Tag Archives: Via Veritas Vita

Bible, False teachers

What was he thinking?

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Update: From the “this is awkward” category, the Vatican clarified that not only do they believe that atheists go to Hell, but so does anyone outside the Catholic church.

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So the Pope is taking a Second look at letting atheists into heaven?

“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

The Pope made one of two mistakes. The first is really bad, the second is off-the-charts bad.

1. He was very sloppy in his use of “redeemed.” If he didn’t mean it in terms of eternal salvation, then he mislead a lot of people.  He was basically channeling Major Burns from the M*A*S*H TV show and saying, “It’s nice to be nice to the nice.”  It could logically lead to a conversation like this:

Pope: You, my atheist friend, have been redeemed by God with the blood of Christ!  Let’s do good works together.

Atheist: Huh?  You mean that even though I don’t trust in Jesus and don’t even think God exists that I’ll spend eternity in Heaven with him with no punishment for my alleged sins?

Pope: Oh, no, my bad — you are still going to spend eternity in Hell as punishment for your sins.  But in the mean time we’ll do a few good deeds together and your torment in Hell will be slightly less unpleasant!  When I said “redeemed by the blood of Christ” I meant _________. [Sorry, this blogger can’t even think of a pretend way to finish that sentence.]

2. He ignores that the New Testament has over 100 passages noting that Jesus is the only way to salvation (it isn’t just John 14:6). That isn’t what makes it true, of course. His resurrection does that. But it does mean to claim to be a Christian means that you should hold that view. Anything else would be silly.

I don’t expect good theology from him (OK, more specifically, I expect bad theology from him), but I do like his pro-life and pro-family views.  But once again he fails on the salvation issue.

The Reformation happened for a reason. Actually, 95 of them. And they haven’t changed.

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Update: More from the Pope’s speech.

“They complain,” the Pope said in his homily, because they say, “If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good.” And Jesus corrects them: “Do not hinder him, he says, let him do good.” The disciples, Pope Francis explains, “were a little intolerant,” closed off by the idea of ​​possessing the truth, convinced that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.” “This was wrong . . . Jesus broadens the horizon.” Pope Francis said, “The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation”

He appears to be twisting the passage about people casting out demons in Jesus’ name (Luke 9). But that wasn’t some random good deed that atheists might do (even though it wouldn’t be truly good if done out of self-interest). They were <em>casting out demons in Jesus’ name</em>. He implies that atheists are regularly doing that!  I shouldn’t be surprised when people like him can’t get the simplest passages right.

And then there is this:

Today is [the feast of] Santa Rita, Patron Saint of impossible things – but this seems impossible: let us ask of her this grace, this grace that all, all, all people would do good and that we would encounter one another in this work, which is a work of creation, like the creation of the Father. A work of the family, because we are all children of God, all of us, all of us! And God loves us, all of us! May Santa Rita grant us this grace, which seems almost impossible.

We are not all “children of God.” John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

And the article wraps up with him praying to a dead person.  In an odd way, I appreciate that the guy who is allegedly God’s #1 man here on earth is so clearly and profoundly anti-biblical.  It removes any doubt about core Catholic doctrines being false — at least for those who actually read the Bible.

Apologetics, Bible, Christian worldview, Favorites

Jesus is still the only way

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cross3.jpgcross3.jpgcross3.jpgThe Rev. Chuck Currie wrote a piece called, “John 14:6 – Is Jesus the only path to God?”  He is a pastor with the highly theologically liberal United Church of Christ denomination.  Here’s most of the post with some of my comments.

Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. – John 14:6 (NRSV)

Tonight at church we had another session of our Remedial Christianity course. Part of the discussion centered on the widely accepted Christian notion that the only path to God is through Jesus. But are there other paths to God?

Speaking for many (myself [Rev. Currie] included), The Center for Progressive Christianity has said:

By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God’s realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us.

As I’ve pointed out before, there are 100 verses in the Bible referencing how Jesus is the only way to salvation.  How someone could go through seminary and not catch onto the fact that many passages besides John 14:6 make this point is beyond me.

Of course, the existence of 100 verses isn’t what makes it true.  I believe it is true because I find the Bible to be authoritative.   But the massive amount of verses does prove that this is a fundamental Christian doctrine and not up for debate.

Mr. Currie holds to the view that whatever you believe can be true (“their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us”).  As I’ve pointed out before, religious pluralism is intellectually bankrupt.  Religions and cults make mutually exclusive truth claims.  More than one can’t be true.  Truth is that which corresponds to reality.  Gutless pastors who say that all religions are paths to God should find new jobs.

Most Biblical scholars don’t believe that Jesus said what he is quoted to have said in John 14.

By “most Biblical scholars” he means “most theologically liberal scholars, especially the kind they trot out on PBS religious specials.”  This is the same band of apostates the media tries to present as mainstream Christianity.

You can see what a low view of scripture he has.  That is his prerogative, of course, but seems like an odd thing to say for someone who is devoting his life to leading a Christian church.

Again, they have to rationalize away many more verses than just John 14:6.   They can’t even keep John 3:16 & 17 (“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”).

The Gospel of John was written some hundred years after the death of Jesus and none of the earlier Gospel accounts suggest the kind of exclusive theology that John does here. It is highly likely that this passage is simply a theological reflection of the early Christian community rather then something that Jesus himself believed.

The notion that the Gospel of John was written around 130 A.D. is grossly untrue.  See When was the New Testament written for more.  How he determined that it was “highly likely” that someone lied about what Jesus said was not mentioned.

I’m not picking on Rev. Currie personally.  It is his theology I have a problem with.  As best I can tell he is a good family man and supports some good causes like better support for returning veterans.  But his theology is par for the course for countless apostate pastors.

By the way, when I commented on his blog with some of these points he dodged the real issues and attacked the source of the pamphlet listing the 100 verses (Stand to Reason).  He actually criticized the fact that their leaders were white guys from the U.S., as if that made their work less valid (By the way, Chuck is a white guy from the U.S.).  I reminded him that most African churches are far more orthodox than his church is.

If Chuck really believes that all these religions lead to God, shouldn’t his church send out reverse missionaries to convert Christians back to their local religions?  Why should Christians in India be suffering so if Hinduism is an equally valid path to God?

People get offended by the notion that Jesus is the only way to salvation as if that is a bad thing.  But they are missing the whole point: We are dead in our sins without him.  We should be rejoicing that there is a way back to God at all – any way.  Praise God for that!

You can order the pamphlet for $2 here.  If the link doesn’t work, go here and go to the store and search for “Jesus, The Only Way: 100 Verses.”