“But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them” (A. W. Tozer).
2 Corinthians 4:4 “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 4:6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” These verses are quite clear regarding the issue that we are discussing. One, the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ. Two, the Gospel of the glory of Christ is light. Three, Christ is the image of God. Four, the light that God commanded then and commands now is the light of the Gospel. Five, the light He shines is Himself because the text speaks of “the One who has shone in our hearts.’ Six, when He shines in our hearts that gives the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Seven, the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Christ.
The academic model seems to be striving for a rational understanding and presentation of the facts of the Gospel. It also seems to result in the rational presentation and discussion or arguments about the finer points of the doctrines of the Gospel. It wrestles and argues over what men in the past have said. Are these things wrong? Not necessarily, but where is the glory of the Gospel in this? What happens if people preach from the academic model? What happens when the Church is turned on the one hand to presenting the doctrinal facts of the Gospel with the academic model and on the other hand some reject the academic approach for a simple Gospel? Could it be that the academic approach has left out the glory of the Gospel and so is not really studying the Gospel? Could it be that the polarization that occurs with some have also left the glory of the Gospel for a simple model in an effort to escape the heavy intellectual content of the academic model? Has the academic model in its efforts to do its work in the academic way undermined the glory of the Gospel?
By nature of the case the academic model and way of doing things focuses on the intellect and scholarly ways of setting out issues. But is that surrender to the world? Does it set out the glory of the Gospel without which there is no Gospel at all? II Corinthians 4:4 & 6 has many truths that can be derived from it. One of those is that the text does not say that Satan blinds the mind in order to block the intellectual information of the Gospel, but that he blinds the mind so that they would not see the glory of Christ. In what way does the academic approach protect the Gospel when it is not teaching the heart of the Gospel which is the glory of God? Is the academic model really one that focuses on rationality more than glory?
I Cor 8:1 tells us that knowledge puffs up. Interestingly enough, what else does the academic approach do other than build knowledge? The Gospel is all about the glory of the grace of God. Yet God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (I Peter 5:5). Without dismissing everything that goes on within academia, we must understand and realize that the Gospel of the glory of God is best defended through preaching and teaching that is warm and points to things that cannot be comprehended by the intellect of man. God has to shine Himself into a person’s heart to give the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ. No academic model can do that.
The Church has to realize that it must return to some of the basic attributes of God. He is self-existent, eternal, infinite, and incomprehensible. That means that God is far above the comprehension level of man and that He does things as He wills in the way that He wills. He cannot be comprehended by academics either. In many ways, then, when the academic model is brought into the church, the church suffers. The average person does not have the ability or the time to deal with academic models. But the average person’s heart can be reached by God if God wants to shine the knowledge of His glory in that person’s heart. It is far better to preach and teach the glory of God in the church than it is to copy the academic model.
Perhaps one root of thinking that the academic model is so important comes from a low view of God and a high view of man. The mind that thinks it can comprehend God’s truth and the glory of the Gospel has been puffed up with itself and has a miserably low view of God whether it is conservative or liberal. A low view of God destroys the Gospel because a low view of God cannot understand His glory which is the Gospel.
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