Theology in a Christian context is, according to Millard Erickson, a discipline of study that seeks to understand the God revealed in the Bible and to provide a Christian understanding of reality. Alongside the New Testament writers there have been many great Christian theologians down through the centuries, beginning with Origin in the 2nd century and including names like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards. These along with countless others spent lifetimes delving into the truths of God’s Word in an effort to provide His people with a better understanding of just who God is and what He is like.
For instance, we learn from a thorough study of Scripture that there is only One God, while at the same time He exist in Three Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and that He is eternal, meaning He always has and always will exist. We also learn from the Bible that he is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. Through a close study of Scripture we also understand what He is like, His nature and attributes, which constitutes His character.
Theologians have looked at the study of God in many ways down through history, but since the late 1940’s a new view of theology has emerged that may now be influencing many in the Christian community, even in leadership positions, that may be contributing to what I believe is a growing apostacy among professing believers. It is known as ‘Process Theology.’ According to Erickson, this theology challenges the idea of an unchanging God. It’s fundamental thesis, he states, is that “reality is process.” In other words, everything is in process and therefore subject to change. To go along with this, process theology proposes that everything is interrelated. So, rather than things being concrete in and of themselves, process theology proposes that things are interdependent and that this interdependence applies to God as well, which strikes at the doctrine of God’s transcendence by concluding that He is affected by interactions from without.
According to Alfred Whitehead, one of the originators of this concept, God has two natures, a primordial nature and a consequent nature. In his consequent nature, He is affected by the processes of the world. This places limits on His absoluteness, meaning God is now learning things, as there are now new, unforeseen, happenings that can only become knowable from that moment; so that God processes this new knowledge that comes with every new decision and action in the world. If true, this means in essence that God is not truly omniscient. As a result, other traditional concepts about God must also be modified. Divine Sovereignty is, for instance, no longer to be considered absolute. Well, I could go on, but you get the idea.
The point of all this is that for those that would adhere to ‘process theology’ as a viable theology, that God is affected by His interrelations with others and that everything is in process, then it is a simple step to conclude that if God loves the world (meaning all the people in it) then He must no longer consider marriage between a man and a woman as the only acceptable lifestyle. After all, surely He would not have created people with same sex attraction, and then remove them from His presence at the judgment. “Suffice it to say”, says Erickson, “whatever the merits of this view, it cannot be considered the Biblical view.” I agree. Satan is indeed the great deceiver of man. How did we ever get to the point where people that claim to be believers come to trust man’s opinions over the plain teaching of God’s word, that “God never changes.” May God help us in the days ahead.
For God’s glory and His alone,
Pastor Terry.