Nothing New Under the Sun

Our culture today realizes that each age brings its own set of presuppositions and has its own errors. One irony of our age of course is how we see ourselves as so uniquely different from other times.

The reality is there is nothing new under the sun as scripture teaches. Relativism is not new and contextual thinking is not new. We are only different from other ages by our degree of struggle with certain issues.

We are worse on some issues than other ages and better on others. The human condition is constant. All men are born in sin and born into cultures which promote errors.

Ultimately history repeats itself because the most essential element of man. His fallen nature and estrangement and enmity with God is always unchanged.

The expression of depravity in each age shifts a bit this way or that but it is always the same. The age we are in today is never as unique as we think.

Technology and many societal structures have changed, but each man is born with the same dark heart. The central question that each man should desire to answer in each age is how to solve his enmity to God.

The answer in every age is faith in Jesus. Before Jesus' incarnation on earth it was a looking forward and trusting in the promises of God in the future. The trust was in the promise of God that he would send a Messiah. Now we look back to the Messiah.

Many people scoff that the faith is the same. The expected Messiah and the Messiah who came seem somewhat different from what much of Israel was expecting. Of course the reality is that it is the faith which is credited as righteousness.

We always see through a glass dimly. Scripture states this plainly and the fogginess with which those of faith at times see is no argument against the nature of faith.

Emphasis in Theology is Key

Emphasis makes or breaks theology. Most off balance theologies over-emphasises certain truths. Other theologies neglect and ignore or under-emphasise certain truths.

A theology with highly over-emphasised and under-emphasised elements can sometimes be more dangerous than outright theological error.

Christian faith requires balance. This is why scripture calls us to wisdom. Many things are contextual in nature. The context of biblical truth and its application in life need to be contextually appropriate.

There are many theologies built heavily around a few key passages and those passages dominate the theology. The lack of balance is hurtful to the theology.

All truth is good, but many truths have a limited scope of use. This is the great danger with overemphasis.

Truth is called upon to work in areas where it cannot work. It is like choosing to only use a hammer out of a toolkit for every home repair project that comes up.