2011-01-16 (pm) Acts 17.22-31; Psalm 104.

1-24 Everything from God’s Hand

In his book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American

Teenagers, author Christian Smith coined the term, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism to

describe the religious views of most American youth. After interviewing some 3000

youth, Smith discovered that, regardless of their religious background the young people

held to the five following beliefs they label Moralistic Therapeutic Deism:

1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on
earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible
and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is
needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

What this reveals is that many people have a vague idea of what religion is. This

explains why there are so many opinions when it comes to Christianity, and why there are

so many discrepancies. This is inoffensive, it feels good, it requires nothing from

anyone. God exists to make us happy, he’s aware of what’s going on, but he doesn’t

really get involved in our lives unless there’s something wrong, and we call out to him.

God serves as a great genie who pops out when we need him. Everyone is basically

good, so most people are going to heaven.

In contrast, the Belgic Confession seeks to identify what God is like in his attention

to his creation. God is a creator, yes. But he is not like an artist who paints a picture and

then hangs it on the wall. Sure, he might brush the dust off once in while, but that’s

about the limit of his involvement.

1
 No, it is quite clear from the scriptures that God not only created the universe, but

he is fantastically involved in what happens to it.