Disbelief Masquerading As Faith

In the wake of Mel Gibson's movie concerning the death of Christ, and the wide acceptance it has received, we are suddenly hearing and seeing a great deal in popular media regarding Jesus Christ and the Bible's accounts of His life and death. One might be tempted to think that some are just realizing that there was such a person in the world, although some do not believe he even existed at all.

As a believer, I am thankful that people are discussing issues of the Gospel publicly. Such discussions are decidedly more uplifting than the usual hoopla concerning celebrities like Janet Jackson and Brittany Spears. Nonetheless, there is a tremendously troubling aspect to these discussions and presentations. The ones I have heard have presented skeptics and people of heterodox presumptions (that is, people who have chosen to question and deny the Biblical accounts) as those who know all that can be known regarding Christ and the Gospel. That is tantamount to interviewing only Marxists concerning the validity of Democracy.

The most recent example was Peter Jennings' program on Jesus and Paul. In order to be fair I must admit to not seeing the entire program (my attention was severely distracted by the NCAA men's basketball national championship game). Yet, I did visit the broadcast repeatedly, more than enough to recognize that the observations and conclusions were weighted decidedly in the direction of those who do not believe the Biblical accounts of Christ and the Apostles. Furthermore, from the excerpts I witnessed, there must be serious doubts as to the degree of acquaintance that the correspondents possess with the Biblical accounts. One such correspondent stated rather emphatically that Christ would not have condemned homosexuality, that that was Paul's extremism. However, Christ warned that those who even entertain immoral thoughts are in danger of the wrath of God! The fact is that Paul obtained his doctrine from Christ. Listen to what he said:

1 Corinthians 14:37 - If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.

The endeavor to set Paul against Christ in the doctrine and moral directives he wrote is a statement of prejudice against the very nature of the Bible as the verbally inspired Word of God which involves the progressive revelation of God's mind for mankind. Christ told His disciples that He had many things to teach them that they were not able to bear while He was with them, but that He would send the Holy Spirit to them after His return to Glory and the Spirit would lead them into all truth. That promise was peculiarly directed to the Apostles. Thus what we read in the writings of the Apostles is the "all truth" which Christ gave them by the Spirit. The Apostles wrote the mind of Christ.

This is just one example of the bias against the Bible and against Christ Himself that is being popularly broadcast as the truth about Him. It is not the truth! It is disbelief concerning Him, which is being masqueraded as intelligent scholarly Christian faith.

The danger is that sincere, untaught people thinking they are hearing all there is to know or the best there is to know about Christ will be brought to skepticism and hardened in unbelief. Those who perpetrate such notions have a heavy responsibility and accountability. But, the concern here is for any who may be lead astray by their disbelief. If you have questions and concerns regarding who Jesus is and what He did, please contact us. We would like to give you an excellent book in this regard, entitled Meet the Real Jesus.