Tuesday, February 16, 2010

the ec gospel

I love the following comment in Michael Wittmer's analysis of Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity.

Brian’s notion of sin seems to be primarily external or social—it amounts to judgmental violence committed against others. While I agree that social sin is prevalent and serious, we need to emphasize that sin is first and foremost rebellion against God, which then leads to violence toward others.

I love it because that was my take on Rob Bell's The Gods Aren't Angry. It seems to me that these guys are working overtime to deny our sin against a righteous, holy God and His response to that. They mistakenly focus the issue on our treatment of each other and our misperception that God must be angry.

Also, there solution (because they miss the problem) is works based. That is, we must learn to love our neighbor, to be reconciled to him - and to do that without the regeneration that come through Jesus' substitutionary death and resurrection. As Wittmer states, "the personal change which alone enables us to be reconciled to others."

Wittmer also points out how McLaren (as most postmodern innovators) overlooks sin (especially homosexuality) and allows for universalism, the salvation of all regardless of what they believe.

For another analysis, see Tim Challies' thoughts ...

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