Partridge’s book, The Re-Enchantment of the West — where he shows that while society is becoming more secular, it is also becoming more “spiritual” (occult, pagan sorts of things).
Being a heathan, not growing up with a church family or any spiritual understanding, a handful of years ago I picked up the bible and started reading it. (i.e. from page #1). Along the way I went from church to church to church asking pastors questions that had arisen from the text. Here are some answers: (different denominations)
“It’s just cultural…”
“It has nothing to do with people’s lives.”
“If the Jews don’t believe it, I don’t either.”
I came upon MSH’s work and after studying it (quite literally) at one moment a thousand threads came together. The biblical authors no longer seemed so confused.
I went back to church with the good news that these things can be understood, but perhaps not on the terms as we would like.
Friends, nobody is interested. And that is saying it nicely. They are not familiar enough with the text to even understand questions that can arise from it.
This didn’t stop me from teaching my children, and teaching them about basic critical thinking and that even before I became a follower of Jesus, I was still polite.
They can believe whatever they want, however I am concerned what is told to the next heathan that walks up asking questions.
Re-Enchantment of the West, pagans, necromancers, not to mention Fundamental Islam and Muslims out breeding natural populations in Europe, and the aggressive Climate change proponents and their population offsetting ideas and a secular society and governments that are bent on being politically correct to the detriment and safety of the society, it does not bode well. Cant think of any others
But…..Cheer up it’s Christmas
MSH… what do you think about christians celebrating Christmas and Easter … when they are clearly pagan?
@BboyJeda: just about anything we do in religious terms today with respect to Christianity is pagan, but only because of the early Roman church’s misguided approach to “evangelism” — syncretism. The meanings of these syncretisms are basically lost to the modern person, and have been for centuries, so I really don’t care about it. I file this in the same folder as I do with the question of whether it’s idolatry to have religious art that depicts God and Jesus (“make no graven image of anything in heaven or earth”). Since even the tabernacle made exceptions to that at God’s orders (cherubim), that tells me the point is idolatry — worship of another God. Unless someone is bowing to their Christmas tree I don’t care. The Easter garbage irritates me more though, since it seems to have more “effectively” removed the resurrection from that event than Christmas trees have removed the birth of Jesus from the celebration. (We didn’t let our kids do anything with regard to the Easter bunny for that reason, not the fertility symbolism – can you imagine telling your elementary school kid about that?). I’m opposed to idolatry and displacing Jesus, not to decorations.
@Nobunaga: Yes, it is Christmas. The sign of the beginning of the end of the forces of chaos, no matter how noticed it was.
@Steve: I appreciate this — yes for the testimony that what I do was used by the Lord — but really in regard to the fact that you see the theologically illiterate state of the church so clearly, and yet you persevere in wanting to understand the truth. You are spot on with respect to so many in the church (“They are not familiar enough with the text to even understand questions that can arise from it”). I have experience that many times. And yet I’m unrepentant about trying to get people to look. Every once in a while someone comes along that’s been looking for the Word a very long time. That blessing outweighs the frustration.
Amen Dr Heiser, and thank you for giving us the benefit of your hard work and biblical knowledge.
This time last year i was all for taking the same approach to Christmas as Oliver Cromwell, I think he would lose his mind if he saw this day and age, but i got to give my family a Gospel tract with a card which is a precious opportunity, i’m told the puritans didn’t wish a happy Christmas and new year as the Lord may decide to bless them through trials, so they said have a blessed year and ‘ll say the same to you and yours and all others on here in Christ.
Look forward to learning more of the Bible next year !
Blessings
@MSH.. thank you. very good explanation.