Where’s the Beef Steve?
@PastorSJCamp "Resurgence" started in 1970 and you guys have been totally running the show since 2008. Where's "Post Tenebras Lux"?
— Paul M. Dohse (@PaulMDohse) July 7, 2015
@PastorSJCamp "Resurgence" started in 1970 and you guys have been totally running the show since 2008. Where's "Post Tenebras Lux"?
— Paul M. Dohse (@PaulMDohse) July 7, 2015
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Exactly, Paul. Sure, Christianity has been mocked ever since Jesus’ time. But Christians have to seriously ask themselves why this is the case nowadays.
One of the first things is that Christianity is viewed as is anti-intellectual, and for good reason. One of the things I’ve taken from Paul Dohse and John Immel is the fact that Protestant pastors largely do not view reality in the same way as their parishoners. One cannot interpret reality properly when you have a deterministic philosophy. Sure, there are exceptions, but my own experiences back this up. Also, in regards to its view of science, Chistianity has a huge problem too. But I won’t get into that now.
Christianity is also perceived (even if wrongly) as being a religion for hayseed hicks, old people and those who are easily duped. Some leaders (such as in the charismatic movement) are perecived as snake oil salesmen in white liesure suits with large lapels and grecian formula in their hair. Others (such as in the Reformed movement) are perceived as wimpy wet-behind-the-ear dweebs with short man syndrome in tan pants and polo shirts. People can watch television on Sunday morning and see the Jim Joneses, the Jimmy Swaggarts, the Tammy Faye Bakers, the Paul Crouches, the Benny Hinns, the Kenneth Copelands, and others acting like fools. Like it or not, this is what we have to contend with when we do apologetics. And for me, the inertia from all of the bad perceptions are just too great to push against. And I think it was only Hank Hanegraaf and a few others who took the charismatic movement to task for their poor theology and poor behaviour. It is no wonder that the evangelical church is ghettoized. In summary, I just can’t handle all of the evangelical campiness anymore.
The theology of New Calvinism is entirly to blame for alienating people such as myself from the institutional church. But not just the theology, it is also its culture. Steve Camp wants to blame the world at large for its arrogance. But what about the arrogance and pride of the New Calvinists? What about their hypocricy? And Camp wants to complain about the drifting of the western world. What about the way in which American evangelicalism has drifted away from what Jesus Christ founded?
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…and again, I find myself at learning crossroads. Should I fight a war against New Calvinism? Probably for many sound reasons. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, the key is practicing the original intent and letting people see the results for themselves. That’s when we will see things happen. I think a home fellowship movement that rejects all aspects of institutional church is coming.
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Sean, you make a great point. However, I would say that the instituional church was much better BEHAVED for the first two hundred years of the existence of the U.S.A. On second thought, we’ll make an exception for the southern Baptists and southern Presbyterians promoting racism and slavery before, during, and after the American civil war.
I have to admit being nostalgic for the time when our grandparents were in control of the institutional church. At least back then, it was a safer and saner place to be. Narcissistic people and micromanagers did not want to become pastors back then because there were more checks and balances. Our grandfathers had a better appreciation for freedom and liberty, not just in government, but also in their churches. Plus, being a pastor was definitely not a means of becoming super rich and wealthy. I was a humble servant’s profession, and it attracted those good types of men.
But those checks and balances are now largely gone.
Also, we need to consider that the American Christian people of previous generations did not have easy access to the information about Plato, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin. Back then, you would need access to a university library in order to obtain such information. But it is a double-edged sword. Young arrogant narcissistic seminary students now read the works of Luther and Calvin, thinking that they are the authentic real form of Christianity. In the past, it would have sufficed for a young aspiring pastor to study the Bible for a few years, and then assume the pulpit, sometimes in the same community he grew up in.
Thankfully, we also have access to the internet and don’t need to go to the local university to read the writings of men who are now so gleefully idolized by those in the young, restless, and reformed movement. We can now examine for ourselves the writings of Augustine, and find out some very shocking things about him. He promoted hatred and state-sponsored violence towards the Donatists. His Manicheaism and Platoniam also made its way into Christian thought, one of the greatest tragedies of Christian history. I could go on and on, but we’ll leave that for the TANC 2015 conference. :o)
Paul, I support your views on the home-church movement, albeit cautiously. It is good to give it a try, given that the institutional church modern evangelicalism is now so badly failing.
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