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Thursday, April 01, 2010

Rick Warren: Evangelical Deist

From a 2005 interview of Rick Warren by Good Morning America on Katrina:
Roberts: Rick Warren is the best-selling author of “The Purpose-Driven Life.”[…] In my hometown of Pass Christian, I ran across a woman who came up to me and she said, Robin, it’s, it’s as if God tried to wipe us off the face of the earth. You know there are some people that look and see this destruction and, and say, where, where is whatever it is, or whomever they, they, they look to …

Warren: Right.

Roberts: … for guidance in a higher way?

Warren: Right. Well, first thing we need to understand that not everything that happens in this world is God’s will. I have a will, you have a will, we have a free will. […] And so, we have a lot of things that go bad. […] But what God wants to do is he wants to comfort us. Somebody asked me when I was actually on the floor of the, the, the Houston Astrodome talking to people and praying with people, said, where is God in all of this? And I’ll tell you where God is, he’s in thousands of lives of people who love him and follow him, and they are the hands and feet of God.
Well, there you have it folks. Rick Warren proclaiming a God who is somehow worthy of our worship even though his own creation acts outside of his sovereign will. Not to mention that Warren failed to call for national repentance—the primary purpose for unbelievers and the church.

Did you notice Warren’s response about the woman who thought that God was trying to wipe us off the earth? He said, “Well, first thing we need to understand that not everything that happens in this world is God’s will.” Really? Rick Warren failed to take into account God’s opinion:
• Amos 3:6 …When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?
• Psalm 148:8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word
• Psalm 135:6-7 The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
• Lamentations 3:37-38 Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
Strange when you’re on national television these verses seem to escape the memory. Then Warren makes a leap from a natural disaster to man’s will, “I have a will, you have a will, we have a free will.” I thought we were discussing natural disasters? Does nature have a “free will”? Not once did he mention that God was in control over nature, but suggests that nature has some will on its own outside of God’s active providence.

He also cites a person who came up to him at the Houston Astrodome and asks, “Where is God in all of this.” Warren responds with this platitude (that any world religious leader could have said), “And I’ll tell you where God is, he’s in thousands of lives of people who love him and follow him, and they are the hands and feet of God…” What a lost opportunity to explain to this person the unique God revealed in the Scriptures who is sovereign and works out his purposes through his all-wise, all-just, decrees.

Warren also told more than 8,000 displaced evacuees at the Houston Astrodome shelter on Monday, “The question we need to ask at a time like this is not ‘Why?’ but ‘What do I do now?” Observe how Warren has divorced the decree of God in Katrina with our responses to it. In Biblical times the question of “Why” was paramount; yet now in the 21 Century, Warren thinks he has the authority to jettison this all important question. Let’s put this in perspective: In Biblical times the “Why” was God’s action, and the “What do I do” was repentance. For Rick Warren the “Why” is suggested as simply a natural event, and the “What do I do” is only a physical response not a spiritual one. Warren has simply not given glory to God in his workings and purposes in nature and basically given them a naturalistic interpretation where God picks up the pieces.

9 comments:

  1. Would you call Arminianism deist, or do you think this quote tells us that Warren goes further than Arminians?

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  2. Is that deism? Perhaps, if Warren assumes that God does not interfere with natural mechanisms. This seems more like a form of liberalism, where the presence of the divine is known through the actions of the faith community.

    Notice the folk theology of "we are his hands and feet?" While there may be a sense that this is true (Col 1:18?), the implication is that God's acts in the world are done primarily through believers. So is that the Evangelical part of Evangelical Deism?

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  3. "Is that deism?"

    No, it is evangelical deism. That theology that so dominates evangelicalism: God is not in control (or causes) the bad things in his creation. It is similar to the ancient heresy of dualism: Satan and God are duking it out---sometimes God wins, and sometimes the Devil wins.

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  4. Warren represents a whole lot of people out there.

    God helps those who help themselves.
    I'll do my best, and Jesus will do the rest.

    John 15:5-6:

    "Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."

    The fruit is not produced by the branch. But by the vine and roots, and the Husbandman. (That's a cool word I thought for gardener.)

    Perhpas Warren is on the right way as he is studing Edwards now, and will be visiting with Dr. Piper. I pray he sees his error in the Scriptures, and embraces the truths of the Bible with a new heart and mind. Amen.

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  5. "it is evangelical deism. That theology that so dominates evangelicalism..."

    Alan, I appreciate your take on this; in my opinion, that's dead-on. Thank you for pointing it out.

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  6. Scripture says Satan is the "god of this world", yes?

    Is there no Scriptural recognition of Satan's influence and "control" over facets of earthly existence?

    If you're going to suggest he's just acting as God's proxy, I'm not sure what the point there is to Satan's existence, then. Why have a middleman?

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  7. "Scripture says Satan is the "god of this world", yes?"

    Lowercase "g", yes.

    "Is there no Scriptural recognition of Satan's influence and "control" over facets of earthly existence?"

    This includes rebellious Man as well.

    "If you're going to suggest he's just acting as God's proxy, I'm not sure what the point there is to Satan's existence, then. Why have a middleman?"

    Your logic implies that one must be autonomous from God to have authentic existence. If that is the case then every human being must be autonomous from their Creator. However, this is not the case since Scripture teaches us that God uses evil agents to fulfill his good purposes: Joseph's story, Job's story, the King of Assyria, the Jewish and Roman leaders who crucified our Lord (Acts 4).

    "Why have a middleman?"

    This reality may not comport with Man's sensibilities. But in God's all-wise purposes it brings him most glory. And thus, we can only respond by placing our hand over our mouth.

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  8. "But in God's all-wise purposes it brings him most glory."

    This is off-topic, but I've never understood what it means to say that something is necessary "to bring God glory".

    Does this mean that something about His character is revealed that could not be revealed otherwise in any other way?

    Is He made to "appear" more powerful, more majestic or more something than He otherwise might appear to humans? If so, the benefit is certainly not for Him, since that would imply He lacks something in the first place, no?

    Is He Himself "happier" or more "satisfied"? Again, if so, there's an implication that He is somehow incomplete.

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  9. Roy,

    I've answered that type of question on many occasions.

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