Editors Note: This article is a little off-topic from what we usually do but we felt it was necessary after numerous people accused us of slander, divisiveness, and heresy for speaking the truth. Note that there were multiple individuals involved in this and they were upset about different things we said so please do not assume if you accused us of one of the above that we are mischaracterizing you with all three.
In recent weeks, we have attracted our fair share of controversy. From emails accusing us of slander to Facebook comments calling use divisive heretics, we’ve really kicked a few hornets nests of late. This leads us to the content of this article. We have been urged to apologize, to mature, to get smarter so that we can fit in alongside the “Big Eva” elites or properly treat brothers in Christ. To which we say: no. We will not bow to the elites, or to the tone police who want us to water down our fire or our content to suit anyone.
Address the Issues
A running theme in this attempt to either silence us or cause us to be more amenable to certain causes is a complete lack of addressing of the issues we raised. To illustrate this, I have copied out part of a conversation we had in a facebook comment thread and stripped out the name of the commenter for their privacy.
S. “That is scurrilous material.Southern (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) didn’t offer reparations. Stop giving place and voice to the trolls”
IHI. “I’m not sure what else you call 5 million dollars of “race” specific cash that was announced specifically in the context of atoning for the sins of the founders of the school.”
S.”Have you ever even spoken to anyone from the Administration or a trustee of Southern? I know a number of them personally and you are wayyyy off track here.”
IHI “You did not address my point, at all. Just to put this in perspective for you…can you imagine any scenario where SBTS trustees would establish a “whites” only scholarship? If you can’t, then ask yourself this question: why is it not racist to establish a “blacks” only scholarship but racist to establish a “whites” only scholarship?”
S. “You’re being foolish and decisive (sic) while spreading foolishness. You’re not a party to the facts of the issue nor privy to the discussion of the Trustees, much less knowledgeable about the persons involved or their particular positions on anything. You’re gossiping, engaging in character assassination, and frankly qualifying as a (sic) αιρεσεις (heretic) according to 1 Corinthians 11:19 at this point.”
IHI. “So which fact that I raised qualifies me as a heretic?
1. SBTS is paying out 5 million in scholarships to “blacks”
2. SBTS would never do #1. to “whites”
3. SBTS made the scholarship offer in the context of apologizing for the racism of their founders
4. If SBTS were to offer a 5 million dollar scholarship fund to “whites” they would be branded racist
5. SBTS will not be branded racist for doing #4. for “blacks”
So which of those facts is incorrect and where Biblically do I need to be corrected for speaking the truth? I’m not expecting you to actually address my arguments. You haven’t yet. All you’ve done is hurl insults and impugn my character.”
The conversation continued but despite multiple attempts, I was unable to get this individual to show me a single error in what I had said. All I got were insults like this one
“Stop talking until you mature and get smarter.”
or this one
“You don’t know what an ad hominem is young man. Just stop. You are establishing only that you care nothing for integrity or biblical ethics. You’ve been given a word of caution about what you are doing and you appear to be incessantly arrogant about a subject that you know nothing about. If you are a Christian, which seems less and less likely, then hold your tongue (metaphorically of course) until you actually know what you are saying. If you want to continue to play the fool, then so be it but at least put on the big floppy shoes that go with the uniform of a clown.”
Notice what is lacking from all of the responses S gave me? A single point of refutation. There are plenty of insults, plenty of attacks on my character and Christianity, but not one attempt to refute a word of what I’ve said. I expect that from atheists. Not so much with fellow Christians. Now not all commenters come at us with insults. Some are genuinely trying to correct us for perceived errors in behavior or tone. We do appreciate it when people come with genuine concerns. We will never turn those away, regardless of whether we agree with their concerns. However, the one thing that they share in common with S is they completely ignore the point we were making.
How did we get here?
Unfortunately, we have a culture in Christianity where daring to question anyone in authority is forbidden. If you dare speak up, you are immediately labeled as divisive. It does not matter if the authority is wrong, or if they have completely misrepresented/ignored the Biblical text. All that matters is that they are an authority (importantly one who agrees with the viewpoint of the person making the accusations of divisiveness) and therefore what they say is nearly divine. You may not challenge them. They have some form of divine mandate akin to the Catholic pope or something similar.
This situation has been fostered by the Evangelical laser focus on unity over doctrinal purity. Unfortunately, because the Evangelical church has been so focused on getting along as Christians, they never focused on defining what Christianity is. Further, because they refused to separate from false doctrine, they refused to separate from false worldly ideas. This led to the adoption of horrible ideas such as evolution, millions of years, and, more recently and as a result, critical race theory and social justice. When someone (like us and others) dares to rise up and call out this false unity, or even the false doctrine that runs rampant in the church, we are labeled as divisive.
Now the Bible does talk about avoiding divisive people. But it is important to note the context. Romans 16:17 says “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” Note who the divisive people are: people who oppose the doctrine the Roman Christians had been taught. The divisive ones were not the ones standing for what the Bible said. The divisive ones were the ones who were objecting to the truth! This informs our understanding of passages like 1 Corinthians 1:10, 3:3 and 11:18, where divisions are mentioned as a bad thing. But what is causing the divisions? False teaching and carnality! People who are teaching the truth are not at fault.
Biblical Divisions
Further, the Bible also repeatedly emphasizes division both from the world, and from false teachers. Here are just a few samples of verses telling us to not fellowship with the world, or with false doctrine. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:11
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” 2 Corinthians 6:14-17
“And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” Gal 2:4-5
“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” 2 John 1:10-11
Just from these verse it should be clear that separation from both the world, and false doctrine is required. The Evangelical obsession with unity over doctrine is unbiblical. Further, if you read down in Galatians 2, you will find Paul publicly calling out Peter because Peter was in error. In the modern Evangelical church, Paul would be considered divisive. So when people call us divisive for speaking the truth, what I take from that is they do not actually know what the Scripture says about false teaching.
Conclusions
It should be clear by now what our position on being “divisive” is. Usually its the individuals we are calling out who are divisive, not us. Just in case anyone missed it, let me be clear. To the woke mob trying to burn In His Image to the ground, and the well-meaning people trying to bring In His Image into line with their preferred messaging, let us make something abundantly clear: We will not bend, we will not bow, we will not break. You cannot cajole, cow, or coax us into saying things the Bible does not. In His Image will continue to tell the truth, regardless of how many people don’t like it, be it government officials, or Evangelical Elites, or even fellow creationists. If that is considered slanderous, divisive, or heretical, so be it. “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Peter said in Acts 5:29. Therefore, in obedience to Christ, we will continue to tell the truth about creation, and the downturn of western Christianity until either we die or are dragged away from our keyboard in chains.
Do you know what’s going to happen when you die? Are you completely sure? If you aren’t, please read this or listen to this. You can know where you will spend eternity. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us, we’d love to talk to you.
In His Image 