Dear Friends,

Language of course is always in flux and evolving. Case and point is in respect to the word "Christian." The word has taken on a host of possible definitions:

1. It might be held as a synonym for "theism," the belief in a personal God.

2. It might also be used as a word for someone striving for moral integrity and who reveres the ethical teachings of Jesus Christ.

3. It might be a synoymn for civic nationalism especially in the United States, sometimes referred to as a "Christian" nation.

4. It might also be used as another way of claiming to be religious with leanings towards the Holy Bible.

5. It might be a catch-all category for anyone attending a local congregation of a major denomination within Christianity (even if that congregation identifies itself as "non-denominational"). That is, here -- while the actual Christian faith might be offered therein -- there is no guarantee that the attendee actually holds to the Christian faith, but will nevertheless identity him or herself as "Christian."

None of these match historical and orthodox Christianity. That worldview and religious system which rests on the authority of the Sacred Scriptures/the Holy Bible while confessing the divine inspiration and inerrant integrity of its objective truth. Namely, the revelation that the Lord Jesus Christ is the very Son of God -- truly God and truly man -- who lived, was crucified, died, rose from death, and ascended to heaven to lead His Church on earth to know the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and liberation from the power of darkness and the devil. 

In this short volume "A Biblical Response to Liberal Christianity," I discuss the effort of our post-modern culture to distort the meaning of the orthodox Christianity ever since the 17th and 18th century Enlightenment. This movement here dubbed as "liberal" (though the word itself in its original form was in no way derogatory) reflects the particular movement to water down orthodox Christianity and reducing it to sheer subjectivism, relativism, and devoid of the power of God.

The volume is available through Concordia Publishing House.

In Your Service and To Christ's Glory,

Rev. Alfonso Espinosa, Ph.D.