March 21, 2008
Reinventing Christianity in your own Image
The oddest offshoots of the protestant revolution are the churches that simply invent a religion and try to tie it to Christianity. The theology has very little to do with true Christian worship, but by including "Christianity" in part of the name, they can attract a following of believers - sometimes a huge following.
If you look at the timeline since the protestant "reformation" there is a clear trend. You start with one offshoot from the Catholic Church: the Anglicans. From there division begins to shatter the Anglican communion into two, then five, then hundreds of churches, all with a slightly different theological bent. As the division increases, these small churches get further and further from the Truth. In our day we have the "non-denominational" church, which basically means the pastor is following whatever whim moves him this week, so the theology becomes changeable and unclear. I read this definition of a system of theology recently:
Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. . . . Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.
This is "black liberation theology" and is followed by "Christian" leaders, typically in non-denominational (from what I can gather) churches, but also in at least one very large church. Ask yourself one question: What exactly about the definition is Christian?
The answer is simple: nothing. In fact, this definition is a form of self-worship, since the minister and followers attempt to "kill Gods who do not belong to the black community." First, this implies that either there are many "gods" or none (God is an illusion that we shape). Second, it implies that we have control over God, rather than the other way around. Third, if Christ died today (Good Friday), this definition accepts that God only died for black people, not for white.
Don't get stuck on this definition: there are white racist churches out there as well. The point is that without explicit protection from Jesus Christ, theology tends toward a god that we control. A god that is small, obedient, and doesn't ask the hard things from us. Thankfully I'm Catholic and I have the promise of Jesus Christ that my Church will never fall into this trap and never fail. But I have to pray for those who invent their own religion: may the scales of arrogance fall from their eyes. And may they accept in faith that God is real and Jesus loves every single one of us.
My prayers are with you on Good Friday.
God bless,
Jay
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the "non-denominational" church, which basically means the pastor is following whatever whim moves him this week, so the theology becomes changeable and unclear.
I wouldn't say this.
Rather, non-denoms try to be "big tents," and while they'll officially profess evangelical beliefs, members aren't bound to accept them.
Like many evangelicals, they don't see church as "teacher;" the hymn "Just as I am" implies they'll stay the way they came, unchanged.
Posted by: moonshadow at March 25, 2008 4:17 PM
