The gospel truth behind Beck's inartful words

Awesome, thorough, biblically-accurate piece.

Side note - anyone who stands on a theology that believes Jesus never mentioned homosexuality does not read Scripture thoroughly. Btw, using your approach can you show me a verse where Jesus SUPPORTS homosexuality?

Secondly, anyone who thinks people of faith will be primarily influenced by the "scientific findings" of nonbelievers and their supporters is wasting their time.

Oh, I get it. If you're a "liberal" church, political action is bad. If you're a conservative Fundamentalist church, political action is good.

Why don't you take all of the money that you collect to lobby lawmakers to criminalize gay people and use it to help the poor? Surely there MUST be poor people in your community, sir. Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuals, but said a lot about taking care of the poor.

why people bring fiction into this? Archaeologists have found that the story of the Jew Bible about the covenant that God signed with the Israelites has been plagiarised from an Assyrian text dated to 670 BC

http://indianrealist.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/source-of-bible-covenant-with-god-discovered/

Added comment about those who don't trust the churches: There are people who believe in Jesus who won't go to a church or a faith-based service organization for help because of the way they were treated by church folks.

But, they will go to a government agency for help. When I was homeless, I went to the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry's Day Center for the Homeless and the folks there weren't judgmental. They did their best to help everybody.

But, on the bulletin board was a notice from the Salvation Army's social center a block from the Day Center. One had to take more proof that they needed help from the SA than they had to take to the OK State Dept. of Human services.

Some people think that the SA is merely a faith-based service organization; but, it is a denomination and has its own churches, too.

Jesus believed in standing up for the rights of the minorities and individuals helping the poor; but, so many people have been spiritually abused in the name of relgion by right-wing Bible-thumpers and pastors, even like those of the Southern Baptist Churches.

Mr. Mohler has said negative things about gays and lesbians. His denomination doesn't approve of women in church leadership.

But, the 1st Century Church, literally called "The Way" in the book of Acts and in Paul's Epistles, had women who were pastors, teachers, deacons (that's a church postion and it's masculine in that sense, the feminine is not used) and evangelists.

Dr. Mohler, as so many like to do, sets up a straw man in "liberal protestantism" to knock down. There are few curches that do not proclaim salvation in Christ - including "liberal" ones. Jim Wallis is neither "liberal" theologically nor, as one blogger suggests, "leftist." He merely takes scripture seriously. He likes to tell the story about how he and a few friends took a Bible and cut out all of the "social justice" verses; what they had left was truly a "holey" Bible, missing over 2000 verses of scripture!

I belong to one of those "liberal" churches accused recently of biblical treason - the ELCA. I would suggest that we are at least as faithful to the Gospel and take it at least as seriously as any other church. Perhaps more so than some that are more concerned about their political leanings than they are about what Jesus actually said.

The Gospel is, in fact, demanding and revolutionary. In the time in which it was written, the church provided a counter-culture for the poor, orphans and widows, those who were left out in a patronage-based society. It challlenged the lordship of Caesar with the Lordship of Jesus. Early Christians were not allowed to serve in the army. Paul says that the greatest evidence for the resurrection is the breaking down of "the wall of hostility" between Jews and Greeks, people of various classes and nationality, as well as those between men and women, "for all are one in Christ." According to Acts, all Christians shared everything they had, in a communal-type of society.

Than sounds to me like a social program. These matters were not pressed upon their society for two reasons: 1. They lacked the influence, as a persecuted minority in an autocratic society. 2. They believed that Jesus was coming again soon, to establish this kind of kingdom - a kingdom for which they constantly prayed (that is what the Lord's Prayer asks!).

Dr. Mohler, perhaps you need to become a better church historian and theologian!

Thankfully, there are reasonable people weighing in on this polarizing debate. Dr. Mohler represents the classical Christian view, based upon scripture and years of Christian thinking. I am sure Augustine, Luther, and Calvin have articulated as much, if any of us are willing to review such tombs.

What bothers me is the Post's fanning of the flames on this subject. Jim Wallis clearly represents the leftist position on this subject and to invite him as the counterpoint to Beck is to only have the two extremes represented. Dr. Mohler is much more balanced and centrist and softens Beck's intemperance, but not the value of his position. Wallis is simply a socialist and to give him a forum on "social justice" is to invite Marx to speak on Marxism.

The Bible clearly talks about individual responsibility, the right of private property, and the limits of government. The entire structure of Western thought is predicated on Locke's view of man-which is derivative from scripture-, not Marx.

Finally, the reality of socialism...poverty and the usurpation of individual freedom and rights by the government. The progressive/socialist agenda merely empowers the government to act unjustly in the name of justice. How ironic! Fortunately, the people will not be fooled.

DoTheRightThing writes:

"Social justice is an issue for the Christians to address via their personal and ecclesial acts of charity with their economic and social resources. Social justice is NOT an issue for the U.S. government to resolve - such a power is not given to the federal government anywhere in a proper reading of the U.S. Constitution."
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Ah, you mean that Constitution where it states "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..."?

That constitution?

Unless your correct reading of the Constitution means that the Federal Government should be posting signs around the country saying how good it is to live on welfare, I think that addressing some social issues is mentioned specifically there.

The Federal government, from its instantiation, has addressed social concerns of one sort or another. Some of them might start trampling on state rights - but to claim that the federal government has no right to deal with social issues at all is just, plain silly.

Social justice is an issue for the Christians to address via their personal and ecclesial acts of charity with their economic and social resources. Social justice is NOT an issue for the U.S. government to resolve - such a power is not given to the federal government anywhere in a proper reading of the U.S. Constitution.

Dr. Mohler, you should have stopped with this paragraph --
"To assert that a call for social justice is reason for faithful Christians to flee their churches is nonsense, given the Bible's overwhelming affirmation that justice is one of God's own foremost concerns."

Mr. Mohler, if you cannot find the information about a government and social justice in the New Testament, perhaps you should widen your scope to cover all of The Word to see what Jesus' message is about social justice.

Jesus' statements about the world, and our reactions to it, didn't start in Judea after his baptism by John - they started at the creation of the Universe.

You act as though he is not the Living Word, whose statements come to us through the Pentateuch, the wisdom tales, and the prophets of the Old Testament as well.

I think you give Beck too much credit. He neither knows nor cares about the theological argument you describe or any subtleties of the social import of the Gospel. He just has a visceral dislike of anyone telling him he has any moral obligation to "losers."

It's Ayn Rand all over again. About every 80 years we go through this sort of fever of radical individualism. It reaches a peak and then crashes. It happened in the mid 30's, and we can see it starting to happen again.

Mohler says:
"The New Testament is stunningly silent on any plan for governmental or social action."

Governmental, maybe - remember that the people Jesus was supposedly speaking to had no control over the government, which was Roman.

But social? "Stunningly silent"?

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

That's Matthew 19:21-24, and is repeated in Mark 10:21-25, and Luke 18:22-25.

Doesn't sound very Beckian, does it?

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Voltaire said:

"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities."

"Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror."

"Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense."

"Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion that has ever infected the world."

Benjamin Franklin said

"Original sin was as ridiculous as imputed righteousness."

Thomas Paine said

"What is it the Bible teaches us? -- rapine, cruelty, and murder. What is it the Testament teaches us? -- to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married, and the belief of this debauchery is called faith.”

Abraham Lincoln said

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

Of course there is. Regrettably, there is no shortage of preachers who have traded the Gospel for a platform of political and economic change, most often packaged as a call for social justice.

Sadly, none of this can be said of the Southern Baptists that were silent when Jim Crow was instituted in the South, and who were absent during the Civil rights struggle. Social justice is not necessary for Southern Baptists. However, Southern Baptists find time to support the political objective of eliminating abortion as a legal activity in America.

I am not for abortion. I am not against religious participation in government. But to suggest the word 'liberal' goes with an attempt to move away from the Gospel is too much for me.

"The last century has seen many churches and denominations embrace the social gospel in some form, trading the Gospel of Christ for a liberal vision of social change, revolution, economic liberation, and, yes, social justice. Liberal Protestantism has largely embraced this agenda as its central message."

This according to Jesus is the Gospel. Luke 4:18. 19 - to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

justice of the god and the code words of the church.

until this minute of the long history of juchristianity ,juchristianity do not agree who god is ,is he jesus or the son of god or the god incarnate or the trinity1+1+1=1 or the god who put on human flesh while mankind(or his father) nail him on the cross for the sin and love of mankind?

how do you phrase and shape the above theology into any system or organization let alone justice and justice system to mankind ?

systemazation of the word of the juchristian bible is 100% human ,jesus himself was lifted befor any systemization or legalizations .

the juchristian bible is none but phrases and codes word .

the church of juchristianity relied on the solid secular system of the roman empire.

the modern juchristian church rely until this minute of history on secular human justice and secular human justice system .

i,m not an advocate of atheism or human secularism bur rather showing some facts.

juchristianity need to find god first then justice.

Mr Mohler,

Well Written Article.
I agree with you.

Mark (a mormon)
Always seek the truth..