Is Orthodoxy really important anymore?
I come from a very doctrinaire background. My mother told me that one time when I was about 6 or 7 years old she heard me arguing with a Catholic kid: “Hey, we don’t pray to Mary - we go straight to God.” I was raised a Baptist and Baptists are some pretty tough hombres when it comes to what they believe. Anyway, over the many years of following Jesus I’ve gone though a lot of changes in terms of how I understand what is important, and those things that are less important and then those things that are purely preference when it comes to Christian tradition, worship and even doctrine. At age 52 I feel pretty comfortable in my “belief” skin, if you catch my meaning. I can hang with pretty traditional folks and be a-ok, I can hang with wild-eyed pentecostals and not be freaked and pretty much every thing in between with some qualifications.
That qualification is Orthodoxy - what all Christians, at all times have always believed. It is summed up in the beautiful early creeds like the Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed. Now don’t get me wrong there are other more comprehensive statements of faith that I also love, like Westminister or the Heidlberg Confessional. But there are elements in those Reformational Creeds that some genuine believers will disagree over. That’s cool - we’ll settle it around the throne of God, if we even care. But there are some simple things in those early creeds that I see being ignored by huge numbers of Christians as though they don’t matter. For example the Trinity. For me it isn’t a negotiable. I just can’t see how it can be. Could a person be a Christian and not believe in the Trinity? Well, if the minimum of saving faith is believing in the finished work of Jesus on the cross on my behalf then I suppose its possible to be a believer who is also a heretic.
For example T.D. Jakes. This guy is huge. His church has thirty thousand people. He is revered by many Pentecostal leaders, he is on T.V. all the time and even consulted by National New Media when they want a “Christian leaders” opinion. Yet, the guy is part of a non-trinitarian pentecostal group.
Does that matter? There are others who are also celebrated by Christians - Recording artists Phillips, Craig and Dean and Preacher/popular author Tommy Tenney. For me this is a problem that should not be ignored. Oneness pentecostalism, or Jesus-only pentecostalism is a abberent theology. It strays from that very important essential body of doctrine which is called Orthodoxy. Are these folks Christians? I am not the theological diviner of all truth - but I am not afraid to say that they are heretical.
Soon, in our area a well-known “oneness” personality will be speaking at a church which claims to have jettisoned its “oneness roots” and to now have embraced trinitarianism. I see that as a problem. Do you? Why would a church which seeks to present itself to the public as “theologically orthodox” associate themselves with a teacher from an established “oneness” pentecostal group? That strikes me as deceptive, or at the very least ignorant. Either orthodoxy is a meaningful historic concept in someway binding on all Christians or we are free to shift the sands to whatever fits with the need or topic of the moment. I am committed to Christian unity. I will stand with anyone who believes the Apostle’s Creed for the sake of honoring Jesus. I’m not a nit-picker. But there has to be a line that says: cross this line and you have crossed a line which makes Christian unity impossible. Most Christians understand that principal when thinking about how we relate to Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons. But what about those Christians who blur a line like the Trinity? Can we fellowship with them? Can we pray and try and build Christian unity with them? I’m sorry but I don’t think we can. I don’t believe we should hate them or go on a campaign to stamp them out. But the error is serious! Truth is its not just the doctrine of the Trinity. Defects in the doctrine of God lead to problems in Christology, soteriology and even practical matters like whether or not a church understands the necessity of the Church expressing itself as a community (Think about it; no Trinity and you lose the whole foundation for Christian community being rooted in the nature of the Godhead). Paul could be quite harsh on those who strayed from essential Christian truth - But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Gal 1:8-9) Paul spoke with the utmost seriousness it came to matters of Christian Truth. What are your thoughts?
April 27th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Orthodoxy is difficult to defend in a post modern mindset. I think the main reason why people stray from all doctrine is a belief that all viewpoints are valid. It sure makes having a viewpoint less meaningful. whether it is the Trinity or another lesser doctrine, people are willing to look past other peoples heresy to pick and choose what they want to believe.
It is a shame that this exists in the “christian” community.