God is Intolerant

Last updated on: March 29, 2018 at 1:55 pm by Mark Driscoll

God is Intolerant 2018-03-29T13:55:11-04:00 Mark Driscoll

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DUALISM VS MONISM

The Bible is dualistic. The Bible sees categories. Biblical Christianity requires black and white thinking. The Bible is filled from beginning to end with categories. Satan and God. Demons and angels. Sin and holiness. Lies and truth. Wolves and shepherds. Non-Christians and Christians. Damnation and salvation. Hell and heaven. An exhaustive list could fill a book, but you get the point.

The mainstream culture is monistic. The culture does not see categories. The culture does not allow black and white thinking. The culture refuses to allow any categories. Instead of Satan and God we have a Higher Power. Instead of demons and angels we have spirits. Instead of sin and holiness we have individual expression. Instead of lies and truth we have your truth and my truth. Instead of wolves and shepherds we have spiritual guides. Instead of non-Christians and Christians we have everyone defined as one of God’s children. Instead of damnation and salvation we have whatever works for you. Instead of hell and heaven we have people who go to a better place simply because they died.

Monism is a religion. It may not be formal like Christianity, but it is a religious view of the world that causes every issue to be a conflict between monism dualistic thinking and monistic thinking. Ultimately, this is a battle between the God of the Bible who is intolerant, and the false gods of this world who are at war against Him if you believe the Bible.

NEITHER TOLERANCE NOR UNICORNS ARE IN THE BIBLE

It might surprise us that even as the Bible speaks of God in terms of holiness, love, justice, and mercy it never suggests tolerance as one of his attributes. A simple English word search of the entire Bible in the most popular English translations also shows few if any appearances of the word tolerance. The handful of times it appears in various translations it is used pejoratively to describe an evil done by God’s people as they tolerate things such as sexual sin (1 Corinthians 5:1 ESV) and false teaching (Revelation 2:20 ESV).

The New Living Translation speaks of God not tolerating other religions (Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9 NLT), injustice (2 Chronicles 19:7; Micah 6:11 NLT), sinful behavior (Psalm 5:4, 101:5 NLT), or teaching based on the beliefs of other religions (Revelation 2:14 NLT). Reading the Bible does not exactly support the conclusion that the God of the Bible is tolerant or that his people should embrace the new tolerance.

For Christians, this is bedrock. Who God is, how God acts, and what God commands overrides all other commitments. While we do not want to appear unloving toward people—especially people we disagree with—we also do not want to be unfaithful to the God who deserves our love and loyalty. Asking a Christian to approve what God disapproves is akin to asking a daughter to wind up and slap her loving father in the face in the name of being loving toward the neighbor kids who hate him.

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Everyone, Including You, Is an Intolerant Hypocrite

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