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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1, NASB 1995).
The word “progressive” is used to describe a philosophy for interpreting and reading the Bible.
Upon hearing a progressive discuss the Bible, this thinking might seem reasonable. No one wants to be outdated. I just flipped to a progressive scholar’s website, and he writes, “We are committed to reimagining a realistic and meaningful Christianity for the 21st century.”
Okay – astute readers of Interruptions, when you read a book or listen to a teacher or lunatic using the words “reimagine” about Jesus or the Bible – cast the book, teacher, or lunatic into the deepest pit of hell.
Oops, I just reimagined God’s judgment according to my own personal bias and presuppositions. I repent. But perhaps I can just reimagine “repentance” as referring only to those with whom I disagree. So, I don’t need to repent, they do.
Do you get my point?
With progressive thought, you lose the authority of the Bible and build a house on the sand of human wisdom. And more ludicrously, the progressives don’t agree on the specifics of the “re-imagining” because they can’t agree on what their research says or doesn’t say.
Oh, the futility of progressive thought!
When I hear progressives re-imagining the Bible, I smirk because it’s according to their research, bias, and pre-suppositions. They begin by considering the Bible as myth or culturally irrelevant but somehow (think hubris) imagine that they can make it better.
They can’t see the log in the eye of their own interpretation when they seek to eliminate a non-existent speck in the Word of God!
The Bible presents itself as the eternal Word. Scripture has always existed and doesn’t need to be changed.
Eternity is “always now,” and the Word doesn’t need to be reimagined. God is eternal. He is now, and He alone is current. The message given to us once and for all can’t be improved by someone with a Ph.D. (Jude 1:3)
We should just bow down and worship.
Now, after my angry but reimagined tirade about progressives, let me get to my point.
Let’s approach Scripture in faith.
If we believe, we gain wisdom to live and apply the Bible. This approach isn’t unreasonable, as even progressives begin their reasoning in a faith that God doesn’t exist and doesn’t perform miracles.
I’d rather have faith in Scripture than a progressive faith in doubt. When we begin with doubt, we get doubt. When we start with faith …
… we find Truth.
Doubt started in the garden when the snake challenged God’s Word to Adam and Eve.
The progressive veneer of “serious inquiry” is nothing more than a regression to the doubt that caused sin.
I imagine a day when the Lord returns, and we will see the Word in glory!