I found a quote today during my theological research that stopped me in my tracks. The quote was written during the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy in the Presbyterian Church during the 1920's. But this quote literally could have been written today regarding the current battle among Confessional Christians of the Reformation and Post-Modern Liberals aka Emergents. Here's the quote:
“The Radicals [Modernist Liberals] are set on substituting ‘evolution’ for creation, ‘the principle animating the cosmos’ for the living God, consciousness of the individual for the authority of the Bible, reason for revelation, sight for faith, ‘social service,’ for salvation, reform for regeneration, the priest for the prophet, ecclesiasticism for evangelism, the human Jesus for the divine Christ, a man-made ‘ideal society’ for the divinely promised kingdom of God, and humanitarian efforts in this poor world for an eternity of joy in God’s bright home.” - The Fundamentalist, Vol. II, No. 1
This battle is still raging today.
As much as the Emergents like to claim they are different than Modernists it is painfully clear that they champion many of the exact same heresies as their Modernist forebears.
Today's Post-Modern Liberals, Emergents:
- Question and / or Deny the Inerrancy of the Scriptures
- Question and / or Deny the Virgin Birth and by extension call the deity of Jesus into question.
- Openly mock and repudiate the Penal Substitutionary atonement
- Openly challenge salvation by grace alone through faith alone by Christ's work alone.
- Question and / or Deny Christ's Physical Return in Chronos Time to Judge the Living and the Dead
- Question and / or Deny God's Eternal and Conscious Punishment of the Wicked (Hell)
It may be time to re-examine the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy of the 20th Century and draw a clear line in the sand and call today's Post-Modern Liberals to repentance and the forgiveness of sins for their heresies. If they will not repent of their heresies then its high time to once again practice church discipline and the lost art of excommunication.
