tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post1794154005198600869..comments2024-03-27T18:18:11.525-06:00Comments on American Creation: The Question of Natural Religion and Syncretism Part IBrad Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-43265211350540206832016-01-08T05:49:46.303-07:002016-01-08T05:49:46.303-07:00Personally, I think the whole Wheaton college deba...Personally, I think the whole Wheaton college debate is rather pointless. The <br />Apostle James once wrote: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." Ultimately, believing in the one true God is inconsequential. Such a belief merely places men on the same plane as the devils, and those who remain on this level will suffer the same fate as the devils regardless of how accurate their view of God may be. The belief which truly separates men from devils is the belief "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (I Corinthians 15:3-4) This is the belief that really matters; the debate over which God is worshiped by Muslims is meaningless. Bill Fortenberryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14205053444988720146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-63925395416381451282016-01-07T09:05:30.335-07:002016-01-07T09:05:30.335-07:00Thanks for these sources Bill. I will check them o...Thanks for these sources Bill. I will check them out. I think would agree with you that this doesn't seem to be something the Enlightenment invented. Though there is an old phrase "there is nothing new under sun."<br /><br />This concept did become something the Enlightenment theists embraced. Arianism isn't something the Enlightenment invented, but it and Socinianism became en vogue among the elites during this time. (I'm not even sure whether the Enlightenment could take credit for Socinianism and Michael Servetus, even though certain figures of that time period embraced them).<br /><br />Even today there is a fascinating timely debate re the professor at Wheaton who unfortunately seems to be losing her job.<br /><br />About 1/2 of the prominent orthodox Christian thinkers who have written on the controversy believe Muslims and Christians don't worship the same God. The other 1/2 half believe they do. Jonathan Rowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079637406589278386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-88987392631862399322016-01-06T06:06:10.874-07:002016-01-06T06:06:10.874-07:00I would disagree with your statement that "th...I would disagree with your statement that "they seek to reauthenticate for traditional Christianity what is presented as a novel creation of the Enlightenment period." The view of natural religion which you see as "a novel creation of the Enlightenment period" can be found in Christian writings that predate the Enlightenment. In your article at ordinary-gentlemen.com, you traced Boudinot's statements back to a 1794 book by Thomas Maurice, but the concept did not originate with Maurice either. <br /><br />If we keep looking further back in history, we find Theophilus Gale writing in 1671 of similar conclusions in regards to the Hindus in particular as well as of several other pagan religions. But Gale notes that this idea did not originate with him. In one place, Gale referenced Owen (I assume the Puritan John Owen, but I'm not certain) when he wrote:<br /><br />"[The Hindus] agree with the Crecians in many things viz. touching the worlds production, and destruction, and that God is the Creator and Governer of it: which opinions of theirs, Owen questions not, but that they had, by ancient Tradition from the Church of God. Owen Theol. l. I. c. 8."<br /><br />And in another place Gale references a 1611 book by Hugh Sanford and Robert Parker who also traced all of natural theology back to the worship of the one, true God. Gale's two volume work <i>The Court of the Gentiles</i> is devoted entirely to this concept. Volume 1 is available online at: https://books.google.com/books?id=EcOxQ1z6zC8C<br /><br />If we search further, we could trace this concept to even earlier authors such as Thomas Aquinas who wrote of natural religion in the 13th century and Justin Martyr who claimed in the second century that Plato developed his philosophy by studying the Books of Moses. We could then even trace this idea back to the time of the Apostles themselves by noting that Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans of God writing His law on the hearts of all men and who is recorded in the Book of Acts as claiming that the Unknown God worshiped in Athens was the one true God, Jehovah Himself who came among men in the person of Jesus Christ.<br /><br />The idea that the pagan religions were merely corruptions of the true religion which was preserved first by the Jews and then by the Christians is not an enlightenment concept. It is as old as Christianity itself, and this can be demonstrated time and again if we take the time to read the writings of ancient Christians on this subject.Bill Fortenberryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14205053444988720146noreply@blogger.com