45. Chapter 41: Modernism's Break with Historic Christianity

CHAPTER 41 Modernism’s Break with Historic Christianity

1. Churches Holding to Super­natural Revelation

We have seen that several Prot­estant bodies departed from his­toric Protestantism. But they did not all depart equally far. The Socinians rejected not only the Scriptural doctrines of original sin, man’s total depravity and in­ability, and the atoning character of the death of Christ — doctrines so ably stated and defended by Augustine. They also denied the deity of Christ. Thus they departed not only from historic Protestant­ism, but broke with historic Chris­tianity itself. The doctrine of the Trinity is the most fundamental of all Christian doctrines.

All the religions in the world can be divided into two classes: polytheism and monotheism. Poly­theism is the belief that there are many gods. Monotheism is the be­lief that there is only one God. If you meet a man who believes in many gods, you know at once that he is a heathen. On the other hand, not all mon­otheists are Christians. If you should meet a Jew or a Mohamme­dan and say to him, "Let me tell you something. There is only one God," he would reply, "You are not telling me anything new. I be­lieve that too." So Jews and Mo­hammedans are monotheists just as truly as we are. But if you should continue, and say to the Jew or the Mohammedan, "Let me tell you something else. In the one being of God there are three divine persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit," he would turn his back upon you, and say, "I do not believe that." And with that he would also confess that he was not a Christian; for no person can deny that Christ is God, and still be a Christian. So you see that the doctrine of the Trinity is the most distinctive of all Christian doctrines. It marks Christians off from the polytheistic heathen. It also distinguishes the Christian from the non-Christian monotheists, such as the Jews and Mohammedans. In the Creed of Nicaea (ch. 3, sec. 9) the Church universal con­fessed its belief in the deity of Christ. To that creed subscribe not only all the Protestant churches worthy of the name, but also the Greek Eastern churches and the Roman Catholic Church. But the Socinians rejected the Nicene Creed. In that way the departure of the Socinians was the greatest and most serious of them all.

Congregationalists and Calvin­istic Baptists departed the least. Each departed in only one matter. The Congregationalists departed in one point of church government. The Baptists rejected infant bap­tism. The departure of the Baptists was a good deal more serious than that of the Congregationalists.

Quakers, Pietists, Moravians, and Methodists departed by plac­ing a one-sided emphasis upon Christian life at the expense of Christian doctrine. The Methodists were Trinitarians, and so they stayed within the pale of universal Christendom. But with their Arminianism they departed from one of the historic doctrines of the Church. Augustine’s and Calvin’s doctrine of predestination and elec­tion means simply that God is really God, that God and not man decides man’s destiny. Arminian-ism with its doctrine of man’s free will teaches that man has a part, the final, deciding part, in his sal­vation. According to the Armini­ans the issue of life and death lies, in the end, not in God’s but in man’s hands (ch. 40, sec. 11).

However, all these Protestant bodies believed in a supernatural revelation and in an infallibly in­spired Bible.

2. Modernism Rejects the Super­natural The Protestant bodies mentioned had a tendency to place too much emphasis on human reason. Still, they placed the authority of the Bible above that of human reason. But the Modernists place the mind of man above the Bible, and they place reason above faith. This at­titude is an outgrowth of the spirit of modern science and philosophy. The Modernists do not believe in the supernatural. They do not be­lieve in miracles. Consequently they do not believe in the virgin birth and the deity of Christ. They do not believe in a special revela­tion from God and in an infallibly inspired Bible. They consider the Bible to be not a revelation of God, but a record of man. However, ac­cording to them it is a record not of the entire human race, but only of the religious ideas and experi­ences of the ancient Jews.

Modernism is a departure from historic Protestantism. But it is much more. It is a definite break with historic Christianity all along the line. And it has invaded in greater or lesser degree most Prot­estant churches.