I recently read the book “New Evangelicalism“, by Paul Richard Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel Victorville CA. Paul Smith is a leader in the Calvary Chapel movement founded by his brother Chuck Smith, who also wrote the foreword to Paul Smith’s book.

The book gives a brief history of modern Protestantism beginning with modernism where scripture became critically analyzed through the filters of the philosophies of 19th and early 20th century humanist intellectuals. This humanistic intellectual analysis of the scriptures became known as “higher criticism”. I took one of those silly “higher criticism” courses in college myself.

I will give you my own take on modernism; most of what I will say about modernism in Christianity does not come from Paul Smith’s book, but from what I read in his book, I think Paul Smith would agree with most of it.… continue reading