The similar phrase 'Worldly Christianity' is one used by Bonhoeffer. It's J Gresham Machen that I want to line up most closely with. See his Christianity and culture here. Having done commentaries on Proverbs (Heavenly Wisdom) and Song of Songs (Heavenly Love), a matching title for Ecclesiastes would be Heavenly Worldliness. For my stance on worldliness, see 3 posts here.

10 Unpopular things that I believe in

It is easy to feel isolated and unpopular to some extent. I suppose some of us should expect this considering what we believe. Here are ten unpopular things that I basically line up with. Not many of you will agree with me on all ten, I guess.
 
1 The inerrancy of Scripture
2 Six day creation
3 The independency of the local church
4 The baptism only of believers
5 An educated ministry
6 The sanctitiy of the first day of the week
7 The priesthood of all believers
8 Male headship in the home and the church
9 The preferability of a republican state government
10 The disestablishment of the Church of England

4 comments:

Dave G said...

I tentatively agree with most of your 10. No3. Is scriptural, but so many independent Churches pay their pastors so badly it's a disgrace. I'm not nor ever have been a pastor, but think the presbyterians look after their ministers far better. No6. Where does one draw the line? No TV on Sunday? No cooking or public transport on Sunday? It's tricky in practice. No8. Yes, but the Church has not treated women well. I'd happily support the recognition of women deacons, what about you? I don't know what you mean by No.9. The abolition of the monarchy, perhaps? Thanks for your blog.

Gary Brady said...

Thanks for replying David. I appreciate your comments. Put like this some of the statements do look a little stark and need some nuancing. It's the fact that I'm likely to find so few to agree with me on all of them that I was meditating on.

Unknown said...

I believe in God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm surprised that didn't make it to your unpopular belief list!

Gary Brady said...

Surprisingly, those beliefs are not as unpopular as those I list (if we make our terms fairly broad). I should have included Calvinism perhaps. That sorts the wheat from the chaff.