Stand for the gospel
Brandon Bennett
Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Opinion
Underclassmen, your Christian faith will be assaulted at Samford, a university with the motto, "for God, for learning, forever." So take the words of Colossians 2:8 to heart: "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition … and not according to Christ."
Right now at Samford, there is rampant criticism of Scripture, and the gospel has come under fire. Through the university's gates have entered Trojan Horses that looked friendly because of the Jesus stickers on them, but from them flowed the enemy. Man-centered philosophies have captivated many. Biblical Perspectives, where some have sought to supplant our belief in the Bible with academic, critical opinions, inspires more doubt than faith.
These philosophies and academic opinions are built to attack the truth of the gospel found in Scripture. Postmodernism, which spurns the very notion of absolute truth, has swept through Samford like a firestorm, resulting in worship and faith fueled by uncertainty, doubt, mystery and experience. Some Samford professors have been allowed to make Scripture into a buffet so that they can slaughter the truth until it is palatable.
To slaughter the truth, however, is to slaughter the gospel, and that is a forfeiture of the Christian faith. Truth matters because it is the substance of the gospel. Belief in the gospel is obedience to truth (I Peter 1:22), so that's why Paul says, "those who are perishing … refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thessalonians 1:10).
Human nature loves to suppress the truth because it exposes human sin and glorifies Christ (John 3:19-20). That is the reason some have attempted to make themselves the judge of what is true in Scripture, but it is foolishness to think that humans can dictate truth. Jeremiah 8:9 says, "The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?"
The message of Jesus has also been distorted into a sociopolitical revolution that is completely separate from what Christ actually came to do: to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Social justice is not the chief end of the gospel; God Himself is (I Peter 3:18).
Christ-followers, proclaim Christ and His truth throughout this university to battle unbelief. You must "contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 4). Fight for the purity of the gospel, the truth that has saved you, not for vainglory but for the glory of Christ.
How I pray that Samford would be purged of postmodern unbelief! May Samford surrender to the truth so that the world looks at this institution and sees "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians. 4:6).
Brandon Bennett is a senior accounting major from Milton, Fla. He can be reached at wbbennet@samford.edu.
Right now at Samford, there is rampant criticism of Scripture, and the gospel has come under fire. Through the university's gates have entered Trojan Horses that looked friendly because of the Jesus stickers on them, but from them flowed the enemy. Man-centered philosophies have captivated many. Biblical Perspectives, where some have sought to supplant our belief in the Bible with academic, critical opinions, inspires more doubt than faith.
These philosophies and academic opinions are built to attack the truth of the gospel found in Scripture. Postmodernism, which spurns the very notion of absolute truth, has swept through Samford like a firestorm, resulting in worship and faith fueled by uncertainty, doubt, mystery and experience. Some Samford professors have been allowed to make Scripture into a buffet so that they can slaughter the truth until it is palatable.
To slaughter the truth, however, is to slaughter the gospel, and that is a forfeiture of the Christian faith. Truth matters because it is the substance of the gospel. Belief in the gospel is obedience to truth (I Peter 1:22), so that's why Paul says, "those who are perishing … refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thessalonians 1:10).
Human nature loves to suppress the truth because it exposes human sin and glorifies Christ (John 3:19-20). That is the reason some have attempted to make themselves the judge of what is true in Scripture, but it is foolishness to think that humans can dictate truth. Jeremiah 8:9 says, "The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?"
The message of Jesus has also been distorted into a sociopolitical revolution that is completely separate from what Christ actually came to do: to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Social justice is not the chief end of the gospel; God Himself is (I Peter 3:18).
Christ-followers, proclaim Christ and His truth throughout this university to battle unbelief. You must "contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 4). Fight for the purity of the gospel, the truth that has saved you, not for vainglory but for the glory of Christ.
How I pray that Samford would be purged of postmodern unbelief! May Samford surrender to the truth so that the world looks at this institution and sees "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians. 4:6).
Brandon Bennett is a senior accounting major from Milton, Fla. He can be reached at wbbennet@samford.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 9
Greg Gerard
posted 5/07/09 @ 8:03 AM CST
Bravo Brendan!!! Very succinct expose on what has happened to most college campuses, and sadly, many seminaries.
They have lost their first love and moved from their original vision of unity with diversity (University)
Of course this can only be accomplished through the Gospel. (Continued…)
Aaron Carr
posted 5/08/09 @ 8:40 PM CST
First, in response to Greg, university is not a contraction of unity and diversity. It comes from the Latin universitas, meaning society or corporation (OED). (Continued…)
Brandon Bennett
Brandon Bennett
posted 5/10/09 @ 5:39 PM CST
Thanks, Aaron, for your comments.
I do actually affirm that to properly understand Scripture, the interpreter must look to the historical setting of the writing. (Continued…)
W. R. Alex Poythress
posted 5/10/09 @ 7:39 PM CST
Thank you to all who have contributed their thoughts and insights into this matter. Like everything Christian, the question of "what is a Christian education" is one that no two people will ever agree on an answer to. (Continued…)
Aaron Carr
posted 5/10/09 @ 10:00 PM CST
Okay Brandon, if we're not going to properly allow for cultural contexts to influence our reading, we should all make our women wear veils and keep them silent in church. (Continued…)
Josh Moore
posted 5/13/09 @ 7:49 PM CST
Aaron, if "a biblical text is imparting to us a metaphor or, God forbid, a legend, that still teaches divine truths and we attempt to force them into a literal framework, we have done that text no justice. (Continued…)
Aaron Carr
posted 5/14/09 @ 2:12 AM CST
Josh, you miss my point. All scripture is useful and has application to our lives. Scripture that speaks in metaphor still reveals truth to us. The problem comes when we interpret a metaphorical passage as literal. (Continued…)
Robert Alvarez
posted 5/15/09 @ 1:24 AM CST
Good job Brandon. I have read a lot of opinion pieces in the Crimson and had noticed that they have fallen almost exclusively liberal (where politics were involved). (Continued…)
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