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3.3 Statements of Faith
Twin Errors: Theological Liberalism & Theological Fundamentalism:
- The error of theological liberalism is a basic disrespect for biblical authority and the church’s treasury of truth. The mark of true liberalism is the refusal to admit that first-order theological issues even exist. Liberals treat first-order doctrines as if they were merely third order in importance, and doctrinal ambiguity is the inevitable result.
- Fundamentalism, on the other hand, tends toward the opposite error. The misjudgment of true fundamentalism is the belief that all disagreements concern first-order doctrines. Thus, third-order issues are raised to a first-order importance, and Christians are wrongly and harmfully divided.
How can Pentecostals guard against falling into either of these two errors? Reflect in a paragraph.
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20 Replies
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The Pentecostals can guard against these two errors by stay true and steadfast to the word or God. We can navigate through these situations with open dialog and agree to disagree.
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I belive that the only way to avoid either of these error is to 1) seek God in these discussions, asking Him for guidence and wisdom 2) be open to other voices and criticism, we are not to live out our faith in an echo chamber, but we should allow space for other opinions 3) remain humble, we will never be 100% right. At any given moment likley 30% of our theology is wrong, but we just won’t know what 30%
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To safeguard against these two errors, I would suggest the following:
First, decide that every conversation flows through love, which looks like being quick to listen, slow to speak, patient, and kind in all of our communications. I would propose that most divisions, be they of the church or personal, do not follow this rule well.
Second, examine Scripture itself to see how fiercely a particular belief is defended; is it only discussed in one obscure verse in a single epistle? Or is it saturated throughout the gospels, and multiple letters from multiple authors?
Finally, examine church history; have there been times when a group of Jesus followers have believed this in the past? If so, what was the end result of that group? Are they still thriving today, or did their history end poorly and teach us not to follow their ways?
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Pentecostals can guard against falling into either of these two errors I think by having grace for one another. I think that too often, people get caught up into either arguing that there is no real theological truths, or that all things are of the utmost importance in theology. The reality is though, that there are different levels of of statements as discussed in this video. When having a conversation with someone who may have different beliefs then you, it may be helpful to try and figure out if this is a Dogma belief, denominational belief, personal belief, or personal preference. This can help guide the conversation in a way that understands both sides of the argument and can help Pentecostals to not fall too far into theological liberalism or fundamentalism.
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