Some, perhaps, are becoming weary of hearing frequent references to “critical theory,” wondering why this is such a big deal.  Martin Luther helps us understand why such issues are so relevant to followers of Christ:

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him.  (Luther’s Works. Weimar Edition. Briefwechsel, vol. 3, pp. 81f.)

As first century Christians needed to understand the heresy of Gnosticism, and as later believers were faced with the deviant teachings of Arianism, Pelagianism, and other dangerous distortions of orthodox doctrine, so contemporary believers must understand the fundamentals of Critical Theory as that heresy which “the world and the devil” (Luther’s words) is currently using to attack Christianity and our Judeo-Christian cultural foundations.  To not have a basic understanding of Critical Theory is to be out of touch with contemporary culture.

This ten-minute video by Dr. Christian Overman is an excellent primer on Critical Theory and well worth one’s time in viewing: click here.

The apostle Paul described “the church of the living God” as “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15).  Indeed, before His crucifixion, Jesus stated to Pilate: “… for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37).  In his last message to the Russian people before his exile from his homeland, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn challenged his fellow Russians with the title of his last essay: Live Not by Lies.  Christians, both individually and collectively, are charged with God’s call to be people of “the truth” in a world of darkness and devil-inspired lies.

Rod Dreher sees this as a fundamental of Christian witness and evangelization:

Underground or above ground, Christians will be called on simply to be strong, and not deterred by fear of the world’s hatred. That is a form of evangelizing. Churches right now that find their voice, and do not waver from the truth, are going to be attractive to those men and women with stout hearts who want to prepare themselves for the long night ahead. Those churches that prefer not to face reality, or worse, wish to collaborate with [the emerging social order]) for the sake of keeping the world’s respectability, or remaining “relevant” to this increasingly anti-Christian order — well, no Christian who can read the signs of the times and wants to be ready will want to be with that lot.  (Read Dreher’s entire blog here.)  

May God help us to understand our times and have the courage to “live not by lies!”