Thursday, September 11, 2008

A Supernatural Faith


Today's devotional is brought to you by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Renewing Your Mind

"The God hypothesis is no longer necessary to explain the origin of the universe or the development of human life." This assertion was at the very heart of the movement that took place in the eighteenth century that we call the Enlightenment. God's existence was seen as no longer necessary because He had been supplanted by the "science" of that period that explained the universe in terms of spontaneous generation. Here we see an example of pseudoscience supplanting sound philosophy and theology.

Added to this, we have the agnosticism of the titanic philosopher Immanuel Kant, who argued that it is impossible for science or philosophy to acquire knowledge of the metaphysical realm of God. It was declared that all knowledge must be restricted to the realm of the natural. With the combination of Kant's agnosticism and the hypothesis of the Enlightenment, the door was open wide to a thoroughgoing philosophy of naturalism. This philosophy captured in its wake the academic theologians of Europe in the nineteenth century.

Out of this came nineteenth-century liberalism with its militant anti-supernatural perspective. The liberalism of that era denied all of the supernatural elements of the Christian faith, including the virgin birth of Jesus, His miracles, His atoning death, and His resurrection.

The impact of liberalism and neo-liberalism on the church left it basically as a worldly, nature-bound religion that sought refuge in a humanitarian social agenda. This is the approach to Christianity that has all but completely captured many of today's mainline churches throughout the world.

However, in the last few decades, we have witnessed a comeback of sorts of the supernatural. Yet this increasing interest in the supernatural has been driven in large measure by a fascination with the occult. People are now interested in demons, witches, spiritualists, and other occultic phenomena. Article continues . . .

Have you ever looked around at the world we live and thought that our nation is in a state of moral decline? What can we, as Christians, do to help reverse this?"Destroyed from Within" Greg Laurie, A NEW BEGINNING

When we read the daily news, we cannot help but be concerned over the wars, famine, and lawlessness that we see in our world. "The Daily News" Dr. David Jeremiah, TURNING POINT

The concept of holiness is central to Scripture. Today, however, the Christian church produces truckloads of materials designed to make men healthy and happy rather than holy. So how do we become holy? "The Quest For Holiness" Hank Hanegraaff, BIBLE ANSWER MAN

Love is the longest entry in Webster's Dictionary of Quotable Definitions. For ten columns of small print, authors, poets, scholars, and preachers struggle and sputter to put a box around love. The New Testament frames the concept of love by what it can do in relationships. "The Love Experiment" Dr. James MacDonald, WALK IN THE WORD

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