Which heretical belief system, movement, or trend do you believe is the most dangerous or poses the greatest threat to the evangelical church in the next 25-50 years?
Maybe there should be an ALL OF THE ABOVE option...I had questions on some of the choices. What is the New Perspective on Paul, Open Theism and The Third Wave?
tj "-that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection..."
This is sort of like asking, so choose which is the worst street drug. Heroin, Crack, Speed, Coke, Meth I mean its like saying okay I'll fight against heroin but speed, meth, and crack I don't see as serious.
Peter
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. Augustine of Hippo
I make no claim that the list is comprehensive and there is undoubtedly some overlap, and nowhere do I say we should only fight one and not others. But determining where the danger is greatest, i.e., which has the most "suppliers," which is easier to "treat," etc., can have some strategic value. Also, I'm sure that not everyone here would necessarily consider all of these views heretical. I feel that all of them are dangerous and threatening, but I have a hard time determining which are the most; that is why I wanted to gauge opinion here --- this is not a scientific poll. Though it taxes my ability to summarize, here's a basic rundown on three that people have asked questions about:
The Third Wave describes a movement that is basically charismatic, but transcends the older Pentecostal (First Wave) and Charismatic (Second Wave) movements in moving beyond traditionally Pentecostal or Charismatic denominations and churches. The movement teaches that all the miraculous sign gifts recorded in Scripture (any quite a few that are not) are for Christians today (prophecy, tongues, healing, etc.) and that the church's evangelism and mission should be accompanied by signs and wonders. Well known advocates include C. Samuel Storms, Wayne Grudem, and Jack Deere.
The New Perspective on Paul (or the New Perspective on Justification) is a trend or movement primarily within academic scholarship (though it is moving into evangelical pulpits) that significantly modifies or undermines the traditional Protestant/Reformed understanding of Pauline soteriology, especially justification by faith. Phil Johnson summarizes the following points: The New Perspective 1) Claims that the Judaism prevalent in Paul and Jesus' time was not legalistic and focused on outward obedience or conformity to the Law, 2) Claims that Paul's primary theological emphasis was upon racial reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles rather than individual salvation, 3) Claims that the atonement should primarily be understood in terms of Christ's victory over powers and principalities rather than in terms of substitution or propitiation, 4) Claims that justification by faith primarily concerns membership in the covenant community rather than personal salvation or standing before God. The most well known evangelical associated with this movement is N.T. Wright.
Open Theism is a theological movement that consistently takes Arminianism to the next level. Since perfect foreknowledge is just as incompatible with libertarian freedom as predestination or foreordination, Open Theists claim that God does not know the future exhaustively, especially with regard to the free choices of individuals.
Boanerges said: This is sort of like asking, so choose which is the worst street drug. Heroin, Crack, Speed, Coke, Meth I mean its like saying okay I'll fight against heroin but speed, meth, and crack I don't see as serious.
Boanerges, you made me LOL. So true, but . . . more importantly, so VERY sad.
I pray that God brings us revival . . . . and soon!
Although, from my pastor's perspective, we live in "a target-rich environment." (i.e. there are a LOT of opportunities in this horribly fallen world we live in to witness to the Truth. Amen?
I chose Arminianism because it is a man-centred scheme of salvation that robs God of His glory, yet seems so plausible. I do not hold that the average person with a basically Arminian theology can't be saved (the way the neognostic Calvinists do), but someone who is a wholly consistent Arminian (understanding and embracing all five points) can be no more a Christian than a Hindu is.
The New Perspective on Paul is the N.T. Wright Debate. Check out The Great Exchange for further information. As far as the Third Wave see the article I posted here.
Open Theism, also known as free will theism and openness, is the teaching that God does not know all things. That is, He does not know the free will choices that people will make in the future because God either chooses not to know or because the future isn't knowable. Here is an article. A good book here is No Other God, a response to Open Theism by John Frame.
Which heretical belief system, movement, or trend do you believe is the most dangerous or poses the greatest threat to the evangelical church in the next 25-50 years?
These are like land mines in the woods, the most dangerous at any given moment depends on which one you are about to step on.
I chose seeker sensitive/market driven because I believe it sacrifices orthodoxy to "get the numbers up" and tolerates all kinds of heresy to keep the numbers up.
As I look at the list you've drafted on heretical religious teachings I'm not sure how I could reduce my answer to only one choice. Obviously different ones will effect different people depending on what they are exposed to. The most dangerous one is the one that leads YOU astray. So I'm thinking that if a person is fooled by one heresy in one part of the world they may not even be bothered by another one which has a stronghold in another part.
Although your list is not exhaustive it represents various teachings that directly contradict the clear and direct witness of the Scriptures pertaining to salvific importance. As to which one will have the most effect on the evangelical church in the next 25-50 years I can only guess. I chose Liberalism/Post Liberalism because today the evangelical church is turning away from the creeds and the confessions leaving sound doctrine behind while looking only for fellowship and an enjoyable worship experience. I could have chosen 5 or 6 others that equally threaten to lead the church astray.
Although I agree with J_Edwards' statement, I chose Ecumenicism because I have noticed the continued growth of this movement, especially in relatively conservative "evangelical" churches where the primary emphasis has moved away from the Gospel and toward the culture wars, in which Rome is seen as a great ally.
Kyle
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified.
The New Perspective on Paul (or the New Perspective on Justification) is a trend or movement primarily within academic scholarship (though it is moving into evangelical pulpits) that significantly modifies or undermines the traditional Protestant/Reformed understanding of Pauline soteriology, especially justification by faith. Phil Johnson summarizes the following points: The New Perspective 1) Claims that the Judaism prevalent in Paul and Jesus' time was not legalistic and focused on outward obedience or conformity to the Law, 2) Claims that Paul's primary theological emphasis was upon racial reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles rather than individual salvation, 3) Claims that the atonement should primarily be understood in terms of Christ's victory over powers and principalities rather than in terms of substitution or propitiation, 4) Claims that justification by faith primarily concerns membership in the covenant community rather than personal salvation or standing before God. The most well known evangelical associated with this movement is N.T. Wright.
This is about the craziest thing I've heard in a while. If this nonsense is true then who is saved and how? Crazy...but I still think all of these are equally dangerous.
tj "-that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection..."
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