Tragically, the 2,000-year history of the Church is filled with examples of men and women who once held firmly to the truths of Scripture, but over time they began re-interpreting, explaining away, and eventually denying some of the doctrines of Scripture. This drift has drawn many theologians, Bible scholars, and pastors away from creedal Christianity.
The Church today has a serious doctrinal-deficit syndrome. Doctrine is often sidelined and undervalued, because it is viewed as neither practical nor relevant. Consequently, the Church has a serious inability to distinguish truth from error.
But what we believe makes all the difference in the life of the individual believer and the Church, as well as the surrounding culture. A renewed focus on doctrine in the Church will do more than anything else to equip us to hold on to sound doctrine as Paul exhorts us to do. It will also equip us to recognize false doctrine, even when it comes in disguise.
If we understand the hallmarks of theological liberalism and its tactics, then we will be better prepared to stand for truth and to expose error.
This paper will begin by showing why doctrine matters. By this, I do not mean the differences between various strains of orthodox Christianity, such as Calvinism vs. Arminianism or modes of baptism, but rather the central doctrines of creedal Christianity.
This paper will then describe the historic and classic hallmarks or traits of theological liberalism. Throughout history various versions of liberalism have proposed a different view of God, Jesus, the Bible, the Church, sin, the Gospel, and spirituality.
Finally, this paper will describe various tactics commonly used by theological liberals to promote their teaching and to gain adherents.
This paper is the result of many years of research which involved reading from the Early Church Fathers, leaders of the Reformation and the Wesleyan revival, early twentieth century defenders of the faith, leaders of the Chicago Inerrancy Summit era, right on up to scholars and Christian leaders of our day. I asked a number of contemporary theologians for their perspective as well.
As I have spoken and written on this topic in Europe and the US over the past few months, I have been amazed by the intense interest in this topic, particularly among young evangelical leaders.
Outline
I. Why doctrine matters
II. Common theological marks of liberalism
a. A different view of God
b. A different Jesus
c. A different Bible
d. A different view of sin
e. A different Gospel
f. A different view of the Church
g. A different view of spirituality
III. Common tactics of liberalism
a. Tactics involving logical fallacies
b. Tactics involving public relations
c. Tactics related to definitions
d. Tactics related to unity and controversy
e. Tactics regarding the role and importance of propositional truth
f. Tactics regarding the supernatural
IV. Conclusion. Standing firm for creedal Christianity