Apologetics

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Pagans In The Pulpit
by Gregory W. Eckrich, 02/01/05

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.

The good news: they are dead. Unfortunately, like them, there is another group of leaders who are just as vile and leading their congregations just as astray. These so-called leaders are standing in our pulpits today.

STATISTICAL STUDY
The precursor essay, "Pagans In The Pew?" statistically demonstrated the condition of our churches today. Let us reiterate the statistical research.

The Barna Research Group, Ventura, CA, headed by Dr. George Barna, published in December, 2003 a study entitled, "A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person's Life."3

"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."

Inversely stated, 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. Sadder yet, who is it that leads our churches? The men in the pulpit.

"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 (emphasis added --gwe).

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%). "4

"The denominations that produced the highest proportions of adults with a biblical worldview were
non-denominational Protestant churches (13%),
Pentecostal churches (10%)
Baptist churches (8%)."5

Even in the best case (the non-denominational Protestant churches), 87% of the church-goers (not the population at large) are not living from a Christian perspective. 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 DEFINITIONS
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." 6
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 sm”rg†sbord at Boston Market restaurants. You may not sm”rg†sbord the Bible.

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

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.7"

FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS-why do we not have them?

Several reasons:
1)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.

2)This is compounded by the fact that secular humanism- the prevailing anti-Christian religion in the United States- is taught universally, including: public schools; private schools; in the print media; the visual media; by government.

3)Lack of a biblical worldview is compounded by a failure to read scripture as it is written. As an example, the modern day understanding of the Book of Acts essentially denies the work of the Holy Spirit. It also objects to the necessity of having Holy Spirit power in order to carry out the mission given to all Christians--witness.

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 states 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."8

What are biblical worldview principles?
Here are a few of the fundamental principles enumerated in 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

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."9

So what does the other side say?
The other side is Secular Humanism. Here is a side by side comparison.

Comparison of biblical worldview to those of secular humanism

(B)Biblical standards
(S)Humanist Standards
1
(B)GOD is Creator of everything including life.
(S)There is no god; we are the result of evolution.
2
(B)GOD is the source of all knowledge; divine and personal revelation used.
(S)All knowledge comes through man's study and is transmitted through education.
3
(B)MARRIAGE is one man one woman for life
(S)Live together, fornicate, commit adultery.
4
(B)FAMILY exists to create, nurture godly children.
(S)Family is what we define it to be including abortion (baby murder) and gay marriage.
5
(B)GOD determines right and wrong.
(S)Human reasoning determines right and wrong,
6
(B)Christianity is based on absolute, unchanging values.
(S)Relativistic values: truth relative (lie), cheat, steal, kill; end justifies the means.
7
(B)God made you; He owns your body.
(S)Do what you want with you body; its yours; pierce it, cut it, tattoo it.
8
(B)Godly standards of conduct.
(S)Human standards of conduct: homosexuality.

The table above demonstrates absolute standards, as set by God, compared to the relativistic standards of humanism. Dr. Morris, discussing origins, points out..

One's belief concerning his origins will inevitably determine his belief concerning his purpose and his destiny.10

Thus, if you believe that you are the product of chance random processes (evolution) 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's 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...11

Since there is a God, and he is the Creator then he determines right and wrong. Human conduct is to be 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. [Ironic, this is one of the few absolutes that humanism exhibits.]

So what about the pastors?
Obviously, from the perspective of Christian values and foundational principles American society is sliding down the long and slippery slope. Only 4% of Americans operate from a biblical worldview. What of the church? Not much better. The very best percentage of church goers holding a biblical worldview is 13%.

Who is held to account for the loss of a sheep? The shepherd. Who is held accountable for the loss of a flock? The shepherd. And who trains and teaches the shepherds? Seminaries and Bible schools. How many Seminaries and Bible schools teach the authority of the Bible vis-a-vie a literal Genesis? In July, 2004, Richard Fangrad12 stated:

A few months ago I wrote that a Christian University in British Columbia did not take a stand on teaching a straightforward understanding of Genesis. We had calls and letters from quite a number of you who were shocked and saddened by this news. To clarify further: sadly, so far as we know there is not a single Bible school or seminary in Canada that takes a stand on, and requires all of their teachers to take a stand on, a straightforward understanding of Genesis (six normal-length days; global Flood; creation about 6,000 years ago; no death, suffering and bloodshed before Adam sinned).
Surprised? Please, do not be. Mr. Ken Ham13, founder and President of Answers In Genesis, an international creationist ministry stated recently:

As we see the continuing loss of Christian morality and the Christian worldview in this culture [United States -gwe], more and more of God's people (as a result of ministries like AiG) are now understanding that a major contributing factor to this terrible slide lies with churches and church leaders who have been misled into major compromise.

Even though America has been (and still is) a Christian nation, with the largest number of Christian resources in the world (colleges, seminaries, bookstores, radio/TV stations, etc.), this country is becoming more and more anti-Christian every day.

While this has been going on, the majority of Christian leaders (pastors, elders, seminary professors, etc.) have not taken a stand on six literal days of creation, but have allowed for millions of years of history before man ever appeared on the earth. They have 'unlocked a door': to allow for man to be in authority over God's Word, and thus to undermine the Bible as our absolute authority.

As a result, the culture as a whole has lost biblical authority-it has made man's word the authority. [emphasis added -gwe]
Many of the shepherds have been suborned, led away, down the road of compromise.

Conclusions

Today, we must have the same grounding as Paul had when he was referring to Colossian Gnosticism. 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.14 And parents, we can all do this, can we not?

Are there pagans in the pulpits? Yes. The depraved state of our churches says so-homosexual Bishops; homosexual marriages; more divorce in the church than out; baby murder protected by law; a disregard for the authority of scripture.


Our society, once a boldly Christian society, reflects this sad state of affairs in the church: not only are pagans in the pews but the PAGANS are IN THE PULPIT.

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1 Webster's Third International Dictionary, Electronic version
2 King James version of the Holy Bible is used throughout the paper --gwe.
3 “A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person's Life,” The Barna Group, Ventura, CA December, 2003 taken from the website www.barna.org.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
7 “A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person's Life,” The Barna Group, Ventura, CA December, 2003 taken from the website www.barna.org.
8 The GENESIS RECORD: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings, Morris, Henry M. Dr., Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Book House, 1976 ISBN: 0-8010-6004-4 p 21
9 Ibid. p 17
10 Ibid.
11 Jeffrey Dahmer (serial murderer) interviewed by Stone Philips, Dateline NBC, November 29.1994.
12 “Creation compromise—more widespread than most realize” by Richard Fangrad
First published in Answers Update–Canada, July 2004
13 “Operation: Refuting Compromise”by Ken Ham, President, AiG–USA
First published in: Answers Update–US, January 2004
14 EVANGELICAL Sunday School Lesson COMMENTARY, “The Preeminence of Christ,” Fifty-Second Annual Volume, 2003, PATHWAY PRESS, Cleveland ,TN ISBN 0-87148-225-8 p 432-440.

Copyright 2005 Gregory W. Eckrich

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