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Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.

Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Opus 2012-300: History Repeats Itself

In reading the Koran it became clear to me that Mohammed was only familiar with heretical forms of Christianity.  For instance I noticed that he quoted the gnostic Gospel of Thomas and seemed to believe it represented orthodox Christianity.  I recently came across something that verified my observation.

Michael Youssef, in his book Blindsided, was writing about why the Arabian Peninsula was resistant to Christianity before the preaching of Mohammed.  One of his points went like this,
“...Arabian Christianity in the seventh century was corrupted and distorted by Gnostic heresies and diversions over the nature of Christ.  Some of these heresies taught that Jesus was a mere human being who achieved divinity through mystical knowledge.  Though some Arab Christians revered the New Testament as God’s revealed Word, many embraced the Gnostic heresies, so that the ‘Christianity’ they practiced was weak and unbiblical.  So the Christianity of Arabia had little appeal to the pagans in that region.” page 49
It is nice to have my observations endorsed by someone who is much more familiar with the area than I am, but that is not what jumped out at me.

I saw a parallel between Arabia of the sixth century and America of the 21st century.  The Christianity that was being lived and taught he calls “weak and unbiblical.”  I think that same phrase could be used to describe what I see in the church of America today.

American churches are into being “user friendly” and not “Godly obedient.”  They are more concerned about offending the visiting pagan than the eternal God.  Paul said,
ROM 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
The modern church has dropped out the “do not” and made conformity a requirement.

If the church wants to impact the world, it will need to return to being the church.

Youssef, Michael.  Blindsided.  No City:  Kobri, 2012.

homo unius libri

2 comments:

Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.