David Wells opens chapter 8 of God in the Wasteland with this quotation from James Davison Hunter:
It would be superficial simply to say that Evangelical theology as practiced by the coming generation is becoming more liberal. Yet the evidence is suggestive of a common trend, one in which the theological tradition is conforming in its own unique way to the cognitive and normative assumptions of modern culture.
May the Lord give us eyes to see and backbones to stand.
I’m quite sure that not being conformed to this age has more to do with being conformed morally and spiritually to such an extent that our members are reunited with our old sinful flesh. It has less to do with the context you mention it in, that of a bold rethinking of old, established patterns of theological thought that would lead us to more faithful living and believing. Reevaluation and theological interrogation are not sins, nor are they always evidence of this sinful age. Sometimes, they might in fact help us where we have erred in our traditional concepts of theological method. One who is truly pursuing truth should always be looking to rethink and reevaluate one’s current position in light of new studies, new finds, and one’s own personal sanctification. The stagmatism of being fixed in the whole of one’s theology is an invitation for death.
T. M.,
The concerns you express have more to do with a kind of anti-intellectual closed-mindedness than they have to do with what Wells and Hunter are describing.
I commend to you Wells’s book, NO PLACE FOR TRUTH, and the three volumes that follow it.
Blessings!
JMH
Well when was the last time you heard a sermon condemning MTV or the rest of that rubbish on television? Or for that matter any of the other evil influences that beset us this day? Who preaches against sin, and dares to call it sin? Most of the evangelical church doesn’t even know that divorce for any reason other than adultery is not a legitimate divorce. If the church is worldly the pulpit must bare some of the blame for it. Who dares to point a finger at the sinful Christ-rejecting world and say that they’re wrong and on their way to hell? Oh maybe Jerry Falwell or someone but then some of us look down our noses and call them uncouth fundamentalists. But these things must be done or we will absolutely become more and more worldy. Touch not the unclean thing saith scripture! Most preachers dare not even call it an unclean thing for fear of giving offense.
In addition to not being conformed to this age, Romans 12 commands us, instead, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Most short circuit this process by being intent on making the Gospel palatable to the World. Being attractive and non judgmental has replaced holiness and true separation. As a result, many fail to realize that they have become just like those they are supposedly trying to win for Christ. And we wonder why our lives fall apart!