Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

1 January, 2006   comments: (0) Church History   'Forgetfulness' is Pre-Requisite to Idolatry It doesn't take an expert in Theology, or Church History, to realize that the modern church has lapsed into a dreadful state of impotence. Pride, ignorance, arrogance, and complacency are serious contributing factors to the horrific character of today's modern church. Another destructive ill that the modern church has embraced is 'forgetfulness'. Those are the words of one publication, that goes on to say: The principle source of apostasy finds its root in idolatry. The modern church seeks its relevance from a variety of philosophical remedies, which are based on humanistic reason. There is a blend of Scripture and humanism, which results in a confused system of guidelines and reason. Science, academics, psychology, and worldly tradition have not only found their way into the churches, but they have been embraced, taken root and flourished. In some churches these ideas have flourished to the extent that the fundamentals of Scripture's mandates, and Statues are but a vague shadow of what the Lord hath said. . . The Scriptures also characterize apostasy by seasons of forgetfulness, which, in turn, always lead the bondage of idolatry. Forgetfulness is pre-requisite to idolatry. That hits home with me, and relates to so much of the reason why I created this blog, and named it "Old Truth". Sometimes we can learn a lot from those who criticize us from outside our own camp, this is a lesson ignored by so many of today's evangelical power brokers. Yesterday, I ran across the following blog posting by a Roman Catholic who has some sharp criticism for protestants. Surprisingly, I found myself agreeing with much of what he had to say: One thing that I observe [about evangelical circles] is the lack of any reference to, let alone any emphasis on, church history. Everything is "Christian," as if there were never any ecumenical councils, nor even a Protestant Reformation. Oh, maybe the Presbyterian Church (USA) web site still posts the Scots Confession, which rails against those rascally "Romanists," but by and large, everything seems homogeneous and non-confrontational. . . But in the latest issue of [a Catholic publication] Thomas Storck's "Where Have All the Protestants Gone?" makes similar observations, then posits an answer: Apparently, though, it is the case that some Protestants call themselves Christians, not out of a desire to usurp the term [from Catholics], but out of an immense ignorance of history. That is, they ignore history to such an extent that they really don't understand that they are Protestants. Knowing or caring little about what came before them, they act as if their nicely bound Bibles had fallen directly from Heaven and anyone could simply become a Christian with no reference to past history, ecclesiology, or theology. the period of time between the conclusion of the New Testament book of Acts and the moment that they themselves "accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior" means nothing. Even Luther or Calvin or John Wesley mean little to them, since they can pick up their Bibles and start Christianity over again any time they want. These souls may call themselves simply Christians in good faith, but they are largely ignorant of everything about Church history. . . A little harsh, perhaps, but I can't say I disagree. . . . Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven Church" is becoming the one true church in America! Just think, he sells the ecclesial equivalent of off-the-shelf computer software. Now anyone can start his or her own nondenominational Christian church (I'll call mine Meadowbrook Fellowship Temple of Jesus Christ and God's Purpose for You!). Just buy the software from Pastor Rick, install when prompted, and WHAMMO! I know I'll catch @#$% from someone for that gratuitous knock on that Hawaiian-shirted holy man, but I think it's a criticism that needs to be made. [Read the full / unedited original posting of this blog entry] Deuteronomy 4:9 "Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children". Here are some church history resources that I have learned from: John Gerstner's Handout Church History, video or individual MP3s. Church History in Plain Language (book). Visit the Hall of Church History (website). Learn about Creeds and Confessions here or in show-16 from CrossTV. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.157   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism