The Demise of Evangelicalism

The coming apostasy of Evangelicalism looms larger with every passing year. With the advent of the Pentecostal movement greater attacks on the doctrine of sola scriptura have weakened the church and placed reason and experience above holy scripture as the final authority in matters of faith and practice. A recent article in Christianity Today upholding the attack by J.P. Moreland at a meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society is more evidence of this.

Pentecostal and charismatic theology has always taken the position that mystical and ecstatic experiences with the Holy Spirit take precedence in the exegesis of Holy Scripture. Thus, their exegesis becomes a form of eisogesis where instead of drawing meaning and interpretation out of the text itself, Pentecostals read their own experiences back into the text to find support for their experiences.

However, the obvious danger of this approach is that theological liberalism and feminism has done this very thing in their apostasy from the Christian faith as it was handed down to us from the apostles through the canon of Scripture. Thus, homosexuals reason that since they experienced same sex orientation and attraction, God must have created them that way. Taking that as their presupposition they then find ways of reading the Old Testament and New Testament prohibitions within a closed cultural setting that then justifies rejecting the prohibition as universally valid across all times and cultures down to the present day.

Evangelicals likewise have found ways to justify their own experiences with divorce and remarriage and other compromises with the social mores of our own larger society. Materialism takes precedence over sacrifice and commitment to God. Easy divorce and remarriage is accepted by society and therefore the passages in Scripture forbidding such practices are re-interpreted in light of the experience of the society at large.

Thus, instead of speaking prophetically to a society and a world that is in rebellion against God, the church winds up accommodating more and more to the world rather than challenging the world with God's moral law and calling for repentance. Moral relativism and pragmatic ethics have taken the upper hand over apodeitic law and dogmatic theology.

In my estimation, it is only a matter of time before Evangelicalism at large becomes as liberal as the liberals they are protesting against. Before long homosexuality and premarital sex will be as accepted by Evangelicals as it is by theological liberals. Evangelicals would rather be popular and accepted than to hold fast to the doctrines of the Bible. A slow eating away at the biblical foundations of the Christian faith is under way. I wonder how long true Christianity can last when justification by faith alone and the authority of scripture are attacked as never before?

The Episcopal Church U.S.A. and other mainline churches are leading the way into apostasy and Evangelicals and Pentecostals are following them along like lambs for the slaughter. Wolves in sheeps' clothing and hirelings seem to dominate our church and none of the pastors want to rock the boat or say what seems obvious to those of us who are not afraid to critique the powers that be.

Compromise seems to be the order of the day. When pastors start compromising the truth to please their peers in the ministry and the folks in the pews, it is only a matter of time before outright apostasy sets in. Who will stand in the gap? Who will remain part of the remnant which is unfraid to suffer for the cause of Christ and the truth of the Gospel?

May God have mercy on us all!!!