Protestant Criticism

[Kido Butai]

As a Protestant myself, I am fully aware of the modern denominations which support positions which seem either antithetical or at least controversial.
1-Feminism & females in the pulpit
2-Israel & Zionism
3- Church growth movement
4- Dispensationalism

One reason I love being a Protestant is that my God has taught me to show mercy and compassion, without compromising my teachings of the Bible. I accept those who aren't Protestant can have saving faith and believe in Christ . I just believe that they have an incorrect teaching of the Bible.

My interactions with some Catholics and a handful of Orthodox has not been good. They have a strong belief that I can only describe as very sharp. If you are not a member of their faith, then you are outside of God's grace. In particular, I've heard it said that that all Christians are Catholic, but not all Catholics are Christians. A very confusing statement.
With Orthodox, the few encounters made it clear that the mysteries of God were passed down to their church fathers and their church represent the true body of believers.

My reason for this post is that there seems to be no Christian brotherhood between body of believers. I go a step further and say that my examples above actually can put doubt into a person's soul... which seems harmful and dangerous.

There was a time I was searching these other two institutions. But I was put off by the perception of...I don't know if you can call it high-brow. Donno.


I have 0 desire to denigrate the faith nor creeds of those two institutions. I believe that all members of CIC can demonstrate the truth church. But I gotta say....it feels like Protestants are the new ni**ers.

 

[Wutang]

In defense I will say 2 and 4 on your points tend to apply more to modern evangelical Protestantism. It's more of an aberration in the overall history of Protestantism. There's some signs that the younger generation of Protestants are moving away form it which is a pretty good sign.

 

[SpyofMoses]

Ignorant as I'm probably gonna sound.... what is dispensationalism?

As for number 2, I'm the only member of my Protestant family that doesn't like Isreal or Zionism. But I'm one of the youngest, as @Wutang was attesting to.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Ignorant as I'm probably gonna sound.... what is dispensationalism?

It is a way structuring the entire Bible according to various dispensations of God's Word. My biggest problem with it is that the dispensations are completely arbitrary and not borne from the text. It is a reaction against Covenant Theology, which is far more grounded in the Biblical witness. The end result of dispensationalism is seeing the Church and Israel as two separate entities, such that the Church is made to serve national Israel, to the neglect of Christ. Covenant Theology sees more of a continuity between Israel and the Church, even that the Church is the true Israel.

If you want to see where the rubber meets the road, take Genesis 12:3, and compare and contrast how Dispensationalists interpret it to how Covenant theologians interpret it. Covenant Theology is far more Christ-centered. Dispensationalism is more national-Israel centered.

Genesis 12:3: Whoever blesses you, I will bless, and whoever curses you, I will curse.

CT (Apostle Paul): Whoever blesses Jesus, God will bless, and whoever curses Jesus, God will curse.

Dispie (Ted Cruz): Whoever blesses national Israel, God will bless, and whoever curses national Israel, God will curse.

 

[SpyofMoses]

Ah, thank you for explaining. I had to look up dispensation in the dictionary because I've never heard or used the term. But now it makes sense.

Covenant Theology sees more of a continuity between Israel and the Church, even that the Church is the true Israel

I was wondering what you meant until I thought about how the covenant goes back to Jacob(if memory serves me right), and even Jesus' appearance and starting of the Christian Church is just a continuation of the covenant. Thus, the nation state that calls itself Isreal isn't actually the real Isreal if you're following Biblical theology. Right?

This is something I've come to think as I continue to read the Bible. What makes me wonder if I'm even getting this right at all is that my family, the ones who raised me Christian after all, just outright don't believe this. They tell me "the work is already done," and you can have faith without works because "all you have to do now is evangelize." The more I read the Bible and try to figure out theology the more it seems there's a rift between what my evangelical family believes and what I read.

Maybe I'm getting somwthing wrong. There's probably so much more I'm in the dark about than I even know. The Protestants who raised me admittedly have never read the Bible the whole way through. They have stronger faith and Christianity does generally inform their worldview and sense of morality. So there's more in common than not between us as Christians in spite of our different interpretations of scripture.

But this does altogether serve to make me sympathetic to other sects of Christians criticizing American Protestants as many of them are right now. When I go to church, I shouldn't be watching the preacher give the pulpit to his wife to talk about the Biblical lessons they learned from the family trip to Disneyland. You shouldn't read a Berenstein Bears book and somehow make that a sermon. We should be introduced to various stories and themes in the Bible and have their relevance and meaning explained to us.

Or so I think, sometimes. Does anyone else in the Protestant community feel this way? Ive noticed myself and a few other younger guys who were raised "nondenominational" feel isolated from what church has become in suburban USA. What is the difference between evangelical nondenominational nonsense and the heart of the Protestant belief/beliefs?

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Thus, the nation state that calls itself Isreal isn't actually the real Isreal if you're following Biblical theology. Right?

Correct.

What makes me wonder if I'm even getting this right at all is that my family, the ones who raised me Christian after all, just outright don't believe this. They tell me "the work is already done," and you can have faith without works because "all you have to do now is evangelize." The more I read the Bible and try to figure out theology the more it seems there's a rift between what my evangelical family believes and what I read.

What you're encountering is nominalism. It's not unique to Protestants. What nominalism looks like depends on it's denomination. Justification by Faith Alone is not the issue. It's only been questioned by the watered down, liberal, less Bible-based Protestants. The main issue in nominalist Protestantism is the loss of focus on Christ and the focus on national Israel.

But this does altogether serve to make me sympathetic to other sects of Christians criticizing American Protestants as many of them are right now. When I go to church, I shouldn't be watching the preacher give the pulpit to his wife to talk about the Biblical lessons they learned from the family trip to Disneyland. You shouldn't read a Berenstein Bears book and somehow make that a sermon. We should be introduced to various stories and themes in the Bible and have their relevance and meaning explained to us.

If you think the lack of Biblical emphasis is a problem in evangelical Christianity, then just wait till you get outside the Protestant umbrella.

What is the difference between evangelical nondenominational nonsense and the heart of the Protestant belief/beliefs?

If you want the most hardcore of Protestantism, then you have to go back to it's roots. Read men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, the Protestant confessions, and even later preachers like Spurgeon. The emphasis is in the Five Solas. Put simply: The Bible is God's Word and is our ultimate authority. Faith alone is how we receive God's Covenant blessings. Grace alone is why we are saved since we are sinners who deserve hell. Christ alone accomplished our salvation and our trust must be in Him. Glory to God alone because we are all for His glory, and He deserves all our worship. The Gospel is still what saves, it is not meant to be a side dish to whatever stories dominate the news cycle today.

 

[SpyofMoses]

Read men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, the Protestant confessions, and even later preachers like Spurgeon.

Added to my Amazon wish list, thank you.