I've had perhaps four or five friends over the years who seemed to be
truly devout believers but abandoned the Lord unexpectedly. Nice guys,
all of them—intelligent, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and (in one or two
cases) active in full time ministry. So we're not talking about people
who briefly made a questionable profession of faith while trying to keep
one foot in the world. These were people who seemed completely devoted,
exemplary disciples—just like Judas right up until the point where he
betrayed Christ. Let's call them Type-J Apostates. There are several
other key similarities and differences from case to case:
- In each
case, news of their apostasy came to me as a profound shock and deep
disappointment. It wasn't preceded by any plea for help or probing
questions. After the fact, every one of them
described their struggle as a lengthy emotional and psychological battle
with nagging doubts in which they desperately sought answers from every
conceivable source. But in reality, I never had an opportunity to
discuss their doubts or questions with any of them until after they were settled in their unbelief.
- The
actual pattern seems to be that the person will disappear from circles
of Christian fellowship for an extended time. If they actually do
express their doubts to anyone, it's usually under a false identity on
the Internet. Under the cloak of anonymity, they will begin to gravitate
toward skeptical forums. And if they do voice their doubts in
"Christian" forums, rather than going where they might get help from
mature believers, they tend to favor mixed forums featuring totally
unmoderated discussion dominated by lay people, novices, and cranks.
Moreover, if they voice their doubts in such a context, it will usually
be in an argumentative way, and not as someone genuinely seeking
answers. Continue at Phil Johnson
No comments:
Post a Comment