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Church leaders have been wringing their hands about the epidemic of biblical illiteracy for years.
Here’s just a small sampling of the headlines: - “The Epidemic of Biblical Illiteracy in our Churches” (Christianity Today, 2015)
- “Bible Literacy Crisis!” (The Gospel Coalition, 2020)
- “The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy” (Albert Mohler, 2016)
- “The Crisis of Biblical Illiteracy” (Biola Magazine, 2014)
- “Biblical Illiteracy is a Big Problem—for Christians” (Patheos, 2019)
The rise of Postmodernism in our culture has been matched with a decline in theologically rich preaching in the evangelical church.
“Sermons have gotten more practical and less doctrinal,” says Bill Giovannetti, pastor, author, and founder of Veritas School. “At the same time, our worship music has gotten more emotional and less theological. We are stimulating an appetite for the wrong things.”
As Giovannetti puts it, “Seminaries tell pastors to ‘put the cookies on the bottom shelf.’ They mean to keep it simple because people aren’t smart enough to get it.”
This view flies in the face of both Scripture and church history, he says.
Jude, writing to the everyday people of God, “…found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).
Do not miss that “the faith”—in this context, the doctrinal content of Scripture—had been delivered to the saints. Not the popes, priests, pastors, or preachers, but to all the people of God. That deposit of theology is the heritage of the pews equally with the pulpit. It is a strategic blunder for pastors to reserve theological meat for church leaders only.
Even more importantly, it is the job of the saints, as custodians of this doctrine, to know it so well they can “earnestly contend for it.” They must be so theologically informed they can raise a defense, they can answer critics, they can tear down misconceptions, and correct preconceptions against the truth of God. They can stand toe to toe with atheists, agnostics, post-modernists, modernists, romantics, Hindus, Buddhists, and anyone else who would debate God's Word. Read More |
