A CRITICAL THEOLOGY

"O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge; by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:20-21, NKJV)P

AUL WARNED TIMOTHY ABOUT SHADES OF KNOWLEDGE that were false and inhibitive. They jeopardized the stewardship and ministry that had been placed in his "trust" or care. He called such things "profane," "worldly" (NASB), or "godless" (NIV). By definition, something that is "profane" is of heathen origin – it has its genesis with fallen man, and is in no way connected with God Almighty. Paul also called this line of thought "idle babblings," "empty chatter" (NASB), and "chatter" (NIV). Idle babblings are empty sounds and fruitless discussions. They are an intellectual fig tree that only has leaves, and no fruit. These reasonings are also referred to as "oppositions of science falsely so called" (KJV) "contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge" (NKJV), and "the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge" (NIV). The word "science" means knowledge, or the state of knowing. In the English language the second meaning of the word is what is most common: "a department of systematized knowledge as an object of learning." Thus Solomon is said to have had special knowledge in trees, beasts, fowls, creeping things, and fishes (1 Kgs 5:33). He spoke with authority in those areas of knowledge, or science.

THERE ARE AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE THAT HAVE BEEN MISNAMED. They are not valid realms of understanding but are "falsely" called "knowledge." Even though men seek to dignify these domains of thought, they always tend to oppose the Word of God. They offer conclusions to men that go against the Word of God. The clash of these bodies of thought with God's Word is so sharp that those who embrace them "stray from the faith." They are like a poison to the soul that drive faith from the heart, and make a place for unbelief, which causes souls to be damned (Mark 16:16).

PERHAPS CITING A FEW EXAMPLES of these "idle babbling" will serve to introduce us to the subject. One of the more prominent bodies of false knowledge is the "theory of evolution." In contemporary society, it is the backbone of nearly all learning. It supports every kind of thought from economics ro the analysis of human behavior. Men and women bow down to this "profane" manner of thought, blissfully unaware that it contradicts the Word of the Lord. This "theory" contradicts God's report of the beginning of the world. It conflicts with the revelation of the creation of man. It clashes with the record of the distinct creation of birds, fish, beasts of the earth, and creeping things. It accounts for the universe in a way that contradicts the inspired record of Moses. It ascribes to happenstance and chance what God declares is deliberate and with design. It is a false body of knowledge, and ought not to be dignified with the words "theory" or "knowledge." It is not harmless to embrace something that contradicts the Word of God!

THE FIELDS OF PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOLOGY are also "profane." They make man's basic constitution emotional and intellectual, and do not take into account the Divine imagery in him. Much of human flaw is tied back to the evolutionary hypothesis. The fathers of this "science falsely so called" (Freud and Spencer were themselves morally deviate and spiritually bankrupt. They have taught men to diagnose human behavior according to gender, environment, chemical composition, and which side of the brain is supposedly dominant in them. All such things contradict what God has said about man, his circumstances, his condition, and his potential.

OF MORE PARTICULAR RELEVANCE are bodies of professing knowledge that have been brought to bear upon the study of God's Word. Around the seventeenth century, a new line of theological thinking arose that is called "higher criticism." It is a child of the "age of reason," a period of time when religion was thrust from France, and the human intellect and abilities to reason were placed upon the throne. In "higher criticism," falsely so called, the text of Scripture itself is assessed. Men actually take upon themselves to determine what is valid and what is not. Terms like "the oldest and best manuscripts" are used to justify the exclusion of certain texts. Sometimes, certain versions of Scripture, such as the King James Version, are represented as being vastly inferior, and filled with errors. The conclusions of these critics are taught in Bible Colleges and Seminaries throughout the world. Their comments are found in more recent translations of the Scriptures, like the NIV and NLT. However, no child of God needs to bow to these critics. Their knowledge is too profane, too worldly, to contradictory.

THE PEOPLE OF GOD are not to lend their ears to those who contradict what faith has perceived. Faith does not come by reasoning, it comes by hearing, and hearing "the Word of God," or "Christ" (NASB). Those, therefore, who in any way cast aspersions on the Word of God jeopardize the faith of the saints. Anyone who introduces a strain of thought, an argument, or a probability, that contradicts a single syllable of Scripture has introduced the element of eternal jeopardy. We all do well to take most seriously what is said of our response to all such things – avoid them!

– Given O. Blakely