One of our church members, Amanda Losee, is a student at Baptist Bible College (Clarks Summit, PA). Recently, Amanda posted a note on facebook, and she has granted me permission to post it here at TruthWalk.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about theology. On a college campus it is not unlikely to run across people who have different views than the ones that you personally hold. It is easy to find people with whom you agree and those with whom you disagree. As I study the Scriptures for myself and seek counsel from the spiritual mentors in my life it is encouraging to see that I am being pushed to look first to the Word of God and to remember that my theology does not save me. While having Biblical theology is highly important, I have discovered that having a "humble theology" is equally important. It is so easy to dismiss our common ground as brothers and sisters in Christ and to argue over what may be minor differences. We tend to try to put God in a box and believe that we have Him all figured out. Our minds are such finite things. While we were created to know God, I believe it is extremely dangerous to claim to have the "perfect theology." We serve a God who is infinitely greater than we are, who is sovereign over all creation and over all events, and whose divine plan is far greater than any scheme of man. Yes, we do need to seek truth, but we need to be humble enough to admit that our theology may be incorrect and that perhaps we do not have God all figured out. In a 2006 blog posting Mark Dever stated,
Anyway, I think that such reading encourages the right kind of humility. How can we as Christians be humbled without hearing the Word to which we should submit? How can we be humbled apart from hearing and heeding the Word of God? How will our churches ever be the truly humble assemblies we want them to be if they do not hear and submit themselves to God's Word? What we need is humble theology--theology which submits itself to the truth of God's Word. "Liberal" theology--theology which does not view Scripture as finally trustworthy and authoritative--is not humble before the Word. Churches which are tentative and decry dogmatism may sound humble, but it is not truly humble to do anything other than to submit to God's Word. Christian humility is to simply accept whatever God has revealed in His Word. Humility is following God's Word wherever it goes, as far as it goes, not either going beyond it or stopping short of it.
As I listened to these words on my ride home I could not get over how true they are. Dogmatism is a dangerous road to travel. Yet, it is an easy trap to fall into. We must examine ourselves and ask, "Are we being dogmatic?"
Good thoughts, Amanda. I'm glad that you explained what you meant by "humble theology" - i.e. recognizing our own finiteness and fallibility, as well as submitting our minds and wills to the Word of God.
ReplyDeleteHumble theology should not be confused or equated with milquetoast convictions, a watered-down Gospel, or liberal theology. We see such things in the "Emerging Church" movement, in books such as "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren. Like the old country song says, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
I would disagree with the statement, "Dogmatism is a dangerous road to travel." John MacArthur said about the Apostle John in a sermon about the proper balance of love and truth, "He (John) is really a man for our times. His writing is very bold, it is very direct, it is very dogmatic. I don't think there's another NT writer that is as dogmatic as John is. He is authoritative in his writing. He is committed to absolutes. He is black and white. He is a very exclusive preacher much needed in a very inclusive time. These, as you know, are great days in the life of the church. These are days when Christian thinking is loose, if there's any Christian thinking at all. It is accepting, it is tolerant, it is inclusive, it is uncertain, it is lacking doctrinal clarity, it is lacking in dogmatism, it is lacking in conviction. It is given to tolerance, it is given to compromise. This is the perfect time to hear from John, this black and white, dogmatic, exclusive, absolute, authoritative Apostle. His epistles provide for us a powerful message for a compromising, conviction-less, open-minded, permissive, and liberal thinking church. He's really the perfect writer to address the church today."
ReplyDeleteAs Mark Dever said churches that condemn dogmatism may sound humble, but they are not. They may think that is loving, but it is not. Nothing is more loving than the truth. To let somebody perish in a false system isn't loving at all.
The Christian Gospel is, and always has been, a scandal to man and his culture because it does the one thing he most wants to avoid; it awakens him from his self-imposed slumber to the reality of his fallenness and rebellion, and calls for him to reject his self-suffiency and submit to God through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Yes, we must examine ourselves but the real question to ask is, "Am I being like Christ?" He is the perfect image of truth and love in balance. It is then if we understand this, we understand John. It was through this balance that this "son of thunder" learned true humility.
Rob, thank you for proving Amanda's point.
ReplyDeleteAmanda's statement about dogmatism makes sense in the context of everything else she wrote.
She is in college. A baptist college. Where I know, from experience, that every second-year student with more than two Bible classes under their belt, loves to run around and argue theology with anyone and everyone (and usually about minor issues). They are not humble and think they have everything figured out.
Amanda's (and Mark Dever's) point is not that there is no right and wrong or black and white, but that we must be humble when discussing it. If a person's study of God (theology) is not leading to humility then something is out of place. If a person studies theology and becomes more arrogant, then they're not really understanding what they're studying.
That's why Amanda says that Biblical theology is important. Which it is. But Biblical theology without humility is not really Biblical.
Nick, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not defending dogmatism on any and every theological issue. Some things in Scripture are not perfectly clear. But the central teachings, for example, those things related to the way of salvation, are so simple and so clear that even a child can understand. And that truth, for one, is incompatible with every other system of belief. We ought to be dogmatic about it.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that we can't tell the world, wherever we find ourselves, "This is truth, but whatever you want to believe is fine, too." It's not fine. Scripture commands us to be intolerant of any idea that denies the truth.
The emerging church movement, that Matt mentioned, is an excellent example. They pride themselves on being tolerant of competing world-views, and is therefore hostile to biblical Christianity. Most of their leaders, like McLaren, openly admit that biblical Christianity, by its very nature, is totally incompatible with a position of uncritical broadmindedness.
There is never a need to seek middle ground through dialogue with proponents of anti-Christian worldviews, as if truth could be refined by the dialectical method. Nor should we imagine that we can meet opposing world-views on some philosophically neutral ground. If you really believe the Word of God is true, then everything opposing it is error.
Jesus clearly and unashamedly affirmed the utter exclusivity of Christianity. He said, "I am the Way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). And with yesterday being Good Friday, I am reminded of a quote from Leonard Ravenhill, "If Jesus preached the same message minister's preach today, He would have never been crucified." I for one am glad Jesus didn't open it up for debate.
Yes, the key is our "common ground as brothers and sisters in Christ," as Amanda put it. Thankfully, I know Amanda well enough, along with each of you who have contributed comments, to know that we all affirm the same true Gospel. It is the "gospel of God" as revealed in the Holy Scriptures through the person and work of Jesus Christ. As we celebrate the glorious doctrine of the Resurrection with true believers all over the world, let us rejoice that our God is not silent but has made Himself known to us through the Holy Scriptures. Thanks for weighing in on this important discussion everybody!
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