AMERICAN PELAGIANISM

The interesting thing as we look at society, both with its mixture of several philosophical ideas, and several religious ideas, is the fact that everybody wants to cling to their own righteousness; their own way or understanding of getting to heaven and truth seems to be lost in confusion of messages. As a result, what many churches believe on paper are not exercised in their congregations -- and this includes us as Lutherans.

A good bit of that influence comes from "Pelagianism." If you’ve been in some of my Bible classes you have learned of Pelagianism as a precursor to decision theology.

Pelagians deny original sin. Pelagians believe that man has a total free will. The free will was not tainted by the fall, which we find taught much differently within the scriptures. The psalmist says of Psalm 51:5 “in iniquity did my mother conceive me.” Pelagians overlooked this and other scriptures and taught otherwise. The effects of this teaching go well beyond that; in fact, the self-help Christianity that’s out there today is very much a reflection of this kind of thinking. We might identify this as a natural heresy to our desire to be self-saviors. The old sinful nature wants to fix things for itself and yet it leads to a disastrous end. Unfortunately, much of American Protestantism, as well as reformed Lutheran bodies, has taken on this false teaching.

These modern day approaches, in attempt to be relevant, lose the message altogether.  Many times this kind of preaching of today's Christian message comes from a lack of proper teaching. As a result, you always return to what you know. What the old sinful nature knows is its roots in Pelagianism -- or what we might also refer to as semi-pelagianism or synergism.

In America, we see a lot of this kind of thinking from Charles Finney, an early American evangelist who very much held to pelagian ideas. People like Billy Graham have called Finney one of the greatest evangelists since St. Paul. However, taking a closer look, we see that there is much difficulty in the teachings that are contrary to the Scriptures and undermine the atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Charles Finney believed that we are only guilty and corrupt when we choose to sin, believing in total free will and not believing in a sinful disposition we described as original sin. As a result, he believed that Christ’s work on the cross could not pay our debt and was only a moral example for us. So, the goal in Finney’s theology is to bring about repentance and obedience; obedience that brings about salvation, not the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. Finney says “the atonement is only an incentive to virtue.”

As a result, we see this having a great effect on American theology today. Many pastors are in the pulpits preaching moralism and psychology; a “be better" theology, rather than a theology where the blood of Christ covers our sin, brings forgiveness, hope and freedom to all.

This fall, in the first session of W.O.W. (Word On Wednesday), we will be taking a closer look at influences such as Pelagianism on our American way of Christian thinking. Working under the title “Christianity without Christ” we’ll take a close look at who we are and what we have become and how close that is to what we believe, teach and confess. Come join us on this journey as we measure and test the waters of Christianity today.

Pastor Ken Farnsworth

Reviews and Reading Recommendations
from the Pastors

Fatal Flaws:
What Evolutionists Don't Want You to Know
by Hank Hanegraaff

As more and more so-called experts challenge what the Bible says about the creation of man, we must take aim with straightforward, Christ-centered answers.

Today's generation is bombarded with theories about humankind and its origins. In Fatal Flaws, now in paperback with a study guide included, Hank Hanegraaff keeps Christians from falling prey to corrupting scientific speculation about the origins of life and reminds us that we are God's creation. This common-sense approach puts the concept of evolution in the grasp of everyday Christians and reminds us that ultimately the key to our purpose in this life comes from understanding whose we are and who created us.
 

The Apocalypse Code
by Hank Hanegraaff

Breaking the code of the book of Revelation has become an international obsession.  The result, according to Hank Hanegraaff, has been rampant misreading of Scripture, bad theology, even bad politics and foreign policy.  Hanegraaff argues that the key to understanding the last book of the Bible is the other sixty-five books of the Bible--not current events or recent history, and certainly not any complicated charts.

The Apocalypse Code offers sane answers to some very controversial questions:

• What does it mean to take the book of Revelation and the rest of the Bible literally?

• Who are the “Antichrist” and the “Great Whore of Babylon,” and what is the real meaning of “666”?

• How does our view of the end time change the way we think about the crisis in the Middle East?

• Are two-thirds of all Jews really headed for an apocalyptic holocaust?

The Apocalypse Code is a call to understand what the Bible really says about the End Times, and why how we understand it matters so much in today’s world.
 

Christianity in Crisis
by Hank Hanegraaff
 
Christianity in Crisis confronts head-on a deadly cancer that is ravaging the body of Christ.  Unless this cancer is halted now, the consequences for Christianity will be catastrophic.

Influential teachers are utilizing the power of the airways as well as scores of books, tapes and magazines to distort the biblical concept of the Creator and promote anti-biblical doctrines that boggle the mind.  The result is nothing less than a systematic subversion of the historic Christian faith.

Yet, this is a cancer which has a cure. 

Christianity in Crisis not only exposes darkness to light, but provides solutions for averting the crisis in Christianity and restoring a Christianity centered in Christ.

Hank Hanegraaff is the host of Bible Answer Man, heard daily throughout the United States and Canada.  He is president of the Christian Research Institute and author of the Gold Medallion award-winning Christianity in Crisis and The Face that Demonstrates the Farce of Evolution.  Hanegraaff resides in North Carolina with his wife, Kathy and their eight children.

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/bible_answer_man

 Please visit the Resource Room for past selections.