In my previous post I disputed the teaching of an Anglican clergyman, the rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, USA.

The problem with this example of Anglican teaching is that the clergyman concerned has subjected Biblical truth to the disbelief of liberal theology and is offering a distortion of God’s revelation that we have from the Bible - a revisionist view.

This application of theological liberalism to God’s revelation is definitely not confined to Anglicans alone, but is present in many other “mainstream Christian” denominations as well. Liberalism in Christian theology is rife in certain parts of the world. I am not criticizing those Anglicans faithful to the truth of the Gospel, nor those parts of the global Anglican Communion which do indeed uphold the Apostolic faith as handed down from the early Church Fathers. There are faithful Anglicans as well as liberal Anglicans, and discerning the truth requires that we think very carefully about what is taught us by those whom we expect to have knowledge.

But what do I mean when I denounce certain teaching as distorted by the application of liberal theology, or religious liberalism? A brief summary of the Major Theological Propositions of Liberalism by M. James Sawyer, Th.M., Ph.D., followed by his Critique of those propostions can be found here. It is the application of these theological propositions to the specific revelation (Scripture) that God has given us, and the resultant revision of the time-honoured traditional understanding of this specific revelation, that has given us a new religion which uses the terminology of Christianity while refuting its original message.

For instance, it is not an uncommon view to hold by some that Jesus was limited by His cultural milieu, had unthinkingly absorbed some of it and needed correction by a Gentile woman who thus enlightened Him. That is how some interpret the story of the Canaanite woman who pleaded with Jesus to heal her daughter. That interpretation is simply not a description of the historical Jesus of the Gospels, or not as I understand Him to be. Consider that idea alongside the paper by Dr James Sawyer, I find it illustrates well the theological propositions of liberalism, or a secular intrusion into the story. That encounter of Jesus aside, Scripture reports elsewhere of Him as speaking to another woman, this time at Jacob’s well at a town called Sychar, and the conversation profoundly affected her:

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
(John 4:28-30)

To claim that Jesus would make an error of judgment concerning His calling is a gross distortion of the truth, and a denial of who He is. I believe it to be more an admission of unbelief on the part of the one who holds such a view.

I would hope that this example alerts others to the need to critically examine that which they are being taught in their churches, and to think it through with their Bibles in front of them. It is necessary to watch out for the influence of theological liberalism and the distortions that it causes. Liberalism is not Christianity, and if you are inclined towards believing that theological liberalism teaches the truth, then know for sure that you are not believing the Gospel of Christ.

Bibliography:

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen

~ This book, first published in 1923, is a classic treatment of the age old controversy between Orthodox Christianity and Liberalism. Machen contrasts the errors of liberalism with the basic foundational truths of Biblical Christianity such as: Doctrine, God and man, the Bible, Christ, Salvation, and the Church. Machen’s book is scriptural, thought-provoking, well-reasoned, and relevent today. Your faith in the Bible and its basic doctrines will be strengthened. It is worth your time to read this important book. This book, which can be read online, is in the public domain.