Posted on 04/02/2007 8:42:44 AM PDT by Terriergal
TESTING THE FAITH
Pastor: Idea Christ died for sins 'insane'
Calls Easter message 'repulsive' – makes 'God sound like a psychopath'
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Church of England traditionalists, wearied by the battles over homosexuality in the church and the clergy, are about to take it on their spiritual chins once again when a leading "gay" cleric will tell listeners to BBC Radio 4 that Christianity's traditional teaching on Christ's crucifixion for the sins of mankind is "repulsive," "insane" and makes "God sound like a psychopath."
Rev. Jeffrey John, who was forced to withdraw before assuming a position as bishop in 2003 after it was learned he was in a longterm homosexual relationship, is scheduled to appear on Wednesday and will criticize ministers who use their Easter messages to preach that Jesus was sent to earth to die as an atonement for sin, reported the London Telegraph.
Christian theology has taught the doctrine of "penal substitution" – that humans, alienated from God by their sins and unable to save themselves, could only be forgiven by God sending Christ as a substitute to suffer and die in their place.
"In other words, Jesus took the rap and we got forgiven as long as we said we believed in him," said John. "This is repulsive as well as nonsensical. It makes God sound like a psychopath. If a human behaved like this we'd say that they [sic] were a monster."
John, who currently serves as dean of St. Albans, raised a furor when he and Rev. Grant Holmes, a hospital chaplain, entered into a civil partnership last August.
Church of England clergy may enter into "gay" marriage if they assure their bishop they are to remain celibate.
In rejecting penal substitution, John will reportedly propose a different interpretation of Christ's death, suggesting Christ was crucified so he could "share in the worst of grief and suffering that life can throw at us."
Too many Christians fail to understand God is about "love and truth", not "wrath and punishment," Johns said.
Rev. Tom Wright, the bishop of Durham, blasted the BBC for giving John such an influential forum to make provocative claims on traditional beliefs, saying John's statements attacked the central message of the Christian gospel.
"He is denying the way in which we understand Christ's sacrifice. It is right to stress that he is a God of love but he is ignoring that this means he must also be angry at everything that distorts human life," Wright said.
"I'm fed up with the BBC for choosing to give privilege to these unfortunate views in Holy Week," he said.
Which makes the sacrifice of the cross an absolute waste of time. This is nonsense.
Too many Christians fail to understand God is about "love and truth", not "wrath and punishment," Johns said.
LOL...God IS about love...For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. But he is also a God of judgement and I think that alot of the folks who ignore that are going to rue the day.
"Rev. Jeffrey John, who was forced to withdraw before assuming a position as bishop in 2003 after it was learned he was in a longterm homosexual relationship,..."
This homo has a guilty conscience and wants to be absolved.
And this guy is a pastor...because?
"And this guy is a pastor...because?"
Because the homo wants to bring the Church down.
He ain't no Christian - he's an anti-Christian.
By denying the most basic tenet of Christianity, he declares himself to be a non Christian.
Cause Jesus was all about the feelings, don't ya know?
Ya got me there!! It's kind of like Muslims coming to live in the West and loving our prosperity while hating what we stand for.
If I am correct, this is an indictment of "State" religion. Because Anglicanism is the State Religion of England, people who qualify for pastoral office become state employees and are protected by civil service regulations. Good for our US Founders that we rejected this concept from the very beginning!
Essentially he is saying that being holy is unloving, therefore God has repented of his holiness.
Who said,
"The floor of hell is paved with the sculls of bishops."
???
Hmmmm, should I follow the teachings that were written by Apostles and Deciples of Jesus, some who actually walked the earth with Him? Or should I heed the words of a faggot?
Decisions, decisions.
St. Athanasius said that but I think he was referring to Arian Bishops.
I need to go into hiding for Holy Week.....this is worse than appalling.
Yeah, I'll just bet. The imagination runs rampant, does it not?
Looks like a 'gentile' thing. I don't think he has experienced the cross.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
“In rejecting penal substitution, John will reportedly propose a different interpretation of Christ’s death, suggesting Christ was crucified so he could “share in the worst of grief and suffering that life can throw at us.”
Which makes the sacrifice of the cross an absolute waste of time. This is nonsense.”
The “Atonement theory” of the crucifixion is a distinctly Western Christian notion. Christianity on the East looks at the crucifixtion quite differently and thus rejecting the “penal substitution” theory hardly makes the sacrifice of the cross a waste of time. That said, “suggesting Christ was crucified so he could ‘share in the worst of grief and suffering that life can throw at us.” is nonsensical, modernistic, special pleading and likely heresy.
If Isiah was still around, I suppose he would get an earful about chapter 53.
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