“The bad news? You need a root canal. The good news? We can sedate you so you won’t feel a thing.” Sedation. The good news—the transcendent glory of this invention of modern medicine would be lost on me if I didn’t first understand the bad news—that I needed a root canal. But once I knew “dental pulp” would be involved, sedation suddenly became the best. News. Ever. ​  

​​”I’ve got bad news and good news.”

I’ll never forget sitting in the dentist’s office awaiting “the news.” For the record, I am an utter wimp when it comes to my teeth. Sure, I gave birth to two babies with nothing more than a stick to bite on, but threaten me with a dental drill and I’m out the door faster than you can say, “laughing gas”— if I don’t pass out first. Just hearing the phrase “dental pulp” makes me want to crawl under a rock the size of Wisconsin.

“The bad news? You need a root canal. The good news? We can sedate you so you won’t feel a thing. “

Sedation. The good news—the transcendent glory of this invention of modern medicine would be lost on me if I didn’t first understand the bad news—that I needed a root canal. But once I knew “dental pulp” would be involved, sedation suddenly became the best. News. Ever. ​  

​It’s the same with the gospel, isn’t it? It’s a case of bad news and good news. In fact, the word gospel literally means “good news.” But if we don’t understand what’s wrong with the world (the bad news), we won’t understand the beauty of how things will be made right again (the good news).  

Greg Koukl describes four things every worldview must explain: Creation (How things got started), Fall (How things got broken), Redemption (How things will get fixed), andRestoration (How things will look once they are fixed.) In my last post, I explained that many Progressives disagree with the historic Christian answers to these questions and have an entirely different understanding of the gospel.

In this post, we’ll zoom in for a closer look at how progressive Christianity differs from historic Christianity when it comes to Creation and Fall. In my next post, we’ll talk about Redemption and Restoration.

Creation

God created the world and called it “good.” This is something most historic and progressive Christians can agree on. High five. But before we get too excited, we must realize this is about all we have in common. (Cue Debbie Downer.)

Historic view

Historically, Christians have believed that God created the universe out of nothing (ex-nihilo). This means He is entirely distinct from and independent of His creation. The Bible teaches that God is also omnipresent—everywhere at the same time. He is present everywhere because He isn’t contained by any particular object or location. In other words, He is not a part of this fallen world, but remains active and present in it.

Progressive view

Many Progressives adopt a view of creation called panentheism. This is not to be confused with a more prominent belief in Eastern religions and the New Age called pantheism.

Pantheism teaches that God is all. (Think Mother Earth, the Force in Star Wars, and the movie Avatar.)

Panentheism teaches that God is in all and all isinGod—but that God also goes beyond the universe. According to this view, God inhabits the universe much like a soul indwells a body. Panentheism denies that God created the universe ex-nihilo and sees the world as part of God that is constantly in process and changing. Philosophers Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli noted that in panentheism, God “cannot concretely exist except as vitalizing the world, nor can the world exist except as vitalized by God. Each needs the other.” (1)

​Progressive leaders like Rob Bell hint at this by comparing the Spirit of God to a “life force,” and “creative energy,” and “unending divine vitality.” (2) Franciscan Friar and Progressive favorite Richard Rohr affirms it openly. He teaches that we should recognize Jesus’ presence in all things, including in other people and the elements of the earth. He refers to the universe as the “body of God.”  He writes:

This is not pantheism (God is everything), but panentheism (God is in everything!). Such a central message of cosmic incarnation was never seriously taught in the Western, overly individualistic church, except by a few…