Posted on 11/24/2005 7:22:28 AM PST by Zack Nguyen
Elaine Pagels, the famous historian of early Christianity, once told a revealing story about the social world behind the scenes of high-powered biblical scholarship. As a young up-and-coming professor at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, she was invited to a closed-door, after-hours smoker.
The men there (Pagels was the only woman) were all prominent Bible scholars. Many of them didn't even believe in God, and those who still called themselves Christian were anything but orthodox. The liquor flowed freely, and as these men got in their cups, they began to sing old gospel songs. To her astonishment, they knew all the tunes and words by heart. Then it dawned on her—these atheist and liberal Bible scholars must have grown up in evangelical churches.
Had Pagels herself grown up in evangelicalism she might not have been so surprised. Evangelicals have long known that it is easy for individuals and institutions—especially professors and universities—to slide down the slippery slope from orthodoxy to infidelity. Once down the slope, there's usually no climbing back up. It's a one-way street from evangelicalism to liberalism, a street that many individuals and colleges, and all the mainline Protestant denominations, have gone down.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
I confess that I am somewhat skeptical that many of these denominations can be turned around. The SBC did it, but they were very bottom-up instead of top-down.
Revival, Education, Apostacy
That's the pattern and it's been being repeated ever since the first century.
At first people are on fire for The Lord; then they build schools and colleges, then the professors decide they know more than God.
Some Bible-believing Christians shy away from this kind of conflict, allowing liberals to take over their churches and denominations because they think conflict with others is "worldly." I could not disagree more. Christ and the Apostles did not shy away from disagreement. R.C. Sproul stated in his book Essential Truths of the Christian Faith that "Jesus' life was a storm of controversy." Christ was (and is) never vindicative or petty, but he did not hesitate to speak the truth.
I believe many Christians forget these lessons.
You might appreciate this article, given your witness within the Episcopal Church.
Miele Man has an interesting testimoney of being in a position to watch the decline and fall of Episcopalianism. (Did I spell that right?)
While their is historical evidence to back up your claim, I don't think it has to be that way. If caught early enough, the rot can be arrested before in infects the entire tree. The SBC did it.
their=there. Whoops!
IMO these christian liberals confuse themselves with God. They remind me of Sir Robin at the bridge in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They see evil in the world that needs fixing and say "That's Easy!" Then off they go over the cliff not realizing that it is their all too human conceit that is their undoing.
That's a great point. (I love that movie!) Yes, I believe that the root of liberalism is a God complex. "I can rid the earth of poverty." "I can make the world equal." "I can use government to advance society."
Interesting post..thanks..FYI..Paghels, who is mentioned in the opening paragraph, is an interestng scholar. I've attended one lecture of hers, and hone of her books, "The Origin of Satan" is worth the read..
"You shall be as gods." "I will be like the Most High."
Remember who was behind those thoughts?
A little bit of good news. Thanks
Yep. They don't want to pray to Jesus, they want to be Jesus.
".Paghels, who is mentioned in the opening paragraph, is an interestng scholar."
Elaine Pagels is the worst sort of Gnostic heretic!!!!!!!! I'd call her "post modern", but she's just a plain old fashioned Gnostic.
"The second problem, one that runs deep in the evangelical psyche, is that many evangelicals find church politics utterly distasteful."
I find this to be true. It's similar to the situation in politics. By their very nature, conservatives find government distasteful. Yet, neither group (evangelicals or conservatives) can win without infiltrating the upper levels of the very organizations they dislike. Victory is possible in time. That's great news!
Matthew 5:13
13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot."
Can Churches lose their saltiness? Yes. How? Through worldliness. They must repent and believe on this Lord Jesus Christ, the one who took our sin upon himself and paid the penalty in our behalf. Is it possible? Yes. With God all things are possible. All things are possible to them that believes. SBC did it, so can others.
ping to twink et alia
Elaine Pagels has made a very successful career of lying about the true nature of Christianity and Gnosticism. In her revisionist history, St. Augustine and the Christians are the oppressive villains, and the Gnostics are the marvellous, liberating heroes.
More recently, she has suggested that the four canonical gospels are unreliable, so you need to go out and buy the Gnostic and heretical Gospel of Thomas to find out what really happened.
She has been lavishly awarded with honors and advancement because the Ivy League colleges and the academic establishment don't care about historical truth; they care about subversion, and she has been extremely helpful in subverting.
I long ago abandoned attending church service because the pastors stood in the pulpit week after week delivering sermons that condemned the congregation for having been born because we were all sinners. I don't believe that's what God intended and I think he intended His Word to be more uplifting and positive than the pastors were delivering.
Since abandoning church services, I discovered that God has an 800 number than I can (and do) use whenever I need/want to talk with Him.
IMO, the biggest problem with church liberalism is that people want to be able to sin and not be held accountable. They want to have their cake and eat it, too. But, the message of religion is that actions have consequences and one shouldn't expect to hear that they are wonderful human beings and there are no consequences for them after a night of drinking, beating and murdering their spouse.
And, that's what too many people want.
I teach at a "Catholic" university, and often joke that (as a Protestant) I'm "more Catholic" than 90% of the people who teach in the Religious Studies department.
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