Nihilism in the Church Run Amuck!

Please click on the YouTube video below to hear what Victoria Osteen recently said during the benediction at a worship service at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

First of all, Victoria Osteen is the Co-Pastor of Lakewood Church, the largest Protestant congregation in the United States with a weekly worship attendance of 43,500 people according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakewood_Church). Her husband Joel Osteen is the other Co-Pastor of the church.

I could write about she said for hours.  For the sake of brevity, I will address just a few thoughts that come to mind tonight.

In a previous post titled, "Knowing God Deeply Part 3" I attempted to dialogue with this very situation which sociologist Christian Smith, from the University of Notre Dame, calls "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."  Dr. Smith defines moralistic therapeutic deism as:

1.     God created the world.
2.     God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
3.     The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4.     God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when needed to solve a problem.
5.   Good people go to heaven when they die.

This understanding of the Christian faith has taken over much of western Protestantism. The problem with moralistic therapeutic deism is that there is no gospel in it.  There is no good news. There is no Christ!

What's more, there is not comprehension or acknowledgement of the brokenness of creation and the depths to which humanity will sink to achieve her goals.  Further, there is no Savior to redeem that which is lost and broken.

I am a confessional, Protestant, Christian of the Presbyterian flavor (EPC to be exact).  As such I look to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms to help guide my understanding of the Faith of the Church.  I also have a deep appreciate and love for the other great confessional documents of the Church, especially the The Heidelberg Catechism. It begins (with

Scripture proof texts):

Q. 1. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.  He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.  he also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.  Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from on to live for him.
1 Cor. 6:19-20; Romans 14:7-9; 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7, 2:22; John 8:34-36; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8; John 6:39-40, 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Peter 1:5; Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18; Romans 8:15-16, 28; 2 Cor. 1:21-22, 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14; Romans 8:14.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins (with Scripture proof texts):

 Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. Ps. 86:9, Isa. 60:21, Rom. 11:36, 1 Cor. 6:20, 1 Cor. 10:31, Rev. 4:11, Ps. 16:5–11, Ps.144:15, Luke 2:10, Phil. 4:4, Rev. 21:3–4. 

God did not create humanity because he was lonely and desired companionship, and God certainly did not create humanity to be at our beck and call--to do whatever was necessary to make us happy.  Furthermore, the central goal in life is certainly not to be good and to feel good about oneself.  God created us for a purpose--to worship God in all of God's fullness: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As the Church, we need to wake up!  We need to pass along the Faith we received once and for all from the saints who have gone before us.  We need to proclaim the truth of the gospel-the good news of redemption found only in the Lord Jesus.

Lord, in your mercy...And thank you Bill Cosby!

The (Abridged) Witness of Scripture

When Joshua received his commission from God to lead the people Israel following the death of Moses, the Lord tells him,

Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to the Law that Moses my servant commanded you.  Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it…[1]

Moses knew the LORD face to face and regularly met with him in the Tent of Meeting, receiving direction and guidance in handling the people Israel.  In Exodus 33:11a we read, “Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” The days of knowing the LORD face to face ended with the death of Moses.  Joshua may have had some concerns regarding how he was to lead the people Israel.  Would the LORD speak to him the same way he had spoken to Moses?  

We know that Joshua was a man of deep, abiding faith—a man who, along with Caleb, did not

Joshua, successor to Moses

fear entering into the Promised Land when the other spies shrank away in fear at the prospect.  He boldly proclaimed to his people, “If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us…only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.”[2] Joshua surely trusted that the LORD would present a means of communicating with him how best to lead the people Israel.  God provided this means with the Book of the Law, written, at least in part, by Moses.[3]

The Torah became an identifier of the people of God throughout the Old Testament.  It set a standard for how God’s people were to eat, live together, worship, and love. It set them apart from the dominant pagan cultures and marked them as God’s chosen people.  When the people Israel drifted away from their Torah-rooted identity as the chosen people of God, the LORD sent prophet after prophet to call them back to himself through repentance and obedience—to live a life rooted in what was presented in the Torah—in the Word of God.  

2 Kings 22 presents the story of Hilkiah, the high priest of the temple, who presented the lost Book of the Law to King Josiah when it had been found during renovations to the temple. King Josiah became so overcome with grief, despair, and anger that he ripped his clothes.  He then publicly

King Josiah receives the lost Book of the Law

repented to the LORD and led the people into a period of religious renewal, reform, and worship.  Josiah’s actions were rooted in his love and understanding of God found in the Word.  His grandfather Manasseh and father Amon were evil men who had intentionally led the people away from God (2 Kings 21) —and the Torah.  Josiah was touched by the Word in a positive way, and, through his encounter with God’s Word, yearned for something more.  He desired this not only for himself, but also for his people.

The Psalms are widely regarded as the prayer book/worship book of the Bible.  Psalm 1 is the gateway to a Biblical understanding of prayer and worship. 

Psalm 1

In it we read, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”[4]  More simply, one cannot know how to know and love God apart from meditating on, praying, and studying the Scriptures.  It is that straightforward. 

In John 1:1-3 we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that has been made.”   Later, in the fourth chapter of John, we read of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar.  Jesus told her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  It is Jesus, the Living Word of God, who gives this eternal refreshment.  It is the written Word that points to this truth-in-revelation of the Lord Jesus. 

In Luke chapter 24 we read about the journey to Emmaus on the very first Easter morning by two followers of Jesus. Jesus, in his resurrected body approaches them and walks with them on their

The Walk to Emmaus

journey.  For some mysterious reason these disciples do not recognize Jesus, yet they share with him their deep disappointment that he had been handed over by some of their priests and had been crucified.  They shared with Jesus that they had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel.  They also told Jesus that some of the women of their group that very morning had seen a vision from angels telling them that Jesus was alive!  After hearing all of this, Jesus told them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”[5] The Greek continues, “kai« aÓrxa¿menoß aÓpo\ Mwu¨se÷wß kai« aÓpo\ pa¿ntwn tw◊n profhtw◊n diermh/neusen aujtoi√ß e˙n pa¿saiß tai√ß grafai√ß ta» peri« e˚autouv.”[6] I translate this, “and from the beginning, from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted/expanded for them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Jesus turned to the Scriptures, the Jewish Scriptures actually, to show these disciples the truth of their revelation of him. Jesus, himself, is the greatest revelation of God; the Scriptures bear witness to Jesus—God’s greatest revelation—the promised Messiah—and so, are in themselves, authoritative.

In 2 Tim. 3:16-17 we find one of the strongest statements in the New Testament regarding the divine importance and sufficiency for Scripture.  The Greek reads, “pa◊sa grafh\ qeo/pneustoß kai« wÓfe÷limoß pro\ß didaskali÷an, pro\ß e˙legmo/n, pro\ß e˙pano/rqwsin, pro\ß paidei÷an th\n e˙n dikaiosu/nhØ,  iºna a‡rtioß hØ™ oJ touv qeouv a‡nqrwpoß, pro\ß pa◊n e¶rgon aÓgaqo\n e˙xhrtisme÷noß.” which I have translated as “every Writing/Scripture [is] God-breathed, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction that [is] in righteousness,  that the man of God may be fitted —for every good work having been perfectly completed.” God, in some mysterious way, through the power of the Holy Spirit, inspired and directed the human authors in the writing of the Bible. The Scriptures hold authority because they are divinely inspired, by the Holy Spirit, revelation that point to the greatest self-revelation of God—Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.

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[1] Joshua 1:7-8a.  Scripture citations, unless indicated otherwise, are all from the Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

[2] Numbers 13:8-9.

[3] I am well aware of the arguments regarding Mosaic authorship of the first five books of the Holy Bible.  Even if Moses did not write word for word every sentence in the Torah, he was surely actively involved in its composition at some level.  The texts that Moses helped prepare were obviously available to Joshua at the time of his commissioning by the LORD God to lead the people Israel.

[4] Psalm 1:1-2.

[5] Luke 24:35-26.

[6] Luke 24:27.

The Witness of the Church (with an emphasis on the Reformed Tradition)

The church has long understood the Bible to be the unique and authoritative source for knowing God through the power of the Holy Spirit, and for understanding God’s plan for his people.  The story of God speaking and communicating with his people is not a new phenomenon.  Scripture itself testifies to God’s desire to reveal himself, and so his will to his people, through his Word. 

The Reformed tradition, through its confessions, has a long history of upholding and adhering to this understanding of the nature of Scripture—usually referred to as Sola Scriptura.  Sola Scriptura was not a new teaching at the time of the Reformation; rather, it was one that had been reclaimed from the past. It was Irenaeus of Lyon who stated that while the Apostles at first preached orally, their teaching was later committed to writing (the Scriptures), and the Scriptures had since that day become the pillar and ground of the Church’s faith. He wrote, “We have learned from none other the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith.” [1]

Ireneaus of Lyon

The Gnostics may have been the very first group to suggest and teach that they possessed an Apostolic oral tradition that was independent from Scripture.  Irenaeus and Tertullian rejected such a notion and appealed to Scripture alone for the proclamation and defense of doctrine. Church historian, Ellen Flessman-van Leer affirms this fact,

For Tertullian, Scripture is the only means for refuting or validating a doctrine regarding its content… For Irenaeus, the Church doctrine is certainly never purely traditional; on the contrary, the thought that there could be some truth, transmitted exclusively viva voce (orally), is a Gnostic line of thought… If Irenaeus wants to prove the truth of a doctrine materially, he turns to Scripture, because therein the teaching of the apostles is objectively accessible. Proof from tradition and Scripture serve one and the same end: to identify the teaching of the Church as the original apostolic teaching. The first establishes that the teaching of the Church is this apostolic teaching, and the second, what this apostolic teaching is.[2]

The Bible was the ultimate authority for the Early Church. It was materially sufficient, and the final arbiter in all matters of doctrinal truth. As J.N.D. Kelly has pointed out,

The clearest token of the prestige enjoyed by Scripture is the fact that almost the entire theological effort of the Fathers, whether their aims were polemical or constructive, was expended upon what amounted to the exposition of the Bible. Further, it was everywhere taken for granted that, for any doctrine to win acceptance, it had first to establish its Scriptural basis.[3]

Another example of the early church’s faithfulness to the principle of Sola Scriptura is clearly seen in the writings of Cyril of Jerusalem. He is the author of what is known as the Catechetical Lectures. This work is an extensive series of lectures given to new believers (catechumens) instructing them concerning the principle doctrines of the faith. It is a complete explanation of the faith of the church of his day. His teaching is thoroughly grounded in Scripture.

He states in explicit terms that if he were to present any teaching to these catechumens which could not be validated from Scripture, they were to reject it. This fact confirms that his authority as a bishop was subject to his conformity to the written Scriptures in his teaching. The following excerpts are some of his statements on the final authority of Scripture from these lectures.

This seal have thou ever on thy mind; which now by way of summary has been touched on in its heads, and if the Lord grant, shall hereafter be set forth according to our power, with Scripture proofs. For concerning the divine and sacred Mysteries of the Faith, we ought not to deliver even the most casual remark without the Holy Scriptures: nor be drawn aside by mere probabilities and the artifices of argument. Do not then believe me because I tell thee these things, unless thou receive from the Holy Scriptures the proof of what is set forth: for this salvation, which is of our faith, is not by ingenious reasonings, but by proof from the Holy Scriptures….But take thou and hold that faith only as a learner and in profession, which is by the Church delivered to thee, and is established from all Scripture. For since all cannot read the Scripture, but some as being unlearned, others by business, are hindered from the knowledge of them; in order that the soul may not perish for lack of instruction, in the Articles which are few we comprehend the whole doctrine of Faith…And for the present, commit to memory the Faith, merely listening to the words; and expect at the fitting season the proof of each of its parts from the Divine Scriptures. For the Articles of the Faith were not composed at the good pleasure of men: but the most important points chosen from all Scriptures, make up the one teaching of the Faith. And, as the mustard seed in a little grain contains many branches, thus also this Faith, in a few words, hath enfolded in its bosom the whole knowledge of godliness contained both in the Old and New Testaments. Behold, therefore, brethren and hold the traditions which ye now receive, and write them on the table of your hearts.”[4]

Gregory of Nyssa shared this understanding with Cyril of Jerusalem (and so Ireneaus and Tertullian) when he wrote,

The generality of men still fluctuate in their opinions about this, which are as erroneous as they are numerous. As for ourselves, if the Gentile philosophy, which deals methodically with all these points, were really adequate for a demonstration, it would certainly be superfluous to add a discussion on the soul to those speculations. But while the latter proceeded, on the subject of the soul, as far in the direction of supposed consequences as the thinker pleased, we are not entitled to such license, I mean that of affirming what we please; we make the Holy Scriptures the rule and the measure of every tenet; we necessarily fix our eyes upon that, and approve that alone which may be made to harmonize with the intention of those writings.[5]

Augustine of Hippo thought so highly of Scripture that he wrote an entire book on how to properly study it titled Teaching Christianity (De Doctrina Christiana)!

In 1556 Heinrich Bullinger, one of the original co-authors of the First Helvetic Confession, penned the Second Helvetic Confession. The opening lines of the Second Helvetic Confession begin,

We believe and confess the canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient authority of themselves, not of men.  For God himself spoke to the fathers, prophets, apostles, and still speaks to us through the Holy Scriptures.[6]

The Westminster Standards, that bastion of Presbyterian confessionalism (full disclosure: I am

ordained in a denomination that requires subscription to Westminster), has much to teach regarding the Word of God. The Shorter Catechism, Question 2 asks, “What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?”  The answer, “The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.” The Westminster Larger Catechism Question 3 asks, “What is the Word of God?”  The answer, “The holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.” Question 4 of the WLC asks, “How doth it appear that the Scriptures are the Word of God?” The answer,

The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation.  But the Spirit of God, bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very Word of God.

The Westminster Confession of Faith clearly articulates the authority of God’s Word when we read, “The authority of Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.”[7]

Reformation/Reformed confessions and catechisms could be quoted from endlessly to support the claim that Christians should find God’s revelation for them in the Bible, but rather than drone on endlessly with confessional references, let us look to the Scriptures themselves. The Biblical and theological foundations could take up several volumes of work as the references are exceedingly numerous.  In the next chapter we will look at a number of Scriptures to help us better understand the utter importance of relying on God’s Word foremost in understanding the Truth of God.

Spiritual disciplines such as fasting, solitude, meditation, study, simplicity, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration are all useful and wonderful tools in making us more aware of the presence of God in our lives. Unless they are rooted in the Word of God, though, they are mostly empty exercises.  B.M. Fanning writes, “Foundational to biblical theology and religion is the conviction that God has spoken.  Through his word, God has revealed himself, his will and his actions on behalf of his people and the world.”[8] He continues later in the article,

Through his word God reveals what he is like, what he has done and will do in the outworking of his purposes, and how humankind should respond to him…Through the word God reaches out to his people and expresses his emotions towards them, and through the word his people are enabled to know him more fully.  The word of the Lord is thus an extension of his grace and power towards the people he had chosen and through them towards the nations of the world.[9]

John Calvin adds,

The Scriptures attain full authority among believers only when men regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were heard…It is utterly vain, then, to pretend that the power of judging Scripture so lies with the church that its certainty depends upon churchly assent.  Thus, while the church receives and gives its seal of approval to the Scriptures, it does not thereby render authentic what is otherwise doubtful or controversial.[10]

John Leith, long time professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, offers up support for Calvin’s position,

Dr. John H. Leith

The Holy Scriptures are both a means of grace and the norm of the church’s life.  The Bible is the church’s memory, inspired by the Holy Spirit, of those events that are the foundation of the Christian life in history.  It is the church’s witness to the gospel and the content of its preaching…The Bible is the original witness to and interpretation of God’s revelation and work “for us men and for our salvation” in Jesus Christ.  In this sense the Bible is the church’s memory reduced to writing by the prophets and the apostles who were the original witnesses of and believers in God’s revelation and work that constituted his people.  More specifically, the Bible is the forward-and backward-looking testimony to Jesus Christ and as such sets the boundaries and is the unique authorization for Christian theology and life.[11]

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[1] Roberts, Alexander and Donaldson, James, editors, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody: Hendriksen, 1995) Vol. 1, Irenaeus, “Against Heresies” 3.1.1, 414.

[2] Flessman-van Leer, Ellen Tradition and Scripture in the Early Church (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1953), 184, 133, 144.

[3] Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Doctrines (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978), 42, 46.

[4] A Library of the Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church (Oxford: Parker, 1845), "The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril" Lecture 4.17 and Lecture 5.12.

[5] Schaff, Phillip and Wace, Henry, editors, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (Peabody: Hendriksen, 1995) Second Series: Volume V, Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, "On the Soul and the Resurrection", 439.

[6] “The Second Helvetic Confession” from the Book of Confessions: The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Part 1(Louisville: Office of the General Assembly, 2004), 53.

[7] These quotations from the Westminster Standards were quoted from Book of Confessions: The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Part 1(Louisville: Office of the General Assembly, 2004).

[8] Fanning, B.M. “Word” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology ed. Desmond, T., Rosner, Brian S., Carson, D.A., Goldsworthy, Graeme (Downers Grove: IVP, 2000), 848.

[9] Ibid., 849.

[10] Calvin, John Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T.McNeill (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1960), 1.7.1, 3.

[11] Leith, John H. Basic Christian Doctrine (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993), 270.