February 08, 2007
That's My Church!
David Virtue rips into Her High Priestessness, Katharine Jefferts-Schori:
The new Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, has revealed herself to be the mistress of a post-modern deconstructed gospel that pushes earthly salvation, while placing atonement and eternal salvation right outside the orb of Christian conviction.The 52-year old former oceanographer gave an interview to USA TODAY in which she expounded on what she believes the Christian Faith is all about.
She says she sees two strands of faith: One is "most concerned with atonement that Jesus died for our sins and our most important task is to repent." But the other is "the more gracious strand," she said.
It "is to talk about life, to claim the joy and the blessings for good that it offers, to look forward. God became human in order that we may become divine. That's our task."
Mrs. Schori wants us to reach out to a lost world, not with the timeless message of the Good News of God's salvation through faith in the risen Christ, but with social action.
"It's no longer the social norm to be a Christian," Mrs. Schori says. Her answer isn't to ramp up on orthodoxy but to reach out to all ages and cultures with Christ like social action, she told USA TODAY.
Mrs. Schori equivocates on such essential doctrines such as the necessity for atonement and the exclusivity of salvation through Christ; instead she believes and teaches that the more urgent task is focused on this world rather than worrying about the next world.
Read the rest. The reason KJS and her ilk do not consider focusing on the next world to be of any particular importance is because they don't really believe it exists. And if you think I'm exaggerating about this, read the writings of Bishop Spong or Marcus Borg (who spelled out his views in a fascinating dialogue with Bishop N.T. Wright that I recently read). To them, the only real relevence of Christ is the power of a belief in Him to make us do good things for each other. This is "divinity" as recognized by the Left in the Church, and the reason behind statements such as "God became human in order that we may become divine."
See, God isn't God - God is really Us!
Yips! to the Colossus.
BTW, speaking of N.T. Wright, who happens to be Bishop of Durham and an orthodox hard-liner, go read this fascinating interview in which he muses on the future of the Communion and the ECUSA within it. The crack up is a'comin' fast.
Yips! to NBS.
The thing that left my jaw hanging open was the idea that the whole social justice strand was the "more gracious" strand. I mean, I take the words of the Sermon on the Mount pretty seriously, but to suggest that it is more important that the crucifixion, death, and resurrection "strand" seems a little, um, unorthodox to me.
I'm sure Christ appreciates all her good works.
But the death on the cross doesn't seem to me to be merely a well-intentioned parable -- and I have to say that I would doubt it seemed that way to Him, either.
If I understand Borg's argument, Jesus was in life nothing more than a Jewish mystic. His crucifixion "created" a kind of earthly divinity, in that it became the focal point of early Christian worship which, in turn, powered social change - the good works strand, which, so Borg argues, is the real point.
In other words, the death and resurrection strand is important only insofar as it serves the good works strand.
This strikes me as more or less what the PB is saying as well.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at February 8, 2007 03:33 PMI just started reading "The Damnation of Theron Ware" by Harold Frederic. Funny, but I see some of the same themes from the book reflected in this post.
By the way, thanks for the posts on "your" church--much appreciated.
Posted by: ken at February 8, 2007 04:20 PMIt is our faith that compells us to reach out to see Christ in the least of our brothers. But it is the centrality of the faith that drives the good works, not the other way around.
Mother Theresa emphasized that her Sisters of Charity, despite their many good works for the poorest of the poor, were not social workers or nurses - Mother insisted first that they were Sisters.
Posted by: KMR at February 8, 2007 08:41 PMI don't care how much joy or how many blessings you freaking claim, even for the most blessed of us, this life is full of AT LEAST as much pain as joy. If you discount the eternal, Christianity has no more to offer in terms of escape from life's pain than marijuana, and it costs a lot more.
Posted by: Boy Named Sous at February 9, 2007 02:38 AM"...not with the timeless message of Good News of God's salvation through faith in the risen Christ, but with social action".
What book did she read?? The Book of Marx?? Dude, I don't envy you at all. I don't have a whole lot of tolerance for the "just make crap up" theology.
At some level, this is Arianism and/or Pelagianism, is it not?
If that's what she believes, that's what she believes. But I'm wondering how she recites the Creed each Sunday in good faith? The whole God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, Begotten not Made, part.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Anglicans affirm the Council of Nicaea, don't they? They break from Catholicism sometime before Trent, but otherwise, it's basically the same faith doctrinally up to that point, right?
Posted by: The Colossus at February 9, 2007 11:24 AMYep, Nicene Creed and all.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at February 9, 2007 05:47 PM
Image courtesy of the lovely and talented 