Posts

Showing posts from December, 2020

Progressive Christianity and the Self

If I were to identify one core feature of Progressive Christianity, it would be this: an excessive focus on the self. I do not mean this in the context of selfishness, but of authority and identity. Their approach to God, to religious truth, is primarily egocentric, rather than theocentric; they start from the self, rather than God. An example of this is in their examination of God. Rather than pursuing God Himself, as God has revealed Himself, Progressive Christianity starts with their values, their beliefs, and then tries to explain God through that, rather than through God's revelation . In other words, they work their theology around their self, around their beliefs. The practical result is that they do not arrive at God but instead at an idea they have created that they stand-in for God.  Put a little more formally: Progressive Christianity places their personal experience with what they believe to be God as of greater importance and truth than that which we do know came from

Book Review - Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth, by Thaddeus Williams

Social justice is one of the most important topics today but also one of the least understood. This is the keyword used to signify that we care about lives and rights and yet there is so much fighting in society over these two words. What can we do to seek peace and justice amid such division? Thaddeus Williams provides the best path forward by actually seeking justice on the very concept of social justice. With great charity and greater clarity, Thaddeus weaves together both personal testimony and established evidence to clearly separate real justice from an impostor masquerading under the name. Rather than submitting to the popular polemic practices of today’s world, Mr. Williams instead graciously explains the foundations of “Social Justice B” (as he defines it) and shows that, however well-intentioned its adherents may be, that path is fraught with as much injustice as “Social Justice B” attempts to fight. Alongside exposing such foundations, Mr. Williams makes a strong case for a

Stop wishing for what you can do yourself

“I would give my life to be able to play the violin as you do.” “I did.”  There are several versions of this story, each closed with some kind of “I did,” “no, you don’t, because you don’t know what it cost me,” or “no, you don’t, because you aren’t willing to make the sacrifices necessary.” We tend to mirror these sentiments for most of life: “if only I were as fit as he is,” “if only I had the career that she has,” “if only I had the fame/money/talents/time.” But how often do we, as Christians, say the same thing about our walk with God? “I wish I could understand the Bible the way he does.” “I wish I had a prayer life as she has.”  To what, to where do we look for the answers to these questions? Today seems fraught with the desire to blame others for everything wrong, but that has always been the case. Even in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve both blamed someone else for why they ate of the forbidden fruit. Moses blamed Israel, Israel blamed the giants, Saul blamed David, Jonah blam