In a thread responding to the prominent Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel, the seminary dropped some doozies:
While divinely inspired, we deny the Bible is inerrant or infallible. It was written by men over centuries and thus reflects both God's truth and human sin & prejudice…We deny that salvation is only found through Christianity, that God's salvific grace is exclusive to any single faith or religion. Moreover, in God's eyes there is no difference in spiritual value or worth between those who are "in Christ" and those who aren't.
In case you’re wondering how these folks can be considered Christian when they reject the infallibility of Spirit-inspired scripture as well as salvation alone in Christ, there’s a fairly simple answer: they can’t. Not for any orthodox Christian perspective. I’m not sure if that would offend them or not, particularly that they seem to be quite content heretically diminishing the authority of God’s Word, the specific proclamations of Christ Himself, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
The entirety of their response thread was such a theological dumpster fire that the school felt obligated to respond days later with a clarification that, unsurprisingly, only made things worse:
[O]nce you relinquish conviction that the Bible is *literally* God's word, faith becomes a messier affair…It's easier to simply believe that the Bible is a plain record of the divine, that it clearly and concisely states what Christians should believe. In a world that feels so chaotic, biblical infallibility can provide distinct comfort.
Then the school finally lets the cat out of the bag. This is about identity politics and the ignoring of sin:
This:
Moreover, relinquishing infallibility is the only means by which you can fully square Scripture with a loving, just God. A god that would condemn LGBTQ people for their love, or consign women to subservience, is not a god worth worshipping.
And there it is. If you look closely enough and wait long enough, humanists will always reveal themselves. For political or sociological reasons the folks at Union Theological Seminary are just like the ancient Greeks the Apostle Paul corrected at Mars Hill a couple thousand years ago. They are determining the attributes of a god they want to worship, they are forming that god, and they are worshipping it.It is so very late in the day.
It's sure tempting to just categorize all religious and even spiritual seekers as nuts and not believe in much of anything we cannot see or feel, and speaking of feelings, where's the Paraclete, sometimes known as the Holy Spirit or Comforter in all this? From my reading of the Gospels, Jesus left Him for all his followers. I've been seeking this so-called 3rd person of the Trinity since 4th grade, or has He been seeking me?
ReplyDeleteHe’s been seeking you. Say yes to him.
ReplyDeleteI said yes, and He might have said live and let live. Too many people have died in the name of Christ for anyone to heed the call...
ReplyDeletePlus, I can't believe them all. Catholics believe God picks the Pope through the Holy Spirit yet some with influence, if not power are calling for this one to resign while the rest of Christendom thinks it's hokum as does the remaining 4 Bil or so non Christian's. Go figure? Still the heart might tell what the head can't know. Without faith, there's still hope and we feel, if not know we must love.
ReplyDeleteVeni Creator Spiritus
ReplyDeleteCome, Holy Ghost, Creator, come,
From thy bright heav'nly throne,
Come take possession of our souls,
And make them all thy own.
Thou who art called the Paraclete,
Best gift of God above,
The living spring, the living fire,
Sweet unction and true love.
Thou who art sevenfold in thy grace,
Finger of God's right hand
His promise teaching little ones
To speak an understand.
O guide our minds with thy blessed light,
With love our hearts inflame;
And with thy strength, which never decays
Confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe;
True peach unto us bring;
And through all perils lead us safe
Beneath thy sacred wing.
Through thee may we the Father know,
Through thee the eternal Son,
And thee, the Spirit of them both,
Thrice-blessed Three in One.
All glory to the Father be,
With his coequal Son;
The same to thee, great Paraclete,
While endless ages run.
Amen.
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, Come is an anonymous 1876 translation of the 9th century Latin hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus attributed to Rabanus Maurus (766-856). A Benedictine monk and theologian who eventually became the Archbishop of Mainz; he is considered one of the most important writers of the Carolingian Age.
Great stuff!
ReplyDelete