Rick Warren – Pelagianism – and the Desiring God Conference

by Mike Ratliff

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44 ESV)

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”  (Romans 3:10-12 ESV)

Pelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius who was a theological opponent of Augustine of Hippo. Pelagius and his followers believed that original sin did not taint Human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without God’s aid. Therefore, Adam’s sin simply set a bad example for his progeny, but this did not impute a “sin nature” to them that the Orthodox view held by Augustine called the doctrine of “Original Sin.”

While most of you reading this would read that definition of Pelagianism and view it as foreign and rightly as not Christian, it is actually the predominate theological position of much of the “seeker movement.” This view holds that man must “do” and “earn” and so “be blessed” by God. It nullifies the Cross of Christ making it just a background piece of the puzzle for show. The emphasis is on the person and what he or she does not on Christ and what He has already done.

When I was driven from the SBC and my old church because of it going Purpose Driven back in 2006, I struggled mightily with addressing the complexity of PDC paradigm. It is overwhelming. Here we are more than four years later and are way past writing posts about the symptoms of the PDC like the unbiblical sermons and emphasis on entertainment and meeting felt needs, et cetera. Addressing these things always seemed to me like trying to stop a gushing fire hose with your hand. However, God has allowed something that I see as a tremendous gift. Rick Warren was invited to speak at the Desiring God Conference 2010. I and many others were outraged at this and said so. However, at the last minute Rick Warren backed out and instead of appearing personally, he sent a video which was played at the conference. The link to it is below if you haven’t watched or heard it yet. However, as I shared in yesterday’s post, Rulers, I consider Rick Warren and those like him to be deceivers so we must be prepared before we listen to what they have to say. If you listen to him in that “lecture” please have the whole armor of God on my brethren. Here is the link to Rick Warren’s “lecture.” However, as a very good alternative to simply watching that video or listening to Rick Warren speak, how about listening to both the “lecture” and Chris Rosebrough’s sermon review at the same time? That is what I did. Here is the link.

After listening to that, I must say that I was both horrified and gratified. I was horrified that someone like Rick Warren who is obviously a heretic would be allowed such an elevated speaking position in the visible church, but I was grateful that God allowed it to happen so that those with discernment could actually see clearly that what we have been saying for years about Rick Warren is true. Also, those who are still in darkness probably will remain in that darkness unless God has mercy on them and there will probably be further division in the visible church over this, but isn’t it clear that we cannot consider this man to one who speaks the Word of God and feeds our Lord’s sheep?

Soli Deo Gloria!

For more input and good reading on this go here for a post from my friend Justin Edwards and here for a post from my friend Daniel Neades