Not puzzling at all, spirited. It is a phenomenon we witness every day in the behavior of every DC Beltway Establishment politician (and all their acolytes; party affiliation of either notwithstanding). It is a last resort; the final redoubt of intellectual poverty.
“But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.”
. . . Matthew 10:33
Well quoted, spirited. Puts the proposition to us directly. No equivocation, no evasion. Cannot be put off, cannot be held at arm’s length.
Oh, I affirm Christ very strongly and personally in every way. That is and was God there, ministering before, during, and after incarnation. It is through Christ I achieve every victory. It is through Christ I overcome every sin.
What I deny are cockamamie theologies that aren’t even scriptural themselves, that darken the counsel of God, and all the more when they are put out by people who are so hung up over their own “good name” that they forget that the important issue is God’s good name.