The Rev. Alistair Begg’s theological interpretation of the Gospel of John, (Messages of faith, Saturday) has been sadly all too pervasive in Christianity for centuries. To continue to read this Gospel, or any of the Biblical canon, in such a superficial manner that it leads the reader to believe that “those who claim to know and honor God, but deny the truth of the deity of Christ, are deluded and dangerous” is to perpetuate a serious untruth about the essential nature of Jesus and his message. This untruth has resulted in a host of egregious behaviors by Christians toward others, including virulent anti-Semitism over the last two millennia.
Sad to say, Faass seems to be exactly one of those about whom Begg was writing in his “dangerous and deluded” line.
Is he alone? Compare and contrast: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7055377.ece
Faass is not alone in his being appropriately addressed by the line.
Failure of proclamation boldly of the nature of the Christian faith is a Western fault raised to the heights. When the deaconesses were tortured by Pliny the younger, the message was that “they sang hymns to Christ as to a god,” according to the report to Trajan. I am not entirely convinced that either Williams or Faass could be convicted by Pliny the Younger.
Compare: http://www.tektonics.org/jesusexist/pliny.html
Who gives the clear witness to the uniqueness of Jesus?
Just sad. An exact mirror of the polarization that is undermining our government — in this instance, an Episcopalian rejects “literalism” by offering inadequate, no, make that empty comments on the Gospel. And this is supposed to be our choice, with no third way. To latch on to the footwashing episode without seeing that its meaning is in reference to Jesus’ hour and his glorification is to make a travesty of John’s Gospel. It reduces “love” to a simple human possibility apart from belief in Christ If that’s it, well, we already have the Beatles.