The Triumph of Thomas Paine?
Wednesday, November 1, 2006 at 08:41AM 
A recent Harris poll confirms what many of us suspect. America is not only secularizing, but Evangelical Christians are more and more apt to think and act like deists--echoing the view of Thomas Paine that morality is far more important than theology.
Some of the Harris poll numbers are not surprising (see read the raw numbers for yourself, Click here: While Most U.S. Adults Believe in God, Only 58 Percent are 'Absolutely Certain': Financial News - Yahoo! Finance)
For example, only 58% of those polled are absolutely certain of God's existence. That's down from 66% in 2003. This doesn't really surprise me, especially during a time of war and after the events of 911. In a world of continual violence and uncertainty, people become increasingly sceptical about God.
More revealing of the state of Christianity in America are the following numbers: "Do Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God?" "About half (51%) of all adults, including a majority of Catholics (63%), believe that Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God. One-third (32%) believes they do not and 16 percent are not sure. On this question, as on the others, the views of Born Again Christians are different - a 54 percent majority believes they do not worship the same God and only 34 percent believe they do."
While a slim majority of evangelicals understand that the Triune God of Christianity is not Allah of Islam, more than one third of Christians polled do not understand this fundamental point of Christian theology.
And then when asked "How much control does God have over events on earth?" The result was that "less than one-third of all adults (29%) believe that God `controls what happens on Earth' (this includes 57% of Born Again Christians). A plurality (44%) believes that God `observes but does not control what happens on Earth.'" While a slight majority of Christians believe that God controls what happens, a deistic world-view is commonplace among Christians.
So, what can we say?
1). America is a nation of doubting deists who practice a moralistic religion which often times bears little, if any, resemblance to biblical Christianity.
2). Many Christians echo the views of a secularizing culture. The numbers show that many Christians are functional deists in terms of their views of God's relationship to the world. I guess people aren't really buying Rick Warren's "God has a purpose for your life" argument--but then, maybe they are. After all, according to Warren, God's purpose for your life is that you control your own destiny through the choices you make--and how is that different from a practical deism?
3). The default setting of many Christians and non-Christians alike is that everybody worships the same God. The differences among the religions stem from prejudice, or personal experience, or preference. This is no longer seen as a matter of competing truth claims. Many people see no possibility of one religion being true and the others false. It is all a matter of subjective and personal factors.
4). Given the depth of moralistic deism in the culture, it is no wonder that Reformed theology is hated in so many quarters (even in the churches).
5). Reformed Christians should see this as a moment of great opportunity. Our Christ-centered covenant theology (the mediator of the covenant is the Word made flesh) is a powerful antidote to moralistic deism. Therefore, let us be fully prepared to give to everyone who asks, a reason for the hope that is within (1 Peter 3:15).
Any thoughts?
Reader Comments (25)
when i put my unbeliever hat back on from my rearing i ask, "what in the world is the difference bwteen the loud and brash quaters of american evangelicalism or american religion in general, and the rest of the world?" there simply is none and the differences are simply tribalistic: ours is better than yours. huh?
when visiting a liturgical and sacramental presbyterian church in florida this past spring i was happy, until i opened the fistful of papers i was handed upon entering the sanctuary and found most of it to be rallying pieces for all sorts of politics and moralism: you can guess the politics. but there were also fliers for all those "keep our teens zipped up and clean with a ring." blatant moralism, blatant trust in the might of man and flesh and no trust in the promises of God and grace. i was so disappointed that those who knew what correct worship was were also so able to fall into this hole (i won't mention the absolutely horrible preaching that unfortunately accompanied as well). amazing and disheartening to say theh very least.
zrim
; )
How's this? Is this better? Roses are red, violets are blue. I find the shift key annoying and cumbersome. But not you?
;),
Zrim
Echoing what you said, modern evangelicalism is indeed obsessed with moralism, i.e. "golawspel". How refreshing to find churches and teachers who know the difference and value a strong law/gospel hermeneutic.
"How refreshing to find churches and teachers who know the difference and value a strong law/gospel hermeneutic."
yes, when you can. i am of the persuasion that this is best located in correct worship and that worship is the primary activity in need of reform in our day. so when i found a church that reflected that law-gospel distinction in her worship i was amazed to find tracts for moralism in my hands...what a disconnect.
zrim
de Tocqueville said that the strength of America was in it's pulpits. If we don't return to that, we'll become like France - a secularized society that's on the verge of becoming a not-so secular society. I didn't mention Islam once, Zrim ;)
Men Have Forgotten God
Introductory Remarks
http://www.roca.org/OA/36/36g.htm
“Men Have Forgotten God”
Aleksander Solzhenitsyn
http://www.roca.org/OA/36/36h.htm
Do You Remember?
http://www.rzim.org/slice/slicetran.php?sliceid=569
21st century man lives as if the God of the Bible does not exist, blissfully unaware that judgment day is only a heart beat away.
walt: lol, good for you (and me)!! i am not so persuaded about 'secular' being a four-letter word. may i suggest hart's latest book called 'a secular faith" (endorsed by horton, btw)? he distinguishes between secularism and secular.
sibert:
"In contrast to some of the televangelists, I think the 911 attacks on us were not so much a punishment because of the activity of Godless homosexuals, but because of our own luke-warm faith, our disobedience and insular walk."
i am no champion of televangelists, but i am suspect of your set up here: are you sugesting that God is actually punishing america because of His ('lukewarm') church within it? i think the dots you may be trying to connect are a tad askew? how an attack on the world translates into a judgement on the church just never seems to make any sense.
like the "falwell-robertsonism" you seem to dismiss, i wonder if your own set of assumptions is the same one job's friends had: a one-to-one correspondance between our actions and God's reward or punishment. that "grid" always sounds inspiring for a fleeting moment, but always falls down in its apparent works-righteousness. robertson may inspire "righteous homophobia", stirring cultural conservatism to raised fists, ultimately coming off as simply uncouth and judgmental. but i am not so sure what you suggest is any better. as bad as american religion is, there are plenty who are not, in point of fact, lukewarm. so how would you account for that? the "God is after us" line, whether used to inspire the worst of american religious sentiment (see, it's their fault just like i told you, let's get those queers) or something a bit sunnier (no, no, let's be more faithful), always relies on forward-looking works-righteousness and not upon a backward-looking dependence on grace and living like those truly justified.
zrim
God will do as He will do. The entire point of the post that all of this references is, in fact, the lukewarmness of the american church and it's creeping secularism. If the invisible church within the american church were acting as it should we would see, I expect, some difference in society, indeed within the american church. People on their knees and pastors in the pulpit are both critical.
again, what you say sounds good but i am just not at all convinced of it.
"The entire point of the post that all of this references is, in fact, the lukewarmness of the american church and it's creeping secularism." hmmmm, that's not what i got from it. is the american church highly secularized? yes. has it made bedfelloews with deism and moralism? yep. did God fell the twin towers because of it? uh...hold up. it's not that simple. sounds sexy, but there are plenty of problems with such an assessment, i think. God deals with His own through the Gospel, not worldly events. that may sound awfully boring, but i suspect that is the way the flesh has always responded to God. we ought to be "inspired" by God's Gospel. seems to me *that* is more conducive to the post--not to make sure the culture and society are less secularized (lest we get pummeled by radical criminals). we ought not be characterized by deism and moralism but by the pure Gospel. "Our Christ-centered covenant theology (the mediator of the covenant is the Word made flesh) is a powerful antidote to moralistic deism." indeed it certainly is! don't tell us how to do better but how Christ has done perfectly. big difference.
i just think you are linking the church and world in ways that ought not be done.
zrim
My impression is that people who shy away from "robust" theology are alienated less by the content and more by the tone and form of reformed theological claims. Not that the tone and form are inherently bad -- just that they are not inherently conducive to communication beyond certain social/cultural circles.
Most of the people polled probably don't consider themselves "intellectuals" and wouldn't be able (or concerned) to parse out the distinctions between "moralism," "deism," "Calvinism," and any other "-ism."
Should reformed scholars assume that the best way to communicate with these people (both Christians and non-Christians) is by urging them to become more intellectual so that they'll be better equipped to benefit from our intellectual arguments? I'm inclined to think not.
People know and like Rick Warren because he communicates grace and truth in tangible, intelligible ways, and because his ministries are visibly animated by that grace and truth.
Yeah, I'm constantly realizing just how fantastic catechesis is in this dumbed-down age of Christianity we live in.
We also inhabit an American culture that gives us responsibilities to the community beyond preaching, teaching, and otherwise articulating the gospel with words.
"Proximity" alone is a very weak and impoverished link. To be linked in a meaningful and helpful way is to be involved in more than the declaration and publication of true ideas.
Not everyone who wants Truth has the ability or desire to read and think abstractly.
sibert: "We also know that God punishes nations for their iniquity." so, which it it? is homosexuality iniquity or not? i say it is. but i certainly depart sharply from the falwellism you said you do as well. why is falwellism wrong then? why are you critical of it? is it because it's crass and uncouth? i agree. but that is no argument. which is it then? does God punish us for our iniquity or not (i would make a distinction between punish and chastize)? i can tell we largely disagree: i would contend that it is not true that "We have a responsibilty to challenge iniquity effectively in our culture." ours is a cultic burden, not a cultural one at all. when i hear things like what you say i am always left wondering, "ok, who's definition of cultural iniquity should we adopt then?" because you know as well as i do that there are plenty of competing cultural values out there that love to align divine authority to their particulars.
zrim
Homosexuality is iniquity. Greed is iniquity. 98% of what we regard as comedy nowadays is iniquity. I don't think iniquity falls solely into the lap of one group and neither do you. The church not affecting their culture thru example and witness and challenge is surely iniquity. That is where this all draws together. We accept, and now I know I'm speaking your language, the definition of iniquity set forth in Scripture (Sola Scriptura). We most certainly do have a responsiblity to influence our environment for God, or perhaps more accurately, by obeying God.