Apologetics

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Pagans in the Pew?
by Gregory W. Eckrich

Pagan /Pa´gan/ (pÄ´gan), n. One who worships false gods; an idolater; a heathen; 1

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:2 1Peter 3:15

Attila the Hun-- a pagan? Definitely. Alexander the Great? Yes. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin? You bet. Maybe you have a few favorite pagans of your own. Be careful now, it is an election year.

The good news: they are dead. The rest of the story? People just like them are sitting in our pews today. And, not just a few!

Two points of analysis: first, a statistical study by Dr. George Barna; secondly, an analysis of foundational beliefs.

STATISTICAL STUDY
The Barna Research Group of Ventura, CA, is headed by Dr. George Barna, a published author, and pollster. In December, 2003, the Barna Group released a study entitled, “A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person's Life.”1

“Citing the findings from a just-completed national survey of 2033 adults that showed only 4% of adults have a biblical worldview as the basis of their decision-making, researcher George Barna described the outcome.” [emphasis added –gwe]

Put another way, 96% of American adults DO NOT have a biblical worldview as their basis for decision making. 96% of Americans reject one or more of these criteria (as defined by the Barna Group):

“For the purposes of the research, a biblical worldview was defined as believing that
-absolute moral truths exist;
-that such truth is defined by the Bible; and
-firm belief in six specific religious views."

Those views were that
-"Jesus Christ lived a sinless life;
-God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today;
-salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned;
-Satan is real;
-a Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people; and
-the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.” [bullets added for clarification –gwe]

Sadly, our churches are little better.

“The research indicated that everyone has a worldview, but relatively few people have a biblical worldview - even among devoutly religious people. The survey discovered that only 9% of born again Christians have such a perspective on life."

"The numbers were even lower among other religious classifications:
-Protestants (7%),
-adults who attend mainline Protestant churches (2%) and
-Catholics (less than one-half of 1%)."

The denominations that produced the highest proportions of adults with a biblical worldview were
-non-denominational Protestant churches (13%),
-Pentecostal churches (10%) and
-Baptist churches (8%).” 1 [Bullets added for clarification --gwe]

Even in the best case (the non-denominational Protestant churches), 87% of the church-goers are not living from a Christian perspective. Now you see why this essay is entitled “Pagans In The Pew,” because those in the pews are unbelievers, pagans. According to the Barna Group the reason lies in the fact that Christians do not hold a Christian worldview. Then the question—why not?

FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS
Christians do not hold a Biblical worldview because, with few exceptions, the biblical worldview is not taught in church nor anywhere else in the United States. This is compounded by the fact that secular humanism— the anti-Christian religion— is taught universally, including: public schools; private schools; in the print media; the visual media; by government.

This section of the paper will source biblical worldview principles.

Let us define a few terms.

BIBLE, the English form of the Greek name _Biblia_, meaning "books," the name which in the fifth century began to be given to the entire collection of sacred books, the "Library of Divine Revelation." The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came gradually into use in our English language. The Bible consists of sixty-six different books, composed by many different writers, in three different languages, under different circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and Gentiles; most of them unknown to each other, and writing at various periods during the space of about 1600 years: and yet, after all, it is only one book dealing with only one subject in its numberless aspects and relations, the subject of man's redemption. It is divided into the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine books, and the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books. [Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897]

The fifth century name for the collected works of the Old and New Testaments was the “Library of Divine Revelation,” what we now call the Bible. It is one book. Either it is accepted en toto, as God's word, or it is not. You may smorgasborg at Boston Market restaurants. You may not smorgasborg the Bible.

Biblical worldview— “ biblical worldview is defined as believing that absolute moral truths exist; that such truth is defined by the Bible; and firm belief in six specific religious views.1”

Worldview— the collection of thoughts, opinions, morals upon which one acts; in short, one's philosophy of life.

SOURCING BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW PRINCIPLES
The source for biblical principles is the Bible. Foundational principles are found in the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis. John 5:46-47: "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" Jesus speaking stating that Moses put down the foundational beliefs which, if accepted, would have brought Israel to believe in Him, the Messiah.

In particular, these Mosaic principles are contained in the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Dr. Henry H. Morris states in THE GENESIS RECORD:

"It is significant that the portion of Genesis which has been the object of the greatest attacks of skepticism and unbelief, the first eleven chapters, is the portion which had the greatest influence on the New Testament." 1

Enumerate biblical worldview principles

Here are a few of the fundamental principles enumerated by Genesis:
-origin of the universe GEN 1:1
-origin of order and complexity—“order and complexity never arise spontaneously”1
-origin of the solar system
-water GEN 1:2
-light GEN 1:3
-day and night GEN 1:4-5
-sky GEN 1:6
-dry land GEN 1:9
-sun, moon, stars GEN 1:16
-origin of the atmosphere and hydrosphere
(above)
-origin of life GEN 1:20
-origin of man GEN 1:26-27
-origin of marriage GEN 2:21-22
-origin of evil GEN 3:6
-origin of clothing GEN 3:6; GEN 3:21

Need I go on? Dr. Morris again...


"The Book of Genesis gives vital information concerning the origin of all things—and therefore the meaning of all things—which would otherwise be forever inaccessible to man. The future is bound up in the past." 1

Comparison of biblical worldview to those of secular humanism [NOTE: this is a side by side table in the original; text format forbids same --gwe]

Christianity GOD—Creator of everything including life

Secular Humanism Chance, random processes produced life using evolution
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Christianity God is the source of all knowledge; divine and personal revelation used

Secular Humanism All knowledge comes through man's study and is transmitted through education
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Christianity MARRIAGE-one man one woman for life

Secular Humanism Live together, fornicate
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Christianity FAMILY— nurture of children
Secular Humanism Abortion (baby murder)
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Christianity GOD determines right and wrong;

Secular Humanism Human reasoning determines right and wrong,
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Christianity absolute values; unchanging

Secular Humanism relativistic; truth relative (lie); cheat; steal; kill
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Christianity Wear clothes; your body is God's

Secular Humanism Do what you want with you body; its yours
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Christianity GODLY standards of conduct

Secular Humanism Human standards of conduct: homosexuality
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The chart above demonstrates absolute standards, as set by God, compared to the relativistic standards of humanism. Christianity says that God is the Creator and sustainer of all life. Humanism says there is no God and that we are the result of chance random processes called evolution.

Dr. Morris, discussing origins, points out...
"One's belief concerning his origins will inevitably determine his belief concerning his purpose and his destiny." 1

Thus, if you believe that you are the product of chance random processes then no one has control over you, nor are you accountable to anyone. Hear what Jeffrey Dahmer, convicted serial murderer, thinks about origins:

"If a person doesn't think there is a God to be accountable to, then— then what's— what's the point of— of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That how I thought, anyway. I always believed that the theory of evolution as as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing..."2

Since there is a God, and he is the Creator then he determines right and wrong. It is based on the absolutes He has given us. Absolutes do not change. In humanism, humans determine right and wrong. There is no absolute standard for human conduct other than the humanists' absolute belief there is no God. This is the root of the conflict between the two religions. Christianity stands for God and absolute values; humanism stands for anything except God and his absolutes.

Conclusions
Today, we must have the same grounding [as Paul when he was referring to Colossian Gnosticism --gwe]. There is no way we can avoid the humanistic religions cropping up everywhere. We must educate our children (and ourselves) firmly in the Word of God so we will be able to distinguish truth from error.

Are there pagans in the pews? Dr. Barna says so. The depraved state of our churches says so—homosexual Bishops and homosexual marriages, more divorce in the church than out. And, our society, once an avowedly Christian society, certainly reflects the inability of the church to be salt.

OK, so there are pagans in the pews. Now what? And the Bible says...


Copyright 2005 Gregory W. Eckrich

CONTACT THIS WRITER directly at [email protected] as Instant Messenger / Private Messenger are not used.

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