[Glossary] The Bible, Modernism and Religious Experience

1. (Clark 1965, 25): "Unfortunately the visible churches that have descended from the Protestant Reformation, especially the larger and wealthier denominations, have to a considerable degree repudiated the Bible. Schleiermacher, Ritschl, and modernism substituted religious experiences for the Word of God. The neo-orthodox also deny the truth of the Bible and substitute something called an existential encounter. They fail to tell us how this experience determines the number of the sacraments, the mode of baptism, the principles of church government, or even the doctrine of the Atonement. Without such information controversies of religion can be settled only by majority vote, that is, by the whims or ambitions of ecclesiastical politicians. No wonder this age is being called the Post-Protestant era. No wonder there is talk of church union with Rome. Without information from God, men are left to their own devices."

Modernism has substituted religious experiences for the Word of God.


Reference:

Clark, Gordon H. 1965. What Do Presbyterians Believe? The Westminster Confession: Yesterday and Today. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company.

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