I don't know whether it is the feminization of Christianity,
mistaking
Love with following the line of least resistance or both,
but it sure seems like there are very few defenders of the faith
left
in the church today.
Folks like Hank Hannegraff (Bible Answer Man) at:
http://equip.org
Hank usually has just as many
if not more people that hate him than admire him.
If Love meant following the line of least resistance then Jesus,
Paul
and folks like Walter Martin and Hank got it wrong.
You usually don't see women in this capacity.
In fact I
cannot think of one woman that is effective in apologetics or ministry to cults.
Now women are just as gifted as men
in capacities that are just as valuable as mens but is debate and confrontation one of them?
My experience with women
that try to be confrontational is that they can be nasty, going for the jugular and making more personal attacks than actually
critiquing the beliefs.
One woman chose to question my conversion rather than debating my beliefs. She even chose to
start calling me Saul for a majority of the discussion.
Ever seen two women physically fighting?
It is a horrible
thing to watch.
Could it be that for this reason that we don't have an apostle
Paulette or the Gospel of Joan?
Yet
i have seen women including my wife that are gifted in such
things as encouragement, counseling and helps etc.
I
have seen women that know just as much scripture as men but does this mean that they are good at debating?
I think
that we do have the feminization of Christianity when
defending the faith and apologetics are downplayed and a touchy feely
Christianity takes it's place.
Loving the Lord with our minds is just as important as loving Him
with our hearts.
The
eye shouldn't say that it doesn't need the hand and vice versa.
When I first became a Christian I studied the basic doctrines of
the bible and how they are different from what the cults teach.
This helped me to dig into and remember scripture.
I even read works from Walter Martin and such.
As the years progressed, other Christians started condemning this
kind of approach as too intellectual, too confrontational, too unloving. However, this condemnation was more from girls
or girly men.
So for a long time I heeded the warnings and got involved in the
Vineyard, Calvary Chapel Movement.
I appreciate this time and still do. The Worship really renews
my spirit.
It also renewed my interest in music, especially seeing that I
was raised singing boring Hymns, though an occassional hymn sung acapella stirs my soul.
The Charismatic Movement's countering of 'Loving
the Lord' with one's mind with, 'Loving the Lord' with one's heart, in effect created a false balance where the heart was
emphasized at the expense of the mind.
"The range among the other denominations follow the pattern, with
the charismatic churches having a higher proportion of women."
I went through a kind of aimless existence during this time because
I was neglecting what I was originally gifted with and more inclined to do as a man.
I even heard one of the worship leaders admonish the men in the
worship service to become more like the women who were already fully participating in the worship service.
This set off an alarm in me that got me thinking.
Has Western Christianity become too girly?
Could this even be the reason so many effeminates are infiltrating
our ranks and neglecting the scriptures command to 'rightly divide the word of truth.'
Is this part of the reason that Christianity has been reluctant
to confront Liberal Christianity?
Now some quotes from the article to pique your interest:
"At one American Seminary in the 1940's, a professor developed a
following, which later matured into a small cult. He explained Catholic devotion to Mary in this way: men have a more distant
relationship with their fathers than with their mothers. They therefore have more trouble relating to a masculine God (the
Father or Jesus) than to the reflection of maternal love in Mary. Devotion to Mary, on this view but, should be stressed more
than devotion to Christ. Despite the extraordinary theological implications of this line of thought, the professor obviously
struck a nerve in his seminary and disciples: they were the sort of men who felt more comfortable with the feminine than with
the masculine. The situation holds true in most of the Protestant clergy. Mary was not available, but first sentimentality,
and now feminism, have filled the void."
"The most feminized denominations are the liberal denominations while
the largest male attendance is in evangelical and fundamental churches. Also in the mainline denominations the seminary enrollment
is mostly female. In the years ahead the mainline denominational pastors will be predominantly women. What's wrong is that
men are not responding to God. Also, the actual teaching in the church has been affected by this phenomenon. The church doctrines
such as judgment, sin and repentance are more masculine in characteristic and if neglected, easy universalism (everyone is
saved) takes its place." - Leone Podles
Now For the Rrrrrrrrrrrrrest of the Story:
