A week ago, Stand Firm reported on the upcoming appearance of The Shack author William Young at the Life Journey Conference at Concordia University in Portland. In that post I asserted thatif his presentation includes the same god presented in The Shack, it will be a false god to which her refers. This makes me wonder if his appearance will be one which presents valuable truths for the assembled guests to digest or an exercise in honing one’s apologetic skills.
Mr. Young gave his presentation last Friday, and it was definitely an opportunity to hone your apologetics skills, although you didn’t need to take many of those skills out of your apologetics bag to recognize and pop the heretical balloon which Mr. Young inflated. As reported by Lighthouse Trails
Young told the audience that "the God of evangelical Christianity is a monster." He was referring to the evangelical belief that God is a God of judgment and will judge the unbelieving. Young also rejects the biblical view of atonement…. Young told the audience that his book has now sold 14 million copies. He says that he believes his book has been a "god thing" to heal people's souls because so many people have been tainted by this evangelical God. …In a derogatory manner, he said there are "1.4 million" rules in the evangelical church….
Rejecting the atonement is not a “god thing,” it is a “satan thing.” Without Christ’s atoning work on the cross, we are dead in our sins. Mr. Young’s ideas destroy the very foundation of Christianity. Why would a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod owned and operated University allow a heretic to teach those attending a conference that was somehow related to vocation? It’s not a stretch to think that the audience was expecting some sort of orthodox presentation from which they could benefit. For those who didn’t have a solid doctrinal foundation or who didn’t have their Biblical thinking caps on, Mr. Young’s presentation might very well lead them away from the truth.
As Paul warns “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears” (Acts 20:28-31 ESV).
As Paul warns “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears” (Acts 20:28-31 ESV).
HT: Dutch
4 comments:
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Mr. Young preaches a message very similar to the Koran where sin is non-existant; the "true" believers simply err and are capable of self-correction. There is no need for an atonement for this concept of "sin" is just poor judgment or selection; easy to correct and offensive to noone.
This is not what the Holy Scriptures teach from the very beginning in Genesis throughout to Revelation. For some real weird and humorous (?) exegesis, ask Mr. Young to explain what a holy God means. CU Portland should have been cognizant of Mr. Young's heresy; I pray some member of their faculty spoke against such abominations given in his speech. For as King David responsed to Nathan in 2Sam 12:13, "I have sinned against the Lord." We all do this daily. For Mr. Young's sake (eternally), I pray someone stress this reality to him in the proper Law and Gospel setting.
Peace,
Dennis
When I read about this kind of stuff, and men like Leonard Sweet, and even the Baptist Paul Borden, given a voice in our synod and at our colleges and universities, I have to wonder how their presence contributes to the up-building of the faith of our members. Where is the balance, the corrective?
"Lead us not into temptation..."
Johannes
I really do not understand the purpose of Lutheran colleges. What is the difference between going to a state school and attending an LCMS church close to campus, versus going to a Concordia university and attending church on campus. Perhaps Christian colleges and universities had a place in pre WWII society, but now? How many Lutheran universities remain loyal to Lutheranism on a daily basis- or to Christianity, for that matter. I could mention Valparaiso University, but that is no longer an LCMS school....
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