It’s fairly common these days to hear the noble declaration, “I can no longer hold to [the Bible, Christianity, traditional stance on social issues, miracles, etc.] in good conscience.
“I used to be so certain of these matters. But I can’t keep up appearances any longer. I need to be true to myself and to the oppressed. The truth of the matter is, I no longer believe ______”
My recent conversation with Bart Campolo ran along those lines, as did my reading of theologian Peter Enns.
Of course, around college campuses, ex-believers in traditional Christianity or certain parts of it are common, be they professors who’ve seen the light of progressive thinking, or students who’ve left behind the faith of their youth.
In historical Jesus studies, skeptical scholars have rejected the one version of Jesus that, in their view, cannot be true: the Jesus depicted in the Gospel accounts.
Jesus might have been a specially enlightened man of wisdom or a rebel rabbi or a social revolutionary. But he definitely, positively, absolutely was not . . . the Son of God, second member of the Trinity, risen Lord.
If he were all that, the cancelling effect on other religions would be devastating, confirming fully and finally Christendom’s awful power to exclude.
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In my next post I’ll offer some observations of the new progressive thinkers.
