State of Theology in America, Pt 2

Explaining our Missing Compass

Last week was the first of a series of substacks I intend to write from the results of the 2022 survey from www.StateOfTheology.com. If you missed it, I strongly encourage you to go back and read the history of the survey and review the list of 33 statements presented to survey participants who were then asked to assess their level of agreement using a four-point, forced choice scale (strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree). Here’s the link.

In part 1, we discussed five statements and responses to new societal /cultural norms regarding sex before marriage, abortion, gender identity, and homosexuality – and what the Bible says about these choices. What did the survey reveal about how society views the Sovereignty of God?

Statement 1: God is a perfect being and cannot make a mistake.

Overall, 66% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. What was disturbing is that 15% strongly disagree with this statement. When filtered for responses given by evangelical Christians, those who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal savior, of the 879 responses, 5% disagreed and 3% strongly disagreed. Among the 1616 Roman Catholics respondents, 8% disagreed and 4% strongly disagreed.

How can this be? If a person believes God is imperfect and makes mistakes, how can He know or say he trusts in God? How can that person even claim to a child of the living God? Would you want a relationship with a God who has a moody and insecure personality of a human?

What the Bible says:

Deuteronomy 32:3-4 - “For I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God. The Rock, His work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Psalm 18:30 – “This God—His way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

Matthew 5:48 - You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Statement 2: There is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and Got the Holy Spirit.

There is in fact only one true and living God—the God of Israel, who is revealed in the Bible. In this one God, are three coeternal and coequal persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—each of whom possesses all of the attributes of God. I like the example that a man can simultaneously be an individual, a father, and a husband, inseparable entities but distinctly different characteristics.

Surprisingly, of the 3,011 respondents to the survey, only 54% strongly agreed with this statement, while 14% strongly agreed. Even within the evangelical and Catholic subsets, 2% strongly disagreed with the belief in the Holy Trinity and 37% only “somewhat agreed.”

Part Christianity is the belief in the Trinity, the triune nature of God.  The unification has long been established through specific creeds within the protestant and Catholic teachings.

The Latin word credo means simply "I believe." According to Wikipedia,

A creed is a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of shared beliefs within a particular of a community. A creed summarizes the core foundational tenets of the spiritual practices and seeks a unifying voice. It encapsulates the essential principles and doctrines of a belief system and helps to define and maintain the identity of its followers.

Many books and interpretations have been written regarding the history of the Christian theology (good overview here) and the evolution of the Christian Creeds. Here is a light summary of two primary creeds of the Christian faith:

• The earliest recorded creed with the Apostles’ Creed, thought to have been established around 180 AD. Most believers are familiar with and often recite this creed as part of church services.

• After the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, the Nicene Creed was expanded in 381AD to recognize and include the belief in the Holy Spirit:

  • We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
    who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
    With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
    He has spoken through the Prophets.
    We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
    We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
    We look for the resurrection of the dead,
    and the life of the world to come. Amen

What the Bible says:

John 10:30 – “Jesus said, ‘I and the Father are One.’”

Matthew 3:16 – “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.”

Matthew 28:19 – “Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

2 Corinthians 13:14 – “May the grace of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

Statement 3 – God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

Overall, 67% of respondents agreed with this statement and only 16% strongly disagreed. Taken together, 58% of evangelicals and 86% of Roman Catholics either agreed or strongly agreed with this statement - that God gives a wink and accepts worship of some other “god.” Much of the old testament, especially the Pentateuch, is about God’s requirements to stamp out the other gods - Ba’al, Molech, Belial and others - in His promised land. Nothing has changed.

• He will not be “ok” with worshiping Him without accepting Jesus (Judaism).

• He will not be “ok” with the worship of the god of Islam. The first pillar of the Islam is "There is no God but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God." This statement expresses a Muslim's complete acceptance of and total commitment to Islam.

• He will not be “ok” with Buddhism, a set of beliefs and practices based on the teachings of the Buddha, or “Awakened One.” The Buddha’s best-known teachings, the four noble truths and the eightfold path, describe the nature of human suffering and a way to liberate oneself from the pain of living on earth and offers ways to achieve the Buddhists nirvana. Everlasting life is only achieved through Christ, not through Buddhism.

• He will not be “ok” with New Age beliefs that include astrology, psychics, tarot, and the notion that we are all “gods.” He will not be tolerant of worshipping trees, rocks, and stones. Recall the 2nd commandment:

  • Exodus 20:4-6 - “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

I found the answers to Statement 3 to be quite disturbing and a sad explanation of why the Christian Church has drifted away from its core tenants and away from our God.  

It is not enough to believe in a generic ‘God’ (really a god, not God). It is not enough to worship any ‘ol form of monotheism, or worse, polytheism. Only by affirming YAHWEH of our Bible as the one true God, accepting Jesus as our savior for forgiveness and atonement of sins, and by keeping His commandments are we gifted eternal life.

There are many who acknowledge that they ‘believe in God’ who will die in sin because they do not believe in nor have a covenant relationship with Jesus. Salvation is only through His name. By saying this statement is true, we are defending His detractors.

What the Bible says:

Exodus 20:1,3 – I am the Lord Your God. You shall have no other gods before Me. This is the first and most powerful of the 10 Commandments.

Isaiah 46:5, 9 – “To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?...Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”

Psalm 103:19 – The Lord has established his throne in heavens, and His kingdom rules overall.

Statement 4 – God learns and adapts to different circumstances.

The answers to this statement are both surprising and discouraging. 52% of all respondents agreed with this statement. Among the evangelical responses, 47% agree that God changes and makes circumstantial decisions, and a whopping 67% of Catholics in the survey uphold this position: that God learns and adapts, meaning He changes.

Why would anyone want to trust in a God who is changeable like the wind and makes decisions as though He were a moody human being? There is no strength, no power, no stability in this type of “god.”

Fortunately, this is NOT our God. God is not a man, that He should lie or nor a human that sins and needs to repent. He doesn’t change His mind. He keeps His word, the covenants He made with His people. What He has spoken, He will fulfill. (Num 23:19)

What the Bible says:

Malachi 3:6 – "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Isaiah 46:10 – “I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will fulfill my purpose.”

Titus 1:2 – “[our godliness] is based on the hope of eternal life, that God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.

Summary

These are a look at the next 4 responses to the 33 survey statements which clearly spotlight that the Church and many has lost its moral compass and no longer embraces Biblical principles as the inerrant Word of God that transcends time. The fading belief in the Sovereignty, omniscience, and the unchangeability of our God.

Today’s Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, forgive our waning belief in You and Your Word. Lord, is it any wonder our country, or world, is experiencing the overrun of evil. Lord, it is my hope and my prayer that by more widely exposing what is happening spiritually today – our separation and drifting away from You – that the work You have given me to do will shock Your people, Your remnant back to work, back to prayer, back to evangelism, back to discipleship.

Draw us continually back to Your Word, which is our power, our strength, our How To book to know what You want us to be-do-have. With much humility, we pray these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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PS - Fall allergy season is about to begin. Stock up for adults and kids