A New Reformation Using Creation

Years ago, I was in an Untied Methodist Church (misspelling intentional) and my father was the pastor. The theology was liberal (but far worse now). There was a program where laypeople came in and gave some talks to spark the congregation into a closer walk with Jesus.

We got wound up and started our own programs, but the excitement eventually faded and the church was essentially the same as it was before. One problem was that it had a weak foundation. Another was that church leadership did not uphold the authority of the Word of God. Something similar happened with the Reformation.

Wittenburg church door, Wikimedia Commons / AlterVista (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Martin Luther was not trying to overthrow the Roman Catholic Church, he just had some issues that needed to be addressed. Catholicism needed to be reformed, but the Reformation resulted in Protestantism and people believing what the Bible said. Scripture, not Pope or priest, was the final authority.

Science was growing and thriving because people used their minds and gave God the glory, but eventually science was given over to secularists. Christians who defended the truth and authority of Scripture compromised, and this kept escalating.

The age of the earth was assigned ages that fit secular views, and although creation is foundational to the gospel message, it was gradually negated by Darwinism. A new Reformation has started, and it is based on the authority and inerrancy of the Bible. Creation is being upheld.

Since the early 1500s, Western culture has drifted from the nearly universal assumption that God exists to its current widespread assumption that he does not. How did this happen? After all, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg—over 500 years ago on October 31, 1517—the Reformation swept Europe and seemed to revitalize the church.

In his 1985 book, Without God, Without Creed: The Origins of Unbelief in America, historian James Turner pointed his finger at an unexpected culprit. He examined closely the topic of origins science and found that, following the Reformation, Christians mishandled the new discipline of science, particularly origins science. In their efforts to accommodate the Bible to the latest secular ideas, Christian thinkers opened the floodgates to abandonment of belief in a revealed, personal God:

To read the rest (or listen to the audio version) and get a very important lesson in history, go to "Time for a New Reformation."