God As a Problem and Why I Don’t Blame People for Having a Big Problem with the Church: Part 1
It’s possible, perhaps even probable, that the reason so many people are abandoning the church is because it’s theology and practice keeps trying to be Erasmusian in order to appeal to the “common herd” (Erasmus’ own term for the regular folk outside of the university and academic elite – see Luther’s Works Volume 33:45) and this “herd” is tired of being rounded up, corralled (and slaughtered?!).
Most preaching and teaching about Christ today makes Christianity about being morally upright and doctrinally correct. Erasmus, in his debate with Luther over the freedom of the will, was concerned that if grace were free there would be no motivation for people to behave decently and believe accordingly and the result would be societal chaos and degeneration. Erasmus argued that Christianity was about getting on the right track ethically and morally and Christ was required to get you there.
There are, of course, just a couple of problem with this approach! Next week I’ll lay them out for you, but in the meantime, why don’t you chime in and tell us all what you think.
Do you think grace is cheap or costly or free? And what would you say is the difference between the three? And how much difference does it make how grace is preached and taught on how much people give the church the time of day?
(I think that most people who have given it much thought have figured out that the Erasmusian theology is problematic and that any church that divies it out is not worth their time. To them, the church is boring and irrelevant)
“God as a Problem….” to be continued!
