"Preface" to the Manual and Course entitled "Think Biblically"
We live in a subjective, postmodern world
where the existence of objective truth and reality is denied. Not only
have the postmodernists denied the Biblical worldview on which Western
civilization was founded, they have also denied the modern Enlightenment worldview
that exalted “reason” as the path for discovering truth.
For the postmodernist, truth and reality are not to be
discovered, they are to be created. Therefore, if biology tells me I am a man,
I do not have to accept it. I can self-identify as a woman because I am free to
create my own truth system and my own reality. Reason, science and common sense must all take a back seat to "my" feelings and desires.
Postmodernism is obviously very “I” or ego
centered. Even science and biology must be rejected to accommodate “my” feelings
and desires. Truth and reality are what “I” decide them to be and the rest of the
world is obligated to accept and accommodate me in my subjective, self-centered pursuits.
This rejection of objective truth
is also leading to religious syncretism, which is the combining of different belief
systems. Students of mine at a Christian University visited a Buddhist temple
as part of their assignment for a class on world religions. They were greeted by a man who introduced himself as a “Christian Buddhist.” A headline in the Dallas
Morning News reads, “One Part Jesus, Two Parts Buddha,” and goes on to explain that
a popular trend in America is for people to concoct their own personal religion
by borrowing what they like from various religions.
When postmodern thinking seeps into the church, we see
a loss of any emphasis on consecration, commitment, and sacrifice. The call of
Jesus to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him is seldom if ever heard
(Luke 9:23-24). The emphasis, instead, is on “me” and my feelings and how I can
have feel-good, spiritual experiences with God apart from the call to repentance and
holiness.
The postmodern way of thinking leads
to confusion, and will ultimately destroy individuals, families, churches and
entire societies. To counter this destructive, postmodern tsunami that is engulfing the culture, the Church must have another Reformation that takes us back to the Book where we learn to "think Biblically."
The Bible is a book infused
with life and power. It provided the intellectual and moral foundation for
Western Civilization and for America. A ten-year study to determine where America’s
founders got their ideas for the nation’s founding documents discovered that
they quote the Bible far more than any other source. And in a December 1982 article in Newsweek entitled “How
the Bible Made America,” the authors state,
For
centuries [the Bible] has exerted an unrivaled influence on
American culture, politics and social life. Now historians are
discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our
founding document: the source of the powerful myth of the United States as a
special, sacred nation, a people called by
God to establish a model of society, a beacon to the world (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 7).
The great
church historian, Philip Schaff, said, “Every true progress in church history
is conditioned by a new and deeper study of the Scriptures.” The Reformation
began with Martin Luther diligently and prayerfully studying the Bible. Indeed,
virtually all the great revivals of Christian history have begun with a new and
in-depth study of God’s word.
For
example, the great Methodist revival that transformed 18th century
England, began with John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and others at
Oxford University studying the Greek New Testament each evening from 6–9 p.m. John
Wesley expressed his love for, and commitment to, the Bible in the following
words:
I want to
know one thing, the way to heaven: how to land safe on that happy shore. God
himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end he came from
heaven. He has written it down in a book! Oh, give me that book! At any price,
give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be:
“A man of one book.”
It is time for a new “Back
to the Bible” movement in the Church. I pray that God will use this manual and
this course to ignite and facilitate such a movement. As we learn to “think Biblically,”
we may well ignite a much-neeed Reformation throughout the modern Church.
Dr. Eddie Hyatt is an author, reformer and ordained minister. The manual Think Biblically is avaialble from his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. If you would like to know more how you can participate in the course, "Think Biblically," click this Facebook page link. https://www.facebook.com/events/555277315056398/
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