Contending for the Faith
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” — Jude 3 The Christian faith has many adversaries, both within and outside the church. This was true in Jude’s day, and it’s no less true in our own. Of the two, however, the internal foes may pose the greater threat, because they’re more deceptive. A skeptic who openly denies the faith and argues against it—say, a Christopher Hitchens or a Sam Harris—is easily recognized as a foe. So is a persecutor like a Diocletian or a Stalin or a soldier of Allah waving the black flag of ISIS. The internal foes, however, are more difficult to recognize. The danger they pose is subtle. They claim to be friends of the faith but are in fact its mortal enemies. I’m referring specifically to heretics—those who reject the truth as it’s revea...