False Alarm: Dangerous Preachers and Authors

I just got off the phone with a dear brother who is concerned about my theology. He has read some of my posts on a particular forum and have followed my blogging.

We talked about Joel Osteen who I think paints a incomplete and inadequate picture of the life and call of the Church. However, unlike my friend, I don’t think he’s poisonous. Unfortunately its true, Osteen preaches a message that embodies the American dream as if that equates to the message of Christ in scripture. Yet hearing his explanations and reasons as to why his message is more earthward than heavenward helps me put him in proper perspective. Simply put, Osteen’s message is fashioned to a crowd that may know they are citizens of heaven but do not know how to live like Christian citizens on earth. In a nutshell, what I hear Osteen preach is hope, encouragement and inspiration–the same stuff we hear our parents and mentors saying to us.

We talked about Peter Enns and his “unorthodoxy” via his so called controversial book. See http://cdero.wordpress.com/2008/03/29/bible-monopolybible-monopoly

Unlike my friend, I don’t think Enns’ incarnational paradigm undermines the inerrancy and infallibility of scripture. Enns is doing a great service among conservative Christians and liberal Christians by interacting with the extra biblical data that is out there that is in need of being synthesized by evangelicals as well as the broader Christian community. Asserting that pagan sources provided the structure and shape of parts of scripture is not a denial of the divine inspiration of scripture nor its inerrancy.

We briefly touched on Walter Brueggemann whom I highly respect as a scholar and theologian. Again, I am suppose to treat people like Brueggemann as dangerous people?

What my friendly phone conversation boils down to is differences and disagreements. It is fine to disagree with Enns’ incarnational paradigm. It is ok to disagree with some of Brueggemann’s conclusions. But calling these men and people alike dangerous is nothing more then causing a false alarm.

When I think of the word dangerous, I think of the bubonic plague, violent armed criminals, taking a stroll around my neighborhood at certain times of the day, guns, knives, bullets, using an electric saw, etc.

Sorry, Brueggemann, Osteen, and Enns do not strike me as dangerous people. perhaps my detractors would say that the pen is mightier than the sword. If so, then perhaps dangerous is the wrong word. What is really meant is that such preachers and authors are a threat to the Biblical monopolization and religious control a person or group is trying to maintain.