[Note: This edition is longer than usual in order to cover the topic.]
Acts 20:29-31 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert. . . .
Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
When I was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary over 35 years ago, my favorite professor, Dr. John Hannah, taught us that in church matters, two percent of a congregation is theologically conservative and will always vote that way, two percent are theologically liberal and will always vote that way, and 96 percent are theologically conservative but will vote with the liberals in order to keep peace and unity. Dr. Hannah wasn’t necessarily being scientific with the percentages. He was making the point that many of the conservative sheep in a congregationally governed church can many times be persuaded to vote contrary to their beliefs (and by extension, Scripture), by those who are enemies of Christ.
The wolves will hide their intentions by appealing to virtues, like peace and unity, and by twisting Scripture to suite their own purposes. The sheep, with good intentions, follow their leaders; all the while steering their church toward destruction. We’ve seen this scenario occur again and again over the last one hundred years in America. Denomination after denomination have openly denied Christ in their theological and social positions. There are, no doubt, many believers still within their midst, but the Glory has departed those denominations as a whole. When churches chase after the world and its allurements, they become little more than social clubs, and inferior ones at that. No wonder their memberships have been decreasing for decades.
Luke, and the Apostles Paul and Peter all warned the Church that wolves would stealthily come and infiltrate the churches (see also 2 Peter 2:1-3). And just as Satan comes as an angel of light, so too would these false teachers come, and they would even arise from among those numbered with the saints. It is happening again.
This week the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which brought itself back from the abyss of anti-Christ domination in the 1970s-80s, set up the framework for a return to that same abyss. How so? By passing Resolution 9, the SBC accepted Marxist-Freudian principles as approved methodology within the SBC when assessing culture and relationships. Let me quote directly from the resolution itself.
WHEREAS, Critical race theory and intersectionality alone are insufficient to diagnose and redress the root causes of the social ills that they identify, which result from sin, yet these analytical tools can aid in evaluating a variety of human experiences. . . .
And,
RESOLVED, That critical race theory and intersectionality should only be employed as analytical tools subordinate to Scripture—not as transcendent ideological frameworks. . . .
Let’s focus on “critical race theory” (CRT). CRT is commended as an “analytical tool” which can “aid in evaluating a variety of human experiences.” Thus the SBC has declared, by the passing of this resolution, that Southern Baptists may use it to evaluate the world around them.
But what is CRT? I’ll try to be brief. CRT is a child of Critical Theory. It is, in fact, applying Critical Theory to race. Critical Theory itself was developed by the Frankfurt School (Institute for Social Research). The Institute was officially comprised of a group of a dozen or so intellectual Jewish Marxists. Their being Jewish is important, because when Hitler came to power in 1933, they were forced to flee Germany. They came to the United States on an invitation from Columbia University (NY), and were welcomed there by John Dewey, the father of American education. And it was there they began to work out their neo-Marxist principles in the education department – the most influential academic education department in America, which explains, by the way, how public education has become what it is. It is also called cultural Marxism, because it is an ideology applied to overall culture rather than just to economics. I could write much more about their history, but that should be enough to give you some idea of their origins.
Critical Theory and, by extension, CRT, in good Marxist parlance, interprets the world as oppressor vs the oppressed. Here are examples as to how that is applied in real life: America is still a predominately white country founded by whites. Therefore whites are viewed as the oppressors, and more specifically, white males who were the ones in political power. [Remember their views were being developed and taught in schools by the 1930s. It has taken this long for these views to be accepted on a wide scale.] The culture was developed by white males, therefore it is inherently racist against everyone else and filled with white privilege. Thus, we have the push for multiculturalism, where all cultures are equal. Christianity was the dominant religion. The Church and the family are the pillars which hold our civilization together. Both Christianity and the family must be destroyed according to Critical Theory. Both represent the oppressors, and their existence is to be repudiated in order to gain true equality and build an utopian society.
Critical Theory and all of its children, like CRT and Critical Legal Theory, are not just neutral tools. By their very nature, they are inseparably linked into the framework of neo-Marxism. In fact, Hitler was able to come to power, in part, because of the detrimental influence of the Frankfurt School upon the German culture in the 1920s. And these so-called tools have one focus – to destroy the nation, culture, and people against whom they are applied by dividing the populace against itself through special interest groups (think “minorities”). We see their followers working every day now undermining civility and turning culture and morality on their heads. Their “Woke” minions call themselves “Social Justice Warriors” (SJW) and “Antifa.”
“Intersectionality” is part of this equation by multiplying minority interests within each person. In other words, if you are a black Muslim woman, you are oppressed in three different ways – for being black, and a Muslim, and a woman. Thus, intersectionality divides humans along their physical and religious differences and, in the name of leveling the playing field between the oppressed and the oppressor, assigns greater or lesser value to each person according to those differences.
And now the SBC, by an overwhelming margin (80%, so Dr. Hannah wasn’t too far off), has essentially resolved that being a neo-Marxist is compatible with being a Christian. I can hear two objections being raised at this point. First, someone may argue that neo-Marxist views are not required, only allowed. But allowing those views automatically disallows criticism of those same views. The camel’s nose was already in the tent. Now the whole camel is going to be making himself comfortable and driving out opposing viewpoints. The unknowing sheep will be led on their merry way to division and destruction in the name of peace, equality, and reconciliation.
Second, many reading this Anchor will have noticed that these tools are to be used in subordination to Scripture. Therefore, the Bible will protect the “tools” from being misused. But remember, these “tools” are inseparable from their ideological framework. Even if one tries to use them in subordination to Scripture, they will still subvert Scripture in the process. They will twist Scripture to support their views in the same way Marxist Liberation Theology has done.
Someone might ask, “Why are you writing this? You are not a Southern Baptist.” I am a Christian. I grieve when a portion of Christ’s Church falters. If a watchman does not alert the city when the enemy approaches, he is guilty of innocent blood (Ezek 33.6). I have been studying the Frankfurt School and its Critical Theory for several years now. I understand that many of those who were voting this week did not know about these issues. I suspect they were merely trusting those who are leading them astray, not knowing that wolves have infiltrated the flock.
What is to be done to save the Church in these perilous times?
1. Pray. Beseech the Lord’s favor upon His people in this nation. It may not be too late to stem the fall. Pray for the godly leadership (there are some) who will stand against this apostasy. Pray for repentance in the current leadership of their ungodly views. In other words, pray that eyes would be opened.
2. Work. When the SBC pulled the denomination away from liberalism in the 1970s, the leadership understood that those who controlled the committees controlled the denomination. The president appoints those to the committees. The current president has shown himself to be a friend to the neo-Marxists. A strong conservative must be elected next time. The resolution would have not made it to the floor to be voted on except that it passed through the resolutions committee first.
Did you know that the committee radically changed the contents of the resolution which was presented to them? The committee had the right to make the changes, but the changes created a resolution that was opposite in intent to the one that was voted upon. The original expressly rejected Critical Theory and Intersectionality. The one voted upon allowed the same. Members of the SBC should be outraged.
You can find the original here: sovereignway.blogspot.com
You can find the passed version here: http://www.sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc19/resolutions
3. Lead. Other denominations are following down the same path as the SBC. One I have been particularly close to is the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). If the SBC were to slam on the brakes to this movement, perhaps others like the PCA would be encouraged to do likewise.
For more reading from a Southern Baptist on this topic, please see: http://capstonereport.com/2019/06/12/breaking-sbc-elites-offer-resolution-praising-critical-race-theory-and-intersectionality/32583/
4. If you are not a Southern Baptist, pray for the SBC. Since your church is in danger too, pray, work, and lead within your church against this peril. These ideas are literally engulfing our whole nation and Western Civilization.
For a podcast on the Frankfurt School and their brand of Marxism on a more technical scale see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhle0Jdnecc&feature=youtu.be
And if you wonder if these beliefs can really have an impact on someone, watch the following short video. Here you will see a young Barak Obama introduce and embrace Derrick Bell, one of Obama’s mentors at the Harvard Law School. Derrick Bell is credited as being one of the founders of Critical Race Theory – the application of Critical Theory on racial issues.
