Have you ever heard someone describe Christianity as being good? Well, that and 4 other ideas are what many people boil down their theology to. But is that enough? And how do we respond to and think critically about this moralistic theology.

Podcast: Questions Episode 1

Just Be Good??

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Set the scene:

2005 Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Eyes of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton,

1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth."

2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions."

3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about ones self."

4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem."

5. 1. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

So what does biblical Christianity say:

1. God does exsist, he did create the world, but he interacts with the world (Most fully in the incarnation)

2. God does desire goodness, but none of us are. Hence Jesus, and therefore very different than all other religions. (Do vs done)

3. Chief end of man is to glorify God – Westminster Shorter Catechism

4. We are totally reliant on God’s present involvement.

a. Flipping of Romans 8:28 (As if, God is called to our purposes)

b. He sustains all things. (Not Deistic)

i. Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

ii. Hebrews 12:2 -Jesus as perfecter of our faith

1. Good people don’t go to heaven, reborn ones do.

a. John 3:16-Romans 6:23

Notes:

1. Michael Horton https://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/christless-christianity-2010-west-coast/moralistic-therapeutic-deism

2. Al Mohler https://albertmohler.com/2005/04/11/moralistic-therapeutic-deism-the-new-american-religion-2

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