Editorial
How It Happens
Easy Descent on an Unguarded Road
Recently we received a piece of writing in which biblical references to the author's subject were rejected as unhelpful, given the realities of the world in which we now live, whereas the author found real help in certain kinds of fiction. No attempt was made to explore what those unhelpful biblical references were teaching; much less was there any notion that what one finds in them is authoritative and that the task of the believing interpreter is to approach them humbly as the Word of God, following, if he can find it, the tradition of the Church, and discover what the Scriptures are saying on the assumption they are to be heeded and obeyed.
The phenomenon of treating what one finds in Scripture as something one may take or leave if one has good reason, an old habit and invariable sign of theological liberalism, seems to be on the rise among younger people who have been told they're "orthodox." They come from places with a name for theological conservatism. This points to a fundamental change from earlier days in the institutions where they are receiving their training. What is even more arresting is that those who think this way typically toss off their observations easily and naturally, as though they were accustomed to it, as if it were something they could do while thinking of themselves as orthodox with a perfectly clear conscience. Some passage from the Epistles, they will typically indicate, is Paul's opinion, but archaic and lacking in relevance—so something better must be found elsewhere.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on liberalism from the online archives
31.5—September/October 2018
The Rise of the Gnostic Liberal State After Christianity by Andrew Latham
29.1—Jan/Feb 2016
Secular Credibility Is a Devilish Temptation by James Hitchcock
more from the online archives
28.1—January/February 2015
on State Impositions & Church Acquiescence by Stephen Baskerville
18.10—December 2005
on an Apostle’s Encounter with the Son’s Children by Anthony Esolen
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
