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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Did
God Die? It
may not make sense to the traditional thinking of who God is, but on
April 8, 1966, Time Magazine's cover story was entitled, "Is God
Dead?" If you're
old enough to remember, you may recall the commotion this article
stirred up among Christians back then.
After 44 years, the article is worth reading again in light of
present trends. You can read
it at this link. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,835309,00.html I'd
like to comment on every paragraph in the article, but I won't.
I'll just make comments on a couple of quotes, and then end with
a few statements. Here's
one quote from the article. "Some
Christians, of course, have long held that Nietzsche was not just a
voice crying in the wilderness. Even before Nietzsche, Soren Kierkegaard
warned that "the day when Christianity and the world become
friends, Christianity is done away with."
During World War II, the anti-Nazi Lutheran martyr Dietrich
Bonhoeffer wrote prophetically to a friend from his One
phrase stands out to me. "When
Christianity and the world become friends, Christianity is done away
with." How true, and
how prophetic. Forty-four
years later, many parts of the church have purposely become friends with
the world. We do this by laying aside Biblical truth to make the
non-believer more comfortable in our churches.
This accommodation has taken place many times in the past, always
with devastating results to the church.
The prime example is what some call the "paganization of the
church" in the fourth century.
You'd think friendship with the world would make the church more
influential in world affairs, but it never has, and it never will.
The
apostle John tells us not to love the world. (1
John 2:15) The apostle Paul
says that Jesus gave His life in order to rescue us from the world.
(Galatians 1:4) The Bible
teaches that we need to be rescued from the world, not aligned with the
world. In becoming friends
with the world systems, Christians lose their identity.
We become something we were never meant to be.
The article speaks of Bonhoeffer as being a martyr.
Throughout history men who gave their lives for Biblical truth
did more for the cause of Christ than those who became friends with the
world. Bonhoeffer said, "we
are proceeding towards a time of no religion." I
think I understand what he means. Atheism
was on the rise in his day, and still is.
That being said, I don't see the death of religion. However,
I do see a new amalgamated liberal religious world that looks nothing
like the religion of the
Bible that Bonhoeffer sacrificed himself for.
In this respect, Bonhoeffer's Biblical perspective of religion is
dead in many parts of the church at large. If you think my criticism
of the church is too negative and unproductive, you miss one major
aspect of the gospel, and that is repentance.
Throughout the Bible the prophets of God have spoken negatively
about the failures of God's people. These
failures must be addressed so we can repent and turn to God in true
Biblical faith.
Wow, that statement has
come true in many parts of Christendom.
The quote states that "the church must … become more
secular." Any casual
look at our modern church will show that to be true.
This quote also suggests "the old disputes seem
pointless…" This is
exactly what the post-modern Emergent church believes.
Disputes caused by defending Biblical doctrine are pointless. The
quote also says, "God
is not the property of the church."
That's true. The
church doesn't own God. God
owns the church, but that's not what this phrase is suggesting.
It's saying Christianity doesn't have exclusive rights to God.
Other religions have just as much right to God as Christianity.
That's why president Obama recently stated that Muslims, Jews,
Christians, and other religions worship the same God.
Here's
another quote. "To some, this suggests that the church might well
need to take a position of reverent agnosticism regarding some doctrines
that it had previously proclaimed with excessive conviction." Again,
how true this statement has become.
Even in the Evangelical church, heart-felt conviction of Biblical
truth is disappearing. These
heart-felt convictions that once made us strong are now seen to be
disruptive dogmatism, an unnecessary distraction from our attempt at
unity.
Okay,
I'll stop there. So,"is God really dead?" Back
in the 1960's many people thought He was dead, or at least hoped He was.
Of course God can't die or else He wouldn't be God.
The real question is; "Is God dead in the minds of
humanity?" I've
mentioned George Orwell's book entitled "1984" before.
He spoke of "newspeak".
This is the process by which a few influential people redefine
words and terms in order to import a new social/political consciousness
into our minds. "Newspeak"
has entered the world of religion in the attempt to redefine who God is.
This is what Romans 1:28 speaks of when Paul says that "they
did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God…"
This is the prevailing thinking in the world today, 44 years
after the Time Magazine article. God
and religion aren't dead. They've
just been redefined. Religious
issues are in the forefront of the news every day.
Islam's influence in western society tops the list.
Both liberal and conservative Christian issues come in a close
second. "Religion is
all over the news," as one CNN anchor person put it. I
think the rise of these religious issues are all part of God's plan.
The last great world leader will be both a political leader and a
religious leader. (2 Thessalonians 2:4)
Along with making peace with the nations, he'll make peace with
the religions of the world, something we don't have right now.
The ultimate redefining of who God is will be seen when the
anti-christ ordains himself to be God.
Time
Magazine asked if God was dead. He
isn't dead. We can try all
we want to redefine Him, but to the real Christian, He remains the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Just remember, God apart from Jesus is not God.
Post Script - A good book to read along these lines is "The Great Evangelical Disaster", written by Francis Schaeffer, copy written 1984, published by Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers.
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