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| I am not sure who created this cartoon. |
VIII. Undermining from within Works So Much Better
Than Direct Attacks from Outside
I taught world religion to fifty or more classes, in traditional
and online settings. I often asked the students about the genius of a particular
religion. The same question should be asked about the rampant apostasy of
Christianity in America – how did it grow from the foundations of traditional
Lutherans, Protestants, and Roman Catholics.
The first assault was pitting science – in the form of
evolution – against Creation by the Word of God. Everyone who favored evolution
was modern, up to date, scientific, and reasonable. Those who remained faithful
to the Scriptural account were ignorant, backwoods, witch-burning redneck
bigots afraid of the future. Every possible attempt was made to keep Christian
leadership from undermining evolution. That began already in the 19th
century as Evangelicals found ways to compromise with evolution. I recall the parish
church attempts to make the 24-hour days of Creation mesh with the billions of
years required for evolution.
The second assault was a gift in the form of the Great
Depression. A small group of mainline church leaders had already formed the
Brotherhood of the Kingdom. They had their socialist agenda warmed and ready to
go for the economic hardships imposed on America. The Federal Council of
Churches had a Social Gospel Creed written to improve matters. Church leaders
began confessing the sin of not being social activists -spending too much time
on the Gospel, not enough in organizing unions. A good way to trace this
influence was to see who published essays on the greatness of Walter
Rauschenbusch. Denominations became concerned that they were not doing enough
to make the world a better place, so they created social ministry divisions,
activist executives, and eventually lobbyists in Washington DC and state capitols.
Those who opposed these moves as Marxist and anti-Gospel were ignorant,
backwoods, witch-burning redneck bigots afraid of the future.
The third assault came from Fuller Seminary and a growing
list of consultants who marketed the final solution. The new translations did
not have much of a foothold until the apostate Fuller Seminary began selling the
same solution for all denominations – Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, mainline
and conservative Evangelicals. Church executives swarmed into Pasadena to learn
how to use methods for building their church bodies. One package fit them all. Those
who opposed Church Growth as crass marketing of the Gospel were ignorant,
backwoods, witch-burning redneck bigots afraid of the future. Everyone felt
that their previous Left-wing moves were damaging the vitality of their church
bodies, so dumbing down everything seemed a delightful way of gaining money and
members without giving up the apostate agenda. Those who promoted the Church
Growth Movement in their own church body were the radicals, not the
conservatives. Their hatred for traditional Christianity and Bibles came
through all the time.
