Is the church of Sweden’s decision to refrain from using He to identify Jesus a Leftist plot to destroy Christianity or a clever publicity stunt?  Towards the end of 2017 we wrote an article about the Church of Sweden and their decision to amend their church manual to reflect a gender neutral God.  The article is titled “The Blasphemous Church” They are pushing an agenda to avoid using “He” and “Lord” to describe God.  This decision was enacted by Bishop of Vasteras Mikael Mogren who used the gender neutral term “hen” in his reference to Jesus.  Basically, Jesus who is the Only Begotten of the Father will no longer be reference as He or the Son.  Furthermore, this Leftist view stands against patriarchy, thus changing the reference to be gender neutral.  RT.com reported this in December 2017 and we wanted to wait until more information was released regarding the church’s stance.  Apparently, when the Dean of the church was questioned regarding Jesus’ sex, she (Susann Senter) replied that “The word ‘hen’ is a way to give a new perspective”.  She did however accept that Jesus was man.

So why cover this for the second time and what does this mean?  Illuminating Faith conducts thorough research to determine the state of Christianity.  We report such stories to warn our Christian brothers and sister about heretical teachings and the demise of the faith.  After thoroughly dissecting the story we have the following conclusion.

Church of Sweden

First, the Church of Sweden has been on a downward slope, losing record number of members since 2015.  According to The Christian Post, in 2017 alone the Church of Sweden lost 90,000 members who left the church because “they no longer believe in God”.  Due to this occurrence, we suspect that the church has decided to take bold actions to be “inclusive” and to be controversial in order to attract new attendees.  It’s simply a publicity stunt which is based on creating controversy to spark interest and interest into church attendance.

Secondly, there is another aspect to his story which is more alarming.  For several decades now there has been a radical leftist plot to eradicate Christianity.  The left has united with all of its factions and certain groups who are natural enemies to Christianity, in hopes of pressuring Christians from living their faith.  In certain part of the world like the Middle East and Asia, we’ve seen horrible atrocities against Christians carried out.  In the West the persecution takes place in the form of political and social pressures, forcing believers to abandon their views because it’s “racist”, “bigoted”, “intolerant”, etc.

Thirdly, this example proves to us that prior to determining a direction for theology, we must fully analyze the validity of the interpretation and its impact.  We cannot allow for contemporary society to dictate the interpretation of theology.   That is why we have several leftist views in Christianity such as, Liberation Theology.  Other more Capitalist views are also prevalent especially in the U.S called Prosperity Teaching.   Global trends and views are molded by special interest which is a part of the Globalist agenda to fundamentally alter human relationships, institutions and interaction.  Thus, it’s important to tread cautiously to avoid advocating “theological” views inconsistent with the Bible.

It’s our opinion that too many conflicting interpretations plague Christianity as well as these interpretations which cause factionalism.  Factionalism is not advocated in the Bible, with the Paul the Apostle speaking out against it in Letter to the Galatians, chapter 5.  This section is known as the Works of the Flesh.  Illuminating Faith’s advice to Christians is to test all teachings and to take everything to the Lord for clarification. Above all, we will continue to pray for the Church of Sweden and for all churches that have strayed away from the truth.