From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Editor's Note: The 81st Annual Convention of the American Council of Christian Churches met in Carlisle, Pennsylvania from October 25-27, 2022. The convention approved several resolutions on critical issues confronting Christians and the church in our time, including the one below. We present it for the edification and encouragement of God's people. - Dr. Paul Elliott [1]

American Council of Christian Churches
81st Convention, October 25-27, 2022
Faith Chapel, Carlisle, PA
Resolution on Socialism

Americans who came of age during the Cold War were optimistic over the dissolution of the Soviet Union during the last decade of the twentieth century. American Christians rejoiced as their brethren, who had suffered so terribly behind the Iron Curtain, now partook of religious freedoms taken for granted in western nations. America reached a new pinnacle of power, fueled by an unshakable faith in the rectitude of individual liberty, to bring peace and prosperity.

Thirty years later American Christians are summoned to renewed vigilance, understanding that the battle against socialism is far from over. Communist China is ascendant, both economically and militarily, and other nations such as North Korea threaten the peace of their democratic neighbors. Threats from within are even more insidious, as Marxist doctrines continue to infiltrate American institutions, from the halls of government to those of college campuses. Recent surveys indicate the growing popularity of socialism among America's youth as they are constantly bombarded with propaganda touting socialism's supposed capacity to address the concerns of modern society, from debt relief to climate change. At the same time, there is mounting hostility towards the Christian heritage which once characterized much of American culture.

Most concerning is the phenomenon of shifting attitudes towards socialism within conservative Christian churches, fueled by the lack of discernment from its pulpits. Misguided efforts to find common ground with this world-system have led to the growing acceptance of a philosophical and economic viewpoint which promotes tenets diametrically opposed to biblical truth: atheism (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Psalm 14:1); dialectical materialism (Matthew 6:19-21; 1 John 2:15-17); collectivism at the expense of individual responsibility (Romans 2:6; Proverbs 24:12); the repudiation of the dignity of work (Genesis 2:15; Leviticus 23:22; Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12); Marxism's profiling of a nation's citizens into categories of oppressor and oppressed (Leviticus 19:15; Psalm 49:1-2; Proverbs 20:23 and 22:2; Revelation 20:12); romanticism's denial that people are basically sinful, bound in a state of total depravity (Isaiah 1:4-6; Psalm 14:2-3; Romans 3:9-20); and, most seriously, the perversion of the Gospel of Christ into a social gospel which dooms the souls of men (Galatians 1:6-10; 1 Timothy 6:5).

Therefore, the American Council of Christian Churches at its 81st annual convention, October 25-27, 2022, at Faith Chapel, Carlisle, PA, resolves to continue its earnest opposition against the corrosive influence of socialism in modern society, to focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the solution to man's ultimate problem, and to resist the cultural and political currents of our time which seek to erode our spiritual foundations. We shall do so, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

References:

1. Dr. Elliott is a member of the ACCC's executive committee.

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