Posted on 07/12/2006 6:19:31 AM PDT by carlo3b
Liberal Christianity is paying for its sinsOut-of-the-mainstream beliefs about gay marriage and supposedly sexist doctrines are gutting old-line faiths.
By Charlotte Allen, CHARLOTTE ALLEN is Catholicism editor for Beliefnet and the author of "The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus." July 9, 2006
The accelerating fragmentation of the strife-torn Episcopal Church USA, in which several parishes and even a few dioceses are opting out of the church, isn't simply about gay bishops, the blessing of same-sex unions or the election of a woman as presiding bishop. It also is about the meltdown of liberal Christianity.
Embraced by the leadership of all the mainline Protestant denominations, as well as large segments of American Catholicism, liberal Christianity has been hailed by its boosters for 40 years as the future of the Christian church.
Instead, as all but a few die-hards now admit, all the mainline churches and movements within churches that have blurred doctrine and softened moral precepts are demographically declining and, in the case of the Episcopal Church, disintegrating.
It is not entirely coincidental that at about the same time that Episcopalians, at their general convention in Columbus, Ohio, were thumbing their noses at a directive from the worldwide Anglican Communion that they "repent" of confirming the openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire three years ago, the Presbyterian Church USA, at its general assembly in Birmingham, Ala., was turning itself into the laughingstock of the blogosphere by tacitly approving alternative designations for the supposedly sexist Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Among the suggested names were "Mother, Child and Womb" and "Rock, Redeemer and Friend." Moved by the spirit of the Presbyterian revisionists, Beliefnet blogger Rod Dreher held a "Name That Trinity" contest. Entries included "Rock, Scissors and Paper"
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Liberalism corrupts every Church it touches...
""It's a Church of What's Happening Now, conferring a feel-good imprimatur on whatever the liberal elements of secular society deem permissible or politically correct.""
When a church doesn't take itself seriously, neither do its members.
Why wouldn't anyone see a decline? If you really believe Christianity you will go find a church that proactices it. If you don't then why bother to go to church at all?
BINGO...
""When your religion says "whatever" on doctrinal matters, regards Jesus as just another wise teacher, refuses on principle to evangelize and lets you do pretty much what you want, it's a short step to deciding that one of the things you don't want to do is get up on Sunday morning and go to church.""
Don't be dissin' Reverend Leroy!
Rock-Scissors-Paper has never made sense to me. I mean, "paper covers rock?" What kind of silliness is that? That's why I play "Microwave-cat-tinfoil." Same hand motions, same relationships between hand motions in terms of what beats what. Cat (same hand motion as scissors) beats tinfoil (same hand motion as paper) by clawing it up. Tinfoil beats microwave (rock) by starting a fire. Microwave beats cat by... you get the idea.
Seriously, though: lefties can't do religion. Their religion is the state, 'cause they're commies. "Liberal Christianity" is leftist doctrine with a cross spraypainted on it. It isn't Christianity by any stretch of the imagination. It's liberalism, focus-grouped for religious folks.
Liberal Christianity should be called "Christianesqe Liberalism," because it isn't Christianity. It's liberalism dressed up as Christianity. Poorly.
It's about destroying the work of God, not embracing it. So when a church departs from the Word of God, it's going to die. These places decline because they don't really care about preserving God's Will, they care about themselves.
Oh Noooooo... INCOMING.. :)
This will cycle out of vogue very soon. Liberal churches are churches filled with lies to cover the guilt they do not want to shoulder by constantly telling God that His word is not what It says It is. God will not be mocked.
Liberals have been duming down the churches of this country and around the world in an unrelenting effort to have it both ways all the time.
God is against abortion; Infiltrate and create disruption and then sow the seeds of all the possible "What-if's" so as to change the whole argument.
God loves everyone but hates sin; deny this argument and say that Christians hate homosexuals instead and demand that they are equal in Gods sight and thus their choice is created by God and thus normal and thus no judgement and then come up with creative ways to run around the OBVIOUS statements that God makes about it.
These are but two of them, but certainly two of the most destructive ones. They are devisive subjects to begin with but more than that if you go into a church where their doctrine of lies allow for this you must adhere to and believe AND PROFESS THE LIE TO BE ACCEPTED.
Take a look at the mega-churches, such as Prestonwood Baptist in Dallas, and you will see a traditional, family-focused theology that is Christ-centered.
People are in search of a solid belief system, and these churches are providing just that, welcoming those from the Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopal churches who have given up on the PC-based non-faith beliefs of those churches.
The simple reason they are failing is that they have allowed sin into the church.
If we're going to rename the Trinity, my choice would be "Martin, Barton and Fish," FDR's mantra from the 1940 presidential campaign, inspired by Reps. Joe Martin (R-Mass.), Bruce Barton (R-NY), and Hamilton Fish (R-NY), three of his prominent opponents.
Exactly!
This is an interesting alternate, because by equating the Holy Ghost with a womb, they demonstrate that they have completely abandoned the substance of Trinitarian doctrine on a conceptual level.
This is not just simple blasphemy, it is a radical abandonment of one of Christianity's two foundational doctrines.
If the PCUSA accepts such a formulation, it cannot be accurately described as a Christian organization.
Liberalism Dressed Up Like Christianity: If you have two cows, you should feel bad about yourself, you greedy bastard. (And by having cows anyway, you are enslaving bovine-Americans, perpetuating cow slavery, and eating red meat, so you should feel TRIPLE guilty.) Since you haven't already done so, slacker, we're going to use the government to confiscate your cows, and see to it they go to somebody more qualified than you who is so oppressed they can't be expected to get any cows at all on their own. Since you show no sign of this basic point of human kindness on your own, we're going to force it on you. We realize that having stuff that you worked for taken from you may make you angry and hard-hearted towards the poor, but that's how it goes. Tough. Certainly their needs are more important than any silly God-driven inner change you might experience. If there is a God, which we aren't so sure. And if there is, He's a woman anyway.
Good point.
Liberalism hates controls.. Liberalism needs guiltless lifestyles to cover their sick life-choices sins.. I believe the sins will eventually kill off the practitioners..
Parents teach your children , Never cross the street without looking both ways, Never touch a pot that is hot, Stay away from Homosexuals, Druggies, and Liars..
Yes! When a church tells you that anything is acceptable then why join? Some of the older main-line older denominations have become increasingly liberal and the young folks going through those churches decide not to continue into their adulthoods. Why should they? If you think about the financial side alone - some of those church's building operational costs, the denominational universities, the printing houses, the seminaries, and other things - I believe we will see a colapse in our time of churches that sold themselves out.
When your religion says "whatever" on doctrinal matters, regards Jesus as just another wise teacher, refuses on principle to evangelize and lets you do pretty much what you want, it's a short step to deciding that one of the things you don't want to do is get up on Sunday morning and go to church.
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