THEME: It is
important for Christians to profess their faith, even in face of persecutions.
QUESTIONS:
What is the problem if a Christian deny the deity of Jesus Christ?
- Then
Jesus will be a liar.
- Then
Jesus will be a lunatic for claiming He is God.
What examples are quoted for persecution of Christians for their faith?
- The
First Amendment is protecting free speech, but not for Christians.
- A student
was fired from his job for being too “open” about his faith in Jesus
Christ.
- A new
Christian student organization was told to be cautious in its efforts to
spread the Word of God because they may be regarded as “offensive” speech.
Why is it necessary for Christians to publicly profess their faith?
- Getting
persecuted for professing your faith will reap great reward.
- Those
who deny Jesus before man will be denied by Jesus before God.
THEME: Many
liberal Christians try to deny the doctrine of virgin birth but without this
doctrine, the Christian gospel cannot stand.
QUESTIONS:
Why is Christ’s virginal conception a “specific target of modern denial
and attack”?
- It
is a supernatural element in Christian faith.
- The
attacks are attempts to harmonize the anti-supernaturalism of the modern
mind with the church’s teaching about Christ.
Who are the main “theologians” who attack virgin birth?
- Albert
Schweitzer
- Rudolf
Bultmann: The virgin birth is a myth of Christianity. It needs “demythologization”
in order to construct a faith liberated from supernatural elements.
- Harry
Emerson Fosdick (Presbyterian Church): Christians are divided into 2
groups: “fundamentalists” who believe the virgin birth to be historical
fact, and “enlightened” Christians who no longer obligate themselves to
believe the Bible to be true.
- John
Shelby Spong (Episcopal Church): Many things in the Bible are not truth.
- Gerd
Luedemann: Those doctrines that do not fit easily within the secular frame
must be automatically discarded.
- Jesus
Seminar, such as John Dominic Crossan: The New Testament is not a reliable
source of knowledge about Jesus.
- Jane
Schaberg (feminist): The church invented the doctrine of the virgin birth
in order to subordinate women.
- Joseph
Sprague (United Methodist Church): Virgin birth was meant as poetical
truth about Jesus and was not factual.
- As
seen from these examples, many mainline Protestant denominations are
unwilling to expel heretics who openly teach heresy.
Why Christians must believe in virgin birth?
- Denial
of virgin birth actually means: (a) reject the authority of Scripture, (b)
deny the supernatural birth of the Savior, (c) undermine the very
foundations of the Gospel, (d) deny the deity of Christ, (e) deny Jesus as
the Christ
- Denial
of virgin birth clearly leads to the denial of Biblical authority and
ultimately to heresy.
- Those
theologians who deny virgin birth are either intellectually dishonest or
theological incompetent.
- The
Gospel stands or falls with the doctrine of virgin birth.
- [KH:
The doctrine of virgin birth is described by some theologians as a
test-stone for orthodox faith.]
THEME: The
western culture is on its way to destruction and only the Church can save it
and transform the culture to a recovery.
QUESTIONS:
How has western culture changed?
- Moral
relativism: People now see themselves as their own moral arbiter.
- Denial
of absolute or objective truth: Truth is internal of everyone, private and
not public, subjective, relative. No one has a right to impose truth,
morality, or cultural standards.
- Secularization:
The teaching of a morality revealed by God is rejected.
What are the evidences of cultural destruction in the society?
- Courts:
revisionist legal theories and psycho-therapeutic issues have replaced
concern for right and wrong. Righteousness is rejected as a concept
- Television
and mass culture: pushing moral relativism, imposing their views so strongly
that many citizens are now intellectually unable to sustain a serious
moral conversation.
- Arts:
The arts are increasingly decadent, portraying violence, pornography, and
banality as high culture.
- Academy:
Deconstructionism and other purportedly post-modern theories have largely
destroyed some disciplines and thrown others into incoherence. The search
for truth has been abandoned in favor of political arguments over rights
and privileges.
- Worldview:
A therapeutic worldview is adopted. All issues of right and wrong are
turned into newly created categories of authenticity, self esteem,
codependencies, and various psychological fads which basically tell us
that we are victims, not responsible moral agents. A cult of self-worship
has developed, substituting the worship of the transcendent God.
How has the Church reacted to cultural destruction so far?
- The
Church has at times withdrawn from culture and sought refuge in attempted
cultural isolation. At other times, the Church has simply abdicated to the
culture, thus reflecting cultural trends rather than proclaiming the
gospel.
- In
the society, the Church has been culturally displaced, often dismissed,
and even more often ignored.
- Liberal
Protestant leaders have simply capitulated to the revisionist ideologies
and surrendered revealed morality. On the evangelical wing, however, the
greater temptation is to affirm biblical morality in principle, and tolerate
infractions as matters of merely individual interest.
- The
Church fails to teach authentic discipleship, active church membership,
and bold Christian witness.
What must the Church do to effect a cultural recovery?
- We
must disallow both optimism and despair. We must trust that it is in God’s
hands. If God wants to, He can change culture.
- In
the Christian worldview, culture is important—but never ultimate.
- We
can effect genuine transformation and recovery by 2 ways:
o
(a) Faithful witness: The Church must proclaim
the truth of God’s Word, the permanence of His commands, and the reality of His
judgment. Sins like fornication, homosexuality, and abortion must be described
as sin. We must take on a counter-cultural posture and stand against the
cultural current.
o
(b) Compassionate ministry: We must reach out with
the message of grace and minister to the casualties of our cultural rebellion, lives
that have been ruined and warped in the course of our cultural decay.
THEME: The Church
has to be fitted for new challenges in world evangelization in this new
century.
QUESTIONS:
How successful has the missionary movement been in the past two
centuries?
- This
missionary movement has seen the evangelization of millions of persons
representing thousands of ethnic and cultural groups.
- The
Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages and dialects.
- In
the past decades, there has been an enormous evangelistic response
throughout the Pacific Rim and the African continent.
The author talks about “a new missiological movement” which “will build
upon the accomplishments of the last 200 years, but it must also be adapted to
the new realities of our world context.” How does the Church adapt to new
realities?
- Develop
a passion to glorify God by declaring the Gospel to all the peoples of the
earth.
- Discard
the cultural baggage of missionary movement: a new awareness of the global
context and respect for native cultures and to be careful to preach the
gospel rather than Western culture.
- Adapt
to the reaching of people groups rather than nations: Each of these people
groups represents a distinct missiological challenge, and each must be
considered in its own right. The Church must develop cultural
understanding and sensitivity, as well as linguistic and cultural
dexterity, in the task of preaching the gospel to unreached persons.
- Encourage
involvement from grassroots Christians: The energy for missions is coming
from grassroots Christians rather than from institutional structures.
There is a trend towards missionary trips and short-term mission projects.
These can produce powerful impact upon the participants and upon the
missionary commitment of the entire congregation.
- Sharpen
the focus of missions: concentration on the 10/40 window—that portion of
the world between latitudes 10 and 40 degrees, where most of the world’s
unreached peoples live; and aiming to reach all the peoples of the earth
without regard to race, culture, economic reality, or geographical or
political obstacles.
What is the potential of the younger generation in missions? What
should the Church do to fully use this potential?
- Potentials:
The younger generation has been born into a culturally diverse world, and
they are gifted with skills in intercultural communication. They are
impatient with the cultural isolationism of previous generations. Where previous
generations wanted to support missions, this generation is determined to
do missions.
- The
church needs to mobilize the energy of these younger Christians and to
ground their convictions. Nevertheless, this generation has inherited a
dwindling deposit of doctrinal and theological understanding. One main
task is to help this generation to ground their faith in biblical truth.