Is There a Crisis in Traditional Chrisitanity?

[prisonchaplain]

Evangelical Christianity also has another very serious challenge that threatens to corrupt it from the inside out. It is the Word of Faith movement and preachers like Creflo Dollar, T.D. Jakes, Joyce Myer, John Hagee, Benny Hinn, etc. These preachers are promoting a version of Christianity that, from the perspective of many Bible-believing Evangelicals, distorts the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the insertion of false concepts of worldly prosperity and the teaching that faith is a force by which you can obtain anything you want. Unfortunately if you turn on many of the Christian broadcasting networks, these are the kinds of preachers that are growing in popularity at an alarming clip, leaving more scripturally grounded preachers like David Jeremiah, Ravi Zacharias, and R.C. Sproll behind in terms of numbers. This is of great concern to a large number of Evangelicals, and I know that there are some Christian apologists who devote books and broadcasts to teaching about the dangers of such teaching in response. The prosperity preachers appeal to the human tendency toward materialism and quick fixes for problems at the expense of the Lord's pleading example "Not my will but thine be done".

As a Latter-day Saint, I find it interesting that our Church gets so much attention from concerned Evangelical ministries, when in my view, this far more dangerous trend (since I don't consider Mormonism dangerous, of course ) is doing a great deal of damage to it's ranks from within.

IMHO, the prosperity gospel's excesses are subsiding. The movement arose out of frustration with the legalism, negativisim and judgmental nature of convervative Christianity in generations past. No doubt, there were errors in the Word of Faith and prosperity teachings. However, what I see happening is that the church at large is gleening the truth of God's provision, and of the power of really believing God to work greatness through us, while discarding some of the truly ridiculous and outrageous excesses. Color me an optimist, but the church will come through the fires of these errors of excess stronger, not weakened.

[rhinomelon]

As a Latter-day Saint, I find it interesting that our Church gets so much attention from concerned Evangelical ministries, when in my view, this far more dangerous trend (since I don't consider Mormonism dangerous, of course ) is doing a great deal of damage to it's ranks from within.

There's plenty of attention being paid to the prosperity gospel stuff. If I weren't on these boards here, I'd hear much more about them than about LDS. Of course, I'm on the east coast right now. Things are different out west.

That's one of the advantages and disadvantages of the fluid structure of evangelicalism; evangelical individuals and ministries and groups are able to focus on many different issues simultaneously. LDS hardly bear the brunt of evangelical attention. There are ministries and counter-ministries run by evangelicals that address just about anything you could think of!

Take care, everyone

[rhinomelon]

Your comment addresses my thesis exactly. What I think Mormonism has to offer is another approach to bible study. That is, we have to prepare ourselves to receive the promptings of the Holy Ghost by first coming into conformance with gospel principles of personal behavior and then humbly ask for the presence of the Holy Ghost while we study. When we come to a conclusion of what we read we then ask if what we understand is correct i.e. we ask for confirmation. But we have to read with an open mind. We can't just accept what others tell us as the only truth regardless of who that other person is. What if that other person is wrong?

I don't see this approach to Bible study as unique to LDS circles at all. Countless books and volumes on spiritual growth and scripture study advocate just this approach. In fact, I would say such an approach constitutes the backbone of Protestant scriptural study, and that LDS borrowed it from the Protestants!

Take care, everyone