Greatest Threat To Christianity?

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thistle93

Puritan Board Freshman
Hi! Curious what you think is greatest threat to orthodox Christianity today and best way for us as a church to defend the faith?

To me the greatest threat revolves around Christology. Namely who is the true Jesus & is He the only way? Seems like many today say does not matter what one believes about Jesus but just that one believe in Jesus and then you are a Christian. Therefore Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses , ect... would be considered Christians when in fact they are cults. Also many today seem to deny the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation and even if they do say Jesus is the only way to salvation, many will say that in the end there are many ways which will lead to Jesus or that all are accepted by Jesus apart from faith, which is not Biblical.

Any books that deal on how to defend against these things? Thank you!


For His Glory-
Matthew
 
Christians who don't live as CHristians--who don't know much of what they believe and who don't do much more than attend church once a week--who basically go back to living a secular life the other six days and 22 hours of the week.
 
I would agree with you that Christology is a huge issue, and in fact virtually all cults and false religions have a twisted Christology, however I would have to agree with Wayne that lukewarm Christians are the biggest threat to Christianity. As Jesus once said, "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." Revelation 3:15-16
 
The debates on justification and sanctification. The adversary has picked his battle carefully: these are the issues historically upon which orthodox faith stands or falls. Christology is obviously part of this -- by whom are you justified -- so perhaps I'm broadening the perspective here rather than giving a new topic.
 
There are no threats to Christianity... "It is finished" is what He said. There are, evidently, written into the scroll/book of God's decrees some battles to be fought and suffering to be endured by the saints over the course of history for the purposes of sanctification and glorification, but in the end the victory is assured.
 
Chruchmen who do not have the competency to teach nor have a life that reflects the character of the Gospel ministry.
 
Heretics within the church who can speak well!
God can use any man to further his message, but Satan will usually use someone who is the most liked by the standards of men to further his agenda.
 
From my experience it would seem that doubts concerning the reliability and authority of scripture are the greatest threats both inside and outside the church. Every time that I speak to anyone regarding what the Bible says, their first response (if they don't like what I am saying) is: "Well that is just your interpretation." If the conversation goes any farther, it usually results in: "The Bible was just written by fallible men, so it can't be without error."

We as Christians need to be able to encourage other Christians by showing them that they can certainly rely on Scripture, and feel confident in its authority. As for witnessing to non-Christians, we have to be able to defend against the common attacks such as: "That is just your interpretation." or "It was written by a bunch of old men who weren't perfect."

Those are just my thoughts on the matter.
 
Christians who don't live as CHristians--who don't know much of what they believe and who don't do much more than attend church once a week--who basically go back to living a secular life the other six days and 22 hours of the week.

+ 1. Exactly what I was thinking.
 
I agree with many of the replies on this question. We have men and sadly even women in pulpits that don't belong there for they have watered down the Gospel or preach no Gospel at all. Many today are professing to know Christ because they have made a decision that someone has told them how to be saved. I'm glad you defined the question to orthodox Christianity. I believe that the visible church is huge, while the invisible church is not. I have to say the greatest threat to the genuine church today is for good men to sit idly by and do nothing, myself included.
 
The popular belief that the term "sin" is essentially meaningless, and that almost nothing we may do deserves serious or lasting condemnation.
That wipes out the need for any kind of saviour at a stroke.
 
From my experience it would seem that doubts concerning the reliability and authority of scripture are the greatest threats both inside and outside the church.
That's a good point and the reason the Westminster Divines chose to lead with the scriptures before trying to discuss what the scriptures teach.
 
Christians who don't live as CHristians--who don't know much of what they believe and who don't do much more than attend church once a week--who basically go back to living a secular life the other six days and 22 hours of the week.

I see just the opposite. Pagans who act like Christians are a real threat. I speak from experience because many Christians do believe an unbeliever can do good (in God's eyes). Our election coming up is the prime example. Try convincing most Christians today that civic good is not the same as good done with a Godly intent and that civic good is really sin if done without faith.
 
I see just the opposite. Pagans who act like Christians are a real threat. I speak from experience because many Christians do believe an unbeliever can do good (in God's eyes). Our election coming up is the prime example. Try convincing most Christians today that civic good is not the same as good done with a Godly intent and that civic good is really sin if done without faith.
Earl,

So you completely disagree with Wayne that Christians "...who don't know much of what they believe..." is a threat but then you say that the problem is that many Christians can't discern the difference between civic good and that which is good in God's sight. :confused:
 
I think it is a problem with the Word of God. As Christians we are supposed to be people of the Word, but the majority of Christians live a world centered life. They think like the world, act like the world, behave like the world and the world sees no difference! What should be a marked difference is no longer there. Christianity once stood as an antithesis to the world, but now it seems as if the world drives the church. It is time we returned to the Word as the final standard for everything we do.
 
The notion that we will have peace at all cost. In our day it doesnt matter how wrong your doctrine is we'll accept ya!
 
It is time we returned to the Word as the final standard for everything we do.

I believe the reason that modern christians find it hard to rely on scripture alone is due to modern science. Not to say that science is opposed to God, but the majority of the science world would love to say they can prove that God doesn't exist. From my non-christian childhood all I was taught in public school was that we evolved from apes. The school shows very convincing evidence of this through pictures and research, and to an adolescent child it can be very persuasive. To those people they will never question that we evolved from apes, and will accept this as truth as they will end up as computer majors or journalists. For those that accept God will say, "if God chooses to make us evolve from apes then why question him".

In modern times people consider science fact and the bible a fairy tale due to lack of scientific evidence of specific events and miracles. This causes great problems with Christians in modern society. It was hard for me to reconcile science and the bible.
 
I see just the opposite. Pagans who act like Christians are a real threat. I speak from experience because many Christians do believe an unbeliever can do good (in God's eyes). Our election coming up is the prime example. Try convincing most Christians today that civic good is not the same as good done with a Godly intent and that civic good is really sin if done without faith.
Earl,

So you completely disagree with Wayne that Christians "...who don't know much of what they believe..." is a threat but then you say that the problem is that many Christians can't discern the difference between civic good and that which is good in God's sight. :confused:

It matters from what perspective we are speaking about. If we are speaking directly to the question as what we see as being the greatest hurdle to people becoming Christians as I read the original question......."the greatest threat to orthodox Christianity today and best way for us as a church to defend the faith?" I stand by what I said. Now of course an obstacle as mentioned by Wayne is indeed also true though in Wayne's example I would say that those that live like heathens 6 days a week are not Christian but In my most humble opinion most of the world realizes they probably are not also. So which is the greatest threat? The "good" cultist that lives an outward appearance of a Christian fools MOST of the people most of the time In my most humble opinion. The once a week Christian is indeed a serious threat but I have seen a LOT of Christians that appear to be such but later repent and I realized The Lord simply was not done with them yet and I misjudged them.
 
Hi! Curious what you think is greatest threat to orthodox Christianity today and best way for us as a church to defend the faith?

To me the greatest threat revolves around Christology. Namely who is the true Jesus & is He the only way? Seems like many today say does not matter what one believes about Jesus but just that one believe in Jesus and then you are a Christian. Therefore Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses , ect... would be considered Christians when in fact they are cults. Also many today seem to deny the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation and even if they do say Jesus is the only way to salvation, many will say that in the end there are many ways which will lead to Jesus or that all are accepted by Jesus apart from faith, which is not Biblical.

Any books that deal on how to defend against these things? Thank you!


For His Glory-
Matthew

Hi Matthew i recommend listening to lectures in this site which covers all the heresies that were defended by the early Church such as Athanasius, Irenaeus, Luther, Agustin. The common theme as you have pointed out is Christological. I would recommend listening to these, there is also reading materiel if you prefer. I found getting a good grip on the early Church fathers gave me good discernment for today...nothing new under the sun just re-hashing of old heresies that have been delt with before.
 
The Papacy, of course.

And perhaps the greatest threat to confessional churches is the failure to identify the Papacy as the greatest threat.
 
1. Lack of confidence in the reliability and consequently the authority of the Bible, God's word.

2. Worldliness of many genuine Christians.

3. Failure to discern the times we are in.
 
See the responses on this thread: http://www.puritanboard.com/f18/biggest-threat-church-today-74260/

Here was my comment:

All of the imaginary ideas and images that are purportedly of Christ is a great threat to the church; this idolatry is so prevalent among those who profess to be Christians. It turns people away from the biblical revelation of Christ to idols which God hates (Exodus 20:4).

Another great danger are unfaithful shepherds and ravenous wolves:

"What is the great danger in the Christian Church today? [...] The danger to the Church today, whatever the denomination, from within, is the person who wears the 'cloth of Christ', the person who wears the white collar, or the cross, and who stands behind the sacred desk and who is unfaithful to the Word of God. That is the ultimate danger to the Church: the corrupt and apostate shepherds, who infest our theological seminaries and our colleges and fill our pulpits across the United States and Canada, who know not God, do not believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ and will stand in the way of anybody that wants to preach it."-Walter Martin, The Cult of Liberal Theology, circa 1987

In 2006 James M. Hamilton Jr. gave a similar answer to the question in his article "The Greatest Danger Facing the Church" (The Greatest Danger Facing the Church | For His Renown)
 
I cannot decide on one. Syncretism/Tolerance (Oprah Winfrey/Joel Osteen) are both attractive American pitfalls for many Christians.
 
Of course, at one level there are no threats to Christianity. Christ WILL build his church.

That said, I believe that in every age, in every place, there are threats to any particular group of Christians. Because Christianity is at heart creedal, threats always affect what we believe and from those beliefs the delight, enjoyment, peace, and love that we have towards and in Christ.

Therefore, I believe that one of the greatest threats to the glory of God and the good of God's people is the pervasive desire to be relevant to our culture. This desire and pursuit has caused us to - in many cases - minimalize what we believe, and this has subsequently gutted our ethics and the combination has yielded a weak and worldly Church.

Just my opinion.
 
There is no threat from an ultimate sense for Christ told us this:
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16)

However, from the temporal understanding (human perspective), I'd say unbelief.
 
There are no threats to Christianity... "It is finished" is what He said. There are, evidently, written into the scroll/book of God's decrees some battles to be fought and suffering to be endured by the saints over the course of history for the purposes of sanctification and glorification, but in the end the victory is assured.
Agreed. That being said, the biggest danger is false doctrine.

I know some people named hypocrisy, but in the end we're all hypocrites in the sense that none of us perfectly keep the law. No matter how "sanctified" I've been, I've always had something in my life that somebody could point to and say "That's not very Christian of you!"

Being a hypocrite is bad, but being a heretic is far worse.
 
The Papacy, of course.

And perhaps the greatest threat to confessional churches is the failure to identify the Papacy as the greatest threat.

I agree, I believe that ignorance or revisionism of the history surrounding the Papacy is definitely one of the greatest threat facing us today.
 
I believe Christology is a big issue since cults and false religions have to break down either the Divine nature of Jesus or the humanity of Jesus in order to make another man center. The leader of the cult has to do this in my opinion to make himself mediator for man instead of Jesus. That being said, I believe that false converts and lukewarm Christians(those in the pulpit especially) are the biggest threat.
 
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