tulsa 2011
Member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2010
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Dispensationalism And Christian Scholasticism
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3: 5-6
http://old.nationalreview.com/document/document060603.asp....
The site above quotes Solzhenitsyn as saying in his 1978 Harvard
speech that "There are telltale symptoms by which history gives
warning to a threatened or perishing society. Such are, for instance,
a decline of the arts or a lack of great statesmen. Indeed, sometimes
the warnings are quite explicit and concrete....How did the West
decline from its triumphal march to its present debility? Have there
been fatal turns and losses of direction in its development? It does
not seem so. The West kept advancing steadily in accordance with its
proclaimed social intentions, hand in hand with a dazzling progress in
technology. And all of a sudden it found itself in its present state
of weakness.....The humanistic way of thinking, which had proclaimed
itself our guide, did not admit the existence of intrinsic evil in
man, nor did it see any task higher than the attainment of happiness
on earth. It started modern Western civilization on the dangerous
trend of worshiping man and his material needs......"
It would seem from these statements by Solzhenitsyn that the United
States and Europe in 1978 had become degenerate and fixated on the
flesh, feelings, desires, conditioning and pride as self-esteem
without help from the psychologists, psychiatrists and sociologists of
the Transformational Marxist Frankfurt School. But this loss of spirituality and failure to
see the intrinsic evil in man may have been the condition in the
United States that allowed transformational Marxism to have the large
influence on our institutions it has had during the second half of the
20th century, and on into the 21st century..
Transformational Marxism and the popularity of the dialectic as a way of argument and as an attitude and behavior change procedure became popular in America after the fifties because - in part - of the previous falling away into humanism and Christian scholasticism.
In 1978 Solzhenitsyn was warning the West that humanism in general had
been undermining the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was not talking about Transformational Marxism or the Frankfurt School in particular.
Remember that B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort in The New Testament in the Original Greek. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1881, An Introduction and Appendix, said that the Bible must be treated like any other old book. This is a starting assumption of Christian humanism or Christian scholasticism. The problem with starting from the assumption that the Bible is just like any other old book is that the meaning of Scripture is given by the Holy Spirit.
The starting assumption of Westcott and Hort, that the Bible must be treated like any old book, has been accepted by many or most Christian academics, who dispensationalists call the "scholars."
Christian humanism, or Christian scholasticism, developed out of the French Revolution of 1789-1799, which made big changes in Western Civilization, culture and eventually in Christianity.
You can see the differences in interpretation of scripture from the commentaries of John Gill, for example, an English Baptist, who lived from 1697 to 1771 - before humanism influenced Christianity - to the very late 19th century and early 20th century after the 1909 publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, after the influence began from humanism.
Humanism caused many Christians to begin to question the absolute truth of scripture, and to want to change the interpretations of scripture to fit man's ideas. Humanism encouraged Christians to lean unto thine their own understanding, contrary to Proverbs 3: 5.
Leaning to man's own understanding did not, in the 19th century, necessarily mean exalting the flesh in some way, such as in drinking, or in having sex outside of the bonds of a heterosexual relationship in marriage. In the late 19th century humanism did not necessarily lead Christians to follow Darwin or Freud. In fact the Southern Baptists, when they began to adapt dispensationalism, called it "fundamentalism."
But 19th century humanism, when taken into Christianity, led to a questioning of the absolute truths from God, and to encourage some Christian leaders to compromise that absolute set of truths known as the Gospel.
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910), Ellen G. White (1827-1915), Edward Irving (1792 –1834), John Darby (1800 -1882), Charles T. Russell (1852-1916),
and and C.I. Scofield (1843 -1921) were some of the major false prophets of the 19th century who influenced Christians. The most
influential 19th century false doctrines were the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons, Christian Science and Dispensationalism.. Dispensationalism became the most popular of these 19th century movements and took over, by the mid 20th century, the majority of protestant denominations.Leaning to man's understanding helped lead to false Christian doctrines. But to determine what is false doctrine those doctrines must be shown to be false by scripture. The partial cause of false doctrines - Christian humanism in general - must be understood as something separate from the false doctrines taught as a partial result of that humanism.
False doctrine is that doctrine which contradicts parts of the Gospel of Christ, where that Gospel is the whole counsel of God of Acts 20:27. The Gospel is not limited to the few doctrines Paul lists in I Corinthians 15: 1-8, which some churches now use as support for their doctrine saying that Christians do not have to follow the "non-essentials." Many false doctrines originate in teaching that parts of the Old Covenant were not done away with, and that Old Covenant Israel remains the chosen people of God by their physical descent from Abraham.
Some of the relevant scriptures that are contradicted in false doctrines about the continuation of the Old Covenant and Israel of the flesh are Romans 2: 17, 24,28-29, Romans 9: 6-8, Romans 10: 12, Romans 11: 5, 17-20, Galatians 3: 3, 16, 26-29, Galatians 4:24-26, Hebrews 10: 1, Colossians 2: 16-17, Hebrews 10: 9, John 10: 16 and Romans 12: 4-5.
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3: 5-6
http://old.nationalreview.com/document/document060603.asp....
The site above quotes Solzhenitsyn as saying in his 1978 Harvard
speech that "There are telltale symptoms by which history gives
warning to a threatened or perishing society. Such are, for instance,
a decline of the arts or a lack of great statesmen. Indeed, sometimes
the warnings are quite explicit and concrete....How did the West
decline from its triumphal march to its present debility? Have there
been fatal turns and losses of direction in its development? It does
not seem so. The West kept advancing steadily in accordance with its
proclaimed social intentions, hand in hand with a dazzling progress in
technology. And all of a sudden it found itself in its present state
of weakness.....The humanistic way of thinking, which had proclaimed
itself our guide, did not admit the existence of intrinsic evil in
man, nor did it see any task higher than the attainment of happiness
on earth. It started modern Western civilization on the dangerous
trend of worshiping man and his material needs......"
It would seem from these statements by Solzhenitsyn that the United
States and Europe in 1978 had become degenerate and fixated on the
flesh, feelings, desires, conditioning and pride as self-esteem
without help from the psychologists, psychiatrists and sociologists of
the Transformational Marxist Frankfurt School. But this loss of spirituality and failure to
see the intrinsic evil in man may have been the condition in the
United States that allowed transformational Marxism to have the large
influence on our institutions it has had during the second half of the
20th century, and on into the 21st century..
Transformational Marxism and the popularity of the dialectic as a way of argument and as an attitude and behavior change procedure became popular in America after the fifties because - in part - of the previous falling away into humanism and Christian scholasticism.
In 1978 Solzhenitsyn was warning the West that humanism in general had
been undermining the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was not talking about Transformational Marxism or the Frankfurt School in particular.
Remember that B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort in The New Testament in the Original Greek. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1881, An Introduction and Appendix, said that the Bible must be treated like any other old book. This is a starting assumption of Christian humanism or Christian scholasticism. The problem with starting from the assumption that the Bible is just like any other old book is that the meaning of Scripture is given by the Holy Spirit.
The starting assumption of Westcott and Hort, that the Bible must be treated like any old book, has been accepted by many or most Christian academics, who dispensationalists call the "scholars."
Christian humanism, or Christian scholasticism, developed out of the French Revolution of 1789-1799, which made big changes in Western Civilization, culture and eventually in Christianity.
You can see the differences in interpretation of scripture from the commentaries of John Gill, for example, an English Baptist, who lived from 1697 to 1771 - before humanism influenced Christianity - to the very late 19th century and early 20th century after the 1909 publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, after the influence began from humanism.
Humanism caused many Christians to begin to question the absolute truth of scripture, and to want to change the interpretations of scripture to fit man's ideas. Humanism encouraged Christians to lean unto thine their own understanding, contrary to Proverbs 3: 5.
Leaning to man's own understanding did not, in the 19th century, necessarily mean exalting the flesh in some way, such as in drinking, or in having sex outside of the bonds of a heterosexual relationship in marriage. In the late 19th century humanism did not necessarily lead Christians to follow Darwin or Freud. In fact the Southern Baptists, when they began to adapt dispensationalism, called it "fundamentalism."
But 19th century humanism, when taken into Christianity, led to a questioning of the absolute truths from God, and to encourage some Christian leaders to compromise that absolute set of truths known as the Gospel.
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910), Ellen G. White (1827-1915), Edward Irving (1792 –1834), John Darby (1800 -1882), Charles T. Russell (1852-1916),
and and C.I. Scofield (1843 -1921) were some of the major false prophets of the 19th century who influenced Christians. The most
influential 19th century false doctrines were the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons, Christian Science and Dispensationalism.. Dispensationalism became the most popular of these 19th century movements and took over, by the mid 20th century, the majority of protestant denominations.Leaning to man's understanding helped lead to false Christian doctrines. But to determine what is false doctrine those doctrines must be shown to be false by scripture. The partial cause of false doctrines - Christian humanism in general - must be understood as something separate from the false doctrines taught as a partial result of that humanism.
False doctrine is that doctrine which contradicts parts of the Gospel of Christ, where that Gospel is the whole counsel of God of Acts 20:27. The Gospel is not limited to the few doctrines Paul lists in I Corinthians 15: 1-8, which some churches now use as support for their doctrine saying that Christians do not have to follow the "non-essentials." Many false doctrines originate in teaching that parts of the Old Covenant were not done away with, and that Old Covenant Israel remains the chosen people of God by their physical descent from Abraham.
Some of the relevant scriptures that are contradicted in false doctrines about the continuation of the Old Covenant and Israel of the flesh are Romans 2: 17, 24,28-29, Romans 9: 6-8, Romans 10: 12, Romans 11: 5, 17-20, Galatians 3: 3, 16, 26-29, Galatians 4:24-26, Hebrews 10: 1, Colossians 2: 16-17, Hebrews 10: 9, John 10: 16 and Romans 12: 4-5.
