5 The Falling Dominoes of Deconstruction I
Ken Giles writes about the six pillars of Christianity.1 These are six common Christian convictions, which are often thought to be the foundation of the Christian faith. In the age of secularization, these convictions are (often successively) challenged to establish a ‘Progressive Christianity’ that is significantly different from the convictions of ‘Mere Christianity’ that were held by most Christians for about two thousand years. When these fundamental truths begin to totter and to tumble, it easily triggers a chain reaction like the classical ‘domino effect’. Giles thinks this is a good thing to pursue. Alisa Childers responds to him in a discussion of these six points.2 I will split this topic into two blog posts, each covering three of the six.
1. The inerrancy of the Bible
We may have grown up in a church that always insisted on the ‘inerrancy of the Bible’, without a clear explanation of the meaning of the term. Therefore, young people may have grown up with the conviction that ‘There are no errors in the Bible.’
Since the Bible seemed to be the ultimate authority and source on ‘who or what God is’, it is no wonder that this would be the first temptation Christians get to face in the process of deconstruction. Giles writes,
“If your Pastor has ever told you that the Bible was 100 percent accurate about everything and if even one thing was proven false, then the entire Bible would be worthless.”
Yet, the concept of inerrancy is not about the possibility that there might be ‘errors’ (according to a critical analysis), but rather that it is entirely reliable for the purpose of knowing God, knowing our identity and dependence on Him, and how we must and can be saved by faith by his gracious rescue plan.
It is not really constructive to base your faith on the hearsay that the Bible is ‘without error’. Let us look at two other ways of constructing a deep respect for the biblical reliability. Note that in both cases the foundation of the Christian faith is ultimately not the Bible but Jesus himself, and we must look to him to inform us how we are to view the Bible. 3
While Kathy Keller was young,4 she knew that God existed, but growing up in a mainstream church she had never learned to base this conviction on the Bible. She writes, 5
“It wasn’t until college that I met intelligent believers who accepted the Bible as God’s Word, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.”
She wrestled with the authority and inspiration of the Bible for several years, until she realized from studying the Gospels that Jesus trusted the inspiration of the Old Testament and promised the inspiration of the New Testament.
She continues,
“If I trusted Jesus to be who he said he was, why wouldn’t I also trust his view of the authority and inerrancy of the Scriptures? This was a game-changing realization for me… now that I trusted God’s Word as truth, written to aid my flourishing and not to diminish it, my choices needed to be submitted to Scripture. When my choices and God’s commands clashed, he won.”
If you love Jesus, you will love the Bible and in loving thankfulness voluntarily submit to its teaching, even when the rationale is not (yet) fully understood. I believe it was Francis Chan, who once said, “If the Bible told me to stand on my head, it would not make sense to me, but I would still (try to) do it in love of God and respect for his Word.
Yet, I have heard theologians and preachers talk contemptuously about some of the apostolic teachings, like 1 Peter 3: 1-6, and if this kind of talk is tolerated over time, it seems only logical that it leads to (further) deconstruction.
When Alisa Childers went through a period of deconstruction, she was shocked to see other church members take a delight in ‘all the exciting new things they were learning’, as they were led by their pastor (!) in destroying the historical teachings of the Bible and the church. 6
Sean McDowell,7 in an interview with Alisa Childers,8 responds to the question of the role of resurrection in deconstruction. Sean argues,
“Let’s keep the main thing the main thing. If the resurrection (of Jesus) happened,9 Christianity is true; if it didn’t, it’s false. It’s really that simple.
A lot of people start deconstructing their faith when they find (what they think is) a contradiction in the Bible or they can no longer believe the Bible is inerrant.
And that’s then the crack that leads them then to chucking their entire faith.
Yet, even if there were contradictions in the Bible while Jesus rose from the grave, Christianity would still be true.”
2. The justice of God
Giles starts this point by stating, “Once you start to doubt the absolute accuracy of the Scriptures, it’s a short walk to questioning the validity of Eternal Torment in Hell for those who don’t pray the prayer and join the Christian club.” It’s interesting off the bat how he describes the Church of Christ as a club that one joins by reciting the sinner’s prayer; it’s clear that Giles neither knows Christ, sees the Kingdom of God, nor understands the church as it is supposed to function. His arguments appear to be from the Bible, yet -in my experience- the concerns about the fact that Jesus takes “Hell” very seriously is seen as a moral problem, not a rational one.
When we read about the plagues that must come upon the earth before God’s Kingdom will be restored, we see 10 that some people acknowledge that God is righteous and justified to bring these plagues upon the earth, while others curse God while they refuse to repent. The same is true today. People who don’t know or seek God see themselves as innocent and God as a wicked monster, if indeed he would cast the unbelievers into hell. They do not see and acknowledge all the blessings they have received from God and are convinced that they could happily live without God and his blessings (not realizing that this -in essence- is “hell”). Tim Keller would say with C.S.Lewis, that hell is what the wicked people choose themselves. 11
3. The Atonement
When we read the story of Abraham from the perspective of Jesus, the (true) Son of Abraham, we see that the ‘cutting ceremony’ of the covenant,12 in which the two parties are to walk the path of blood left Abraham standing at the side, while ‘a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between’ the cut-up animals. Later, when Abraham was tested on his sacrificial love, God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his beloved son and promised that He himself would provide the perfect sacrifice. 13
So, after Pentecost, the apostles understood that God sacrificed his Son to remove our guilt and reconcile us to Himself.14 Again, Giles suggests that it took centuries for Jesus’ followers to come up with this ‘theory’.
What is the big obstacle? It’s the foolishness of the cross,15 which was already viewed as an abomination in the time of St. Paul. An early graffito was found in Rome, mocking Alexaminos for worshiping a crucified God. In this cartoon (see below), Alex’s god is shown with the head of a donkey, clearly mocking the message of the early Christian church. It still is folly for those who are on the road to perdition, while for the followers of Christ it demonstrates the power of God’s love.
3. Alisa Childers also learned to follow this pattern. Another Gospel? p. 164-171.
4. Kathy Keller is the co-founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.
5. Kathy Keller- Jesus, Justice, and Gender Roles- a case for gender roles in ministry. Zondervan, 2012., p. 10, 11.
6. Alisa Childers. Another Gospel? A lifelong Christian seeks truth in response to progressive Christianity. Tyndale, 2020. p. 24.
9. See: Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids, 2004. and: http://isaac-smit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-resurrection-foolishness-to-greeks.html.
10. Rev. 9: 20, 21; Rev. 16: 9-11
11. Tim Keller tweet: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it....No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it." C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce.
12. Matthew 1: 1.
Genesis15: 17, Jeremiah 34: 18-20.
13. Genesis 22: 12-14.
14. For instance, Romans 8: 32; and in the early creed, recorded in 1 Corinthians 15: 3, Galatians 1: 4, Hebrews 9: 26.
15. 1 Corinthians 1: 18.
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