He Shall Have Dominion

62 He Shall Have Dominion
This problem, though intensified in our day, is not new. Eighty years ago
J. Gresham Machen lamented: “The growth of ignorance in the Church is
the logical and inevitable result of the false notion that Christianity is a
life and not also a doctrine; if Christianity is not a doctrine then of course
teaching is not necessary to Christianity.” 10
Regarding the material in Christian bookstores, R. C. Sproul
comments: “My guess is that in the current Christian bookstore the
simplistic books outweigh the simple books by at least 10 to 1. I’ve often
wondered where Jesus would apply His hastily made whip if He were to
visit our culture. My guess is that it would not be money-changing tables
in the temple that would feel His wrath, but the display racks in Christian
11
bookstores.” Much of the doctrine evangelical Christians pick up today
is through informal instruction that is largely inadequate and often down-
12
right heretical. For instance, dispensationalist John Hagee recently
released a best-seller that teaches that “not one verse of Scripture in the
New Testament . . . says Jesus came to be the Messiah.” 13
10. Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, 177.
11. R. C. Sproul, Lifeviews (Old Tappan, N. J.: Revell, 1986), 184.
12. Horton, Agony of Deceit (1990). McGrath, The Future of Christianity (2002).
Hannegraff, Christianity in Crisis (1997). McConnell, A Different Gospel (1995). Bowman,
The Word-Faith Controversy (2001). Fee, The Disease of the Health and Wealth
Gospels (1985).
13. Hagee, In Defense of Israel (2007), 136. See my extensive critical review at:
http://www.nicenecouncil.com/media/display.pl?media_file=88