The next President of the United States will likely be a self-identified mainline Christian.
Hillary Clinton is a member of the United Methodist Church and Donald Trump continues to assert that he is a Presbyterian. However, Clinton does not align with the UMC on the exclusivity of Christianity, LGBTQ issues or abortion. Trump’s self-avowed denomination openly disavows him. The fact that Clinton and Trump claim affiliation with mainline denominations with whose theology and corporate witness they do not align, illustrates the big tent, diluted, nondescript relativistic Christianity of today’s mainlines.
Culturally, we have arrived at a time and place that should surprise no one and yet seems to surprise many Christians every day. Many Americans wake up every day and wonder how, as a “Christian nation,” we got to a place where college students cannot think, political leaders cannot talk to one another, and the God-created male-female complementarian design bows to fluid self-declared gender identity.
Those who have been students of mainline Christianity for the past 50 years have already watched a moral and theological revolution. The foundation of the faith has been eroded from the inside the mainline which in turn, has had profound influences on our culture at large. This is a call to heed the lessons of history and pray for a future of revival.
As the “robes” of mainline churches have given up on basic Christian beliefs like the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the evangelical mission migrated toward social justice devoid of redemptive power. The trajectory away from a shared faith expressed in and through Jesus Christ as the way of salvation, the truth of God’s Word and the life of discipleship gave way to moralistic therapeutic deism.
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AMEN!
What nonsense. The fact that Donald Trump has been warmly received by evangelical leaders such as Franklin Graham, Huckabee, Dobson, Jeffress, Falwell, and others despite his racist and misogynist pronouncements, while disavowed by the PCUSA illustrates the “big tent, diluted, nondescript relativistic Christianity” of today’s evangelical movement, and most definitely NOT the PCUSA. Hillary Clinton’s views differ from official UMC theology and witness in small ways and on issues in which the membership of very few denominations have full consensus. If you are looking for relativistic Christianity, note that outside of the mainline protestant denominations the most common witness and practice in the evangelical churches would disqualify both Clinton and LaBerge from leadership roles.
“Deism” is defined as belief based on reason and logic. Now, there’s nothing wrong with being reasonable and logical is there? Is it better to pursue beliefs that are unreasonable and illogical? It would seem not. And if Deism, through its reason and logic, proves “therapeutic” as well, well what’s wrong with that? Is it better to pursue beliefs that are not only unreasonable and illogical, but have some effect which is the opposite of being therapeutic (presumably, of causing one to feel worse and worse)? It would doubly seem not.
A variant of Deism exists called Pandeism, which logically and reasonably fully accounts for all the claims of all the theistic faiths, and so Pandeism supersedes these as well.
There seems to be little reason or logic in the actions of the leaders of this country for a number of years. I think they need a little faith in God an then act as He would have them act. That would be reason and logic.
Moral therapeutic deism is okay if you aren’t going to die. A reasonable, logical (if totally lacking in epistimic depth and humility) is fine if you want to live comfortably in a quiet, gated neighborhood protected from the real world and you manage to live forever.
If you die, of course, you might find yourself standing before a personal God despite all logic and pretended epistimic certainty, and this personal God will, as Sovereign, be able to judge you and determine an eternal destiny for you despite your “logic.”
Carmen’s point about the entire culture being influenced by the watering down of faith by the mainlines is just as true of many of today’s evangelicals. Oh, and your charges about Trump are subjective opinions – one might say equally ugly things about you, oh sinner – and have little to do with evangelical thought or positions. But nice try though.
With the leadership of William Thompson as Stated Clerk (UPCUSA) and the re-union with the PCUS, mainline Presbyterianism has followed the pattern we see in the national political structure – a bloated executive office with para-agencies staffed by whiz-kid functionaries making policies that erode the authority and integrity of the local congregations. Our Stated Clerks now function essentially as kings and Executive Presbyters generally follow the party line, acting now more as bishops wielding legal authority rather than as pastors having authority that is only declarative. People who wish to exercise their conscience and leave may still do so but congregations are held hostage and must pay a large tax if they desire to take property with them. Our Assemblies continue to show a willingness to tell businesses how to operate and nations how to conduct their relationships; would that the Assemblies would simply attend to managing the denomination’s own falling numbers and do with our leadership what any successful business would do with leaders whose policies failed so miserably – fire them.
At what point does the PCUSA cease to be a “mainline” denomination?
Right now, the other Presbyterian denominations have a combined membership of about half that of the PCUSA. But attendance in the PCUSA is a lower percentage of membership, and the other branches of Presbyterianism do more home and foreign missions.
Please don’t believe that every evangelical follows these ‘evangelical’ leaders.
That’s like saying every white person agrees with David Duke, or every black person agrees with Malcolm X.