A Mile Wide and A Quarter Inch Deep
January 9th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
There was an article over at USA Today that had an interesting bit this week. TV anchor Brit Hume caused a kerfuffle when he suggested that Tiger Woods turn to Christianity to find forgiveness in the aftermath of Tiger’s marriage meltdown.
I’m not entering the fray over Tiger’s adultery or the logical outcome of adultery, a marriage implosion. The part of the article that piqued my interest was in that the article referred to Wood’s dabbling in Buddhism. It seems that in 1996 Woods said in an interview that he “believed in bits and pieces” of Buddhism.
The USA Today article had this bit I found interesting.
It’s that "bits and piece" phrase that puts Woods square in the mainstream of American believers. Unlike Fox News commentator Brit Hume, who has found new life as a televangelist since retiring as an anchor, most Americans ignore — or don’t know — religious doctrinal distinctions. We think all good people go to heaven, by and large.
It’s the idea of taking “bits & pieces” that I find so problematic. Just like Tiger takes a syncretistic approach to Buddhism, many people do the same with Christianity. Many of the “bits & pieces” are incompatible with what the Bible says about the faith. There was another linked article at USA Today that has this quote from Albert Mohler.
"This is a failure of the pulpit as much as of the pew to be clear about what is and is not compatible with Christianity and belief in salvation only through Christ," Mohler says.
Both articles are worth the read so hit the links. I do want to offer this observation about them. As I was reading a devotional this morning, the verse at the beginning quoted Matthew 3:8 from the New Living Translation which puts that verse this way:
Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.
Does a syncretistic approach to Christianity prove your repentance? If you combine practices that are incompatible with what the Bible says about the faith, does that show your disbelief of the faith? Aren’t you by implication really saying that the orthodox faith isn’t enough to save?
Might be a good time to review the concept of Sola Scriptura, one of the five solas so important to orthodox, Biblical Christianity.
