R. Albert Mohler Jr.'s Blog, page 232

Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018

A Catholic Cardinal, a former President of the United States, and an evangelical pastor walk into the op-ed pages of the New York TimesNew York Times (Nicholas Kristof) — Cardinal Tobin, Am I a Christian?

Three conversations, one question, three worldviews on display

Why resolutions fail and why the humanistic worldview crashes upon contact with realityNew York Times (David DeSteno) — The Only Way to Keep Your ResolutionsWall Street Journal (Daniel Pink) — How to Be Healthier, Happier and More Productive: It’s All in the Timing

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Christmas Full of Grace and Truth: Big Theological Issues Show Up in New Report

Major media across the country have given a great deal of attention to a recent research report that comes from the Pew Research Center. The headline from the Pew website is this,

“Americans Say Religious Aspects of Christmas Are Declining in Public Life: Shrinking majority believe biblical account of birth of Jesus depicts actual events.”

Well, let’s just look at that for a moment. Those two separate parts of the headline really aren’t speaking to the same reality at all. Which is the bigger story? Well, the New York Times declares what it sees as important when it ran an article by Liam Stack with the headline, “Most Decline to Choose Sides in ‘War on Christmas.’”

Stack reported, “Combatants in the annual ‘War on Christmas’ have some new data to chew on, thanks to a survey released this week by the Pew Research Center. While many doubt that Christmas is embattled, as some conservative pundits contend.” He concluded: “The new study does suggest American attitudes are changing.”

Both sides in our cultural conflict have made too much at times and at other times too little of the war on Christmas. There really has been a secularist attempt to try to sideline, redefine, and marginalize Christmas. But there’ve also been some amongst conservative Christians who’ve tried to make too much of the war on Christmas, replacing matters of mere etiquette for what should be a serious discussion of theology. As The New York Times sees the news, the big story from this report from Pew has to do with the fact that there is a decline in social conflict over Christmas — or at least how most Americans seem to perceive such a “war,” but it also tells us that a fewer number of Americans are actually celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday. Now that sounds like a more interesting part of the report, and indeed it is. It tells us that over the course of the last several years Americans have decreasingly defined Christmas in terms of their own personal and family celebrations as a religious event, and that may be one reason why those on the secular side believe there’s less reason for a controversy over Christmas. If Christmas is secularized, secular people are certainly less threatened or offended by it.

To be sure, there are still arguments over whether or not nativity scenes should be allowed on public property, and there are at least some skirmishes over the kinds of holiday greetings that may be used by clerks in stores or even by corporations and advertising. But the bigger story here, from a Christian perspective, is certainly what was in the subhead of the headline from the Pew Research Center.  It was this: “Shrinking majority believe biblical account of birth of Jesus depicts actual events.”

In the words of the Pew report,

“Among the topics probed by the new survey, one of the most striking changes in recent years involves the share of Americans who say they believe the birth of Jesus occurred as depicted in the Bible. Today, 66 percent say they believe Jesus was born to a virgin, down from 73 percent in 2014. Likewise, 68 percent of U.S. adults now say they believe that the wise men were guided by a star and brought gifts for baby Jesus, down from 75 percent. And, there are similar declines in the shares of Americans who believe that Jesus’ birth was heralded by an angel of the Lord and that Jesus was laid in a manger as an infant.”

The final statistic,

“Overall, 57 percent of Americans now believe in all four of these elements of the Christmas story, down from 65 percent in 2014.”

Interestingly, from several decades ago I remember what would be called a parlor game at Christmas parties, prominent among evangelical Christians, in which there were a series of true or false questions about the Christmas story. What was often revealed in the game is that many Christians knew things that simply aren’t in the Bible and didn’t know truths that are. For example, the Bible doesn’t tell us how many of the magi (the wise men) came from the east to find Jesus, but the New Testament certainly tells us that they did. Biblical Christians will certainly be interested in this report, and in that number that was given that 57 percent of Americans now believe in all four of the elements of the Christmas story that were asked about the research. By the way all four of them clearly revealed in Scripture, let me just remind you, (1.) that Jesus was born of a virgin; (2.) that the angels announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds; (3.) that the wise men, or the Magi, brought Jesus gifts; and (4.) that Jesus, once born, was laid in a manger. Now as any Christian would understand, those are four very familiar truth claims in terms of the Christmas story.

A further look at the data from Pew means that this study is actually even more interesting. For example, the slippage when it comes to decreasing belief in the historicity or the facticity of these events from the life of Jesus revealed in Scripture, is found primarily in just one religious cohort. Who would that be? Well to no surprise, mainline liberal Protestants.

How does that line up? Well in 2014, 83 percent of those identified as mainline liberal Protestants said that they believed in at least all four of those crucial aspects of the birth of Christ, but in 2017, remember that just three years, only 71 percent. That’s a fall off of 12 percent in just three years in terms of the number of mainline Protestant saying that they believed in the truthfulness of all four of those aspects of the birth of Jesus revealed in the Gospels. Among evangelical Protestants, the figure in 2014 was 96, and 2017 95; that’s a 1 percent shift that isn’t statistically important, but what is important is that 12 percent loss amongst mainline liberal Protestants. But there’s also another divide revealed in this story, and it turns out that it is a partisan divide. Pew asked respondents to the survey if they identified as Republican or Democrat, huge change there. In 2017, 81 percent of Republicans said they affirmed all four of those truth claims concerning the birth of Christ but only 58 percent of Democrats said the same; that’s a huge difference between 81 percent and 58 percent. But from a Christian perspective, given our concerns about Christmas and our responsibility to tell the Christmas story right, what does this survey tell us? Well it tells us that a significant number of Americans, including some who clearly identify as Christians, don’t have an adequate belief in and confidence in some of the most basic truths and facts about the birth of Christ. Now, why would that be the case? Well, in this case it’s probably not excusable by ignorance. If you’re talking about other biblical truths it just might be that there are some Christians who have never adequately understood them, but when it comes to these core truth claims it’s hard to make that argument. The Christmas story is told over and over and over again, so this represents an explicit denial of very clear biblical truths. Here, Christians have to remember that the Christian faith stands or falls on space and time in history. The claim, very clearly presented in Scripture, that the events that are recorded there and revealed concerning Jesus, not only his birth but the entirety of all the truth claims made about Christ in the New Testament and furthermore the entirety of all the truth claims made in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, all of these are essential to the Christian faith, and when it comes to the facts concerning the birth of Christ not one of them is expendable, every one of them is essential.

Writing back in the year 1930, the great Protestant theologian J. Gresham Machen reminded us that even then there were those who were arguing that you could believe in Jesus without the facts concerning his birth and his life. Machen argued in his great book, The Virgin Birth of Christ, that there were those who claim to be Christians and yet argue that the historical truths concerning the birth of Christ are expendable. One can gain inspiration from the moral example of Jesus and claim to be Christian, they argue, while jettisoning the biblical truths concerning the birth of Christ. Machen responded by saying that whatever the religion left after such denials may be, it isn’t Christianity. Whatever it is, it doesn’t save sinners from their sin. So make what you will of that partisan divide, the most important revelation in this story is a theological divide, and that theological divide is mislabeled by Pew. We can understand why Pew would use the language they use, but if you’re talking about people who deny the basic truths concerning Jesus, you’re not talking about people who are rightly described as Christians. Theologically, whatever they are, they are adherents of a different religion.

But as Christians celebrate Christmas, and as we watch others doing the same, we must remind ourselves that we are only saved because the Word indeed became flesh and dwelt among us, and  because we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And if Jesus was not born of a virgin, then his birth has to be explained in some other way, and whatever way that is, it’s going to be in direct contradiction to the Scripture. Christians celebrate the glory of Christmas because we understand the glory of Christ. If you deny anything revealed of Christ in the New Testament, you are robbing him of his glory, and you are creating a new religion that will eventually preach a different gospel.

So, celebrate a Christian Christmas, filled with the glory–and the truth–of the incarnation. Merry Christmas.

___________________

This is an edited transcript from the Friday, December 15, 2017 edition of The Briefing.

Pew Research Center: “Americans Say Religious Aspects of Christmas Are Declining in Public Life,” December 12, 2017.

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Behind the Scenes of “The Briefing”

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John 1:1-18

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Friday, Dec. 15, 2017

Economics as a test of worldview and tax reform as either promise or perilWall Street Journal (Siobahn Hughes, Kristina Hughes, and Richard Rubin) — Marco Rubio Throws a Wrench Into GOP Tax Bill

As Americans have their say about Christmas, we see the centrality of history to ChristianityNew York Times (Liam Stack) — Is Christmas a Religious Holiday? A Growing Number of Americans Say NoPew Research Center — Americans Say Religious Aspects of Christmas Are Declining in Public Life

Evangelical Christian world grieves the death of a titan

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A Bright and Burning Light: Robert Charles Sproul, February 13, 1939-December 14, 2017

Most merciful Father, who hast been pleased to take unto thyself the soul of this thy servant; Grant to us who are still in our pilgrimage, and who walk as yet by faith, that having served thee with constancy on earth, we may be joined hereafter with thy blessed saints in glory everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen .

–The Book of Common Prayer

We cannot determine truth by counting noses.

–R.C. Sproul

 

For me, the story begins as a teenager stuck in a desperate struggle with huge theological questions in the 1970s. Of course, R.C. Sproul, with firm conviction and a friendly smile, would rightly insist that the story begins in the gracious will of our sovereign, eternal, and omnipotent God. Actually, those were some of the big theological questions that had me by the throat.

I had been confronted by teachers in high school who had declared their own atheism and ridiculed theism. I was surrounded by a culture of increasing moral relativism and the first wave of what would later be called post-modernism. I knew Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and I wanted to be faithful to him. But how?

My struggle was spiritual and moral, but it was also irreducibly intellectual. How could I know and defend the Christian faith? I did not even know where to begin. At home and at church, I was surrounded by sweet Christians who loved me and invested their lives in me. But I had big questions they could not answer. Questions that gnawed at me and kept me awake at night. Questions that I feared could not be answered. Questions that I had no idea Christians had grappled with for centuries.

Thankfully, I found help. I found other Christians who were struggling with the same questions, and some of them passed to me cassette tapes. At that time, the cassette was a recent invention. For me, these tapes were a lifeline – bringing me expository preaching from Dr. John MacArthur and lectures from this strangely infectious and compelling teacher at an oddly named center in Western Pennsylvania. The teacher was R.C. Sproul.

Those tapes from R.C. Sproul were not my own. They had been passed to me after several others had listed to them. They squeaked. Nevertheless, I pounced on them like a hungry tiger. I received the tapes out of sequence. No matter – I just gained confidence and understanding with every tape.

R.C.’s voice was captivating. Honestly, I probably would have listened to him read the Farmer’s Almanac. But the power of his teaching was the vitality and virility of biblical Christianity, presented logically, forcefully, biblically, and passionately.

My own pilgrimage as a theologian cannot be traced without the indelible influence of R.C. Sproul. Had I never met him in the flesh, I would have been in his debt and gifted with his influence. By God’s grace, I came to know R.C. Sproul as a teacher, colleague, encourager, and friend.

He was, as the British would say, a man in full. He never made a half-argument, presented a half-correction, preached a half-sermon, or laughed a half-laugh. He was all in, all the time. His voice would fill the room, his preaching would shake the timbers, and his passion would spread like a virus. He showed up as everything he was and with everything he believed – every time.

He was one of the great defenders of historic Christianity of our times. It is fair to say that R.C. was the greatest and most influential proponent of the recovery of Reformed theology in the last century. He was a stalwart defender of the Word of God, and one of the primary architects of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in 1978. His tapes were soon accompanied by his books and the vastly expanding influence of Ligonier Ministries.

When he taught about the holiness of God, a generation of evangelicals was rescued from the emaciated and desiccated theology of cultural Christianity. When he defended Reformed theology, he taught us all how to understand the gospel in terms of God’s eternal purpose to save, consistent with his sovereignty. He was rigorously biblical and ruthlessly logical . . . with a smile.

He loved to introduce Christians to both the splendors and the humbling lessons of church history. He wanted evangelical Christians to stand in a line of faithfulness that began with the apostles and continued to the present. He had the heart and courage of Martin Luther and the theological precision and passion of John Calvin. He was a proud son of the Reformation, and the solas of the Reformation were the architecture of his mind. He urged and taught Christians toward the development of the Christian mind, and ideas were his battleground.

He was a preacher of the Word of God, a faithful steward of God’s mysteries. In the later years of his life, he told friends that his greatest joy in ministry had come as a pastor. That comes as no surprise.

R.C. Sproul was an evangelist. “Evangelism is our duty. God commanded it,” he taught: “But there is more. Evangelism is not only a duty; it is also a privilege. God allows us to participate in the greatest work in human history, the work of redemption.” There will be many saints in heaven who came to hear the gospel through R.C.’s talks, sermons, videos, conferences, books, and personal witnessing.

The work R.C. so courageously and brilliantly and infectiously led for so many decades goes on, in the work of Ligonier Ministries. R.C. planned it so, and set an example for us all in fulfilling this stewardship. His teaching and his influence will continue, channeled into successive generations. He surrounded himself and populated Ligonier Ministries with a leadership team that will continue steadfastly.

To know R.C. was also to know that the man and his ministry could never be explained—and would never have been begun—without the incredible loyalty, love, and devotion of his gracious wife, Vesta. Their hearts beat as one, and few spouses in ministry have been so demonstrably faithful, insightful, affectionate, and absolutely necessary as Vesta Sproul. R.C. would insist that you know that truth.

Our prayers are with the Sproul family, and our hope is in Christ. Listening to one of R.C.’s messages in the last few hours, I realized that R.C. had been preaching – decades ago – as a man ready to die, trusting in Christ.

In a tribute to his own beloved teacher, Professor John Gerstner, written in 1976, R.C. stated: “In an era of church history when theology is in chaos, the church is being shaken at its foundations, and Christian ethics shift and slide with every novel theology, we are grateful for the vivid example of one who stands in the midst of confusion as ‘a bright and burning light.’”

Indeed, we are grateful to God for the bright and burning light named R. C. Sproul. Soli Deo Gloria

 

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Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017

Why a Down syndrome diagnosis reveals the sanctity of human life, not just geneticsNational Public Radio (Sarah McCammon) — Down Syndrome Families Divided Over Abortion Ban

A moral revolution leads to a new government in Palm Springs, CaliforniaNew York Times (Frank Bruni) — It’s a Gay, Gay, Gay Government

From LGBT to LGGBDTTTIQQAAPP: An expanding set of letters for the sexual revolutionDaily Mail (Staff) — Canadian elementary school teachers attend 'LGGBDTTTIQQAAPP' inclusiveness training session. Would you understand the title?

Why religious activity is more revealing than religious identificationChristianity Today (Brad Wilcox) — Evangelicals and Domestic Violence: Are Christian Men More Abusive?

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Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017

A political earthquake in AlabamaNew York Times (Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin) — Once a Long Shot, Democrat Doug Jones Wins Alabama Senate Race

The limits of conservative tolerance on questions of character

Elections have consequences—in the Senate and in the womb

Secular attempts to resolve the sin problem with therapyNew York Times (Benedict Carey) — Therapy for Sexual Misconduct? It’s Mostly Unproven

New investigation that threatens to tell the truth about Planned ParenthoodNew York Times (Nicholas Fandos) — Justice Dept. Investigating Fetal Tissue Transfers by Planned Parenthood and Others

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Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017

A special election and a crisis of conscience in AlabamaNew York Times (Campbell Robertson and Jonathan Martin) — Alabama, Despite History of Unruly Politics, Has ‘Never Seen Anything Like This’

The crucible of political discourse and the mixed messages of political results

Abortion and a missed political opportunityNew Yorker (Ben Wallace-Wells) — Roy Moore and the Invisible Religious Right

The urgency of fire as wildfires expand in CaliforniaNew York Times (Adam Nagourney) — California Today: A Weekend of Fires

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Monday, Dec. 11, 2017

The moral mayhem of last week in CongressWSJ (Editors) — Al Franken’s Non SequiturWSJ (Peggy Noonan) — Al Franken Departs Without GraceNew York Times (Gail Collins) — The Great Al Franken Moment

Our brave new world of political moralityNew York Times (Katie Rogers) — Trent Franks, Accused of Offering $5 Million to Aide for Surrogacy, Resigns

Why Christians should be deeply troubled by surrogate parentingNational Review (Jennifer Lahl) — The Pro-Life Movement Shouldn’t Embrace Surrogacy

Very nature of New Testament as the Word of God at stake in Pope’s proposal to change the Lord’s prayerWashington Post (Julie Zauzmer and Stefano Pitrelli) — ‘Lead us not into’ what? Pope Francis suggests changing the words of the Lord’s Prayer.New York Times (Elisabetta Povoledo, Laurie Goodstein, and Alan Cowell) — Lost in Translation? Pope Ponders an Update to Lord’s Prayer

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