Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
- Romans 12:2
“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even conformed to the standards of the nations around you.
- Ezekiel 5:7
And you will know that I am the Lord, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”
- Ezekiel 11:12
“Liberalism is a thorough-going adaptation of Christian theology to the modern world. Liberals are prepared to sacrifice many elements of traditional Christian orthodoxy in their search for contemporary relevance. The same sacrifice has also been made by others who would not call themselves Liberals in the classical sense.”
- Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought
“Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason bad philosophy must be answered.”
- C. S. Lewis
Editor’s Note: The Romans 12 and Ezekiel quotes are followed by a preface to the section on modern Liberalism within Christian thought. In no other sections of his book does he give such a “warning” of sorts, although maybe a few should have had such warnings. The author considered skipping this section of the book as being a waste of time, but then the C. S. Lewis quote kept calling. Apologies for not identifying the source by book. I am thinking either Mere Christianity or God in the Docks. Due to the liberal idea of only accepting the parts of the Bible that match their way of thinking, R. C. Sproul said in one of his Bible study series that “Liberal Christian” was an oxymoron. Once you carve through the Bible, accepting what you like and discarding what you do not like, you have created your own god. Calling the God that you created “Jesus” does not make him the Jesus of the Bible. These posts are only provided due to Lewis’ assertion that good philosophy must exist if for no other reason to answer to bad philosophy.
Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
“Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
- John 8:21-30
“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
- John 8:58
“Schleiermacher’s concept of the work of Jesus Christ is too low, because of his inadequate view of human sinfulness — he has very little to say about guilt before God, for instance. Jesus Christ came not to atone for sin but to be our teacher, to set us an example. His work is essentially to arouse in us the consciousness of God. In order for him to accomplish this activity, the only deity that he requires is a perfect consciousness of God.”
- Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic– on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (1768-1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and scholar. In a variety of textbooks, he has been named the “Father of Modern Theology” and the “Father of Liberal Theology.”
I agree with the second concept, but I fear that the first, “Father of Modern Theology” is slowly becoming true as the tenets of various denominations are being eroded so that we conform to this world rather than being transformed by a renewing of the mind.
In reading bits and pieces of Schleiermacher’s work, it spins in circles, becoming extremely hard to understand. But it wraps around Schleiermacher’s concept of what religion is: a feeling of piety, a feeling of absolute dependence in a higher power. Notice that he does not say God or Jesus.
I have written about this before, even in last week’s discussion of a couple of Blaise Pascal quotes. We cannot have true faith in God on an intellectual level. It must transcend to a spiritual level. Schleiermacher reduces Christianity to a feeling (the first danger) of piety (the second danger) and then a higher power. Christianity is a belief based on the Grace of God that we are saved by Grace through faith. We are sinners saved by Grace. The only piety that we can muster is that the Holy Spirit resides within us. Otherwise, we would have nothing but filthy rags to offer as our own piety. And can we call God “God” and Jesus “Jesus”?
And when you read through the Bible and find one passage or another disturbing, do not discard it. God may be touching your heart so that you might learn more about who God really is. Ponder such passages. Study a few Bible commentaries. Bring them before someone you trust who knows the Scriptures.
But now for the concept that Schleiermacher asserts that Jesus did not atone for sin. He was just a good teacher. Thus, there is no salvation in his “modern theology.” And the second C. S. Lewis quote rips right through the idea that Jesus was a good teacher. A good teacher would not make claims of “before Abraham, I AM.” That teacher would be a lunatic, unless He was truly the Son of God.
No wonder Schleiermacher’s philosophy had very little to do with sin and a great deal to do with a false creation of “piety.” He had no answer for it since he had negated the propitiation of our sin by the cleansing blood of Christ Jesus.
At that point, Jesus being the Son of God turns the Schleiermacher theology into bad philosophy at best.
How else could you describe theology without “Theo”?
If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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