Relative or absolute?
In his three letters written around the end of the first century, the apostle John addressed the Gnostic doctrines infiltrating the church in Ephesus and for which he was deeply distressed. The Gnostics, with their “special knowledge,” claimed to communicate with God on a spiritual plane. Jesus, because he was human, was made of “evil matter.” Therefore, He could not possibly be a deity.
In the parade of human progress, we are circling back to that theological environment that threatened to destroy the church two thousand years ago. As it was in John’s time, much of the false doctrine is growing out of the church itself.
As outlined in my previous post, where a biblical world view holds that truth is absolute, defined only by God, the modernist replaced God’s revealed truth with human reason. Then a century of disillusionment precipitated the rejection of modernism in a cultural shift to post-modernism, which maintains that there is no ultimate, absolute truth or reality. Individual experience determines truth and reality. The inevitable result is a direct conflict with orthodox dogma, precisely what was occurring in the church at Ephesus.
Dogma, which can be defined as belief in an authoritative biblical doctrine that is not to be disputed, doubted or diverged from, is anathema to the post-modernist. Dogma and the relativity of truth as defined by individual experience cannot be reconciled. On that issue, John was adamant. Still, humans are compelled to try. Paradoxically, in their zeal to make Christianity “relevant” to the post-modernist, a phenomenon began to take shape among evangelical churches in the 1990s.
The first casualty of the “dialogue” that sought to lure the postmodernist into the church was dogma. Authoritative doctrine was out; an exchange of ideas based on individual perception was in. Individual perception demands that my concept of God be given equal value to yours, even when they are entirely different. People are led to Jesus on their terms, not His. It follows that my understanding of what heaven is and how I get there, can be entirely different from yours. Since we are both right (as is everybody else), there must be many different paths that converge in heaven.
A recently published survey of 35,000 Americans by the Pew Foundation confirms that this type of thinking is making headway within the church. The survey found that nearly two-thirds of Protestants believe that “many religions can lead to eternal life.” Among mainline denominations, the number is 83 percent. And 57 percent of self-proclaimed evangelicals believe it!
How are we to respond to a culture that chooses to believe that all “good people” go to heaven, and that being a “good person” can be self-defined? We need look no further than John’s letters. In no place does John suggest that the church should modify its beliefs (dogma) to accommodate self-determination. In no place does John suggest that the church should engage in dialogue to eventually wander into “relevant truth.” Nor does John suggest we should argue or debate theology.
John did emphatically remind true believers who they are and what they believe. He urged them to reflect God’s love for them in their relations with each other. He warned them not to succumb to the twisted theological teachings of the world. He was clear – such teaching is the embodiment of the anti-Christ. Finally, he instructed the church to “walk in truth.” Perhaps we all should read John’s letters again. We need to reinvigorate our dogma. It’s the truth!