FOUR GRAND MYTHS THAT WEAKEN THE CHURCH
It seems that in the last 50 to 75 years the church has been seriously weakened by several pagan systems of thought. Most of these systems are based on the flimsy ideas of mankind that border on sheer mythology. They come from the tree of knowledge of good and evil spoken of in the Bible (Gen. 2:9, 17). We need to remember the sound advice of Paul concerning such as these: “They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:4). Let us take a quick look at some myth systems that continue in our times.
PSEUDO THEOLOGY
Pseudo theology probably began with the devil asking the question, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). Since that early time, people have doubted the word of God. Some of these folks even call themselves theologians. It was my ill fortune to attend an otherwise fine seminary, that was almost taken over by very liberal theologians. That trend has been corrected in recent years. Some came from Germany after World War II. They destroyed their country and then they came over to destroy our country.
Their tool of destruction was called Biblical Criticism, and it may have sprung from the German Enlightenment (c. 1650 – c. 1800). While it had some good features it had many bad ones and it ended up almost shredding the Bible in many cases. This type thinking certainly helped open the door to the radical “God is Dead” theology (1950s through 1960s). This theology was greatly influenced by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who originated the expression. Unfortunately for him, it was Nietzsche who died not God, and the doubting theologians all died as well, but God lives on, along with his Holy and eternal Word.
It is certainly interesting how Jesus looked at the word of God. He said that we should live “…on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). In John 10:35, he said that the Scripture cannot be broken. Long before, the prophet Isaiah had said, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isa. 40:8).
Today in this “Jello Era,” when almost everything is shaking, we have one thing that we can depend on and that is the word of God. Our sins are forgiven because of the word. We are also saved because of it, providing we believe in Jesus and commit our lives to him. In our many trials and tests, we overcome because of what the word says. We stand on the word and nothing else. Belief in the pure word of God will take us safely to heaven.
PSEUDO PHILOSOPHY
Throughout history, at least since the time of the Greeks, we have had philosophers giving us their views on life. It is interesting indeed that for many, their philosophies did not work, even in their own lives.
Let us look briefly at some of our most famous philosophers of the modern era:
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) had five children with his lover and abandoned them all. His writings inspired the terrible French Revolution. He was a mess of contradictions.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was the first to introduce Hinduism and Buddhism into Western philosophy. He slept with a loaded pistol, and he seemed to hate women. He once threw his maid down the stairs, permanently injuring her.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) contacted syphilis by visiting brothels. He ended his life insane, and yet he has become one of the most influential philosophers of modern times.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), another very influential thinker but a disastrous lover, father, and grandfather. He seduced the daughter of his Chicago host and virtually destroyed her life. He was married four times and always had a secret fear that he would go mad.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was a homosexual before such a thing was accepted. Thus he was so upset with his sexuality that he considered suicide. Although he was brilliant, he often behaved in strange and unacceptable ways.
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was a strong supporter of Adolf Hitler and a prophet of Nazism. He was an antisemite, although he had a Jewish mistress and a Jewish mentor. After the war, he was stripped of his professorship at the University of Freiburg.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-80) managed a number of lovers simultaneously, although he had a neurosis and ambivalence towards women. He was considered a corrupter of youth by the Catholic church and his works were placed on the Index. He was an ardent supporter of Communism and made many trips to Soviet Russia.
Michael Foucault (1926-1984) was troubled by depression and once slashed his chest in a suicide attempt. He was bothered by guilt over his compulsive sado-masochistic sexual needs. In the end he died with AIDS contracted by his frequent bathhouse visits.1 Foucault had said earlier: “Sex is worth dying for,” and it is “more important than our soul.” 2
Modern philosophers have done us a great disfavor. Since philosopher René Descartes, reality has been shifted totally to the mind. What matters now is what people think. That is now truth, and all truth has become relative. Paul once warned us to avoid these high-sounding arguments (Col. 2:4). He cautioned us that we should not allow people to take us captive through philosophy (Col. 2:8). What God says is reality and it is truth. That truth will stand forever.
PSEUDO PSYCHOLOGY
I attended seminary at precisely the time when Freudian psychology was invading the Christian world. Up to that time the pastor, or mature Christian friends, were expected to give free biblical counseling to troubled souls. Suddenly, counselors were required to have “proper training,” preferably even in the clinical setting, and they were expected to charge for their services. It was a monumental shift, and psychology began to become big business.
Much of the sudden emphasis on counseling sprang from the works of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Doctor E. Fuller Torrey, who served as a clinical and research psychiatrist in Washington, D.C., has written the book called Freudian Fraud, The Malignant Effect of Freud’s Theory on American Thought and Culture. He says, “Freud was deep into the occult and periodically consulted soothsayers, who were alleged to have telepathic powers. He was an Honorary Fellow in the American Society for Psychical Research. Once he remarked that if he could live his life over, he would devote it to psychical research rather than psychoanalysis. Not only was he deep into the occult but he was extremely enthusiastic about the use of cocaine in his work and at times he used it himself.” 3
It is shocking what Patrick Glynn states: “Freud believed the credibility of religion must be destroyed. It was, quite simply, the ‘enemy.’” 4 Glynn says that ”Freud in his book, The Future of an Illusion (1927), branded faith as a form of mental disorder, a ‘universal obsessional neurosis,’ rooted in ‘infantile’ and ‘narcissistic’ patterns of thought – a neurosis that he predicted humanity would ‘outgrow.’” 5 He notes how Freud’s heirs, both C.G. Jung and Carl Rogers renounced Christianity entirely. How amazing it is that the church embraced this man and his system while ignoring the sacred and time-tested instruction of the Bible.
Dr. Tanya Dineen, a psychologist with many honors to her name, left the industry entirely after seeing its abuses. She says, “The Psychology Industry is separating people from their families, promoting stereotypic and hostile views of men and women, degrading friendship and generally promoting distrust and suspicion.” 6 Since women far outnumber men in the counseling process, the psychologist unfortunately often removes the woman out from under the covering of family headship. Dineen adds: “What is now called ‘psychology’ is… ‘junk science’, …with no soul or science, no boundaries and no method; swept along by the shifting ground of popular belief and ephemeral demands for expert opinion.” 7
PSEUDO SCIENCE
This is now the heyday of Darwin & Dawkins, but their science is not based on the scientific method, but rather on speculation and even on mythology.
For instance, since the time of the Greeks until the 1960s it was believed that the universe was static. However, even at the beginning of the twentieth century the physicist Albert Einstein proved that this was not true, and that the universe had a beginning.
Later, other scientists verified Einstein’s discovery. Yet, that information left the scientific world with a big problem. If the world and universe had a beginning, then something or someone had to start it. Scientists could not solve this problem, so they ended up calling this source “The Big Bang.” Unfortunately, they are still missing the explanation of this vast power source or singularity, as they call it. For Christians this is easy. In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew Bible opens with these words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is a simple but profound statement of the beginning of the universe and of the earth.
The scientific world has scoffed at this time-tested explanation. However, with the advent of Quantum Physics, a way is once again made for the miraculous. Even the physicists do not understand the strange workings of the elements. The renowned American theoretical physicist, J. A. Wheeler says: “When I first started studying, I saw the world as composed of particles. Looking more deeply I discovered waves. Now after a lifetime of study, it appears that all existence is the expression of information.” 8 Other famous physicists have made similar statements. Imagine that! The universe is made up of information! That is very close to the “Word” of John 1:1-3. John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” This should be readily understandable in our great information age.
There are many areas of Quantum Physics that point to the miraculous. Yet modern science continues to hold to the feeble Darwinian concept of evolution by sheer chance. It seems that in spite of many facts, scientists still prefer to cling to their mythology. They look with scorn on Christians and their biblical explanation of the universe. However, few seem to realize that their very profession was begun by committed Christians. Let us just name a few: Blaise Pascal (1623-1662); Robert Boyle (1627-1691); Isaac Newton (1643-1723); Anton Lavoisier (1743-1794); Alesandro Volta (1745-1827); Michael Faraday (1791-1867); Samuel Morse (1791-1872); and Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976).
It is entirely possible that present day science would not have gotten off the ground without these very committed, ground-breaking and pioneering Christians.
-Jim Gerrish
Published 2024
1 Neil Rodgers & Mel Thompson, Philosophers Behaving Badly (London & Chester Springs: Peter Owen Publishers, 2005), pp. 20, 22, 39, 41, 44, 60, 69, 95, 107, 122, 148, 151, 187, 210.
2 Nancy R. Pearcey, Love Thy Body, Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2018), p. 134.
3 E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. Freudian Fraud, pp. 9-10.
4 Patrick Glynn, God, The Evidence, The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World (Rocklin CA: Prima Publishing, 1997), p. 59.
5 Ibid., p. 57.
6 Tana Dineen, Manufacturing Victims, What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People (Montreal, Toronto, Paris: Robert Davis Publishing, 1996), p. 98.
7 Ibid., p. 138.
8 Quoted in Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth, Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity (Wheaton IL: Crossway Books, 2004), p. 156.