Jim
Bramlett
(11 May 2007)
"The history of belief and
unbelief"
Dear friends:
Throughout history, the Creator of the universe has clearly communicated
His love and plan to the inhabitants of Planet Earth:
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at
many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to
us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he
made the universe" (Hebrew 1:1-2, NIV).
But have people listened? Mostly not. In general, earth
dwellers have consistently turned a deaf ear to their own Creator.
Soon after Adam and Eve, who walked with God, humanity began to ignore
God, later resulting in pervasive evil and the Flood, saving only Noah
and his family. Noah was a just man, who walked with God (Genesis
6:9).
Soon after Noah’s family, humanity again began to ignore God, resulting
in widespread paganism. Abraham was an exception. He believed
God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness, as with us (Romans
4:3, 24). He was called God’s friend (James 2:23). From a
narrow lineage of his seed later came the Law, the Messiah, and the
church.
Soon after Christ came, while the gospel spread rapidly through the
apostles, humanity soon began distorting it and adding pagan practices,
with the Scriptures banned from the common folks. Again, God’s
voice was muted.
Hundreds of years later, the Reformation and the printing press brought
God’s Word and the truth to people. This caused a great move of God
westward, forming a new nation on a new continent, in covenant with Him,
which would become the most free, the most powerful, the most prosperous,
and the greatest missionary sending nation in history. Sin still
abounded, but knowledge of God’s Word filled the land.
But, alas, man’s depraved nature began to be dominant again. In
spite of the fact that churches in this new land are on every corner, and
the gospel is preached and the Bible taught on radio and television
24/7/365, consider the following report by Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D. Remember, this is not talking about the general public, but about
those in the church!
________________________________
A crisis of basic biblical and theological knowledge exists in
America’s churches, and church leaders must do all they can to address
this growing problem, so say experts monitoring the beliefs of people in
Christian churches across the United States. “The Christian body in America is immersed in a crisis of biblical
illiteracy,” warns researcher George Barna. “How else can you describe
matters when most churchgoing adults reject the accuracy of the Bible,
reject the existence of Satan, claim that Jesus sinned, see no need to
evangelize, believe that good works are one of the keys to persuading God
to forgive their sins, and describe their commitment to Christianity as
moderate or even less firm?”[1] Other disturbing findings that document an overall lack of knowledge
among churchgoing Christians include the following:
• The most widely known Bible verse among adult and teen
believers is “God helps those who help themselves,” which is not
actually in the Bible and actually conflicts with the basic message of
Scripture.
• Less than one out of every ten believers possess a
biblical worldview as the basis for his or her decision-making or
behavior.
• When given thirteen basic teachings from the Bible,
only 1% of adult believers firmly embraced all thirteen as being biblical
perspectives.[2]
Gary Burge, professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton,
Illinois, asserts that biblical illiteracy is at a crisis level not just
in our culture in general but in America’s churches. “If it is true that
biblical illiteracy is commonplace in secular culture at large, there is
ample evidence that points to similar trends in our churches,” he
says.[3]
Burge points to research at Wheaton College in which the biblical and
theological literacy of incoming freshmen have been monitored. These
students, who represent almost every Protestant denomination in the
United States from every state in the country, have returned some
“surprising results”:
• One-third could not put the following in order:
Abraham, the Old Testament prophets, the death of Christ, and
Pentecost.
• Half could not sequence the following: Moses in Egypt,
Isaac’s birth, Saul’s death, and Judah’s exile.
• One-third could not identify Matthew as an apostle
from a list of New Testament names.
• When asked to locate the biblical book supplying a
given story, one-third could not find Paul’s travels in Acts, half did
not know that the Christmas story was in Matthew, half did not know that
the Passover story was in Exodus.[4]
If it is that bad in the church, think what it is like amongst the
population in general!
The bottom line: God has spoken many times to Earth’s citizens,
and is still speaking, but most people are not listening. Out of
His great love, He is shouting, to save people from the destruction that
man is bringing upon himself. But most still ignore Him.
That is no doubt why Jesus asked the rhetorical question, “When the
Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8,
NIV).
Will He? Probably not much.
The attitude of much of the world is summed up in a debate this week on
ABC News between two atheists and two Christians. The atheists’
blasphemy, rebellion, and proclamations of unbelief were chilling.
One said, “I’d rather spend eternity in hell than spend it worshipping a
maniacal tyrant” (referring to our gracious and loving God). She
will probably get her wish.
We are living in the most dangerous and critical time in history, with
the nuclear and other WMD swords about to fall, but most of the world is
ignorant of God and what He has said, and is rebelling against Him.
Thankfully, there is also spiritual awakening happening in many
places. For example, in its April 16, 2001 issue, Newsweek magazine reports:
“All across the African subcontinent… Christianity is a 24/7
experience …. Here among the Ashanti and Baganda and the thousand other
tribes who occupy the world’s second largest continent, Christianity is
spreading faster than at any time or place in the last 2,000 years.”
Both unbelief and spiritual awakening are signs of the times.
Let us rejoice, because Jesus is coming soon.
Jim
______________________________
[1] Barna Research Online, “Religious Beliefs Vary Widely by
Denomination,”
www.barna.org/cgi-bin/PagePressRelease.asp?PressReleaseID=92&Reference=B ,
June 25, 2001.
[2] Barna Research Online, “Discipleship Insights Revealed in New
Book
by George Barna,” www.barna.org/cgi-bin/PagePressRelease.asp?PressReleaseID
=76&Reference=E&Key=bible%20knowledgeNovember 28, 2000.
[3] Gary M. Burge, “The Greatest Story Never Read: Recovering biblical
literacy in the church,”
www.christianitytoday.com/ct/9t9/9t9045.html.
[4] Ibid.