Slouching Towards- Heaven?

The following dialogue was excerpted from the transcript of Brian Lamb interviewing Judge Robert Bork for C-SPAN in 1996.

LAMB: "What's the title mean, "Slouching Towards Gomorrah"?
BORK: "Well, it's a play, of course, on the poem by William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming," which is a poem about a society and a culture that are unraveling. And I guess the best known lines are that, "The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passion and intensity," which kind of reminds you of some aspects of today's culture. And the last line is, "And what rough beast, his hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"
Well, I think our rough beast is decadence and we're slouching not towards Bethlehem but toward Gomorrah".

LAMB: "You say in your book that this is a secular country and we've had people here that say this is the most religious country in the world. Which is it"?
BORK: "Secular".

LAMB: "What's your..."
BORK: "Well, yeah, people say 42 percent of people say they go to church every week. It may be, but it doesn't seem to affect their behavior. Now they seem to go to church to be soothed rather than to be given rules to live by, which they don't. The rules aren't much offered because churches have become soft trying to keep up with the culture. Culture's affecting the churches more than churches are affecting the culture. But you can see how -- for example, the abortion rate is higher among Catholics than it is among Protestants or Jews. And I picked that because the church's opposition to abortion -- absolute opposition -- is well-known, but apparently itis not affecting the behavior of the Catholic congregations. I think similar examples could be drawn from Protestant churches and Jewish synagogues".

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Judge Robert Bork’s well known book Slouching Towards Gomorrah, attempts to identify the causes of some major ills affecting modern western culture. I, for one, appreciate the biblical allusion as apropos to describe the state of the modern Western church. The Church has given birth to its own Beast, born from a marriage of liberal theology and fanciful philosophies. This Beast, now full grown, is devouring true apostolic teachings and regurgitating heresy which leads to apostasy. Accordingly, it is no accident that the church has suffered loss of influence in the West with America being no exception.

Accordingly, like Judge Bork, I will identify a cause which although less noted, is just as insidious. It has become all too easy for Christians to blame the media due to Hollywood’s stereotyping and television’s scandal mongering, even while some high profile preachers have given them opportunities to do so. Nevertheless, these things are easily identifiable, even to the most undiscerning or unbelieving among us. However, the more flagrant cause, which has spawned from within our pulpits and seminaries, is the abdication of Creation theology and faithfulness to its requisite doctrines. This particular theology was faithfully preached by the apostles, and handed down to the early church. It was "abdicated", because it was not taken by force and it is steadily being replaced by 'evolutionary' theology. Creationism is being relinquished by the very churchmen charged with its safekeeping to the detriment of sound doctrine, preaching and evangelizing. Furthermore, I believe they were seduced by the enlightenment philosophies and evolutionary science now touted from every corner of the public square. Consequently, the proclamation of the literal creation narrative has been replaced with allegorical assertions .

Now at this point, I must confess that I am not a pastor. I am not gifted, educated or called to render such service to the body of Christ. However, we pew sitters place a particular trust in our leaders. It is commensurate to their office and their failure to accurately present the scriptures will have grievous eternal consequences. The apostles were keenly aware of this and exhorted the church to examine the scriptures as well as those who taught them. This is no less true of creation since it is foundational to all of scripture. Therefore, the preacher’s assertions must match what is clearly set forth in scripture.

Anyone who examines the heretical faithlessness of contemporary preaching can witness the effects of its historical progression. In doing so, we see that the tendency to replace history with allegory divests the Biblical message of its contextual relevance. Moreover, having been removed from its universal historical context, it has no more ameliorative value than any of Aesop’s fables. Hence the title I have chosen reflects the lack of vitality and commitment that such a message engenders. Thus, many preach a salvation message without the change of mind and heart which is only produced by true repentance, faith and obedience.