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A Refutation of John G.
Lenhart’s Concept of
“ModeleticsTM” and His
Resulting Theology
A Brief Summary and Refutation of John G. Lenhart’s
Concept of “ModeleticsTM” and His Resulting Theology
Outlined in His Book “Modeling God.”
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LENHART’S MODELING PROCESS
Exposing Lenhart’s Modeling Process
1. Can You Say “Dynamic” When It Comes to Language?
2. Can You Say “Dynamic” When It Comes to Defining and Relating to People?
3. Isn’t Our Theology Supposed to be Derived from the Scripture?
4. Can We Get Some Hermeneutics Into The Process!?
5. Does Lenhart Know that Theological Modeling Has a Direction?
6. Is Non-Contradiction Adequate to Determine Truth?
A Summary of Why Lenhart’s Modeling Process Is Inadequate
A SUMMARY AND REFUTATION OF LENHART’S THEOLOGY
Lenhart’s Teaching on Who God Is
Lenhart’s Teaching on Jesus’ Nature
Lenhart’s Teaching on Sin
Lenhart’s Teaching on Grace
Lenhart’s Teaching on Salvation
Is there a Moment at Which We Are Saved?
Are We Saved by God’s Righteousness or Ours?
Do We Need to Trust In Jesus to Save Us?
So How Are We Saved According to Lenhart?
Where Is the Cross?
Where is the Holy Spirit?
A Summary of Lenhart’s Basic Theology
Lenhart’s Other Teachings
CONCLUSION
A Brief Summary and Refutation of John G. Lenhart’s Concept of
“ModeleticsTM” and His Resulting Theology Outlined in His Book
“Modeling God.”
By Pastor Tim Snell
Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed. I will say it again: If anyone preaches any other gospel than the one you welcomed, let God’s curse fall upon that person.
Galatians 1:8-9 NLT
In his book “Modeling God,” John G Lenhart attempts to lay out a comprehensive framework (he
would use the word “model”) of who God is, who we are, and how we are to relate to God. In
essence, he strives to present a comprehensive theology, or worldview, of God, salvation, and life
- which he hopes will then guide the reader toward more intentional relationship with God as
Lenhart has outlined for them.
From reading this book it is quite obvious Lenhart is extremely intelligent. He uses his
background in business and chemistry to derive principles which then serve as the basic
mechanisms for building the theological model he presents. His sharp mind and gift of deductive
reasoning are quite impressive, and are on full display throughout the book as he “models God”
for the reader.
Unfortunately, while Lenhart appears to have quite a sharp mind, it is obvious that his knowledge
is limited to a very narrow range of fields. The result of this limited knowledge is a modeling
process that is fundamentally flawed, and a resulting theology that moves so far outside the
bounds of the core of recognized orthodox Christian teaching that it can be called nothing less
than heretical.
Make no mistake -- “Modeling God” is not just another “Christian” theological paradigm akin to
Covenant Theology, Dispensational Theology, Arminianism or Calvinism. In the end, despite
any differences or errors in these various theological systems, they all fundamentally tell the story
of who God is, who man is, man’s sin and God’s ultimate redemption of mankind through the
work of Christ on the cross.
Lenhart’s theological teaching not only doesn’t embody some of these key components of
orthodox Christian theology, it goes beyond this and fundamentally denies core tenants of the
Christian faith. Similar to other “quasi-Christian” theological offerings such as Mormonism or
ancient Gnosticism, Lenhart’s theology presents a fundamentally different god than the God of
the Bible, and offers a completely non-Biblical theological perspective for sin and God’s gift of
salvation. As such “Modeling God” must be placed outside the bounds of what is considered
fundamentally “Christian.”
Let me briefly share, then expose and refute, both Lenhart’s modeling process and his resulting
theology.
Click here to continue reading.
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