I honestly don't see how some of this guy's opinions fly with the actual text of scripture. It flat-out contradics several bits of very clearly stated dogma in the New testament itself, and conflicts with the Old Testament god as well.
Is one saved through grace (by trusting the Father) or by way of works (a ritual atonement killing)?
Many of us find it equally challenging to percieve how various predominant doctrines of christianity mesh with the actual texts of scripture.
There is a strong sense that Joshua himself is identified as a continuation, and even fulfillment, of the radical stream of prophets within these texts; this concept is strengthened by taking note of the consistent appeal, found within the church testaments, to previous members of the prophetic tradition.
And so, chrisitianity - at it's roots, is a tradition founded in the tenets of the radical prophetic tradition. That said, it seems christianity has always been, from its very conception down through the ages, a religion of priestly opinion that contradicts numerous messages handed down by the prophets.
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Now, when 'harmonizing' or perhaps nullifying challenging prophetic discourse, hasn't fundamental Greco-Roman christianity itself - as a whole, flat-out contradicted swaths of '
very clearly stated dogma' found within its borrowed Yisraelite and Yuhdean scriptures texts?
An issue here may be that attempts to reintegrate 'dangerous' prophetic declarations are often seen as thorns (dissent), rather then figs (restoration).
Some of what he's saying rings true:
quote:
"God revealed in Christ crucified shows us a vision of God that identifies with the victim rather than the perpetrator, identifies with the one suffering rather than the one inflicting suffering," he says.
McLaren says modern evangelicalism underplays that Jesus who spent most of his time with the poor, the sick and the sinners saved his wrath primarily for hard-core religious leaders.
That certainly meshes with Jesus words in the Bible. Jesus' primary human adversaries were the Pharisees, the established Jewish religious leaders, because his teachings ran afoul of their rules. He very obviously identified more with "victims," the weak, the poor, the sick..."What you do to the least of these, you do to me," and all that. It would certainly be nice if more of the evangelicals would remember those bits.
What may prove interesting is to consider
why these important tenets of the faith have been overshadowed by - and in favor of, more 'mysterious' and less knowable faith based conjectures. In what ways has this dynamic benefited and/or undermined christianty, as well as entities contemporary with the faith?
I contend the answers to questions of this nature are not a mystery at all, but are rather clearly stated by those within the prophetic tradition. As they recognized, and as later history demonstrates again and again, the role of religious propaganda was, and is, to bring people into subjection to political authorities.
But it's very clear that only those who believe in Jesus as the Messiah get to go to Heaven. You can't accept the Bible (at least the modern canon) as authoritative on the matter of salvation and simultaneously believe that anyone is going to Heaven without believing in Jesus.
The existence of 38,500 (and 1) distictly different christian sects seems to suggest that there is relatively little in regards to christian dogma that is 'very clear'. For instance, a few church testament authors seem to suggest one may be forgiven for speaking over and against the Son of Man ...
Joshua's favorite title for himself as found within the passion narratives.
The only way to make all of that work would be to take the Bible as a fallible work written by men, one that is useful as a teaching aid for morality, but that not every word of the text is literally true. A liberal Christian who already takes the more fanciful bits (Genesis, Exodus, etc) as metaphor (or at least highly modified and exaggerated myth based on vaguely similar historical fact) and not literal historical truth might be able to get away with this.
This appears to be the veiw espoused by Joshua, Paul, Isaiah, Yirmiyahu, Hoshea and a number of others found within the radical prophetic stream. However, one may be well advised to consider what fate these men met by continually expressing and promoting their anti-sola scriptura veiw.
One may do well to remember the concept of 'infallible scripture' is, after all, a relatively new invention dating back only a few hundred years.
The same can be said of the modern christian theory of atonement.
Anyone who takes the Bible as even remotely literally true with not like this one bit. The Gospels specifically state that none will enter the Kingdom of God except through Jesus. That's hard to take as other than "Only Christians may enter."
While I'm often dismayed by the practice of cherry pick'n bible verses, I'm curious as to what the verses below may suggest to others ...
quote:
Mark 3:28
I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter.
29 ~ But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin
quote:
Matisyahu 12:31
For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
32 ~ Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
quote:
Luke 12:10
And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
quote:
Romans 2:14
For whenever the Goyim, who do not have the ToRaH, do by nature the things of the law, these who do not have the ToRaH are a law to themselves.
Romans 2:25
For circumcision has its value if you practice the ToRaH, but if you should be a transgressor of the ToRaH, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
26 ~ Therefore, if the uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the ToRaH, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
1 ie.
Salvation is accomplished by the Father's sovereign authority to display grace.
vs.
Salvation is accomplished by the venemous ritual atonement killing of the Son of God, loosely based on the murderous legal code found within ToRaH.
Dear friend,
Accept confidence. Be an inspiration. Care about others. Dare 2 b different. Envision our dreams. Find out how to love. Grant wishes. Hope hard. Invite possibility. Judge little. Keep promises. Laugh a lot. Make friends. Never give up. Open your mind. Plant miracle seeds. Question everything. Run as fast as you can just to see what it feels like. Stay true. Try your best - especially when considering to take advice and speak your mind. Understand empathy. Volunteer. Win gracefully (when you win). X marks the spot. You'll get there - Zero in on what's important and keep those things close to your heart ...
Mercy Trumps Judgement,
Love Weary
™ Version 4.2
