Let’s Be Honest

by   J. Michael Palmer                                                                                                                                  Vol. X, No. 1, January 1997

[Dr. Kirby Godsey is president of Mercer University, the very large university in Georgia which receives, I believe, some $4 million a year from Georgia Baptists. Godsey recently published a book, When We Talk about God, Let’s Be Honest, which caused quite a furor due to the very un-Christian views expressed by Godsey. The executive committee of the Georgia Baptist Convention recently voted to establish two committees: one “to study the mission of the Georgia Baptist Convention in its relationship to Mercer university” and the second to explore the theological matters raised in Godsey’s book.” It seems likely that Georgia Baptists will stop paying Mercer to teach apostasy. But little or nothing is certain at this point. This is background for Mike Palmer’s following article. Dr. J. Michael Palmer is pastor of Green Ridge BC, Roanoke. TCP]

I was not surprised to read a news report by the New York Times about Dr. Kirby Godsey's new book When We Talk About God Let's Be Honest. I was glad that they expressed Godsey's view of Scripture and his concept of salvation: "Kirby Godsey rejects the belief that every word of the Bible is literally true and suggests that salvation may not depend on one's acceptance of Christ as personal savior." The view that salvation is possible outside of Christ is the natural outcome of the rejection of the inerrancy of the Word of God. It is the result of the infection of so-called higher criticism in our theological and other educational institutions. This liberalized neo-orthodoxy is not orthodoxy and it must be exposed as such.

One underlying theme of the article was that Dr. Godsey's liberal view was the only view possible for a real scholar. If you hold the so-called "fundamentalist" (actually traditionally orthodox) view, you could not possibly be a serious thinker and/or be academically free. This kind of insinuation is found in nearly all the liberal material. This is hogwash. Throughout history an abundance of fine scholars have held the view that the Bible is "truth without any mixture of error" and have made excellent contributions to the academic world.

I am glad this article was printed so people could see where liberalism eventually leads us ... to a rejection of Jesus Christ as the only way a person is saved.

As for me, I am glad I don't have to look anywhere else! Praise the Lord.