Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean." For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Acts 17:18-21
Just a simple observation on the last part of this passage. Note how the “thinkers” in that day “spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” Here we are, 2,000+ years later, and those who think they are wise are doing the same thing: always looking for something “new.” This is what the “progressives” are always doing. They think they are wise if they can come up with something new.
To be fair, we can be thankful for new things. Indoor plumbing was once new, and who is not thankful? Electricity and refrigeration were once new, and I for one am thankful for those new things. And let’s not forget that we didn’t always have computers and the internet. While they can be a bit of a pain, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, do they not?
But new for new sake (which is often what drives progressivism, is not always beneficial. Whether in politics or theology, what is new is often far more detrimental, if even completely dangerous and destructive, than what is old. This is particularly true of “new ideas” regarding Christian faith and practice. What is old—meaning what is revealed in the Bible—is right, and what is new is virtually always a departure from the faith.
Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone! Anything that “adds to” or “detracts from” the clear Word of God in the Bible must be rejected. This is not a negative message. It is positive as it points us to what God has said is sufficient, and most glorious.