Eternal Approach

These days Christian leaders have less confidence in the words of God and more in the general message of the Bible.

This is because a movement exists within Bible Christianity that discourages confidence that the words of God actually exist today as God originally inspired them. Not that the original parchments or stones exist; but that God has Preserved His words in perfect form, through His supernatural oversight of the copying process, down through the ages.

This Denial–of-Preservation movement is not new, of course. It’s just more openly taught than in years passed. Today, men are more bold in denying the continued existence of the pure words of God.

They claim that there is no pure Word existing today within accurate copies in the original languages.

And that only the Message has been preserved. Not the specific words themselves.

A No-Brainer

Coming out of Protestant Liberalism, I don’t understand this. 

Evangelicals seem clueless about the insanity of this position. As so do an increasing number of Fundamentalists. 

When I first became a Christian, I just thought that those who were Bible believers had settled this question about inerrancy and holding onto faith in the pure words of God existing in their hands. 

This was a non-issue to me. This was a no-brainer. How could anyone possibly survive as a believer and think otherwise?

How could such a wide swath of Christians become so misled by those in charge? Why was doubt allowed into the church concerning the perfect Preservation of the words of God? 

Why did faithful men and women of God ever allow the Higher Criticism of the Bible, which they repackaged as Lower Criticism, to enter into the Bible churches? As corrupting leaven in the basket. 

Too Familiar with Holy Things

All I can think is that most of this originated from those who have became too familiar with handling “holy things”. That this presumptuous attitude toward spiritual truth has come from a second generation of Christians in Bible church.

Such as preachers’ kids or deacons’ kids or kids who grew up in the church. Who went to Christian high schools and Christian universities and who’ve only known life in a kind of protected Christian environment. 

Rather than from the perspective that I came from. Where I saw the spiritual evil firsthand in the mainline denominations. Where I witnessed the denial of biblical truth that is commonplace in those supposed “Christian” churches. 

Most believers just don’t see this. Nor do they want to see it. In fact, they actually refuse to see it. 

They simply want to live this Christian life looking through positive, rose-colored glasses. And to avoid controversy with the world, to avoid criticizing other ministries, and to keep their church organizations afloat. 

Who Needs the Words?

So, the loss of the words of God, doesn’t seem to phase Christians today. Or they think it is just above their pay grade to delve into such matters for themselves. 

Or they think this is a consideration that should be left to the scholars. To be left to the textual experts who will tell us what is accurate or not. And what to believe are the words of God. 

In fact, even some Fundamental groups have said as much. Saying that the issue of Preservation should be left to those with the education, the proper training, the intellectual pedigree, and the proper understanding of texts, languages, and textual history. 

That the less-educated should stay out of the “debate”. Which is a snobbish development among Fundamentalists. Coming mostly from the University communities and those churches and leaders that have courted the approval of those bastions of higher learning. 

Which sounds a whole lot like Catholicism. Which teaches that only the priests are able to properly interpret truth for the laymen. The same church, by the way, which tortured and killed those who privately read or possessed a Bible, during the Inquisition.  

The Message is King Now

This is why the Message has become all important to modern Evangelicals. As opposed to the specific words of God. 

This is why you will hear the phrases, “living out the life of Jesus” or telling people “the story of Jesus”. Because those things can be done (supposedly) without reliance on the specific words of scripture. 

One can rely on their good works, and church missional programs, and a thousand other good things. All without getting bogged down in what the words actually say. And the specific doctrines that those words actually teach. 

This is why a leader can quote virtually any Translation from the pulpit today. Quoting without any comment, criticism, warning, or concern that the underlying words might not be accurate.  

Because the words don’t really matter anymore. 

The American Message

All of this that is happening in the Evangelical church is strikingly similar to what is happening in the secular realm today. 

In fact, it parallels the Constitutional crisis Americans are facing right now.

Where the words of the Constitution don’t really seem to matter anymore. Where the Law doesn’t really seem to matter anymore; since Laws are based upon specific words. 

Especially since the media and half of the country are pretending that there was no problem with the election.

Pretending that widespread corruption did not take place. That the hundreds of people that have signed affidavits, declaring widespread corruption or serious irregularities in the voting process, are not worth hearing. 

Half of the population is living in a state of denial. They do not want to see what the truth is. To not even consider the possibility that the election was rigged. 

This is called, Ignorance. Ignoring what is going on in order to advance another agenda. 

Ignoring that the Law has been broken, the Constitution by-passed, and a Presidential Election has been corrupted. 

Of course, if the words of the Constitution don’t really matter, who cares?

Since we still have the Message, the spirit, and the ideals of America? No one would actually steer us down a Socialist or Communist path by ignoring the words of the Constitution would they? 

Of course, if one ignores the specific words of the Constitution, the Message is whatever you want it to be.