The Changing Face of "Christianity"

Disfiguring the "Portrait" in Modern Times

The disfiguring of God and Christianity continues today. A professor of religion recently described the struggle in his Protestant church as one "over the authority of Scripture and creed versus the authority of alien and humanistic ideologies, between the church's faithfulness to the lordship of Christ versus an accommodation and reformulation of Christianity to the spirit of the age. The issue at stake is this: Who sets the agenda for the church . . .Holy Scripture or the dominant ideology of the day?"

Sadly, "the dominant ideology of the day" still tends to win out. It is no secret, for instance, that many churches have changed their stand on various issues so as to appear progressive and open-minded. Especially in moral matters, the churches have become quite liberal, as mentioned in the opening article. Yet, the Bible leaves no doubt that fornication, adultery and homosexuality are gross sins in the eyes of God and that those practicing such sins "will not inherit God's Kingdom." -1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Matthew 5:27-32; Romans 1:26, 27.

When the apostle Paul wrote the above-quoted words, the Greco-Roman world around him was rife with all forms of wickedness. Paul could have reasoned: 'Yes, God reduced Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes for gross sexual sins, but that was 2,000 years ago! Surely it does not apply in this enlightened age! However, he did not rationalize; he refused to corrupt Bible truth. -Galatians 5:19-23.

Next time: Look to the Original "Portrait"

Watchtower, 2000