In 1923 J. Gresham Machen wrote his devastating critique of liberal theology in Christianity and Liberalism. With precision and logic he showed that Christianity and liberal theology were two different religions although they often used similar terms. One often neglected point that he made was: ‘It concerns the question not of this doctrine or that, but of the importance which is attributed to doctrine as such.’ He considered, rightly, that ‘Indifferentism about doctrine makes no heroes of the faith.’
For Easter, the New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, interviewed former US President Jimmy Carter (he was president in 1977-1981). Kristof himself claimed to believe in the Sermon on the Mount and aspired to follow Jesus’ teachings, but added that he was sceptical about the Virgin Birth and other miracles such as Jesus’ walking on water and multiplying loaves and fishes. Furthermore, he doubted the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He then asked: ‘Am I a Christian, President Carter?’
Such was Carter’s impact in 1976, the year he was running for office, that the expression ‘born again’ was oft-cited in secular newspapers. Indeed, Newsweek dubbed 1976 as ‘The Year of the Evangelical’. To return to 2017, Kristof had given Carter a splendid opportunity to explain the gospel. In response, the former president said lamely: “I do not judge whether someone else is a Christian. Jesus said, ‘Judge not, …’ I try to apply the teaching of Jesus in my own life, often without success.”
It is meant to sound humble, but it is tragically weak. Machen warned that the liberal was most dangerous when he was most concessive because then he was not taking truth seriously at all. In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, Alice tells the White Queen that ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’ The Queen replies that Alice has not had enough practice, adding: ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’ It is not the resurrection but Carter’s logic that is impossible.
There is something wonderfully hard-nosed about the Christian faith. The apostle Paul tells us that ‘If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied’ (1 Cor.15:19). Some people are moved by inspiring stories, whether or not those stories are true. That has meaning for a novel or a poem, but it makes no sense for the gospel. The gospel is about things that actually happened in history: the Son of God became a man; He said things and did things, even miracles; and He was put to death; He rose from the dead, never to die again; and then ascended to heaven with the promise that He would return. Kristof says he does not believe those things; Carter says that he does.
The issue here is not whether Kristof is a Christian – clearly, he is not – but the nature of Carter’s Christian faith. Carter was trying to be so broad and inclusive that his worldview collapsed in front of him. Professing to endorse the Christian faith, he actually undermined it. In fact, he undermined any real understanding of logic and coherence. Admittedly, Christians are warned: ‘Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels’ (2 Tim.2:23). However, Paul was not speaking there of the resurrection, but of small-minded commitment to irrelevant minutiae.
The Western world still often likes to think that this is the age of science, but actually sentimentality is doing rather well in many places. After the massacre of 22 people by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in May, the singer, Katy Perry called for healing: ‘No barriers, no borders, like we all need to just co-exist.’ For all I know, this may well make her a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, but those who slept more soundly at night because of such sentiments would do better to investigate 1 Corinthians 15.
In the struggles and trials of life, in the battles against temptation, and in conflict with evil, sentimentality, whether of the Carter or the Katy Perry variety, will do nothing for us except soothe us to sleep in falsehood. What will help us is having our feet standing on Christ, the solid rock.
With warmest regards in Christ,
Peter Barnes