This title is a phrase coined by Presbyterian theologian Francis Shaeffer in his famous book How Should We Then Live? He introduces it in a critique of the Church’s absence during the Industrial Revolution. Schaeffer argues, “If industrialization had been accompanied by a strong emphasis on the compassionate use of accumulated wealth and on the dignity of each individual, the Industrial Revolution would have indeed been a revolution for good… Following industrialization, the noncompassionate use of accumulated wealth was particularly glaring… This resulted in the growth of slums… the exploitation of children and women… Seldom did the church, as the church, lift its voice against such ‘utilitarianism’ (the teaching that utility is the ultimate appeal on all ethical questions).”
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The Westminster Confession of Faith, the standard of Reformed theology and interpretation, states “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.” This statement of faith presents the Reformed understanding of the Bible’s authority, which is not derived from “any man or Church.” The Bible isn’t authoritative because the Pope says so. The Bible isn’t authoritative because I feel it is so. The Bible is authoritative “because it is the Word of God.”
Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8, Amos 2:6, Matthew 25:40; these and other passages of Scripture are often used by many in the progressive camp of Christianity to promote what has become popularized as a “social justice gospel.”
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