This is Katharine Jefferts Schori,
she has recently been appointed the head bishop of the Episcopalian church in the USA.
She was interviewed by Time Magazine. Amongst the various questions she was asked, she was asked this particular question that has me more than a little irked...
She was asked
Is belief in Jesus the only way to get to heaven?
and her response was
"We who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box."
(source - http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1211587-2,00.html)
These are the reasons why I am ranting and raving about her response:
1) She is leading the Episcopalian church away from the truth - Jesus made it very clear in John 14:6 when He said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
2) There isn't any other way to God other than His Son Jesus,
there are no multiple roads,
no multiple paths for Hindus, Muslims, Athiests, Jews, Agnostics and etc. There is only one way.
Are you thinking I'm intolerant? Or not respectful of other peoples views? I am respectful, but I will openly state that I am intolerant to such matters and other things. I respect others, but there's a fine line of toleration vs. respect.
So for you who are followers of Christ, and you decide what I've said is not true, go find out for yourself. While you're at it, develop what you know/believe/think/etc. instead of riding the coattails of someone else's views. Because when it comes down to getting to Heaven, it is not about what your parents have believed, it's what you have believed.
"God has no grandchildren"
For those of you who are relgious or of other religions,
please hear what I say and if you wish to challenge what I say, bring it on in the most respectful of ways.
For those of you who are Episcopalian,
I urge you to challenge what you believe, because this is a part of you, these are your views whether you say anything or nothing at all.
That's all I have to say about this,
***nv***
1 comments:
No, Nathanael, the Episcopalian bishop is not leading the members of her church astray with her overt betrayal of the Christian revelation. No, she is simply telling the world what they, as a religious institution, believe.
The Book of Common Prayer, once the most beautiful and possibly the most truthful book of religious worship in the English world, has been compromised beyond recognition. The Thirty-Nine Articles, at the back of the original BCP, are now considered merely "religious documents" that have no direct bearing on current faith and practice. As for the faith of individual Episcopalians, it's a bloody free for all. There are some Episcopalian clergy and laypeople who still cling to biblical orthodoxy, and they are patronizingly tolerated by the clique in power, praised for their faithfulness to "traditional" beliefs and (mainly for their) "high church" rituals, and ostentatious, perfectionist worship style. Oh my God, am I really saying this? But by and large, any Episcopalians reading this comment, unless they're fresh recruits from maybe even looser groups, would probably agree with me that the honeymoon is over with Orthodoxy as well as with the Anglicans in the "third world" who are now setting up missions in North America to re-convert them.
As for your straightforward presentation of our faith in Christ who is "our only Mediator and Advocate" (according to the Book of Common Prayer), as opposed to the Episcopalian bishop's presentation of her idea of "the Christian tradition," I say… Bravo! and Axios! I see you are following Paul's advice to Timothy:
"Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I put this duty to you, in the name of His Appearing (parousía) and of His Kingdom: Proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience—but do all with patience and with the intention of teaching." (2 Timothy 4:1-3)
Don't forget to read and reread the fourth chapter of Paul's first letter to Timothy as well. It's too long to quote in a comment, but certainly not too long to read.
I sometimes forget that you are a seminary student, at least, you're in training for ministry in the Body of Christ. I guess I forget, because I treat everyone I meet and know in Christ as if he or she were called to ministry in the Body… wait a minute! Everyone IS called! But how many follow?
Back to the Episcopal bishop and her comments, we must let the Word of God be the judge, as far as ultimate things are concerned. But there is no wavering, no sophistry, no mincing of words, no compromise with idolatries, no yielding to bondage, no permission to share the Throne, and no other name under heaven by which a man can be saved but Jesus Christ, to be found in the Good Book.
Finally, don't forget either, what the Word of God declares in the letter of Jude:
"But you, my dear friends, must use your most holy faith as your foundation and build on that, praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves within the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you eternal life. When there are some who have doubts, reassure them; when there are some to be saved from the fire, pull them out; but there are others to whom you must be kind with great caution, keeping your distance even from outside clothing, which is contaminated by vice." (Jude 1:20-23) The last group mentioned in the passage from Jude are not prostitutes, pimps and drug dealers. They are those who have infiltrated the churches and taken them over, they can be your supervisors in the hierarchy of your own church. That is why you must be kind to them with great caution. Most of all, whatever bishops and other "leaders" say, be sure to follow the Word of God and "use your most holy faith as your foundation."
Thank you for your excellent post, and your witness. Go with God!
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