Professor: Some Millennials Harmfully 'Reworking' God's Image
A professor has spoken with concern about how some Millennials have "reworked" the Image of God in order to stop fighting the culture wars.
Dr. Owen Strachan, assistant professor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College in Louisville, Ky., told those gathered in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that this "reworking" distorts historic Christianity.
"Some of the so-called Millennial generation is finding the Gospel of Christ and the body of ethics it animates is a reproach. So God must be reworked," said Strachan.
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"The message of salvation through judgment that propelled the historic church to preach and act and love must be reworked into a declaration of God's absolute and total love without concern for its holiness."
Strachan lamented that this reworking transforms God into "the great acceptor of all" without regards to matters of sin and forgiveness.
"Like a boyfriend in a pop song, God becomes the one who is so sublimely loving that he would never ask you to change," said Strachan, who stated that this results in a "weakened church" and a "comatose Gospel."
Strachan's remarks came at a Family Research Council-sponsored event, titled "The Sacrificial Witness of the Christian Moral Tradition," held at the FRC headquarters.
Strachan also talked of America being "in upheaval" due to the ideological partisan conflict found in the United States.
"Our conflict is not militaristic in nature. We are a nation divided by ideas, divided by beliefs. This is a strange moment decried by both the political left and right," said Strachan.
Strachan's remarks were part of a "Family Policy Lecture" series organized by the FRC. The FRC noted that Strachan has a "clarion call" for young American Christians to bear witness to the Gospel.
"In today's world Christianity is often seen as a religious relic of the past. Dr. Owen Strachan issues a clarion call to the next generation of Christians to realize the times demand a strong biblically-grounded, moral witness," the FRC says.
"Born out of a spirit of sacrifice and humility Christians must speak out for godliness and righteousness in our public sphere."
At the event, Strachan discussed examples from history of the "Christian moral tradition," including Christian martyrs in the Roman Empire, William Wilberforce's 20-year campaign to abolish slavery in the British Empire, and Dietrich Bonheoffer's resistance to Nazism in Germany.
In the question and answer section, Strachan was asked by one of those gathered about the issue of voting and the Bible, to which Strachan responded voting was in keeping with the biblical command of being "salt and light."
"I that we should very much exercise that right ... obviously we don't have a chapter and verse that say 'vote,'" said Strachan.
"We do not have such a text, but we do have this call from Christ and echoed by Paul for example in Romans 13 to be a meaningful presence in society."
