Excellent question and thank you for asking Chris. Please forgive the length of my response. I did not intend to go this long but could not seem to find a place to stop.
The foundation should be standard but it does not seem to be to me. Remember, this is my "opinion" and nothing more.
When I say that we need to return to Biblical Christianity I am speaking about the fact that it is then required to approach the Bible. When we do that we must be very careful to do it with a submissive heart and a teachable spirit. Then we must be eager and willing to have OUR thinking changed so that we correspond to God's will and Word.
One of the dangers that I have seen over the years is the practice of using the Bible to justify what we think. IMO one should never ever look for a verse here or there to justify our own opinons.
Then we must take care not to fall into "Modernism".
The latest theories in Christianity are self centered and come more from psychology, sociology or positive motivational training than from the Word of God.
To ME the first thing to understand is we are to return to Biblical Christianity is the simple Bible fact found in Hebrews 1:1-2.......
"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds".
That is an awesome claim!!!! It is also a true and factual claim and since it is we should tremble at the Word of God.
When the Word of God is read, the hair on the back of our necks should stand straight out!!!
But from where I sit, that kind of respect and reverence is a thing of the past.
When I watch religious TV I come away with the feeling that these people have an 800 number to God. There is always a "God has just spoken to me" or ......."God just told me"........or thank you "Lord for that word just now".
They come away looking like entertainers.
Our Biblical forefathers did not have that kind of relationship with God. Moses could not even look upon God. He had to take off his shoes because of his respect for God.
Isaiah said "Woe is me"!! That means in Hebrew.........."I AM DEAD".
Ezekiel fell upon his face and could not speak.
Daniel passed out and fell face foreward in the ground.
In the Revelation, John initial reaction was fear because he was overcome by the glory of God.
Martin Luther said that preaching made his knees knock. Spurgeon said that he trembled for fear that he would misinterpret the Word of God. IMO and it is only MY opinion, that sense of awe has been replaced with psychological babble. Today's preaching and teaching is all about making us feel better about our selves and improving our self esteem.
Example. Dr. Robert Schuler of the Crystal Cathedral in his book "Self- Esteem the New Reformation(Word:1982)" said..........
"Man goes to hell because of his low self esteem".
Really???? My Bible says that men go to hell because they refuse to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour!!!!
If we dig deeper we can easily find that Dr. Schuller's mentor and teacher was Norman Vincent Peale. The world's foremost advocate on positive thinking. A really great man and Christian.......RIGHT??? Now I post these words in line with the CFS guidelines whereby the comments are proven by their own words as found on line and in books produced by the people in view.
In his book....."The book, A Course in Miracles" has been taught at Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral and is right in line with Schuller's philosophy. This is a book which is admittedly from a disembodied voice dictating its contents, who claimed to be Jesus Christ. Its purpose was to correct the errors in the Bible. The Course teaches that "forgiveness" is simply recognizing that sin does not exist and therefore there is nothing to forgive. To accept the Courses teachings is to reject all Biblical doctrine, yet those who embrace it are able to call themselves Christians.
In that book ..."In Self-Esteem" Dr. Schuler's son attributes Norman Vincent Peale, as "responsible for dad's theology on possibility thinking."
On Mr. Peals death on 1/16/94 Dr. Schuller told how Peale had been his inspiration and mentor and the man who had the greatest influence upon his theology and ministry. He attributed to Peale as starting the positive thinking movement.
But here is the kicker which can be found really easy on the internet, and that is Norman Vincent Peale is known to be a 33rd degree Mason who also rejected the Christian doctrines of justification by faith alone, of sin, the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see Chris, that speaks to your question of............."The foundation is standard, isn't it?"
Is it ????
Mr. Peale has said ... "Your unconscious -mind... [has a] power that turns wishes into realities when the wishes are strong enough."'( Norman V. Peale Positive Imaging p.77). Positive thinking is just another term for faith. ( Norman Vincent Peale, What Does It Take to Be a Christian.)
That is what I mean by saying that IMO we need desperately to return to "Biblical Christianity"!!!
Thanks again for asking and giving me the opportunity to speak with you.
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