Extreme Islamic fundamentalism has ignited a fear under the feet of many people in America. They have begun to think that fundamentalism of any sort is dangerous. As a result, Christians who believe that the Bible is God's Word are being viewed more and more as dangerous. And it's not merely those who fear fundamentalism. There are many in the Church who are starting to toss out their Bibles in favor of a "kinder, gentler Christianity". They are complaining that "fundamentalism", the belief that the Bible lays out our beliefs and practices, is too narrow and doesn't take into account interpersonal relationships and social issues. It's book knowledge, not practical. How relevant can a 2000-year-old book be? The question resounds both outside and inside Christianity.
What happens when we remove the Bible as our basis? In the case of the Roman Catholic Church, there is very little shift. Tradition and the Church are the final say on matters of faith and practice. They can keep those up just fine, although on what they will base those decisions is now in question. The rest of Christianity is in trouble. On one hand it may seem to be a good thing. We've seen thousands of years of disagreeing about what Scripture means, and that would be gone. It would be irrelevant.
Let's proceed, for a moment, down the path without Scripture. We'll move it, for the sake of this discussion, from primary source to a nice book with some good ideas but certainly not The Word of God. There are mistakes. It is the ideas of men -- some good, some not. Where would we stand?
This position carefully undercuts the discussion. Without authority to which we can appeal, there is no ground of common truth. We would normally say, "Well, the Bible says ...", but we have removed that. The Bible is now only as valid as we wish it to be, not an absolute authority. Jesus's "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me" is an idea, not a truth. You Christians ... you're so narrow. Surely God isn't that narrow. All those presumptions about homosexual behavior being a sin ... toss those out. Now it's purely your opinion without basis. Indeed, we now have no real basis for any of what is considered "Christian morality". We could point to chapter and verse to tell why this, that, or the other ought or ought not be done, but now it's mere speculation, simple opinion.
Is that bad? Well, Christianity is unique among religions. While all other religions focus almost exclusively on morality, Christianity is focused on the Gospel, "the Good News". What is the Gospel? This good news has two components. The first is the bad news: Human beings are in real trouble. Without the bad news, there is no good news. This is why Paul, in writing to Christians he hadn't met, focused the first three chapters of his letter to the Romans on bad news. What is the bad news upon which the good news is founded? Man has violated God's Laws and stands condemned. But wait! We've just tossed that stuff out as pure conjecture, mere opinion. I mean, even the simplest of rules -- the 10 Commandments -- are not true for everyone, right? Most of those in the world have set aside any concern about the morality of "other gods", the proper use of God's Name, keeping some "Sabbath", or honoring parents. Those are limited rules to limited people. No, I think that "bad news" isn't so bad after all. Like the rich young ruler, I've kept the law. So ... what's your good news? Oh ... well ... the good news is that since you stand in violation of God's law ... which you don't appear to anymore since we've tossed that ... then God has provided a way of escape ... which, it appears, isn't necessarily true either. Okay. Never mind.
You see, without the basis of a God-breathed Word of God, Christianity becomes meaningless. There is no "bad news" of sin and no "good news" of salvation. Christianity simply melts into the background of countless other morality religions that urges us to be good for unknown reasons and with unrealistic standards and is terribly arrogant for agreeing with its founder, Christ, when He claimed exclusivity.
Many Christians today are trying to "ease off" the Bible. They are aiming toward a more "relational Christianity". Be more inclusive. Be less stringent. I mean, seriously, how relevant can a book written 2000 years ago be? But the truth is that it is either absolutely relevant and provides us with the real Gospel or it is completely irrelevant and even those Christians who are easing off the Bible have nowhere to stand. If the Bible is not the basis for Christianity, then we have none and it would be nonsensical to stand for a faith without reason.
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