Thursday, January 23, 2014

Mohler’s Homo Ratio


It seems as though Dr. Albert Mohler has taken some heat for his recent foray into Mormonism by speaking at BYU. I say this because here recently he wrote an article which amounts to an apologia for his speaking at BYU (you can find the article here). I’ve already weighed in on the foolishness of Mohler of going to BYU in the first place (article here).

Let’s look at Mohler’s apologia.

One would think that since Dr. Albert Mohler is president of religious institution of higher learning, that he is a self-professed believer, that he is a minister,  that he is a Baptist, that he would go the Scriptures for any justification for his actions/words. Yet, this is not the case. Instead, he uses an ancient maxim, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” as the reason, the justification for joining hands with Mormons concerning the societal attack on marriage.

Mohler cites the foreign policy of the Allied powers in World War II adopting this maxim with their joining with the Soviet Union in order to defeat Nazi Germany. Any cursory study of that relationship clearly shows the Allies and the Soviet Union were not “friends” by any stretch of the imagination and in the end that alliance did irreparable damage to the countries which would eventually become the eastern bloc of nations as the “Iron Curtain” fell across Eastern Europe after the war. Read the sailor’s report of this “friendship” as they arrive in Murmansk or Archangel with matériel for the Soviet Union or the pilot’s accounts of treatment as they landed in the Soviet Union either by deliberate plans or by an emergency and one quickly comes away with the understanding we were not “friends.” For instance, the account of plane eight of the Doolittle Raiders who bombed Japan in April of 1942 as they land near Vladivostok. The Soviet Union was no “friend” to this American crew. The five crewmen would eventually plan their own escape and reach Persia in May of 1943. This maxim is hardly an “indispensable” or “inevitable” mandate to be used in foreign policy or anywhere else for that matter.

Mohler concludes his article by stating, “In a time of cultural conflict, the enemy of my enemy may well be our friend.” No, Dr. Mohler, the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend, especially when we are at odds with the Truth found in the Scriptures. Sorry, Dr. Mohler, your “reasoned” approach using an ancient, flawed maxim to justify your stance with Mormonism on marriage does not pass the test, the Biblical test (for starters, Rom 16:17; II Thess. 3:6, 14; II John 7-11). The Mormon church stands diametrically opposed to everything a Christian holds as Truth. They are indeed an enemy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Any kind of accommodation of Mormonism will only enrich Mormonism’s positions to the detriment of the Truth, just as the Allies accommodation of Stalin lead to the detriment of Eastern Europe’s freedom and plunged the world into a decades long Cold War.

There is a serious problem when men who supposedly stand firmly on the self-sufficiency of the Scriptures go off into human reasoning to justify their positions/actions. So much for Sola Scriptura being the call words of evangelicals, Mohler has shown us that it is homo ratio instead. Mohler has betrayed the very basic, the primary distinctive that Baptists have clung to for centuries, that the Bible is the sole authority for faith and practice.

8 comments:

Lou Martuneac said...

No surprise here from Al Mohler. Secular history. for him, trumps the Word of God. More signs of and movement toward New Evangelicalism.

Thanks for bringing to this to forefront.


Lou

Brian said...

Jay, after much consideration, I am not posting your comment. My comments and the use of Mohler's sentences stand as they are written. It is evident by Mohler's actions, i.e. joining hands with Mormons on the "cultural issue" of marriage, is exactly as he stated in that closing paragraph where I cite just one sentence, his sentence which was placed there to justify what he's done. Sure, he has tried to distance himself on other points of theology, and as I have said, good for him! But Mohler has missed it on marriage and is damaging the cause of Christ by doing so.

Brian said...

Jay, please spare us the pious platitudes. Mohler has his words out there for all to read, just follow the link that I have provided. I've not misrepresented anything he has said. I have highlighted a few sentences for specific attention. Nothing wrong with that. Haven't twisted his words to make him look like something he's not doing. By actions and words Mohler has said that Christians ought to link up with Mormons on the "cultural issue" of marriage. His words seek to defend that action. You think that that is a good thing, I don't. I've given my reasons based upon the Scriptures for why I disagree; you've just dissented. Mohler has given his reason for going, a flawed human maxim. Go down that path if you wish, Jay, I won't.

Brian said...

Jay, you just don't get it. You're blinded by the personalities of evangelicalism to the point of not wanting to face the truth of their actions when confronted with Scriptures. All you've done is give "glittering generalities" and ad hominem attacks. To say that I've misrepresented Mohler when I have cited his very words and spoke of his actions is really rather incredulous.

Brian said...

Hugh, thanks for stopping by. Don't take offense but I'm not posting your comments. I appreciate some thoughts you have but I will not post links to ministries I'm not in complete agreement with and one you cited falls into that category. People who visit my blog, for the most part, know that Lou Martuneac is counted as a friend here and there are plenty of links to his blog in my articles and on the blogsite itself.
Thanks again for stopping by.

Brian said...

Jay, indeed, incredulous, a good word to describe what I've seen from you. I will put this rather bluntly, WE DON'T ALL AGREE ON MARRIAGE! I brought that out in the first article. The Mormon teaching on marriage IS NOT the same as the Biblical teaching on marriage. So Mohler going there and saying we are not together on many Biblical teachings but we together on marriage is utter nonsense!
Your ad hominem attacks aren't going to see the light of day here. So, I guess it's time for you to move on.

Sammy Hiers said...

I do not know any of you, I came across this article by accident, but it appears Brian if someone disagrees with you, you will not post that, why is that?
Sammy

Brian said...

Sammy, thank you for stopping by. I trust that you will read more of what is here. It is not that I will not post if someone disagrees, just read through the comments of the articles posted and you will find that there are comments by those who disagree. Please read the sidebar labeled Commenting. While I reserve the right to not post since this is my blogsite, I do try to answer the more pertinent concerns expressed by the ones commenting without posting their comments in their entirety.