The Wellhausen Agenda
part 3
It wasn’t long before the inception of Religious Liberalism that it jumped the pond and soon began being preached in old-line denominational churches, colleges and seminaries of the east coast United States. European intellectuals made the case that a new understanding of the Bible was indeed progress and would bring about a marvelous new humanism that would deliver America from the shackles of “dark ages” thinking that had held them back.
Scholar J. Grescham Machen reviewed those days and the coming liberalism to the Methodists, Anglicans, and the Presbyterians. He reminded us of what religious liberalism really is. Valiantly holding to the Word of God, he announced to those churches the degree of chicanery that was inherent in religious liberalism. It went about promoting itself as Christianity but was in fact a wolf in sheep’s clothing. In much the same way George Orwell outlined the re-definition of terms in his classic novel, 1984, this liberalism used the same terms, i.e. “Christ”, “God”, “Bible” and “inspiration” to mean something other than what had been the traditional meaning for the use of those expressions.
One must hold fast to the hope and prayer that the ordinary man of our time will not be forced to adhere to a religion which is in fact “Neo-Christianity”. We must all stand tall and fight against the bastardization of the true Christian faith, for woe be to us to believe one thing and live quite another.
Machen wrote his book, Christianity and Liberalism in 1924, but for many of the day the warning was too late. The arguments of religious liberalism had already insinuated themselves within the educational structure of society. Not surprisingly, in the wake of the so called intellectual revolution of the times, many of the famous thinkers and philosophers of the day had their own ideas included in religious liberalism. This so called progress went as follows:
1) Darwin’s teachings on evolution are indeed fact, despite a weak presence of evidence, and because of this, we know that we are here due to evolution.
2) Because we know that we have evolved, then the brain must also have evolved, along with the mind of man, and therefore we have moved from the simple of the past to the complex of the present and then on to the future.
3) Therefore, since the mind of man has evolved, then it follows that his ideas, concepts and understanding has also evolved and matured. (This of course is evidenced by the fact that we have done away with war, hatred, conflict, prejudice, insanity, injustice, yadda yadda....)
4) If the ideas of man have evolved, then also our understanding of God must evolve. God used to be a tough taskmaster, but now he is a God of love.
5) Now that God is all about love, the idea of sin is anachronistic. Sin is not a violation of God’s law, God cannot be offended. Therefore, sin itself is sort of like Santa Clause, something made up when we had an immature understanding.
6) Therefore it is education that is the real salvation, not forgiveness and redemption, but re-education of a higher form. The spark of divinity is already in man and just needs to be fanned into new flame.
7) As we pursue new enlightenment, the old ways of war, hatred, famine and the like will become as anachronistic as our old ways of thinking about God.
“Every day and in every way, I am getting better and better,” was the Freudian chant of the day, and I am talking about inside of churches. The Power of Positive Thinking had yet to be written but the audience for its readership was already in the making. Encouragement, optimism and perspective tricks were the new clarion call of the day.
What had existed for so long as the mainstay of Christianity was now redefined as “butcher shop” religion, and the masses bought this lock, stock and barrel. It was now all about expanding a persons thinking about himself and his human possibilities. Check your local book store, the self-help section is quite large and has been large for over 70 years now. This stuff sells books. (If nothing else)
Not only Darwin and Freud were involved here, but Karl Marx as well. Marx’s “social Darwinism” promised the improvement of humanity if people would sacrifice themselves unselfishly for the good of the commune. Religious liberalism was a strange bedfellow of the political left and the conservatives of the day saw this as nothing but a Communist front organization influence upon the American public.
Fortunately, liberalism had not won the battle in the United States at this time. Frontier Christianity upheld its strong doctrine and allegiance to the infallibility of scripture. Toward the end of the 1800’s, the preaching of persons like Dwight L. Moody had a profound effect upon the masses of America. Colonial America was not so easily shaken by the ideas of Europe and held fast to the essential true nature of scripture and the inspiration of the Bible. This is not surprising, as there are no atheists in fox holes, and pioneers of the day had to make their way in a wilderness, they weren’t comfortable on the couch like the Europeans were and keeping their faith true and correct was something akin to daily bread, sometimes the only daily bread.
The result, as we all know, was the brith of the fundamentalist movement. Young preachers from all around the country began pressing forward against the poison of the encroaching liberalism. They saw the dangers of accepting the ideas of evolution, Marxism and Bible denying liberalism. New churches spread like wildfire and new denominations sprang up all around the country as an ebb tide of resistance formed.
These believing preachers postulated on five points in the battle against liberalism:
1) They preached “verbal plenary inspiration” as the way that God made the Bible. A person could trust every word, for scripture could not be broken due to God’s protection and the life or death seriousness with which those who delivered the message and those who copied it took the “Words of God.”
2) They preached the deity of Christ. Due to the romanization of Christ in many art works, and a few other references, the liberals were stating that Jesus was born of a Jewish girl and a roman soldier. This made fundamentalist preachers livid as they took this as flat out blasphemy. We all know what someone who is Jewish looks like, for the most part, and scripture itself says that he looked like any ordinary man. The blue eyes are possible, but I say, improbable. Regardless, the main point is of course, Jesus birth by divine means.
3) They preached the finished work of the cross. The shed blood of Christ at the cross was central to everything. To minimize the role of Christ’s sacrifice was similar to slapping someone’s mother. When this argument is put forward, it covers all roads leading back to the main point of the very existence of God. But in the interim to getting there, you also deny his great love for you and me and his insistence on seeing us brought back to a proper place with him in the whole of our reality. This is not a gift to be taken lightly.
4) They preached salvation by grace alone. Salvation by works was contained within the liberalist message and once again, was a slap at the personhood of God and also his sacrifice. If you could bring about that restored relationship yourself, then not only was Christ’s sacrifice simply a nice gesture, but you and I share a plane with the creator himself. That’s an inescapable point of logic when considering this. If you can restore the broken relationship with God that happened in the Garden of Eden, then Adam could have just killed himself, since the price of sin (stepping out of the will of God) is blood, death. Does this remind you of some folks who believe they can kill themselves and other innocent victims and arrive in the presence of God? hmm.
5) The premillennia return of Christ. The doctrine of the special mission of the church as the Body of Christ and its deliverance from the world before the days of the Great Tribulation that was to come upon the earth was a fundamentalist linchpin. They looked forward to the sweet chariot that would swing so low, and the liberalism churches would never even come near this preaching.
Interestingly enough, the results of all this fire and brimstone was that liberalism became firmly rooted in America. Liberalism’s impact was largely felt in the east and waned as one traveled farther west, naturally, to the lesser developed and smaller townships, away from the big cities. Comfort and satisfaction often result in liberal ideas taking a hold they would not have otherwise.
Fundamentalism eventually has given way to something called evangelicalism. Evangelicals unite around the firm conservative platform, it is less likely though to go to war over its convictions. It’s a “softer” version of the fundamentalism which is willing to come to some sort of midway compromise with liberals for the betterment of everyone’s living conditions within society. They are more than likely to see their movements as a “social action” but are also still a major counter force to liberalism.
Liberalism’s conquest of Europe and its continuing battle in America is certainly one of the major stories of mankind. Part of that story still remains to be seen. One thing is inescapable though, Europe, since 1900, has given the world the bloodiest century in the history of mankind. No tribal or hill country rivalry, no civil war anywhere on the planet has so covered the Earth with blood like World Wars I & II which have directly and indirectly caused 50 million deaths there about. Nor has the world itself been so in jeopardy from powerful men who mean to do harm on a major scale in order to initiate their own agendas. Don’t wonder where God has been during all of this, for when you ask him to leave your churches, schools and legal departments, he leaves a nation or nations at the whim of his enemy, and the results are a painful reminder to us all.
Despite Europe’s vaunted so called intellectualism, it has been unable to defend itself against the rise of movements like Nazism, Communism, fascism, the occult and other ideas that have literally corrupted its soul. America today is seen as “prudish”, but Europe would never call itself “depraved” despite the evidence. The external results of a spiritual death are hard to ignore and Europe has written a book on this in big bold letters.
Wellhausen and his liberal cronies killed the spiritual life in Europe. Will America learn this lesson? Will it stop to see the deathly results of giving Satan a voice in society? Do you think he is our friend? Do you think he has ANYTHING to say to you and me? Just ask Europe.
When we stop to consider the centuries old family fued between the Jewish nation of Israel and its disgruntled brothers the United Arab Emigrates, can you see how Europe and America can become just as distanced due to the spiritual death of Europe and the continued (although quickly eroding) divine protections of America? Does an attack have to come from tanks and missiles? Or can a nation long held close as an ally have already have been wearing away its partner in freedom simply by the illicit influences it proposes? Does Europe realize that if it hadn’t been for America, they would all be strongly influenced by Nazism today? Fascism would have taken over major parts of the whole world, as is another major movement planning to do in the near future which both Europe and America have become more and more chummy with.
The people of Ancient Israel, time and again preferred to listen to the rantings of the used car salesman from hell at the expense of their love relationship with God, based mostly on the appeal to human ego. It’s an old story, from Genesis to Judas, who are you going to listen to? Whom will you believe? The idea of “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord”, is not some fairy tale, or nice platitude. It’s a political fact. When Israel couldn’t get it together, they were thrust from the land God had promised them, scattered all over the world for centuries. You and I could have Jewish blood in our families and not even know it. This is no “Atlantis” hypothesis. The Israelites are an historical fact that remains with us today and their story is a black and white representation of what happens to nations who ask God to leave. Whether it be Europe with its intellectualism or America with its Supreme Court rulings.
Liberalism is a parasite that sucks the life from true Christianity. It calls itself Christianity, but it denies the inspiration of the Bible, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, the true nature of faith, and yet they want real Christians to still consider them part of the overall pie. No such luck! What is so insidious is that they do not have their own churches. They are a church of the mind, of the perspective and only reveal themselves when they put forth their ideas in the social realm. Learn to spot them. Root them out. They could be in the pew next to you. Not the “bodysnatchers” but the “spirit snatchers”.
Clarity is divine, and the game here is confusion. If you are confused as to the black and white truth of these things, then you have been effected. Don’t like my saying that? It wouldn’t bother you if you were right with God.
1Timothy 4:1 says: “.... in latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” Defection from the faith is an historic part of mankind, from Eden to Jerusalem, to Europe in the 1800’s. Paul mourned over those who had been led astray from the faith, and in a rather speedy manner. He told them to accept no other Gospel but that which he had given them when they first believed (Galatians: 1:6-8) and to let those who had preached that false Gospel to be accursed. Let world history be your guide. Review the history of Europe in the 1900’s versus the 1700’s. Or for that matter, review the history of the world. The cause and effect of forgetting God is the same for us today as it was for ancient Israel, and they are a chosen people.
Certainly rationalism cannot be superior to revelation, for plainly the wages of rationalism and relying on our own reason can be seen in the escalation of our own dissolution time and time again.
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