I Triggered a huge dog pile. Within a couple of days, it was in all the newspapers. And under considerable duress, I published a Apology letter, the band made me take time away to examine my quote-unquote blind spots and. Yes, I might have gone against the prevailing thought of the industry. but it was more important to stand by my principles.
That was Winston Marshall, a musician. When he spoke out against far left ideology, he was faced with the choice, retract these sincerely held beliefs or stand for truth at the expense of public approval. You can hear his story in Truth Rising. a documentary brought to you by the Coulson Center and Focus on the Family. Don't miss the global streaming premiere of Truth Rising on September the 5th.
Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center. I'm John Stone Street. Elizabeth Eaton, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, recently announced that the denomination is dropping the Filioque clause from its liturgy. According to Eaton, the change is part of a 40-year-long quest for better relationship with various Eastern Orthodox groups. She called the move a significant breakthrough toward reconciliation, to heal age-old divisions.
She rejoiced that the filioque is no longer church dividing. What Bishop Eaton did not argue is that the change was doctrinally necessary or that the new position brings the denomination closer to biblical truth. Instead, she appealed to, and I quote, unity in the body of Christ, something that the ELCA has clearly been willing to violate and sacrifice for many other concerns, especially homosexuality. As pastor and creator of Lutheran satire Hans Feen put it on X, quote Things the ELCA will give up to heal divisions with the Orthodox, the Filioque. Things the ELCA will not give up to heal divisions with the Orthodox Sin.
The word filioque is Latin for and the Son, as in We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. This is from the Nicene Creed, a widely accepted summary of Christian doctrine that emerged from the Council of Nicaea in AD three hundred twenty five, and was finalized at the Council of Constantinople in AD three hundred eighty one. The original text of the Creed read only who proceeds from the Father.
However, over subsequent generations, Western Christians included and the Son. Eastern Christians did not.
Now these three words, in English, just one in Latin, carry enormous theological weight. Though other issues were at play, this was the final straw that led to mutual excommunications by the Pope in Rome and the Patriarch in Constantinople in 1054. For Western Christians, these words are about preserving the unity of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, who always works in the name of Christ. For Eastern Christians it's a question of authority.
For both, the issue here is about the inner workings of the Godhead. Though certainly an issue of theological precision, the filioque is a matter of no small importance. except apparently for the ELCA. For Bishop Eaton, the question of what Lutherans should believe about the Holy Spirit is not as important as maintaining unity. On the other hand, for the ELCA, maintaining unity is not as important as embracing new categories of sexual morality and identity which violate the historic moral teaching of the Church and Holy Scripture.
Doctrine divides is a phrase that's often repeated to argue that Christians would be better Christians if they focused on loving people instead of theological specifics.
Now, of course, any specifics about how to love people immediately puts us back in the realm of doctrine. For example, if love means to affirm things that Jesus clearly considered sin, we have to embrace a wholly different understanding of sin, salvation, Christology, and anthropology. Even more in this view, all questions of transcendent truth become subservient to more immediate concerns, like being affirming and inclusive. But Christianity drained of doctrine is no Christianity at all. The Bible is very concerned that our hearts and minds are aligned with God.
It matters whether we call Him by the right name, worship Him in the right way. Think with proper understandings of his nature and will. It matters whether Jesus was killed as a revolutionary who is willing to challenge the empire or because it was ordained by God before the foundation of the world as a means to pay for our sin. After all, throughout history, Christians were not targeted by Roman emperors, Islamic jihadists, or communist states because they cared for the poor. They were targeted because of their theological convictions about who was God and who was not.
In other words, doctrine does divide. In fact, It should divide. Without it we cannot clarify right from wrong, good from bad, or truth from falsehood. We should always, of course, as the Apostle Paul wrote, speak the truth and love, but we should never abandon one of those things for the sake of the other. If what is true about God matters to God, then it should also matter to us.
For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for more resources to live like a Christian in this moment, go to breakpoint.org.
