TKM: S5 EP2: Liberalism is Neo-Paganism

1. How the New Age Has Crept Into the Church

a. Sentimentalism - David Hume wrote in "A Treatise of Human Nature": "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them."

i. This will give way to Hedonism, and nihilism.

b. Concupiscence - I do not subscribe to the idea that Concupiscence is merely a strong desire. No but it is the being ruled by the strong desire.

i. Colossians 3:5 (KJV) 5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

ii. Early Church teaching:

1) Likewise, Rufus tells us that “the man who wants to live a godly life must not only learn the lessons which pertain to virtue but train himself to follow them eagerly and rigorously.” The philosopher has to train both his soul and his body by enduring hardships and not giving into pleasures but instead we should “accustom ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, scarcity of food, hardness of bed, abstaining from pleasures, and enduing pains.” “The person who is practicing to become a philosopher must seek to overcome himself so we won’t welcome pleasure and avoid pain, so that he won’t love living and fear death, and in the case of money, he won’t honor receiving over giving.” “The man who wants to be good must not only learn the lessons which pertain to virtue but also train himself to follow them eagerly and rigorously.” -Musonius Rufus, Lectures, Book 6, pp. 36-37.

2) “Carnal concupiscence must not be ascribed to marriage; it is only to be tolerated in marriage. It is not a good which comes out of the essence of marriage, but an evil which is the accident of original sin.” - St Augustine, “On Marriage and Concupiscence,” In the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Volume 5, translated by Rev CL Cornish (Boston: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994, first published 1887), 271, chapter 19.

3) “Intercourse of marriage for the sake of begetting children has no fault, and intercourse in the marital bed to satisfy lust has but venial fault, but intercourse in adultery or fornication is a deadly fault.” - St Augustine, “On the Good of Marriage,” 401-402, chapter 6.

c. Relationship Theology

i. Nowhere in biblical scripture does it say "Have a personal relationship with Jesus"

1) This is an assumption based on the servant/master relationship explained. But the Relationship theology builds more on top of the servant/master relationship then what scripture outlines.

d. Watered Down

i. How does the message get watered down?

1) Personal emotions: The sermon become more about addressing personal problems and emotions then about scriptural teachings. There is an application for this kind of thing but most sermons today are more about psychological counseling then application of scripture to a psychological problem or just scripture itself.

e. Conviction

i. We do not hold people accountable because it "hurts their feelings"

1) Hurt feelings is no justification for enforcement of biblical teachings. We have men marrying divorced women whose ex-husband (which are still their husband according the John 4) and we say nothing about it.

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