The Failure of Modern Christianity
December 6, 2016
G.D.O'Bradovich III
1
Essays, by their nature, are short, not involved papers, therefore, we cannot adequately address all the failures of modern Christianity.
The most recognized and consistent failure of modern Christianity is the often promoted belief that good men can become better men. This fixation on “good” is limited to behavior, as the modern churches are necessarily limited by the modern supposition that all relevant information for practicing Christians is found in their Bible. The expectation that belief in the power of Christ to transform adherents’ morality has shown to be a farce, as far as we can rely on recorded history. In our own way, we are amused that the premise of sola scriptura is rarely questioned, even though tens of millions of modern Christians are frustrated by either their failure to improve their behavior or their inability to perfect their morality.
When individuals reject the various claims of modern Christianity, they also reject ancient Christianity. The rejection of ancient Christianity is implicit, since modern Christians have no knowledge of either ancient Christianity or its traditions. After rejecting modern Christianity, these disillusioned individuals are highly motivated to question all theistic claims, whether Christian or not.
We have no doubt that evangelicals and fundamentalists are incredulous when they learn that the goal of ancient Christianity is neither the moral improvement or the moral perfection of believers, but the attainment of divinity. They must be suspicious toward long established churches, with several hundred million adherents, that teach theosis as the goal of humanity. Although fundamentalist Christians may understand becoming divine as one tenet of the New Age movement, theosis has been an explicit doctrine of the ancient Church since the fourteenth century.
There is a noticeable trend that atheists and agnostics are professing their opinions at an earlier age than in previous generations. This phenomenon, coupled with the slow, but steady, rejection of modern Christianity will result in the majority of adults as professing either agnosticism or atheism. We suggest that those individuals who feel deceived by the unsubstantiated claims of modern Christianity will tend to hold divisive snd unforgiving opinions regarding all aspects of Christianity. This resultant behavior is expected, since individuals who perceive themselves deceived by the claims of modern Christianity will be its most vocal opponents.
Although there is little evidence that modern Christianity's claim of improving morality have merit, there is no evidence that ancient Christianity's claim of divinization is true, as verification is only possible in the next world. Therefore, we cannot have any opinions regarding the claim of theosis, although we must admit of the possibility, but not the certainty, of becoming divine. We must acknowledge the difference between knowing one's salvation as suggested by modern Christianity and the hope of theosis as taught by ancient Christianity.
On the Day of Judgment, that dreadful day, fundamentalist and evangelical believers will have inside information that was not available to ancient Christianity, that is, they know those who will be guaranteed salavation and those who will ultimately receive damnation. Clearly, the ways of the Lord are mysterious, as the Holy Spirit has revealed the specifics of salvation to those groups that are ignorant of history. Compounding our confusion, the Holy Spirit has, for reasons beyond human understanding, not revealed the one and infallible Bible to either the Roman Catholic church, since the Roman church has had various versions of the Biblical text over the preceding four centuries, or the Orthodox Churches, since they have no ancient tradition of a Bible. (Yours Truly anticipates the newest version of the Roman Bible; the tentativ completion date is the year 2025.) We note that the Holy Spirit has been kind to the Roman Catholic church, since the Holy Spirit has revealed that souls in Purgatory will eventuality attain salvation. Inexplicably, the Holy Spirit has not revealed the specifics of salvation to the Orthodox Church and we are unable to justify this seemingly inconsistent behavior from the Holy Spirit.
We would like to hold the Orthodox Church accountable for their reticence concerning guaranteed salvation, however our enquiries are only met with consistent responses of ignorance regarding revelations outside the Orthodox Church. We are justifiably concerned that the Holy Spirit has granted revelations to both the Roman Church and the protestant churches (numbering tens of thousands of denominations) that have rendered the Orthodox Church completely unaware of guaranteed salvation, whether through personal belief or the existence of Purgatory.
We note that the Orthodox Church is not concerned with the modern Biblical concept of the salvation of immortal souls. We suggest that this lack of concern by Orthodoxy is due entirely to its ignorance of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the immortal soul.
Although the Roman Church and certain protestant churches, notably the Later Day Saints or Mormons, continue to receive ongoing revelations from the Holy Spirit, the Orthodox Church has not been privileged to receive further clarification of Christian dogma. We are unable to understand and remain in a state of confusion as to why the Orthodox Church has not received continuing revelations from the Holy Spirit.
The Orthodox Churches seems to be “stuck” in a time far removed from our own, as though no further revelations concerning the immortal soul, the existence of purgatory, the inerrant Bible, the Immaculate Conception, Papal Infallibility and the Assumption of Mary are necessary for the Christian faithful.
Due to Orthodoxy’s ignorance of these modern beliefs, converts to Orthodoxy must necessarily become ignorant themselves. We can now understand why there has never been overflowing conversions to Orthodoxy in the modern era, for it is difficult for those who previously professed that the Bible is inerrant and formerly knew that salvation can be attained by belief, to ultimately accept the historical fact that these ideas are the result, not of divine revelation to the Church, but of man’s reasoning. Of course, the idea of the continual improvement of moral behavior is not the product of reasoning, but the result of an assumption -the moral improvement of believers- based on a supposition -the inerrant Bible.
The most recognized and consistent failure of modern Christianity is the often promoted belief that good men can become better men. This fixation on “good” is limited to behavior, as the modern churches are necessarily limited by the modern supposition that all relevant information for practicing Christians is found in their Bible. The expectation that belief in the power of Christ to transform adherents’ morality has shown to be a farce, as far as we can rely on recorded history. In our own way, we are amused that the premise of sola scriptura is rarely questioned, even though tens of millions of modern Christians are frustrated by either their failure to improve their behavior or their inability to perfect their morality.
When individuals reject the various claims of modern Christianity, they also reject ancient Christianity. The rejection of ancient Christianity is implicit, since modern Christians have no knowledge of either ancient Christianity or its traditions. After rejecting modern Christianity, these disillusioned individuals are highly motivated to question all theistic claims, whether Christian or not.
We have no doubt that evangelicals and fundamentalists are incredulous when they learn that the goal of ancient Christianity is neither the moral improvement or the moral perfection of believers, but the attainment of divinity. They must be suspicious toward long established churches, with several hundred million adherents, that teach theosis as the goal of humanity. Although fundamentalist Christians may understand becoming divine as one tenet of the New Age movement, theosis has been an explicit doctrine of the ancient Church since the fourteenth century.
There is a noticeable trend that atheists and agnostics are professing their opinions at an earlier age than in previous generations. This phenomenon, coupled with the slow, but steady, rejection of modern Christianity will result in the majority of adults as professing either agnosticism or atheism. We suggest that those individuals who feel deceived by the unsubstantiated claims of modern Christianity will tend to hold divisive snd unforgiving opinions regarding all aspects of Christianity. This resultant behavior is expected, since individuals who perceive themselves deceived by the claims of modern Christianity will be its most vocal opponents.
Although there is little evidence that modern Christianity's claim of improving morality have merit, there is no evidence that ancient Christianity's claim of divinization is true, as verification is only possible in the next world. Therefore, we cannot have any opinions regarding the claim of theosis, although we must admit of the possibility, but not the certainty, of becoming divine. We must acknowledge the difference between knowing one's salvation as suggested by modern Christianity and the hope of theosis as taught by ancient Christianity.
On the Day of Judgment, that dreadful day, fundamentalist and evangelical believers will have inside information that was not available to ancient Christianity, that is, they know those who will be guaranteed salavation and those who will ultimately receive damnation. Clearly, the ways of the Lord are mysterious, as the Holy Spirit has revealed the specifics of salvation to those groups that are ignorant of history. Compounding our confusion, the Holy Spirit has, for reasons beyond human understanding, not revealed the one and infallible Bible to either the Roman Catholic church, since the Roman church has had various versions of the Biblical text over the preceding four centuries, or the Orthodox Churches, since they have no ancient tradition of a Bible. (Yours Truly anticipates the newest version of the Roman Bible; the tentativ completion date is the year 2025.) We note that the Holy Spirit has been kind to the Roman Catholic church, since the Holy Spirit has revealed that souls in Purgatory will eventuality attain salvation. Inexplicably, the Holy Spirit has not revealed the specifics of salvation to the Orthodox Church and we are unable to justify this seemingly inconsistent behavior from the Holy Spirit.
We would like to hold the Orthodox Church accountable for their reticence concerning guaranteed salvation, however our enquiries are only met with consistent responses of ignorance regarding revelations outside the Orthodox Church. We are justifiably concerned that the Holy Spirit has granted revelations to both the Roman Church and the protestant churches (numbering tens of thousands of denominations) that have rendered the Orthodox Church completely unaware of guaranteed salvation, whether through personal belief or the existence of Purgatory.
We note that the Orthodox Church is not concerned with the modern Biblical concept of the salvation of immortal souls. We suggest that this lack of concern by Orthodoxy is due entirely to its ignorance of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the immortal soul.
Although the Roman Church and certain protestant churches, notably the Later Day Saints or Mormons, continue to receive ongoing revelations from the Holy Spirit, the Orthodox Church has not been privileged to receive further clarification of Christian dogma. We are unable to understand and remain in a state of confusion as to why the Orthodox Church has not received continuing revelations from the Holy Spirit.
The Orthodox Churches seems to be “stuck” in a time far removed from our own, as though no further revelations concerning the immortal soul, the existence of purgatory, the inerrant Bible, the Immaculate Conception, Papal Infallibility and the Assumption of Mary are necessary for the Christian faithful.
Due to Orthodoxy’s ignorance of these modern beliefs, converts to Orthodoxy must necessarily become ignorant themselves. We can now understand why there has never been overflowing conversions to Orthodoxy in the modern era, for it is difficult for those who previously professed that the Bible is inerrant and formerly knew that salvation can be attained by belief, to ultimately accept the historical fact that these ideas are the result, not of divine revelation to the Church, but of man’s reasoning. Of course, the idea of the continual improvement of moral behavior is not the product of reasoning, but the result of an assumption -the moral improvement of believers- based on a supposition -the inerrant Bible.