Widespread is the notion among secular thinkers that liberty cannot exist in the context of government established upon Christian principles. A revisionist view of the ideas and forces that led our founders to throw off the shackles of tyranny in these United States is not only pervasive but being propagated with renewed vigor from the purveyors of political correctness. The notion that liberty is the result of enlightenment thinking has all but replaced the reality that is the polar opposite: liberty is actually grounded in the bible.

Why do you believe the bible is true? This question was put to a number of evangelical teenagers in a recent survey and the vast majority of them were unable to adequately answer it. Most of the answers were variants on a theme: “it’s what I’ve always been taught.”

When liberalism took hold in the early part of the twentieth century, fundamentalism was the proper reaction: a return to the fundamentals of the faith. When the evangelical movement in the mid-twentieth century took a turn toward liberalism due to an accommodation on the part of evangelical academicians and their desire to be viewed as relevant by theological liberals, fundamentalist leaders rightly pointed out the error. And yet, fundamentalism itself developed problems of its own including its tendency toward belligerent rhetoric that often turns people away. In light of that unbiblical tendency, some are now saying that Christians must never be polemical. Are they right?

When things heat up, changes occur. Some of those changes are subtle and some are quite visible. Recently, my wife was heating rolls and left them in the oven too long. They expanded and fell into one flat mass of dough. Not good. The culture war is also heating up. As it does, things will change. Some of those changes will be subtle and some will be visible. Unless God intervenes, things will expand until the culture itself falls into one flat mass of people against Christ and His church. Also, not good.

The culture war rages on many fronts. Consider the defection of men from the battle. In a recent Barna Research study, mothers reportedly outpaced fathers in terms of spiritual activity and commitment.

From the more radical wing of the “Emerging Church” has emerged a phrase and/or concept that is not only fashionable in that camp but has been picked up by liberals and secularists alike. It is now in vogue to refer to the cross of Christ as “cosmic child abuse.” While Brian McClaren and Steve Chalke speak freely in such terms, Adrian Warnock has chronicled other examples including Philip Yancey in The Jesus I Never Knew, Eugene Rogers in Sexuality and the Christian Body: Their Way into the Triune God (Challenges in Contemporary Theology), Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore in Let the Children Come : Reimagining Childhood from a Christian Perspective (Families and Faith Series), and Haven Kimmel in The Solace of Leaving Early.