Michael Gungor, leader of the Christian band, Gungor, made waves when he said he couldn’t believe in creation because of scientific skepticism. He broke many hearts when he later abandoned his faith entirely. Doubt is natural, but disbelieving miracles is a slippery slope that may lead to doubting that Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again. It’s important to see the evidence for the Christian worldview to maintain a healthy Christian walk. Documentaries such as Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Miracle can help answer those doubts.
Slippery Slope
A logical fallacy that involves conceding to a single point that makes conceding to further points more and more likely. This generally refers to points that take you away from the orthodox viewpoint. It involves “sliding” down to a point that you would have never taken without first stepping onto the slope.
SyncretismÂ
Attempting to reconcile and/or combine opposing worldviews. Generally results in an amalgamation of these different views. Could possibly result in abandoning or compromising important aspects of the worldview.
Gungor’s Slippery Slope
In 2011, or thereabouts, Michael Gungor, of the band Gungor, was one of my favorite Christian artists. The band’s music broke from the standard cookie-cutter mold of Christian music of the time. As a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens, Gungor was a natural fit for my ears. The songs were delicate and contemplative at times and bombastic and undignified at others, but all a part of a carefully planned experience on each album. I was aware that their music had socio-political undertones, but as a worship leader in Los Angeles, this was par for the course.
Self taught theology
I was interested in using Gungor songs as part of worship services, so I began researching the writers’ theology. I have never been a worship leader that just plays the popular songs – I always want to tie the message of the song to the themes presented in the homily. There were some dubious lines as well as the socio-political elements that I mentioned previously. I discovered the fascinating Gungor blog in which they shared many candid thoughts about the song and their self-exploration of theology.
Intelligent design untenable
Fast forward to 2013/14. I was shocked when I read the latest blog entry from Gungor, in which Michael announced that he no longer believed that the creation story was an historical account. It was his opinion, backed by the majority of academia, that intelligent design was not a tenable theory. He still professed to be a Christian, but he abandoned this element of fundamentalism.
A slippery slope and a tragic fall
I remember commenting on this blog (sadly it seems as though that particular article was deleted) and striking up a conversation with Michael (or his moderators). He became quite hostile to creationists both on the blog and in wider Christian circles. He went on to say it was just too hard to believ