Are Christians Arrogant? Rethinking the Definition of Humility
One of the most common objections made to the absolute claims of Christianity is that Christians are arrogant. Christians are arrogant to claim that they are right; arrogant to claim others are wrong; arrogant to claim that truth can be known.
Unfortunately, in the midst of such accusations, no one bothers to ask which definition of humility is being used.
Over the years, the definition of humility has undergone a gradual but nonetheless profound change. Especially in the intellectual community. In the modern day, humility has basically become synonymous with another word: uncertainty.
To be uncertain is to be humble. To be certain is to be arrogant. Thus, the … Continue reading...
Are Christians Really the Arrogant Ones?
When religious matters are debated in our culture–e.g., the existence of God, what God is like, morals and ethics–there is an implicit set of rules that everyone is obligated to follow. Number one on this list of unspoken rules it that you can never claim to know anything about God with any level of certainty.
To do so quickly leads to charges of being arrogant, dogmatic, or intolerant. Christians know this all too well because we are often on the receiving end of these charges. Our claim to actually know things about God is a violation of the rules of polite society.
Of course, this sort of “polite society” is … Continue reading...
The Arrogance of the Urban
One of the perennial dangers of Christian ministry is to begin thinking that our particular ministry is the most important ministry and that everyone ought to be doing what we are doing. Much of this is understandable. After all, if we are passionate about the ministry to which God has called us, then we naturally begin to promote that ministry and place it at the forefront of our thinking. But, we too often forget that God’s plan for the Kingdom is much bigger than our little worlds. There are other ministries that matter too.
I have seen a particular example of this phenomenon in my denomination (the PCA) over the … Continue reading...
Christian Humility and the World’s Definition of Humility
One of the most common objections made to the absolute claims of Christianity is that Christians are arrogant. Christians are arrogant to claim that they are right; arrogant to claim others are wrong; arrogant to claim that truth can be known. Unfortunately, in the midst of such accusations, no one bothers to ask which definition of humility is being used. Over the years, the definition of humility has undergone a gradual but nonetheless profound change. Especially in the intellectual community. In the modern day, humility has basically become synonymous with another word: uncertainty. To be uncertain is to be humble. To be certain is to be arrogant. Thus, the … Continue reading...