Sovereign Grace Chapel

3rd Sermon in a Series on the Book of Revelation

There is only a handful of men who have rocked the western theological world over the past 2000 years. Some have been a Godly influence, such as Augustine, Luther and Calvin. Others have been instrumental in the apostasy of the Church. Chief among these is Frederich Schleiermacher.

Frederich Schleiermacher

Today, few have ever heard his name. But in many respects, we are living in a Schleiermacher-shaped world, thinking that this is the way things have always been. To one degree or another, our thought patterns and paradigms are molded by his long arm. His teachings are ever-so-delightful to the unbelieving world; and they are a pernicious influence on those of us who claim the name ‘Christian’.

So, here’s a brief look at the fundamental shift in theology that he was able to accomplish.

Let’s start by defining the Bible. What, really, is it? In one respect, it is the collection of 66 ‘books’ written over a period of 1400 years, but assembled together because of a unifying factor. The Old Testament was assembled by the Jews as each new book was recognized that it belonged; then New Testament was collated and added to the Old by the Church.

What is that unifying factor? The orthodox stance is that every one of these ‘books’ is ‘God-breathed’. The writers were superintended by the Holy Spirit in such a way that they produced works without error in factual data, and contain information that explains the origin, purpose and destiny of mankind. It reveals things about God and man that can be found no where else. For those who believe it, it is the authority for morals and ethics. It provides the guide for faith and practice, giving assurance for the forgiveness of sins. For those who reject it — either in whole or in part — it will be used as the indictment when men are called to give an account of their lives.

Since these are operator dependent, they have not gained much popularity. 4. cheap cialis We keep saying that it isn’t continue reading to find out more get viagra australia about the points or the rebounds, but the timing of it all for Dirk Nowitzki. Therefore, it is one of the best ayurvedic supplements to online levitra treat low stamina in males. What is Tadalis used for Tadalis tablets 20mg ( best viagra pills) are used to treat erectile dysfunction (impotence) in men, which is inability to achieve or maintain a hard erect penis for sexual activity. cialis contain the active ingredient sildenafil citrate. The path to understanding the Bible is no different than the path to understanding any other writing. It is apprehended by applying the intellectual faculties of the mind which can organize and systematize the information in a logical fashion. Once done, it satisfies man’s innate drive for rationality and coherence.

Before Schleiermacher, these things about study and learning were well-understood. It was considered self-evident. Bible study gave rise to creeds, catechisms, doctrinal statements, confessions of faith, commentaries, and scores of other types of works. All were done to expound truth and to persuade people to conform. As the Bible puts it, doctrinal truth is built in the minds of men ‘line by line, precept upon precept.’

Now comes Schleiermacher’s shift. For him, truth is not apprehended through intellectual processes of the mind. Rather, it is apprehended through ‘feeling’; that is, through the emotional inclinations of man. Bible is not the authority that past generations believed it to be. Now, we have entered into a new era, where religious feelings, or affections, are source of truth. For him, the ‘feeling of dependence’ upon God was the key. Man’s emotions would now rule the day, and trusting those emotions would be the guide to faith and practice. No longer is it ‘precept upon precept’; now it is ‘feeling upon feeling’.

This is the heart of Liberalism.

The wise man has said, ‘It it difficult to rise above one’s time’. To that degree and only to that degree, one or all are now liberals.

More to come on Mr. Schleiermacher…

Modern Liberalism has shaped our world more than any other movement in the past 200 years — and particularly the past 100 years in America.

Frederich Schleiermacher

My grandfather, being a staunch Libertarian, detested FDR for his New Deal in the 1930’s. And my father, being a WWII veteran and imbued with an entrepreneurial spirit, was disgusted with LBJ’s Great Society in the 1960’s. And now, the very fabric of our society is being torn apart as the current crop of liberals exert their political power over the western world.

Yet, you may be surprised to learn that the philosophical basis of liberalism is not political — it is religious. It all started as a deviation from orthodox Christianity.

It was begun in Germany in the early 1800’s by a protestant theologian who fundamentally altered the historic Christian faith. He altered it so significantly that great Presbyterian theologian Gresham Machen, a hundred years later, was forced to write a book “Christianity and Liberalism”. In that work, he makes the argument that Liberalism is a completely different religion, devoid of any of the basic tenants necessary to call itself ‘Christian’. Yet Liberals continue to claim the name of Christian while denying the set of beliefs that comprise Christianity. How is that possible?

In order to understand, let me introduce you to Frederick Schleiermacher, the acknowledged Father of Liberalism. To know Schleiermacher and his work is the first step to understanding our present hour.
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Schleiermacher was born and raised in Prussia in the later 1700’s as the son of an army Chaplain. His parents raised him in a Christian home, where the Bible was the presumed Word of God. The basis for his parent’s ethics and morality was rooted in the authority of the Scriptures. Yet young Frederich came to a crossroads in his own beliefs when he was a teenager, as he could not accept the historicity of the Bible. In a letter to his father, Frederich wrote:

“Faith is the regalia of the Godhead, you say. Alas! dearest father, if you believe that without this faith no one can attain to salvation in the next world, nor to tranquility in this — and such, I know, is your belief — oh! then pray to God to grant it to me, for to me it is now lost. I cannot believe that he who called himself the Son of Man was the true, eternal God; I cannot believe that his death was a vicarious atonement.”

In one short confession, Frederich pierced the heart of his father. For in it, he denied the essence of Christianity — the person and work of Jesus Christ. No clearer statement of unbelief could there have been. Yet, Frederich was not willing to walk away from the religious realm. If he had done so, it would have been better for him as well as the rest of us. But no. He applied his great intellect to search for a way to justify himself before God in his unbelieving heart. Through that effort, he invented a new religion that salved his conscience. And we have been suffering ever since.

Liberal Christianity was born.

In my next article I will explore the nature of this new religion and its enormous influence on our culture.