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-26-
God Hath Spoken
Neo-Orthodoxy
The term "orthodoxy" is variously defined as "fundamentalism," "conservatism," and "evangelicalism." It simply means what the Bible teaches is true. Diametrically opposite is "liberalism." A liberal is one who is a rationalist. He denies the supernatural such as the virgin birth of our Lord, His Deity, etc.
While a person may be inclined to turn quickly from the teachings of liberalism, remember that it is one of the chief tools of the Devil to add truth with error thereby making error far more deadly. Such was the new born thought of Karl Barth.
Karl Barth was a German theologian who invented what is called "Neo Orthodoxy." The "New Orthodoxy" redefined basic doctrines. It destroyed the doctrine of the virgin birth by teaching that a "virgin" was simply a young woman. Such rationalism totally denies the miraculous birth of our Lord since a virgin may not be a young woman, and a young woman may not be a virgin. Nevertheless the Revised Standard Version translates the word "virgin" as "young woman" in Isaiah 7:l4. It is very important we know the authors and the publishers of the books we read because some intend to undermine the reader's faith. This is no less true of the Bibles on the market.
Neo Evangelicalism
Following World War II, a new kind of liberalism appeared. It was called "Neo Evangelicalism," or the "New Evangelicalism." Note first, that there are people who believe that God has enough sense to know how to communicate His word. They believe God wanted the Scriptures to be understood.
Note second, there are people, unbelievers, who want to discredit the authority of the Scriptures. They are theologians who rank everywhere from being atheists to agnostics. They espouse the concept that we cannot know what the Bible means when it says what it says. These liberals often believe the Word of God to be filled with myths, as did Bultmann.
Third, if those who believe what the Bible says is so are given a position of "1," while the liberals who teach that the Bible is filled with myths are given a position of "4," then the Neo Orthodox theologians appear at position "3." While the latter are as heretical as the liberals at position "4," yet perhaps it is their conscience that makes them want to at least appear fundamental in the Faith.
A few years ago, I went to hear a Methodist minister. I was captivated by his pulpit mannerisms because I had seen the gestures used before: they were the gestures artists painted depicting the preaching of John Wesley.
He announced his text in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, and declared his intention of preaching on the new birth. It was not long, however, before my soul was grieved, for there was no mention of salvation or of the grace of God. Instead, he preached that we need to be born again with new ideas, new intentions, new motivations. Before me stood a man who was a blind leader of the blind. It was obvious he did not know the Lord.
Like Neo Orthodoxy, Neo Evangelicalism was a new threat of liberalism. Unlike the Liberals and the Neo Orthodox, the Neo Evangelical may be a true believer. His shame lies in the effeminacy of his convictions. Most Christianity that professes to be evangelical is, however, "Neo Evangelical."
The Neo Evangelical compromises with Neo Orthodox and otherwise liberal theologians by maintaining they too are Christians. Neo Evangelicalism teaches liberals are brethren who have a difference of opinion. If this is true, there is no such thing as an unbeliever. They who deride basic tenets of the Christian faith are not Christians, neither is everyone who professes himself to be a Christian. A person is a believer because he believes. A man cannot be a Christian and not believe. Nevertheless, it is Liberalism under the banner of Neo Evangelicalism that is being taught in our theological schools.
In l9th century England, people who touted such liberalism were called "Latitudinarians." They were members of England's Broad Church Party, and were so broad minded, their brains fell out, for they found it possible to worship with people who denied the doctrine of the trinity, and who scoffed at the deity of Christ. They called for the abolition of creeds declaring that doctrine is the villain that separates people. This, however, is the purpose of doctrine.
Doctrine separates men. As Jesus said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law" (Matt. 10:34-35). This is the reason there is little Biblical doctrine being preached. Most preaching on the radio and television, and the majority of the religious books being written, are Neo Evangelical in nature.