Big church halts support of ministries

One of Charlotte's best-known churches has withdrawn support for a food pantry that serves the needy because the pantry works with Roman Catholics.

Central Church of God explained its decision in a letter March 1 from minister of evangelism Shannon Burton to Loaves & Fishes in Charlotte: "As a Christian church, we feel it is our responsibility to follow closely the (principles) and commands of Scripture. To do this best, we feel we should abstain from any ministry that partners with or promotes Catholicism, or for that matter, any other denomination promoting a works-based salvation."

Loaves & Fishes isn't the only ministry with which the Sardis Road mega-church has cut ties, and Catholics have not been the only reason they've given.

The Rev. Tony Marciano, executive director of Charlotte Rescue Mission, said Burton told him the church could no longer support the agency after it allowed three Muslim students from UNC Charlotte to help serve a meal at the uptown ministry in November. Founded in 1938 by eight businessmen, including Charlotte-born evangelist Billy Graham's father, Charlotte Rescue Mission offers Christ-centered residential care for people fighting drugs and alcohol.

Doug Hartjes, director of development for Crisis Assistance Ministry in Charlotte, said Central Church of God told them it will not provide financial support this year. Crisis Assistance provides emergency financial aid and other help to people. Hartjes said 200 congregations representing Christian, Jewish and other faiths donate money and volunteer time, as do people with no religious affiliation.

The church also ended funding for Love Inc., which provides services for the poor, elderly and disabled in Mecklenburg County.

The decision by Central Church of God isn't likely to cripple the ministries. Loaves & Fishes executive director Beverly Howard said the church has donated a total of $36,000 the past 11 years, plus volunteers and food. Marciano said the church gave Charlotte Rescue Mission $5,500 in 2004 -- a small part of the mission's annual budget of $3 million. Hartjes declined comment, citing the policy of honoring the privacy of donors.

But whatever its practical impact, the Central Church decision is likely to provoke debate over ecumenical cooperation, or the lack of it, in a city that prides itself on its many vibrant congregations -- and the notion that they generally get along.

Anna Burton, a spokesperson for Central Church of God and the minister's wife, said church leaders decline comment, letting the letter speak for itself. She said there was no animosity toward any of the organizations.

Howard said Loaves & Fishes receives support from 100 to 150 congregations each year, and that Central Church of God is the only one to pull out over the food pantry's partnership with other congregations. Jewish and Muslim congregations help, as do 10 to 15 Catholic parishes to which Central objected.

"It absolutely did shock us," Howard said. "We had no idea Central Church felt that way about ecumenical ministry."

Howard said Loaves & Fishes last year gave away a week's worth of food to 70,000 recipients. She said that's a mission all people should embrace.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte released a statement to the Observer Friday, saying, "This apparent attempt to divide the faith community is most unfortunate."

The statement sought to explain the Catholic position on what it means to be saved:

"As Catholics we firmly believe that Salvation for the world came through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through his Passion, Jesus Christ has already completed the work of salvation. Jesus calls us to love one another and that love must demonstrate itself in good works. Engaging in good works is putting your faith into action. We earnestly hope that we can sit down with fellow Christians at the Central Church of God and clarify our mutual understanding of God's word as put forth in the Scriptures."

The Rev. Conrad Hoover of St. Ann Catholic Church in Charlotte stressed that you are not saved solely by good works.

"Catholics believe it is indeed by faith in Jesus Christ," Hoover said. "We really are biblically grounded."

With some 6,000 members -- and often more than that packing Sunday morning services -- Central Church of God on Sardis Road is known for its huge crowds and electrifying sermons by the Rev. Loran Livingston. Crowds are so big at one of the nation's largest Church of God congregations that buses drive people to worship from the parking lot at Providence Day School and Charlotte Country Day.

In the letter to Loaves & Fishes, obtained by the Observer, Central's Burton tried to end on a positive note:

"I hope and pray you receive this as intended -- in love," Burton wrote. "Thank you in advance for your understanding in this matter, and if you should have any questions, feel free to give me a call."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reach Ken Garfield at (704) 358-5094.

Just for fun, I did a little searching for the donor of your screen name. What I found was fascinating, considering your posts in this thread. What on earth possessed to to choose Protagoras as your Freepname?

Protagoras' doctrines can be divided into three groups:

Orthoepeia: the study of the correct use of words
Man-measure statement: the notion that knowledge is relative to the knower
Agnosticism: the claim that we cannot know anything about the gods

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Orthoepeia

Perhaps because the practical side of his teaching was concerned with helping students learn to speak well in the courtroom, Protagoras was interested in "orthoepeia" (the correct use of words). Later sources describe him as one of the first to write on grammar (in the modern sense of syntax) and he seems interested in the correct meaning of words, a specialty often associated with another sophist, Prodicus, as well. In the Protagoras, the Platonic dialogue named after the famous sophist which has both Protagoras and Prodicus as participants, Protagoras is shown interpreting a poem of Simonides, with special concern for the issue of the relationship between the writer's intent and the literal meanings of the words. This method of interpretation was one which would be especially useful in interpreting laws and other written witnesses (contracts, wills, etc.) in the courtroom. Unfortunately, we don't have any actual writings by Protagoras on the topic.

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Man-Measure Statement

Of the book titles we have attributed to Protagoras, only two, "Truth" (or "Refutations") and "On the Gods" are probably accurate. Of Protagoras' works, only a few brief quotations embedded in the works of later authors have survived. (The quotations of and reports about Protagoras below are referred to by their 'Diels-Kranz,' or 'DK' number, the usual way of referring to such fragments and testimonia. The Diels-Kranz numbering system is explained here.) Of Protagoras' ipsissima verba (actual words, as opposed to paraphrases), the most famous is the homo-mensura (man-measure) statement (DK80b1): "Of all things the measure is man, of the things that are, that [or "how"] they are, and of things that are not, that [or "how"] they are not." This precise meaning of this statement, like that of any short extract taken out of context, is far from obvious, although the long discussion of it in Plato's Theaetetus gives us some sense of how ancient Greek audiences interpreted it. The test case normally used is temperature. If Ms. X. says "it is hot," then the statement (unless she is lying) is true for her. Another person, Ms. Y, may simultaneously claim "it is cold." This statement could also be true for her. If Ms. X normally lives in Alaska and Ms. Y in Florida, the same temperature (e. g. 25 Celsius) may seem hot to one and cool to the other. The measure of hotness or coldness is fairly obviously the individual person. One cannot legitimately tell Ms. X she does not feel hot -- she is the only person who can accurately report her own perceptions or sensations. In this case, it is indeed impossible to contradict as Protagoras is held to have said (DK80a19). But what if Ms. Y, in claiming it feels cold, suggests that unless the heat is turned on the pipes will freeze? One might suspect that she has a fever and her judgment is unreliable; the measure may still be the individual person, but it is an unreliable one, like a broken ruler or unbalanced scale. In a modern scientific culture, with a predilection for scientific solutions, we would think of consulting a thermometer to determine the objective truth. The Greek response was to look at the more profound philosophical implications.

Even if the case of whether the pipes will freeze can be solved trivially, the problem of it being simultaneously hot and cold to two women remains interesting. If this cannot be resolved by determining that one has a fever, we are presented with evidence that judgments about qualities are subjective. If this is the case though, it has alarming consequences. Abstractions like truth, beauty, justice, and virtue are also qualities and it would seem that Protagoras' dictum would lead us to conclude that they too are relative to the individual observer, a conclusion which many conservative Athenians found alarming because of its potential social consequences. If good and bad are merely what seem good and bad to the individual observer, then how can one claim that stealing or adultery or impiety or murder are somehow wrong? Moreover, if something can seem both hot and cold (or good and bad) then both claims, that the thing is hot and that the thing is cold, can be argued for equally well. If adultery is both good and bad (good for one person and bad for another), then one can construct equally valid arguments for and against adultery in general or an individual adulterer. What will make a case triumph in court is not some inherent worth of one side, but the persuasive artistry of the orator. And so, Protagoras claims he is able to "make the worse case the better" (DK80b6). The oratorical skills Protagoras taught thus had potential for promoting what most Athenians considered injustice or immorality.

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