Defining Some "isms"

What is Atheism?

Atheism is the belief that God does not exist. In Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 it says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God!’ “

Atheists also would have to believe in evolution since they do not believe God exists. There has to be a reason for the existence of the universe so the theory of evolution is their “drug” of choice. Atheism contradicts itself in that it does not believe in the existence of God, but they have enough “faith” to believe in another god – the god that is evolution. This of course is in direct violation of Exodus 20 verse 3 where Moses says, “You shall have no other gods before me.”

It is illogical for anyone to believe in evolution because it means we are believing in randomness, chance happenings for the causality of our universe. An effect always has to have a cause. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:1 in the beginning God (the cause) created the heavens and the earth (the effect).

What is Theism?

Theism is the belief that a god exists. Here’s the catch though, a Theist is not necessarily a Christian. There are Theists in false religions also – like for instance Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. The Jesus in those religions is not the Jesus of Holy Scripture. For an explanation of who they worship see my article on, “Do all roads lead to God?” http://gospelofrepentance.blogspot.com/2014/07/do-all-roads-lead-to-god.html.

We want to be Theists according to the Bible and nothing else.

What is Pantheism?

Pantheism is the belief that God is everything, and in everyone. In another words, God is a rock, a shoe, a dog, a tree, you get the idea. No doubt a misinterpretation of Psalm 139:7-8 has contributed to a Pantheistic worldview. These verses read, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell you are there.”  These verses do not mean that God is in everything. Rather they mean God is omnipresent – He is everywhere. God is not one with his creation, he is separate from his creation. Think it about logically, if God is his creation, then he had to create himself which of course is impossible. No being can self-create. A couple of huge problems is that (1) if God self-created himself, then he is not eternal – which means he had a beginning. Micah 5:2 makes reference to Jesus Christ as being everlasting so that means God is eternal, and self-existing, not self-creating. And (2) the other problem with God being one with his creation is that if one chooses to believe God is eternal, then the creation is eternal too which is unbiblical also. This view prohibits God from being the creator of the universe. Hinduism and Buddhism are religions that are Pantheistic and Polytheistic. They both have over 300 million gods in their system, and Hindus in particular main goal is to become one with their man deistic force – Brahman.

What is Monotheism?

Monotheism is a compound word. Mono means one or only, and Theism comes from the Greek Theos meaning God. Monotheism is the belief in one God, or that God is one. In Deuteronomy 6:4 we read, “Hear O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one.” In James 2:19 we read, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble.” Contrary to the criticism of some that believe that Christians worship three gods due to God being triune, the Bible makes it clear that we serve one God manifested in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three are God; Co-equal, Co-eternal, and Co-powerful.

The Muslims also regard themselves as Monotheists. For they only worship Allah.

Monotheism is only viable if one is worshipping the one and only true God, the God of the Bible.

What is Polytheism?

Polytheism is the opposite of Monotheism. It is also a compound word. Poly meaning many, and once again Theism meaning God. A Polytheist is one who worships multiple gods. A cult called Baha’i Faith is a false religion that incorporates many belief systems into its worldview. A synonym for Polytheism would be Pluralism. The Bible condemns Polytheism. As a matter of fact, it was punishable by death.

In Deuteronomy 13:1-5 says, “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods which you have not known, and let us serve them’, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet of dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord Your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his voice; you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So shall put away the evil from your midst.”

What is Fundamentalism?

Fundamentalism developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries because of the infiltration of liberalism entering the Church. Men from Princeton Theological Seminary were commissioned to write articles on the core doctrines of the Christian Faith. The result was they produced a twelve volume series titled, “The Fundamentals”. Reportedly over 300,000 copies were published and distributed for free to various church leaders.

The fundamentals doctrines of the Faith include, the Bible being the inspired Word of God – free from error. Jesus Christ being born of the Virgin Mary. The sinless life of Jesus Christ, his deity, his miracles, his crucifixion, burial and resurrection. His ascension, and return to earth to destroy his enemies, and set up his eternal earthly kingdom. Justification by faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, and not by works.

When fundamentalism declined, it took on a derogatory character. Now a Fundamentalist is considered someone who is a legalistic extremist boycotting abortion clinics and telling women they cannot wear pants or makeup in Church or they are going to hell for being too worldly.

Fundamentalism was a positive force about 100 years ago that fought against the tolerance of liberalism – which is a view that is not a stickler for staunch Biblical truth, but rather a mixed bag of beliefs; a religious pluralism.

We as believers should endeavor to be classic Fundamentalists who were defenders of the faith like the Reformers were in Europe in fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Remember the eternal words of Jude 3b, “Contend earnestly for the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints.”

That is true and classic Fundamentalism.