Haters of Christ: Their Books and Articles
Over a period of time, I visited and surveyed the religion section at four public libraries in four different cities. As a lover of Jesus Christ and tireless writer of His excellencies, I grimaced at what I discovered in Dewey’s Section 200 (Religion) in each of my sample libraries.
First, there were a few similarities in each of the four libraries. The different cities ranged from populations of four thousand people to two hundred thousand. Despite public funding, religion still has a place in the libraries in America. Separation of church and state has always been misinterpreted by those who worship the state, so I was encouraged that in their zeal to crush Christianity, the religion section has not yet been removed by intolerant progressives.
Second, considering the volume of possible books to be chosen for shelf life in a public library — in all four libraries — the religion section was disproportionately small. This particular sample survey was pretty basic, so these observations may not be indicative of all public libraries in all places. Four of four in this pattern seems rather consistent, however. One town is widely known to be a bastion of Christianity, so its library religion section was the most surprising to me.
Third, I was curious that the choice of books in all four were so similar in type. In all four, I could count the number of decent Evangelical authors on one hand (still, none of whom I would read). The rest of the “Christian” section, a sub-section of the religion section, was entirely comprised of naysayers. These authors are pseudo-Christians posing as Christian intellectuals.
In my experience, some of the most unreliable Christian testimonies come from Christian scholars. One can sample the likes of William Barclay, John Dominic Crossan, Bart Ehrman, Henri Nouwen, Paul Tillich, Gregory Boyd, etc., and quickly realize these men are not friends of Christ or His church.
The degree of hatred one has for Christ does differ between authors who dedicate their time and talents to devaluing, distorting, and denouncing our Lord Jesus Christ. Most will pose as angels of light, while others will not hide their utter disdain for the Son of God, who is the King of glory. Why give oneself to a life of such vitriolic wordsmithing? Let us consider a few reasons.
First, men and women of the world, in their natural sinful state are haters of God (Rom 1:30), haters of Christ Jesus (Jn 7:7), and haters of Christians/Christ’s church (Jn 15:18–25). There is a natural hostility toward all things Christian, which includes the source document of Christianity…the Bible.
Second, these writers/theologians were ordained by God to play this role in His drama. In His eternal decree, God has made the wicked for the day of evil (Prv 16:4), in order to heighten His glory, in extending the riches of His grace, toward His chosen people predestined to so great a salvation (Rom 9:22–23). The author of any good drama will heighten the conflict intensity by writing in the villain and his minions. God has all but given the world to His enemies (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 1 Jn 2:15–17); therefore, they are far more numerous and powerful than Christ’s church (except for the indwelling Spirit — 1 Jn 4:4).
In a fallen sinful world such as ours, the dark deeds of evil doers are far more materially profitable than any endeavor to announce the intrusion of the kingdom of God and the reconnaissance of His yet lost elect people. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Lk 19:10), and that does not sit well in the public marketplace of ideas (Mt 5:10–12). For this reason, worldly institutions such as state-funded public radio, public television, public education, public government, and public libraries are Antichrist.
Having the spirit of Antichrist is not new, and it is actually quite normal in the domain of darkness. Again, some enterprises just try to be neutral in providing profitable products or services. All of them are corrupt, however, because of sin and sinners. Our interest is in those who are subtle in their enmity with Jesus Christ. Public library chosen books on Christianity fall into the biblical category of false teaching by false teachers. For this reason, it is worth issuing a warning to avoid the public library if one wishes to know the truth about the Bible and Jesus Christ.
The foundation argument by naysayers is that no one should believe the Bible, as God’s revelation of Himself to His people (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20–21). Without the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth (2 Cor 3:17), no one can receive the faith to believe the Word of God (Jn 5:42; 8:47; Rom 10:17). Simply put, the unbeliever does not believe in Jesus Christ, who is revealed in the Bible, because the unbeliever does not have the Spirit of Christ living in him (Jn 10:26). The world cannot receive the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17); hence, many live void of the Spirit their whole lives (Rom 8:9). They die as unbelievers in consequence of their sins (Mt 25:41, 46; Rom 3:23; 6:23; Eph 2:1–3, 12; Heb 9:27; Jude 7; Rev 20:11, 14–15).
Despite the unbeliever’s inherent hostility toward Christ, the aggressive haters of Christ are activists with their pens. The Bible is clear that the devil has blinded the minds of those who serve him and his agenda to discredit Jesus Christ. Foremost to our subject is Satan’s title “the father of lies.” The children of the devil follow their father in all his ways (Jn 8:44; 1 Jn 3:10). Lying about the contents of the Bible can only be remedied by reading the Word of truth for oneself…in the Spirit. Without the Spirit, however, the Word of God has no place in one’s heart (Jn 8:47).
False teachers, who author books and articles, are quite popular among unbelievers. They are quickly affirmed by their readers. Imagining that they are having an impact on the world, they remain ignorant to the fact that they are simply doing their job in God’s providence. The tragedy of their end is the eternal punishment enhanced by their blasphemies against the Holy God, who judges all people in perfect righteousness.
Jesus’ instruction in handling those who persecute Him and His church is clear. We are to pray for the enemies of Christ and His cross. Our prayer is for their repentance and faith, which may or may not be God’s will for them, depending on His sovereign election and reprobation. Next, we can pray that God would thwart the false teacher/writer from influencing God’s lost elect people. The goats will always embrace the false witness, but God’s salvation of His chosen people gives us hope that our prayers will be answered, along with our witness to the goodness of God and His Christ, who is the truth (Jn 14:6).
Finally, if you are a false teacher, possibly writing as a pseudo-Christian, then our encouragement is for you to reconsider your position outside of Christ and His salvation of sinners. May God, in His mercy, grant you repentance and faith, if it is His sovereign will for you. May His Spirit direct you to the Scriptures and may you receive the truth, as it is in Jesus Christ, for His glory. If not, press on in your foreordained work and be warned of dying in your trespasses and sins, only to face the just judgment and the sentence of eternal punishment in fiery hell. Repent! And again I say, “Repent!”
David Norczyk
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
September 5, 2022
