Sunday, October 02, 2005
Doctrine Under Fire
There are few ideas in Christianity more under fire than the one best summarized in Romans 3:23
It is also a vitally important concept, without which the entire dynamic of the Christian life changes radically. I've written about it a lot, as have many others in many ways and in many discussions.
This post from Allthings2all looks at it from the aspect of one particular ministry and its claims on that particular bit of doctirne.
To be completely honest, I have no experience with nor understanding of the particular ministry which Catez does such a great job of answering. However, her post is so thorough, and so accessible, that anyone that has thought about the question in even the slighest should read it.
Here is the question that I have -- it flows out of the entire discussion, not just Catez' post. Why has this attack had so much traction in the church? I understand hy these ideas are adsorbed by the world, they have a great deal of appeal -- but in the church, I can't get my head around it. It's heart lies, I think, in the psychological concept of self-image that has taken over pop-psychological thought in the last decades, but why, again, was the church so willing to grasp these ideas?
Is it the misguided notion that psychology is science to that same level and extent that physics is? That the church feared the embarassment of a modern, psychological Galelio? I hope not, people in the church should understand science better than that.
I think it has more to do with needing to keep people in the pews and pay the bills, but that is just one man's opinion.
Regardless, we clearly need to fight this trend at every turn. Catez did a great job at this particular juncture of the debate -- where else should we be looking and discussing?
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of GodThe attacks on this idea -- that we are born into this world in a state of sin, unworthy of God's grace and compassion, comes in a variety of forms. From new theories of the atonement that imply that we really aren't so bad to direct attacks, the concept is in deep intellectual trouble.
It is also a vitally important concept, without which the entire dynamic of the Christian life changes radically. I've written about it a lot, as have many others in many ways and in many discussions.
This post from Allthings2all looks at it from the aspect of one particular ministry and its claims on that particular bit of doctirne.
To be completely honest, I have no experience with nor understanding of the particular ministry which Catez does such a great job of answering. However, her post is so thorough, and so accessible, that anyone that has thought about the question in even the slighest should read it.
Here is the question that I have -- it flows out of the entire discussion, not just Catez' post. Why has this attack had so much traction in the church? I understand hy these ideas are adsorbed by the world, they have a great deal of appeal -- but in the church, I can't get my head around it. It's heart lies, I think, in the psychological concept of self-image that has taken over pop-psychological thought in the last decades, but why, again, was the church so willing to grasp these ideas?
Is it the misguided notion that psychology is science to that same level and extent that physics is? That the church feared the embarassment of a modern, psychological Galelio? I hope not, people in the church should understand science better than that.
I think it has more to do with needing to keep people in the pews and pay the bills, but that is just one man's opinion.
Regardless, we clearly need to fight this trend at every turn. Catez did a great job at this particular juncture of the debate -- where else should we be looking and discussing?
