The Cyclical Nature of Heresies

While reading today I came across a statement that I thought is really important but a lot of Christians might not know about. This post's title gives you an idea what I mean, but to explain with an example, let's talk the "Universal Christ" heresy. Basically the idea behind this is the notion that the ancients realized the spiritual truth that there is a "Christ" in each of us, basically the idea that all of us have an aspect of God in us if we embrace it. It goes on to claim the writers of the New Testament knew about this truth and that Jesus actually taught it. Furthermore it's claimed that the authorities a few centuries later, who wanted another form of control, hid all these truths and manipulated writings into what is now our modern day idea of the Bible. These ideas are all taught in the saddeningly popular and frighteningly inaccurate online "documentary" (I use that in the loosest possible way) Zeitgeist.

Thing is, the universal Christ concept and all the accompanying claims were refuted hundreds of years ago when they first started getting spread around.

With all of that in mind, this paragraph I read seemed to capture things nicely:

"Too often the ramparts of Christian truth are left undefended against ancient heresies. It is actually an odd symptom of success. It is not because the saints of old could not answer their opponent and accuser; in fact, it is because the answers they gave were eventually regarded as so evidently true that their opponents no longer opposed them, and they and their slanders temporarily vanished beneath the waves of time, until subsequent generations of Christians forgot the magnitude of the battle. This explains the recurrence of ancient heresies throughout Christian history, as well as the perception that the heresies are new and incontrovertible."

-Dr Scott Masson, "Emerging from a University in Ruins", Jubilee magazine Spring 2011.

So next time we encounter a "new" heresy, maybe we need to check for responses in ancient books.

God bless.

Brad Pitt and Christianity

There's a reasons that people reject Christianity. In this article today I read about why it is that Brad Pitt rejected the Christian beliefs he was raised with. I recommend reading the article (don't worry it's short) because it really got me thinking.
In short, though, Pitt couldn't come to grips with a God who essentially demands to be praised. I've heard this before, but I must say, while I can see where that mental barrier would arise from, I don't understand how it could withstand any significant examination. I mean, the God of the universe, He created all things, He is supremely powerful, perfectly holy, AND was willing to sacrifice His own Son to save each and every ungrateful one of us. Even if one rejects the existence of God on other grounds, I just can't see how one could say, even if all that is true, God is still not justified in demanding the praise He deserves.

...Just doesn't make sense.

People Leaving Christianity in Record Numbers

So my mentor passed this article my way, and it's one that should hit home with every single Christian, church leaders in particular.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/november/27.40.html

You really REALLY need to read that article. One portion I will highlight is this paragraph:

Another unsettling pattern emerged during my interviews. Almost to a person, the leavers with whom I spoke recalled that, before leaving the faith, they were regularly shut down when they expressed doubts. Some were ridiculed in front of peers for asking "insolent questions." Others reported receiving trite answers to vexing questions and being scolded for not accepting them.

This particularly hit home with, and frustrates, me. In fact I remember asking a question when I was in my teens and I had found what seemed to be a contradiction in the Bible. One of the elders in my church basically said "that's why we have to take it on faith". Another church leader gave a reply so hollow I hardly think he believed it himself. If I hadn't persisted in finding a satisfactory answer with my own studies I, but for the grace of God, could have ended up as one of the statistics mentioned in the article.

I hope you take the time to read the article entirely. And if you are a Christian leader, I hope you especially take it to heart. And amongst other things, we need to take peoples' doubts and questions seriously.

Theology of Secular Hard Rock

Okay, 5 min blog while I'm at work. I figure, I've had this blog set up for something crazy like a year without using it, so I should probably post something. So here's what I'm able to put out in the short time I have left of my break here at work.

This post is not about what our theological view should be regarding Christians listening to rock, but rather about the lyrics I pondered recently within a secular rock song. Here are the words:

Animal I have Become by 3 days grace
I can't escape this hell
So many times i've triedBut i'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal, this animal)
I can't escape myself(I can't escape myself)
So many times i've lied(So many times i've lied)
But there's still rage inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real
help me tame this animal
Somebody help me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
Somebody wake me from this nightmare
I can't escape this hell
(This animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal)
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal(This animal I have become)


Here's the song, if anyone actually wants to listen to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL-DpKbg3cM

Before anyone asks, no, 3 days grace is not a Christian band.
But what I find interesting in those lyrics is how much they capture how I've felt at times with the sins I've struggled with, and how well those lyrics represent the viewpoint of a non-Christian who realizes he/she needs someone to help them change, but doesn't realize/believe anyone really can. It's like they realize the power and control of sin, but can't see that there's a solution. We believers, of course, realize that it is only through salvation by Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit that we can really change.

Even with that, being a Christian, I still feel like those lyrics sometimes apply to me. I feel my old self welling up inside, feel sometimes that old temper of mine wanting to break free and explode, and I know it's only by the grace of God that I don't act on those impulses.

Not to mention, I seem to remember the book of James commenting on the tongue being like a wild animal.

Anyways, some very interesting lyrics considering the source.

Well, I'm outta here. Not bad for 5 minutes I think. Later.