Humor aside, the relevance of this article is one could believe in something the orthodox regard as "heresy," indeed something that makes one theologically "liberal" or more "liberal" than the "orthodox" position, while not being a political "liberal" (in a modern day left wing sense). Because Kinsolving is anything but.
A taste:
I have often used the term "universalism" – in which I believe – and which is in the title of one of our nation's denominations. Universalism was advocated by second-century Christian theologian Origen, as well as the most brilliant of all the archbishops of Canterbury, William Temple.
In 1958, when I was rector of an Episcopal parish in Pasco, Wash., I preached a sermon titled, "The Damnable Doctrine of Damnation."
I said, among other things, that the New Testament contains far more references to God's forgiveness of all sinners than to his alleged preference for the hellfire and damnation – which, if true, His Son, Jesus, telling us to forgive 70 times seven, damnation would be heavenly hypocrisy.
My sermon was reported in one of the local daily newspapers, the Columbia Basin News. On the day following, the News, in another front-page story, headlined: "RECTORS CLASH OVER HELL," it was reported that Rev. Charles May of St. Paul's Church, Kennewick, just across the river, had denounced me.
"'There is no hell,' claims Kinsolving.
"'The hell there isn't!' retorts May."
There were reports that other clergy would demand that I be tried for heresy – all of which was reported in an article in Time magazine.
But no such trial ever took place.
3 comments:
Have you heard or read of Grayling's "new bible"? It looks and sounds interesting....
Back in the Founding era, this is the sort of doctrinal thing that nobody but clergy gave a damn about.
New sects were proliferating by the sackful; who had the time?
"By 1800, as the historian Gordon Wood points out, “There were not just Presbyterians, but Old and New School Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians, Springfield Presbyterians, Reformed Presbyterians, and Associated Presbyterians; not just Baptists, but General Baptists, Regular Baptists, Free Will Baptists, Separate Baptists, Dutch River Baptists, Permanent Baptists, and Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Baptists.”
Doesn't it boggle one's mind that people can get so caught up about such things? (I used to, too!) Does it really matter? It does if you are a believer. It is the question of where you will spend eternity! Not too light of a subject for the believer...so no wonder it caused so many divisions within Christendom....
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