Now this should come as no surprise to some of us, particularly we jaded observers of the ongoings of human events, but apparently according to Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, it seems clear that Congressman Anthony Weiner should come to Jesus as there is no treatment for sin.
No, I swear, he tweeted it.
"Dear Congressman Weiner: There is no effective "treatment" for sin. Only atonement, found only in Jesus Christ.”
The sheer opportunism that this represents is enough to turn my stomach, and believe me I have had ample opportunity to have my stomach turned of late.Now as someone who does not profess or practice a religion, this sort of comment makes me uneasy. When Tiger Woods got into so much hot water because of his (real) affairs, he was admonished by the Fox evangelical Brit Hume that he would be well-encouraged to drop his Buddhist beliefs and come into the light. This made me uneasy. But Buddhists and the Christians haven’t really had a historical knockdown drag out like the Christians and Jews have. So if Hume’s remark to Tiger Woods on his religion could strike me with disquiet, imagine how a Christian leader’s similar remark, on the Internet, to Anthony Weiner, a Jew, would strike me.
But thanks be to Jesus Christ, Savior of the World, that not all Christians are of like mind, that not all Christians prioritize the truth of their religion over the falsehoods of others. Me too, I like the idea of having multiple deities to call on. Here is part of a resolution that the United Church of Christ adopted in 1987:
"Dear Congressman Weiner: There is no effective "treatment" for sin. Only atonement, found only in Jesus Christ.”
The sheer opportunism that this represents is enough to turn my stomach, and believe me I have had ample opportunity to have my stomach turned of late.Now as someone who does not profess or practice a religion, this sort of comment makes me uneasy. When Tiger Woods got into so much hot water because of his (real) affairs, he was admonished by the Fox evangelical Brit Hume that he would be well-encouraged to drop his Buddhist beliefs and come into the light. This made me uneasy. But Buddhists and the Christians haven’t really had a historical knockdown drag out like the Christians and Jews have. So if Hume’s remark to Tiger Woods on his religion could strike me with disquiet, imagine how a Christian leader’s similar remark, on the Internet, to Anthony Weiner, a Jew, would strike me.
But thanks be to Jesus Christ, Savior of the World, that not all Christians are of like mind, that not all Christians prioritize the truth of their religion over the falsehoods of others. Me too, I like the idea of having multiple deities to call on. Here is part of a resolution that the United Church of Christ adopted in 1987:
“Faced with this history from which we as Christians cannot, and must not, disassociate ourselves, we ask for God's forgiveness through our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for divine grace that will enable us, more firmly than ever before, to turn from this path of rejection and persecution to affirm that Judaism has not been superseded by Christianity; that Christianity is not to be understood as the successor religion to Judaism; God's covenant with the Jewish people has never been abrogated. God has not rejected the Jewish people; God is faithful in keeping covenant.”
If anything, all Dr. Mohler’s tweet does, as far as I am concerned, is to reaffirm to me that this “history” is still not a part of history. It is still with us.
God help us.
God help us.
2 comments:
Mohler is not attacking Judaism with that statement -- he is simply restating a fundamental Christian teaching that forgiveness and redemption come through Christ. I therefore think that your use of the UCC statement is a bit out of place on this one -- and I say that as the husband of a former UCC pastor.
Your take on this is of no consequence to me, Greg. You and your ilk are totally compromised. Those of us who think about these things know. Believers cannot ever know the truth. Belief is not truth nor is it certainty. Belief is faith that something is true. Not exactly something that would hold up in court.
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