The Theological Battleground of Our Day

(I alluded to this article in my previous entry on “Reflections on the COVID season”)

In his class on the Doctrine of Man, my professor of Systematic Theology, Dr. Bob Strimple, quoted from a French writer and statesman, Andrea Malraux. Malraux fought against the Nazis during World War II and served as a cabinet member under Charles de Gaulle. Dr. Strimple cited from one of his addresses to the UN in the 1960s when he stated: “That God is dead has been clear to me for some time. The problem for us today in this old earth of Europe is whether or not Man is dead.” A withering statement. Not only do we see his embrace of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, we can also see his quasi-prophetic sensibilities. Once we lose an orthodox view of God (and Scripture), how much longer can we maintain an orthodox view of humanity? As Malraux seemed to predict, the answer to that question is “not very long.” Dr. Strimple was wise to refer to this insightful comment.

As we ponder the recent controversies that has dominated various social media sights, political discussions, and even sermons at churches, there is a common theme among them: they all deal with anthropological concerns. They are focused on matters regarding humanity. Consider the societal issues that has received national attention in recent decades: Thoughts on gender. Roles of women in society, family, and the church. Sexual orientation. Race relations. Racism. Multiethnicity. Pronoun usages. Rights of individuals in relation to those of the state. Artificial Intelligence. And others. We are living through the COVID-19 pandemic and still wrestling with issues regarding race and racism. This has drawn everyone’s attention. This is also an election year and thus politicized. The fact that it has been made a political agenda does sadden me since racism is intrinsically a moral issue, not a political one. Regardless, people are struggling for a sense of self-identity and this has made its way from the universities to the public place to even the church.

Theological discussions in American Christianity has historically wrestled between the proper relationship between law and grace. If one overly emphasizes law (obedience), they are often accused of being a moralist. If one overly emphasizes the grace of God, they are accused of being antinomian (i.e. a lawless hedonist). This debate goes as far back as the Marrow controversy in Scottish presbyterian history of the eighteenth and nineteenth century (for more details, see Sinclair Ferguson, The Whole Christ). In our day, that duality of moralism vs antinomianism has been replaced with new nomenclature. The new accusations are between being a racist or a social justice warrior (SJW). If one overly emphasizes discussions on the culture wars, then you are an SJW. If one does not emphasize it enough, you are a racist. Whereas you can be examined by a church committee if your theology is a bit suspicious that can take months or even years of deliberation, any hint of being a racist or SJW brings the wrath of the court of public opinion. Such a person is immediately ousted with aggressive calls for their dismissal. Stores are immediately shut down, politicians must step down, captains of industry to decimated financially, even pastors are immediately removed from pulpits. This only affirms that the theological (and societal) battleground of our day is on anthropological concerns, i.e. the doctrine of humanity.

Throughout the history of the church, specific theological truths have been the target of attack. Consider the theological battles in the ancient era. The Doctrine of God was under siege in the fourth century AD, the result of which gave the church the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. In the subsequent fifth century, it was the Doctrine of Christ that was under assault, which produced for the church the important doctrine of the Hypostatic Union of Christ. At the time of the Reformation, numerous truths were under reanalysis and defined by biblical parameters: the Doctrine of Justification by Faith alone, the Doctrine of the Church, and many others. Ever since the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, the church has battled for the Inerrancy and Inspiration of the Word of God (i.e. the Doctrine of Scripture). What is the orthodoxy that is under scrutiny in our day? The Doctrine of Humanity. We are the theological battleground of our generation.

I must confess that for many years I have been hesitant to engage in this dialogue with too much energy in fear of slowly sliding down the path to a social gospel, like that of the early twentieth century and the modernist/fundamentalist discussions. I am still haunted by the work of Pearl Buck who concluded that we must “rethink missions,” that the notion of the conversion of the heathen is obsolete and should not be accepted as the missional strategy of the church. But rather, we should tend to the material needs of others only. That is appalling, and I feared that discussion in the culture war would take the church in that direction. Although I still fear such trends, that does not excuse us from engaging in the current dialogue, especially when there is significant confusion on the nature of humanity. I think of my children. If I do not disciple them to have a biblical understanding of such matters like racism, homosexuality, etc., then they will learn this from what they read and see on the internet and social media sights. God forbid that I allow this to happen! The same with ministry, whether that be in the church or the seminary.

I am reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul who said the spiritual warfare of the church is not against flesh (Eph 6:12; 2 Cor 10:4). For that reason, we are called to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). The Scripture has encouraging things to say about humanity, and this needs to be shared with vigor. It is a beautiful reality of our creation in the image of God that was tragically corrupted due to sin, yet redeemed in Christ. We do need wisdom to not fall into the trap of the secular dialogue where we are forced to choose between the dichotomies that the world established: racist vs SJW (or the like). Rather, we must see that the Scripture rejects both, just as it rejects both moralism and antinomianism, and embraces a gospel-centered perspective that offers a theological worldview in which we can properly understand who we are as creatures in communion with our Redeemer-Creator-King.