The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
February 10, 2002
In
This Issue:
"My
Nightlilght"
By
Steve Klein
"The
Biblical Basis for Studying Other Religions"
By
Steve Klein
My Nightlight
Are you afraid of the dark? Like a lot of children, when I was a child I did not like trying to go to sleep in a totally dark room. Long I would lie awake imagining the vicious monsters and cruel ghosts that were lurking unseen (or worse yet, barely seen) in the dark of my bedroom. Unidentified sounds added to the sinister nature of the dark. I would tell myself that it was just the wind, the refrigerator, the water pipes or the heating system. But was it? When you cannot see the source of the sound, or at least see enough to rule out some of the possible sources, it could be ANYTHING!
In those tender years, my terror could be alleviated with a four-watt light bulb. Plugged into an electrical socket in my room, my nightlight was instant security. I felt safe. Of course the reality was that there was nothing more and nothing less in my room with the light on than there had been when it was dark. Nothing, that is, except light itself. I suppose that had there been a goblin there in the dark to begin with, the feeble illumination of my night-light would not have prevented him from getting me and doing all of the dastardly unspeakable things to me that goblins delight to do. But none of that mattered. At least if the monster was there I could see him. The light made that possible.
You see, the dark is not really what we fear. We don't really even fear what is in the dark. We fear the unknown.
This is the reason people fear death.
Jesus illuminates that darkened room. Not so that we can see everything, but just so we can see enough and feel safe. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4). Think carefully about that statement. The LIFE was the LIGHT! Jesus claimed, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25). He backed up that claim not only by raising others like Lazarus from the dead, but also by conquering death Himself. His empty tomb and the testimony of many witnesses declare that there is life beyond this life. He lives! We will live also! The room is not dark.
Thank God for "the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:10). Thank God for the light.
by Steve Klein
The very idea of entering a study of other religions immediately raises questions. What are our motives? Why should we care what others believe if we are happy with what we believe? Are we like the closed-minded Pharisees who trusted that they had cornered the market on truth and therefore everyone else must be wrong? Shouldn't we be focusing our study on the text of the Bible alone and not on the beliefs of others? These questions need to be dealt with up front so that our minds may be clear and committed to our study.
WE ARE HAPPY WITH WHAT WE BELIEVE, SO WE WANT TO SHARE IT!
As Christians, we should all recognize that differences in belief and teaching can have eternal consequences (cf. 2 John 9; 1 Timothy 4:1-3). If we are right in our beliefs and practices, those who differ stand in danger of losing their souls. If we are wrong, we may discover it by examining what others say in light of the Scriptures.
We have a duty to share and defend our faith. Peter charges us to "sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15). There is no doubt that we can do a better job of this if we have a good understanding of the conceptions and misconceptions of others. The apostle Paul's defense of Christianity before the idolaters of Athens was masterful; this was due in part to Paul's observation and understanding of the Athenians' "superstitious" beliefs and practices (Acts 17:16, 22-31).
WE MUST "BEWARE" OF FALSE TEACHING
Christians also have an obligation to maintain unity with one another based on truth (Ephesians 4:1-3). Divergent doctrines are obviously the enemy of unity (Ephesians 4:14). We should "not be carried about with various and strange doctrines" (Hebrews 13:9).
One of the best safe guards against false teaching is a thorough awareness of it; we should be able to recognize a false doctrine (1 John 4:1), convincingly explain what is wrong with it (Titus 1:9; 2 Timothy 4:2), and identify those who teach it (Romans 16:17-18). In Matthew 16:6-12, Jesus warned his disciples to "take heed" and "beware" of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The phrase "take heed" (Greek. horao) means to "discern clearly" and the word "beware" (Greek. prosexo) means to "hold the mind towards," "pay attention to," or "be cautious about" (Strong's Greek Dictionary). When it comes to false teaching, the most dangerous thing we can do is stick our heads in the sand and ignore it. To beware is to be aware. The many passages found in the New Testament warning us to beware of false teachers are sufficient by themselves to authorize us to study other religions (cf. Matthew 7:15; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Peter 2:1-4; 3:17; 1 John 4:1).
OPEN-MINDEDNESS DEMANDS EXAMINATION OF OTHERS' BELIEFS
Christians are to be people of conviction -- we believe that we have the truth and we are determined to live accordingly (cf. 1 John 2:21; 2 Peter 1:12). But our convictions are not like those of the Pharisees; in fact they are exactly opposite. The Pharisee's beliefs were based on tradition and their hypocrisy permitted them to compromise their beliefs (Matthew 15:1-6; 23:13-31). The convictions of a true Christian are arrived at by testing instead of by tradition (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Christians examine teaching in light of God's word and then receive it or reject it accordingly (1 John 4:1). Rather than being like the Pharisees, who held to their unfounded convictions and were unwilling to examine anything else, Christians will not adopt a belief unless it is well founded and they eagerly examine everything else.
THE BIBLE ITSELF EXAMINES AND EXPOSES FALSE RELIGIONS
The Bible itself is full of exposés of false religion. The Old Testament lays bare many religious errors -- from the unacceptable sacrifice of Cain (Genesis 4:1-5) to the perverted religious practices of the Israelites (2 Kings 17:12-17, 24; Psalm 106:36-38). It is important for us to observe that the Old Testament not only contains details of false religions among those who never claimed to be God's people (Isaiah 19:1-3; 66:17), but it also uncovers false religion among those who claimed to have a relationship with Jehovah. Examples include the perverted worship of Jehovah engaged in by Micah and Jeroboam (Judges 17-18; 1 Kings 12:25-33; 2 Chronicles 11:14-15;) the rank idolatry of the Israelites under kings like Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:1-7, cf. Hosea 4:12-13; Ezekiel 23:37-39; 14:1-7), and the false prophecies propounded in Jeremiah's day (Jeremiah 14:14). Remedies for false religion were often the subject of messages sent by God through His prophets. The religious reforms instituted by King Josiah illustrate the severity of the measures which were taken (2 Kings 23:1-20).
The New Testament is also filled with descriptions and condemnations of false teaching and false religion, not only among pagans and Jews, but also among Christians. As was already mentioned, Paul was aware of and exposed pagan idolatry among the Greeks of Athens (Acts 17:17-31). But many New Testament epistles also deal with some erroneous practice or belief among Christians. Even a cursory examination of the New Testament would reveal that false religion among Christians took many forms, including eating meat offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 10:14-31; Revelation 2:14, 20), the Judaizing of Christianity (Acts 15; Galatians), early Gnosticism (1 John), and the imposition of human philosophy and tradition (Colossians 2:8, 20-23; cf. Matthew 23:13-33).
by Steve Klein