We meet it most [a general ecumenical outlook] in the form of an all-pervasive climate of opinion which dislikes anything that is really distinctive in doctrine or in life, which demands, indeed, ever less emphasis on doctrine, on definition, or on ethical principle.
Never was a time when polemics in any form was at such a discount. There have been periods in history when the preservation of the very life of the church depended upon the capacity and readiness of certain great leaders to differentiate truth from error and boldly to hold fast to the good and to reject the false; but our generation does not like anything of the kind. It is against any clear and precise demarcation of truth and error.
Those words have such a contemporary feel to them it is hard to believe that they were first spoken in 1952. If anything the accommodation of this way of thinking has been even greater in the twenty eight years since Dr. Lloyd-Jones' death. His words do at least capture something of the mindset that is acceptable among many evangelicals.
4 comments:
That's a great excerpt by Lloyd-Jones. I've read similar writings by Spurgeon.
Hello, Martin -
Do you have a precise source for this quote?
Thank you.
I should have included it in the original post. It is from his address "Maintaining the Evangelical Faith Today" in Knowing the Times, p. 39.
Thank you kindly.
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