References:

(1) Almost every religion honors Jesus to some degree. Most will agree He is a great teacher and a wonder worker. But anything short of total honor ends up treating Jesus with fake honor, deceitful loyalty, and phony respect. Jesus was very clear when He said, “He who is not WITH Me is AGAINST Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matt. 12:30). There is NO MIDDLE GROUND here. (2) Christian liberalism is a particular problem in America. It is based on a departure from the traditional tenets of biblical Christianity that FALLS SHORT of true biblical Christianity. Its vocabulary APPEARS to be like the same vocabulary of orthodox Christianity but their MEANING is FAR FROM the true biblical faith. (3) In relation to religion in America, this is not anything new. It is what Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Scientists, Woke Jesus activists, and Progressive Christians do. I am not aware of any sort of emphasis in these aberrant religions on the Gospel, grace, unconditional love, forgiveness, or the saving power of Jesus Christ. They may TALK a good game but their heart is for from the truth. Liberal theology amounts to HUMANISM, pure and simple. But it is expressed in theological instead of other pejorative terms. (4) The classic 1923 book “Christianity and Liberalism” by J. Gresham Machen. (5) In his book Machen argued that the liberal understanding of Christianity was, in fact, not just a VARIANT VERSION of the Christian faith, nor did it represent simply a different denominational perspective, but was an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT religion. Put simply, Machen thought liberal Christianity was not Christianity at all. (6) It is pertinent to recall H. Richard Neihbur’s criticism of Christian Liberalism. He said, “a God w/o WRATH brought men w/o SIN into a kingdom w/o JUDGMENT through the ministrations of a Christ w/o a CROSS.”(7) An article by Steven Davidson in the book “The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics” by Ed Hindson and Ergun Caner.(8) Christian liberalism usually begins with a DENIAL of the reliability and historical accuracy of the Word of God . This denial generally starts with different ideas regarding CREATION. (9) One biblical doctrine that liberalism seems intent on denying is the VIRGIN BIRTH of Jesus Christ. Yet that doctrine is an essential core doctrine of biblical Christianity. (10) The thinking of the Christian liberal is governed by NATURALISM. Then that means Christian liberals do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, and therefore in Jesus Christ’s DEITY. Liberalism views Jesus as simply a MODEL Christian, a supreme EXAMPLE of human ATTAINMENT of God’s IDEAL for humanity, but NOTHING MORE. If that is what you believe, why call yourselves Christian? (11) Biblical Christianity demands an EVANGELICAL OUTREACH of the followers of Christ whereas religious liberalism typically is NOT INTERESTED in evangelism. (12) Historically, religious liberalism traces its roots to higher criticism, introduced by German scholars in the mid 1800s. Higher Criticism is a method of biblical study that focuses on the literary and historical origins of biblical texts emphasizing the Bible as a historical document. Higher criticism looks at the social, political, and cultural contexts in which the texts are written. When higher criticism gained a hearing in the religious community that led to an almost immediate denial of the authority of the Pentateuch.

This is episode 235.