“Mingled vanity and pride appear in this, that when miserable men do seek after God, instead of ascending higher than themselves as they ought to do, they measure him by their own carnal stupidity, and neglecting solid inquiry, fly off to indulge their curiosity in vain speculation. Hence, they do not conceive of him in the character in which he is manifested, but imagine him to be whatever their own rashness has devised…With such an idea of God, nothing which they may attempt to offer in the way of worship or obedience can have any value in his sight, because it is not him they worship, but, instead of him, the dream and figment of their own heart.” (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.4.1)
Clearly Calvin had in mind non-Christians when he penned these words. And he was right, for “the world did not know God through wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:21) “for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:21-22).
However, the sad reality is many in our churches have such a shallow understanding of God as revealed in Scripture, that their “Christian” theology might be better referred to as Christian “superstition.” Every Sunday, we rub shoulders with men and women who have professed faith in Christ, but continue to hold a “vague and wandering opinion of Deity” (Institutes, 1.4.3) that just happens to include Jesus.
Every pastor can probably relate to having someone in their church enthusiastically sharing with them what the “Holy Spirit” has taught them, even though it has zero resemblance to biblical teaching, even, at times, outright contradicting it. This is truly a sad and dangerous place for the Christian to live. J.I. Packer wrote, “To follow the imagination of one’s heart in the realm of theology is the way to remain ignorant of God, and to become an idol-worshipper – the idol in this case being a false mental image of God, ‘made unto thee’ by speculation and imagination” (Knowing God, 42). Considering that “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24), superstitious Christianity is dangerous both to the life of the individual Christian and to the life of the church as a whole.
Causes of Superstitious Christianity
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