If you are a theology geek, or just want some inspiration in your quest for truth or the meaning of life, or a diversion from gainful employment, this blog will be of interest to you.
If there is a theme for my writings, and as near as I can tell there is one, I think it would be this: Luther only started the Reformation. It isn’t over yet. Sacred Cows are not safe here.
Any theology requiring construction is begging for deconstruction. And I’m more than happy to oblige.
I do hope you find this to be a safe place to hang out while on your journey. You might be coming here with a lot of baggage and you and your baggage are welcome here. There is lots of room in your room and more room for your baggage down in the storage room. I hope that while you hang with us you will take the time to go through a few things and see if you really need them. If you leave here with less baggage than when you arrived then we have provided a good service. I would ask you to leave a tip on your way out but we haven’t fallen so far as to put up a donation box. At least not yet.
Even after 500 years there are still a lot of things Evangelical churches defend that are non-biblical Catholic doctrines, in my not-so-humble opinion, such as the doctrine of the Trinity and an authoritarian, hierarchical church government structure, Universal Condemnation (AKA Original Sin), Penal Substitution Atonement, plus my favorite: Eternal Conscious Suffering for the unsaved.
Just kidding. It’s not my favorite. I never really did like that whole idea, even when I believed it. The more I think about it, the more disgusted I get with the whole idea. Like most Christians I didn’t think about it much at the time.
Those are some things we got from the Mother Church that are begging for scrutiny, while there are other things Evangelicals came up with quite on their own due to a lack of supervision from Rome, such as a belief the world is going to Hell in a hand basket (End Times) and Jesus will rescue his people before the you-know-what hits the fan. As if that isn’t enough, there are those doctrines held by a few Evangelicals that I find particularly repugnant, such as believing God actually picks who will suffer forever in Hell (Calvinism). I have believed and taught many of the things I now write to correct, but for the record, I have never been a Calvinist.
While I might gain a few friends within Evangelical circles for tackling Calvinism I will probably lose them when I have issues with the doctrine of the inerrancy of scriptures and encourage people to Embrace the Doubt and follow Jesus anyway. Some Evangelicals, like our Catholic friends, won’t know what to do with themselves if Jesus asks them to walk with him in the same fashion that the early church did before they had a bible or a Church to tell them what to believe. But isn’t that the whole point of a New Covenant?
Then there is that “ism” that creeps into all religions, especially monotheistic religions that rely on ancient text, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and that is Legalism. So I’m going to make friends with some of my Muslim brothers because of my stand against not only Islamophobia but against a couple of Christian doctrines I believe Muslims and Christians have every right to reject (Trinity and Penal Substitutionary Atonement), and I’ll make enemies with a few others for tackling Legalism within Islam.
As if that isn’t enough fun, I also delve into politics, particularly our nation’s destructive and counterproductive foreign policy in the Middle East. Our country was once well-respected in the world, and I would like to see that respect restored. We have found a new enemy, a new scapegoat for our problems, keeping us blind to the fact our enemy is not Islam, it is us. Jesus warned us that if we live by the sword we shall die by the sword. I’m all for self-defense, but our military is rarely used for that purpose. It’s usually used to expand our American Empire around the world.
If you have doubts about that thesis and want to learn why I say that, or if you would like to learn more from some of my sources regarding Islam and the Middle East here’s a great resource page.
By the way, some have called me a heretic thinking they are either offending me or helping me, or maybe even both, but I wear the Heretic badge with honor. Call me a Heretic and I will thank you.
If this is your idea of fun, welcome aboard!
– Yes I hear you.
As I am no longer a Protestant of
The Re-Form-Mation of catholic church doctrine.
No longer being a Trinitarian has freed me from
the pulpits and podiums of Pastors & Politicians.
Thank God
It’s good to be out in the sunshine. 🙂
Thank you for your article, and for an accessible, insightful blog. I found it to be a breath of fresh air in the fuggy atmosphere of my rather grim recent reading material. I was listening to and pondering the words of RC Sproul and his fellow Reform/Calvinist teachers, and emerged from their dim lair like a man who has been in the company of a big, dark, growling monster (which devours unpredictability whosoever it chooses). However: I went into the lair deliberately: to remind myself that vast swathes of Christianity are intolerant, judgemental, holding smugly to the cruellest of beliefs, even as they labour like weary camels under the weight of such beliefs (watching the late RC Sproul I just felt pity for the man. Nothing about him seemed free or joyous or filled with light or kindness or even vaguely redolent of Jesus). So there’s me judging him (may he rest in peace in the arms of a loving and merciful God, with all other living beings similarly cradled in the embrace of the God who is Love). Dear me. It comes from injury I suppose: Dour unsmiling men with frowns and inflexible certitudes and dark suits and dark theologies excommunicated me once, as a young man of 19, together with the woman I loved, who shortly afterwards died in a car accident which was attributed to the act of a ‘Righteous God Not to Be messed With’. I guess I still feel the wound, and my guilt, and continue like any self-respecting agonistic misotheist to try to recover something of value from the shipwreck of my faith. There is little left: from my “New Birth in the heterodox Charismatic Word of Faith movement, down the dimly lit corridors of 1980’s South African Assemblies of God Pentecostalism, to more tolerant Baptists, I made my way to L’Abri and Taizé, and out the little back door to the Society of Friends, to Catholic mystics like Rahner and Boros, and to Paul Tillich and John Caputo. I have more questions now than answers. This journey is not over: to my left The Four Horsemen of Atheism cajole and sneer with their voluminous reasons to reject belief (and believers); to my right all manner of warring christians and christianities say I’m going to hell (which isn’t alarming, as they tell eachother the same). I suppose I’m telling you this in a way to say “thanks”: my thanks to you as an evangelical Christian, for acknowledging and asserting the right and space for me to still seek Christ and be found by Him. For your honesty about the messy business of early church doctrine -“stuff you won’t hear in church” – and the acknowledgement I guess that God’s work remains a Mystery (and who are we to profess we know the Mind of God?).
Best, Scott.
Your reply Scott is very touching. I’m glad you are still able to seek God in your own way after so much misguided zealotry from others. I too found myself in L’Abri (by choice) and Taize (by accident). I was hoping to get on staff at L’Abri, grow a pony tail, and smoke a pipe, just like Dr. Schaeffer. That was when I was 21, when I thought I knew a thing or two. These days I’d be more likely to join with his son Frankie, except for the vitriol emanating from his quarters.
Unfortunately for some reason I haven’t been able to figure out these comments are not being populated to my blog articles so I haven’t been keeping up on responses to them. My apologies for taking so long.
I have recently posted an article you might find helpful: God is Just – Justice Demands Mercy. Let me know what you think.
Thank you for your kind words. They have been encouraging. May you be guided well Scott.