Earlier
that same morning I was awakened before my alarm went off, and
found that I was already praying. There were two principle
issues rolling around in my mind: One was the Laws of
Thermodynamics, and the other… homosexuality. When McLaren
bemoaned the horrible injustices done to the homosexual
community during his first session, I knew that something was
afoot from the Lord. I had no idea how, when, or even if I would
get an opportunity to share what had been placed upon my heart;
but I was prayerfully watching and waiting.
Near the end of the current session a time for questions was
opened up, and an intelligent sounding man across the isle from
me put forth his thoughts concerning sustainable growth and job
creation in light of environmental responsibility. I knew at
that moment that my early morning impressions received during
prayer were indeed from the Lord, and that the time had come to
insert thermodynamics into the discussion. When the other
gentleman finished, I raised my hand and heard Mr. McLaren say
in my direction,
“One more
question…. Yes, this man over here.”
When the moderator handed the microphone to me I said,
“Yes,
Brian; in light of this gentleman’s question, coupled with your
remarks about the environment and global crisis, I was reminded
of the writings of Jeremy Rifkin dealing with the three Laws of
Thermodynamics.”
Brian nodded in recognition.
(The three laws basically state that the earth is a closed
system that contains a limited supply of energy, expressed in
basic units of “heat”. Also, the laws state that this energy
flows in one direction; from heat to “heat death” or
homeostasis. In simple terms this means that if you have a hot
cup of coffee and you leave it on your kitchen counter for a
period of time, the cup will eventually reach room temperature,
or homeostasis. If you desire to re-heat your coffee, you must
place it in a microwave oven, on a stove, campfire, etc.
Unfortunately, to re-heat your beverage you must use more heat
energy through electricity, coal, firewood, etc. thereby
creating the loss of even more energy. This is where the Law of
Entropy comes into play. Entropy says that over time, all things
go from a state of use to disuse, from order to chaos; this is
not a theory like evolution, but is a proven scientific Law! Now
that I’ve covered that, let’s get back to the conference where I
am holding the microphone and addressing Mr. McLaren).
“Brian,
with these Laws clearly before us, don’t they lend themselves to
a more Scripturally orthodox eschatology (the doctrine of the
end of the age)?”
He laughed and said,
“If you
don’t know what the word
eschatology means, you’re blessed!”
Again he received a chorus of healthy laughter, scoffing
at the foolish irrelevance of my question. Brian stated that in
his view, scientists will figure out what is to come at the end
of the world; whether galaxies will collide, or perhaps another
cataclysmic ice age or something else; all possibilities which
are millions of years in the future. Theologically though (he
added glibly),
“I
believe all predictive prophecies were fulfilled in the
destruction of the Jewish Temple in AD 70 under the Roman Empire"
[author’s note: This is
known as
Preterism].
He also stated that he believed that we were…
"co-creators of the future with God, and that it wasn’t a movie
that had already been shot" [author’s
note: This is known as
Open Theism].
A tremendous book dealing with the dynamics of post-modern
thought (which also encompasses the emergent camp) has been
written by David F. Wells
which captures the essence of McLaren’s belief system. Listen to
Wells’s brilliant analytical rebuttal of another “open theist,”
Clark Pinnock.
"Pinnock began a full-scale
revision of all that he had believed. He came to reject election
and, instead, to think that God’s sovereignty in life is
exercised in such a way that he voluntarily limits his power and
invites people to 'share in the divine creativity.' He then says
that 'God invites humans to share in deciding what the future
will be. God does not take it all onto his own shoulders,'
which, one has to say, is quite an astonishing thought. He went
on to reject the doctrine of total depravity and to endorse the
view of
universal
atonement…. Finally,
it is necessary that God not know the future if, in fact, he is
to be involved in its ongoing unfolding as it arrives in the
present. This is what Pinnock had in mind when he speaks of
God’s having dynamic involvement with the world rather than a
static relationship to it. God improvises. As each new situation
arises, he assesses the options and possibilities, the pros and
cons, and like the conductor of an extended orchestra tries to
get all the players to play together and harmoniously…. The
thought is that God is constantly rethinking his actions ,
reassessing life as he sees it unfold, and repositioning himself
in order to become more deeply involved with his people."
(Above
All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World, William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2005,
pp.243-246)
Do you see the theological similarities between Pinnock and
McLaren’s worldviews, as well as the conclusions they both
demand? When a man or a movement is built on the premise that
all Biblical prophecy has already been fulfilled, coupled with
an evolutionary view of an uncertain future that even God
doesn’t know about; we are left with an unthinkable cosmic
anarchy that has an evolving biological environment, an evolving
societal environment, all of which is being overseen by an
evolving “god” who is anxiously awaiting his next cue from the
random actions of his creatures! This telling quote reveals
perhaps the most disturbing (yet most logical) conclusion of Mr.
McLaren’s worldview:
"The genius of Marxism is that it offers hope within history,
when the church only offers hope outside of history."
The church of Jesus Christ then , if living within the sort of
scenario represented by McLaren, is left only with the hope
provided by environmental activism, recycling, and restructuring
of the globe’s wealth, while striving for planetary evolution
until we all arrive in the “new heavens and the new earth.”