Zondervan Inspire

Never Stop Believing

From the Editor: Michael Wittmer makes some very good points in today’s inspiration. Any other thoughts on this subject?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

Although postmodern innovators are trending liberal, most have not yet reached liberalism's conclusions. They still believe in the Trinity, the deity of Christ, his resurrection and return, and many other Christian beliefs that liberals have historically denied.

My only concern is that their quest to correct the abuses of previous generations must not lead them to err on the opposite extreme. Authentic Christianity demands our head, heart, and hands. Our labor for Christ flows from our love for him, which can arise only when we know and think rightly about him. Genuine Christians never stop serving, because they never stop loving, and they never stop loving, because they never stop believing.

From Don't Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough

by Michael E. Wittmer

questions

I teach and promote right doctrine but only insofar as it is biblical. I encourage my students to think about doctrines for themselves and to test every doctrine by its consistency with Scripture, and insofar as it is not clearly drawn from and supported by Scripture to question or even discard or relegate it to the category of adiaphora ("things indifferent").

The irony is that some of the conservative evangelicals who will raise objections to this have themselves dared at one time or another to question a doctrinal formulation. But too often once they are ensconced in a seat of authority, they tend to suffer from "hardening of the categories," by which I mean a rigidity and narrowness that disallows what they once practiced—honest, open, and scripturally faithful questioning of traditional beliefs and practices.

From How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative

by Roger E. Olson

Any comments or testimonies today?