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hould the majority of liberal Protestant ministers ever decide to be intellectually honest with their congregations, the Lutheran Reformation would seem altogether mild by comparison. Protestant parishioners would, I am convinced, leave their churches wholesale. -Otten, Baal or God. 1988, p. ii. as quoted in Leppien and Smith, p. 25.
20 ways to tell if your pastor is apostate
- Does he believe that the doctrinal differences in the visible Christian church are no threat to the gospel?
- Does he believe that the men who wrote the Bible were skewed by the cultures in which they lived? Does he believe that the writings of Paul in the Bible are less authoritative than other parts?
- Does he believe that the creation of Genesis is myth? Or that God used evolution in some way?
- Does he believe that Adam, Noah, Jonah and Job are mythical people?
- Does he believe that the Torah – the first five books of the Bible – was written many years after Moses died?
- Does he believe that Isaiah and Daniel were written by other people?
- Does he believe that no Old Testament prophecies specifically refer to the man Jesus Christ?
- Does he believe that many of the “red letter” statements of Jesus in the gospels were not said by Jesus at all?
- Does he believe that the miracles in the Bible are spiritual lessons rather than historical events?
- Does he believe that Jesus Christ had a physical human father?
- Does he believe that the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ is not found in the Old Testament?
- Does he believe that the doctrine of the trinity is not taught in the Bible but was added later by the early church?
- Does he believe that the idea of a substitutionary atonement – Jesus paying for the sins of others – is incompatible with the idea of a just God?
- Does he believe that Jesus Christ may have risen in some spiritual sense, but in no way was physically raised from the dead?
- Does he believe it’s incorrect to speak of souls consciously surviving eternally? That the suffering of hell will end?
- Does he believe that morals are changeable based on circumstances? That homosexuality is acceptable between loving Christians and no worse than any other sin?
- Does he believe sincere followers of other religions may also get to heaven?
- Does he believe in universalism – all have already been saved? That no faith is required for a person to be reconciled to God? [GJ - Wait...What? The ELS/WELS published this? Time to kick out Webber, Buchholz, Bivens, Valleskey, Deutschlander, Mark Schroeder, Pope John the Malefactor, et al.]
- Does he believe that Jesus’ chief concern was the elimination of poverty and social oppression?
- Does he believe that it’s fine to join with anyone as long as they generally agree “Jesus is Lord”?
If you pastor believes even one of these items, you are not in a wholesome church. There may well be some or many true Christians in it. But if it has an apostate at the helm, what in the world are you doing there? Don’t you think it may well be time for you to leave?
…there are basically two different religions within external Christendom. The difference between these two religions is the difference between God and Baal. Informed Christians ought to recognize that the real difference within external Christendom does not lie along traditional denominational lines…there are those within these denominations who accept the fundamental truths of historic Christianity. On the other hand there are the modern liberals within these same denominations who reject historic Christianity. -ibid
These questions have been taken in large part from Patsy Leppien and J. Kincaid Smith’s 1992 book What’s going on among the Lutherans.
