“Religionless Christianity” was originally delivered as a radio message by Rev. Cornelis Pronk, pastor of the Free Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and radio pastor for the radio ministry of The Free Reformed Church of North America. Mailing address: The Banner of Truth Radio Broadcast, 950 Ball Ave., N. E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503.

If any Scripture verse is relevant today, it is II Timothy 4:3 and 4 where the apostle Paul warns the church: “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their cars from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

In his book The Church Inside Out, Dr. J. C. Hoekendijk, a well-known Dutch theologian, draws attention to the fact that we are living in a rapidly changing society and that therefore the Church must also change. That is, if the Church still wants to speak meaningfully to modern man, it had better change its method, its language, and even its message. Hoekendijk, and many others, advocate nothing less than a religionless Christianity. This term may startle some of you. Given the normal use of words, Christianity is a religion and to be a Christian without being religious sounds as logical as drawing a square circle. But all of a sudden we are hearing such strange things, e.g., that Cod is dead, that the Church has had it, and that modern man can get along fine without religion and so on.

The idea of a religion less Christianity or worldly Christianity, began with a man by the name of Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who died in a Nazi concentration camp. While in prison he came to the conclusion that the Church no longer made any sense to man in the twentieth century. Modern man had come of age. That is, he has become mature. In former ages, or during his childhood days he had needed the Church with its message of God, Christ and salvation. But due to the development of modern science man has discovered that God is not necessary anymore to explain reality. Science can account for everything that happens in a natural way; in other words, the way of cause and effect. There is no need for a supernatural explanation anymore.

Does this mean now that the Church has lost its relevance or usefulness? No, said Bonhoeffer, the Church can still be of great help to modern man, but it will have to change drastically. The Church will have to drop religion altogether and become completely secular. What does Bonhoeffer mean by religion? When the average person thinks of religion, he thinks of churches, worship, prayer, sermons and hymn singing. According to Bonhoeffer, religion is not the same as Christianity or faith. Religion is something that man has invented. It is individualistic and self-centered. The religious man is concerned about himself and his own salvation and does not care about his neighbor. The religious man feels superior to the non-religious man. He has a holier-than-thou attitude, and, like the priest and the Levite in the parable, he leaves the poor and miserable lying on the road without coming to their aid. Therefore religion is a great evil and has to go.

Let us recognize the radical nature of Bonhoeffer’s criticism. He is not pleading for a new type of religion, purged of its errors and abuses. But he is advocating the total abolition of religion. He writes in one of his books:

We are proceeding towards a time of no religion at all: men as they are now simply cannot be religious anymore. Our whole 1900 years old Christian preaching and theology rests upon the idea that man is religious. But today we know that this is no longer the case. Twentieth century man is not religious. What does this mean for Christianity? It means that the linchpin is removed from the whole structure of our Christianity to date.

Bonhoeffer foresaw the time that all differences between sacred and secular would disappear. Notice the radical change of direction here. The Bible prophesies about a time when all of life will be religious, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9). But Bonhoeffer turns this right around. All of life will be secular, he predicted. The Church, which still is the center of religious activity, will become completely worldly.

Bonhoeffer died in 1944, but his ideas did not die with him. They have spread and the notion of a religion less Christianity is becoming more and more popular today. Different people mean slightly different things with it. But, generally speaking, the message is the same. The Church should get involved in the world. Hence civil rights demonstrations, protest meetings, and even riots, are being sponsored by churches. In the name of Christ, terrible accusations are hurled against governments which are determined to fight Communism at home and abroad. The Gospel of salvation is no longer preached by these modern theologians. God is not even mentioned, nor sin and guilt. Christ is not the Son of God, but Jesus, the man for others, Jesus the first revolutionary, or as some even dare to call Him, the greatest hippy that ever lived.

According to this new fad, we need a new language to communicate the Gospel. Since man lives in a scientific age, the old traditional language makes no sense to people anymore. It is no use talking about God, heaven, hell, sin and repentance any longer. Modern man does not feel sinful, and has no sense of guilt. He may feel unhappy, but this is not due to the fact that he feels a need for God. His needs can be met by other things. To make such a person feel guilty in order to preach the Gospel to him is not fair, says Bonhoeffer. We must find a way of presenting the Gospel whereby man is accepted as he is. In other words, no pleas for repentance and faith, no warnings against hell or invitations to come to Christ. Such terms and ideas don’t mean a thing to man in the age of science. Therefore orthodoxy is doomed. A radical reshaping is the price for survival of the Church.

How then should we approach people with the Gospel, asks Bonhoeffer? Let‘s go out where the action is, in the world. Let us show our solidarity with people, sharing their sorrows and their joys. But don‘t try to convert them. Don‘t call them to repentance. Love them, no matter what they are, accept them in brotherly love. And when we do this, we will experience fellowship or koinonia—that is an experience which former generations called communion with God. In fact, Bonhoeffer says, the only way to worship God is to love your fellow man. That is what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, Who was the man for others.

Now what are we going to think of these new ideas which are becoming more and more popular, even in conservative and evangelical churches? ReIigionless Christianity is, of course, a contradiction in terms. But before criticizing this movement I want to point out the validity of some of its accusations against orthodox Christianity. It cannot be denied that many people in conservative churches are only concerned with themselves. There is often an unhealthy preoccupation with personal salvation at the expense of concern for others. Such an attitude of course is wrong. Scripture teaches plainly enough that we must not only love God but also our neighbor.

But having said this, I must point out that the whole idea of a religionless Christianity is un-Biblical and anti-Christian! First of all it denies that man is a sinner who needs a radical change. That modern man has a scientific outlook and has rejected God and His Word makes no difference at all to the fact of his being a lost sinner on the way to hell. Certainly, it is true, the Church must try to talk to the world in a language that can be understood. As long as the message stays the same! But that is the problem. I’m afraid that, by and large, modern preaching has not just done away with the old–fashioned language, but also with the old-fashioned message.

Harold Brown says in his book, The Protest of a Troubled Protestant that the problem facing the Church is not so much a problem of communication as a problem of content.

Before we begin to try to ‘communicate Christianity,’ we must be sure of the content. We must be sure that our content is identical to that of historic Christianity, or we have nothing worthwhile to communicate; and we must understand the content ourselves, or the most advanced techniques in the world will only enable us to spread confusion more efficiently.

And once we do that, once we present the true Gospel to modern man, we will find that he doesn’t like it. Man never did. The Gospel has never been acceptable to man, modern, medieval, or ancient. The apostle Paul ran into the same opposition when he preached the cross of Christ, as faithful preachers do today. Man by nature calls the Gospel foolishness. Yet it is the duty of ministers to proclaim the Gospel to sinners whether they will hear or whether they will forbear (Ezek. 3:11). The new theology tailors its message to suit the taste of the natural man. According to Bonhoeffer, modern man feels no religious need. But this is not true. Man is fundamentally religious. Therefore, as Harold Brown says:

as the organized main-line churches . . . cease to provide any religious solutions, modern man does not heave the grateful sigh they expect and pay the tithe with new enthusiasm. Instead, he turns to a thousand other equally religious, but far less scientifically creditable solutions than that of historic Christianity—to tailor-made, Westernized Hinduism or Buddhism, to the religions of LSD and psychedelic happenings, to myriad superstitions and even to the world of the occult. Modern man is no more immune than the ancient Hebrews to the biblical principle that the alternative to worshipping the true God is to worship idols—or demons.

Indeed, man is still very religious. The only thing is that he doesn’t know the true God or the way to God. Only the old-fashioned Gospel can teach him this knowledge and show him the way. That is the way of repentance and faith toward Christ. It is a big mistake to say, as Bonhoeffer and his followers do, that it is unfair to talk to modern man about his sin and guilt because that would be exploiting his weakness. Why, in the name of honesty and truth, is it wrong to remind men of these facts of life? Sin and guilt, along with death and judgment, are realities which every man must face sooner or later. The Bible says that it is appointed unto men to die once, and after that the judgment (Heb. 9:27).

We reject in toto this religionless Christianity because it preaches a gospel that is not a gospel. It tells men that they are alright the way they are; that God, if He exists, loves them all; and that in the way of revolution we will create a new society in which we can all live together in brotherhood. Friends, this is a colossal lie inspired by Satan!

The Bible teaches that the whole world is lost in sin, and that out of that lost world Christ gathers, by His Word and Spirit, a people unto Himself. That people is the Church. And the primary task of that Church is to call other sinners out of the world—to forsake the Devil and to become subjects of King Jesus.

My friend, are you already a subject of Christ‘s Kingdom? Remember, the only way to enter that Kingdom is through the narrow door of faith and repentance. You must experience the new birth. And that involves confessing yourself to be a lost sinner on the way to destruction. That means realizing that you cannot change yourself, no matter what you do, And therefore it also means fleeing to the only Savior Who is able and willing to break your hard heart. That is the message that Paul preached and the Reformers and Puritans, and it still is the only message this poor world desperately needs.