The progressive movement is moving at an ever increasing pace today. The movement is thus defined by dictionaries as: "a person or organization advocating or implementing social reform through law, or new, liberal ideas." The movement believes that only man-made laws or man's social reform can improve the human condition. Therefore, only man's thoughts are considered, and only those thoughts that are consistent with the social reform concepts the movement has embraced.
Because of the concepts they have adopted they have made themselves the warriors for social justice, fighting primarily against Christians who hold historical Biblical views. They consider these historical Biblical views as coming from oppressive men who made themselves "clobbers" of certain groups of people at various times in human history. In all of these arguments, the Biblical views are never considered as having their origin from God himself. In fact, most of the true progressives DO NOT BELIEVE in a personal God who gave His Son to die for our sins. Therefore, there is no sin, only acts that society determines detrimental to the human condition. Again, the mind of man (and only the minds of those individuals who are highly enlightened -- which leaves out most of us (in their mind)) determines what is good behavior and what is bad behavior.
There are some so-called "Christian" groups that have joined the progressive thought because progressives point to what they call abuses against selected portions of society who are not allowed to exercise their choices of life, just like everyone else. Any true Christian in heart will never like a group being singled out or abused. So, forgetting any admonition from God about human behavior, they are sucked into the battle against historical Biblical views.
To try to bring some clarity of understanding into this muddlement of views of the human condition, we need to return to the beginning. And there are multiple viewpoints about our beginning.
What is truly remarkable is that when we investigate the many varying cultural backgrounds around the earth we learn most have some kind of creator beginning. Some kind of god chose to create man, and each culture considered themselves that god's favorite. The one culture that holds the oldest book created (which reveals creation's beginning) is the Jewish/Christian culture. But for centuries, there have been intellectual elitist who scoffed at that old book (The Holy Bible) claiming that most of it was written after the time of Jesus Christ.
To be continued next week.
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Editor's note: This column was originally published Jan. 21, 2015. Jim Duncan is the pastor of Mountain Bible Church, Mountain, Mo. He may be contacted at P.O. Box 146, Pea Ridge, AR 72751; or by telephone at 417-341-8504; by e-mail at [email protected]. His Web site is www.jamesduncan-writer.net.
Religion on 06/22/2016