FAITH: Ephemeral links by their common ancestry!

The CRIB's periodically fugacious ...

• Sometimes it is necessary to subdivide in order to multiply; rotten fruit of liberal North America Anglicans continue bears rare new fruit tree. [AP/Yahoo! News]


• Talmudic flavor suggested for New Testament exegesis of study. [Assistant Village Idiot; h/t Maggie's Farm]
  


• What do you make of this?

  Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows.

  [Yahoo! News/AP]


• University of Dallas was the recent scene of a conference on "the justice or injustice of More's trial."

  Thomas More, we now know, was a sage and a saint, but was he guilty of the formal charges that led to his execution on July 6, 1535?

  [First Things]


• Turks & Kurds threaten 1600 year-old Assyrian Monastery. [AINA; h/t Europe News]


• Christian activist rises to cabinet post in Muslim dominated government. [Christian Post]


• This is not Psalm 122:6 ... sometimes I worry about my spiritual family!

  Some Christians pray for the peace of Jerusalem; others work to tear Jerusalem to pieces. The wealthy New York based United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) tends toward the latter. The GBGM recently approved grants to several anti-Israel groups, including a program operated by Palestinian Liberation Theologians.

  [Front Page; h/t Black Kettle]


• Political correctness gone mad (video); how a non-religion becomes a stealth religion. [Black Kettle]


• Suffering for Jesus in the real world can't be assessed from an ivory tower. [Somewhere In South America]


• Bowden McElroy speaks of his colleagues and it's a warning for those seeking professional counseling help -

  The idea of living a principled and examined life based on universally accepted values is simply not on their radar.

  [McElroy Counseling]

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SHAME: Liberation theologian commits public heresy!

SHAME: Liberation theologian commits public heresy!

Wendy Doniger: All Beliefs Welcome, Unless They are Forced on Others - "On Faith" WAPO
HT - Palin 'Inflicts' Her Religion on US, She's 'Not a Woman' | NewsBusters

Some heretics slither around the fringe of the church, damaging what they can, when they can; others openly flaunt their ignorance and disbelief, publicly slashing here, slashing there!

Such is the work of a heretic.

Wendy Doniger has not been known as a member of the latter category, having preferred the ethereal environment of the academic cloak, damaging what she can, when she can. But Sarah Palin has brought her out of her cloister, to be seen and heard by the whole world.

Having no faith in the Word of God as the Word of God, she comes out, in her Newsweek piece, speaking as if speaking for God! Warning others not to force their beliefs on others, Doniger forces her heretical views on all.

Her anthropocentric "faith" leaves no room for the God she professes believe in; instead, she amalgamates whatever feminist, liberation, mystical, secular relativism she can garner and disdainfully throws it in our path as if wearing a prophet's mantle ... insinuating to her reader, it is the only truth they need to know.

Not knowing the Truth, the Life, The Way, or Sarah Palin, she pretends to speak for God and proceeds to tell authentic believers how screwed up they are (a perfect resume for priesthood during the dark ages) ... well, the word of God has a message for Wendy Doniger, and she should listen ...

There are six things which the LORD hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
A false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers.

Proverbs 6:16-19

Notwithstanding her patently offensive lies concerning Sarah Palin's spiritual views (sanctity of life, abstinence, evangelism, witness, motherhood, family values, environmental issues, and just war), her appalling effrontery at pretending her own theology is orthodox, is both insulting and buffoonerish.

That people such as this can sit in academic chairs and claim objectivity is beyond my ability to comprehend; that young people might sit at her feet is beyond the pale.

You, Madame Doniger, are not only a heretic, but are probably a leftist, baby killing, treasonous capitulator, feminista-spinster, misandrist.

Christianity, Doniger, Election 2008,
Heresy, McCain, Obama, Palin, Politics, Religion

PALIN: Media's cristophobia is embarrassing!

Can Someone Hire a Religion Tutor for CNN Reporters? | NewsBusters
Media is anti-Christian, says Sky News reporter | BLACK KETTLE
Stop the Presses: Palin's Church Holds to Bible's Teaching on Homosexuality! | NewsBusters
AP Next Going After Palin's 'Derided' Religion | NewsBusters

Cristophobia is running rampant among media personalities; but they still think they're filing insightful and well researched news reports.

When I hear leftists and socialists, and the MSM, speak on religious or theological aspects of Sarah Palin's faith, I am reminded of prepubescents questioning adult decisions.

It's like the Louvre hiring a playground chalk artist to make new acquisitions. It's like an air guitarist replacing Aerosmith's lead guitarist. It is flat out embarrassing ... for the critics.

So ridiculous and juvenile are their concerns and questions that authentic believers are rendered speechless.

They are mad! Very mad! Mad at McCain-Palin! Mad at you! Mad at me! Why? Because we embarrassed them during and after the RNC; because they know they are responsible for the incredible and apparently lasting McCain bump. [CNN HT - NB]

I, for one, hope they continue on this cristophobic rant; what they don't know in this case is going to hurt them big time.

Some Pentecostals from Assembly of God also believe in "faith healing" and the "end times" -- a violent upheaval that they believe will deliver Jesus Christ's second coming. [News Busters]

Both faith healing and end times are orthodox teachings of the Christian faith but are presented in such a way as to insinuate red flags for the reader.

Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

"You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed for about six years. [CBS HT - NB]

Sarah Palin often identifies herself simply as Christian... Yet John McCain's running mate has deep roots in Pentecostalism, a spirit-filled Christian tradition that is one of the fastest growing in the world. It's often derided by outsiders and Bible-believers alike. [Miami Herald HT - NB]

The New English Review comments ...

Seemingly they were on the prowl up there in Alaska, looking for wild-eyed Christian fundamentalists at the Wasilla Bible Church, but they come up short. Her church and beliefs are very solidly mainstream.

I won't be surprised to soon hear someone suggest Palin's current church is planning an altar for slaughtering sheep in their parking lot; all because a CNN reporter saw a bulletin from five years ago which listed the hymn "Power in the Blood" in the order of service.

What am I thinking? Only church goers will know what a bulletin is or what is meant by "Order of Service."

Each of the world's religions have a language of their own; for the media to think they can learn its grammar and syntax overnight is wilder than a Hopi peyote lodge.

CROSS POSTED - Cristophobia Watch

Christianity, Cristophobia, Media,
Palin, Politics, Religion

END TIMES: Convergence of the unrelated!

Two unrelated stories got me thinking:

first, the revelation that, in a Pew Forum survey, nearly 60% of those who indicated an evangelical worldview believed there are many roads that lead to heaven and,

second, an offer to sell an original, first edition copy of George Orwell's seminal ditty "nineteen eighty-four" with an accompanying quote, "He loved Big Brother."

How thought provoking that quote is in light of the sad condition of the Bride of Christ. Everywhere I turn, people are open to and looking for authentic Christianity ... but the visible church (including me) has done its best to conceal the real thing from the unsaved masses.

I'm not surprised the people (searching for real truth) love Big Brother and buy into his lies. Bottom-line, however, the church, like Peter, will soon hear the cock crow for her virtual denial of Christ.

Big Brother, Bride of Christ,
Christianity, Church, Religion

MORMONS: Given enough rope they'll hang themselves ...

In this FoxNews.com report the mormon church [sic] responds to 21 doctrinal questions posed by Fox editors.

Their response to the very first question immediately causes a serious investigator to question their agenda; it is a purely defensive response ...

Q: Why do some call the Church a cult?

A: For the most part, this seems to stem from a lack of understanding about the Church and its core doctrines and beliefs. Under those circumstances it is too easy to label a religion or other organization that is not well-known with an inflammatory term like 'cult.' Famed scholar of religion Martin Marty has said a cult means a church you don't personally happen to like. We don't believe any organization should be subjected to a label that has come to be as pejorative as that one.

The fact that the word cult is a well defined term, and in use for centuries, should not be ignored ...

1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies

2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult... .

6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader

A simple, rational, and direct answer could have been couched in terms consistent with the above.

By definition mormons are a cult, but no more so than Southern Baptists or Catholics. There's nothing to fear by being honest; their spin will not dispel suspicions.

It is true the historical Christian church (Catholic/Protestant) has co-opted and abused the term "cult" for its own unique usage, but that should not color an honest person's response to an honest inquiry.

The next three questions received an identical "canned" response (7 of the 21 questions were answered in this fashion) ...

Q: Does the Mormon Church believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God?

Q: Does the Church believe in the divinity of Jesus?

Q: Does the Church believe that God is a physical being?

A: Mormons believe Jesus Christ is literally the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer, who died for the sins of humankind and rose from the dead on the third day with an immortal body. God, the Father, also has an immortal body.

This is clear evidence the LDS are hiding something. If the answer to the first is to be taken as a candid answer to a legitimate question regarding the person of Jesus, the second cannot be ... it is evasive and is so for a specific reason: Jesus is divine to them in the same way they believe they will one day be divine.

One could imagine a response to the first question to be somewhat theologically subjective, but the second required a simple "yes" or "no," followed by a statement as to what the word "divine" means to the LDS.

Using the same answer to the third question (an abject evasion) only reinforces the conviction the LDS fear revealing real doctrine by providing a clear response to the question.

This kind of duplicity would make a reasonable man question the entire machinery of the LDS. I personally could not vote for a man who participates in such childish distortions.

Notice the one critical question (alluded to in the second through the fourth questions) is not asked, therefore not answered: did the Son of God come in the flesh?

The question regarding "gods and goddesses" should inform the reader that Mormonism (at its deepest roots) is a works (not a grace) based form of redemption ... this means they're out of the mainstream of post-reformation Christian orthodoxy.

The remainder of the questions are interesting but not as substantial as the first four. If you are a serious Christian with an earnest interest in knowing the enemy, you should click over and read the remainder for yourself.

OTHERS BLOGGING:

Barnson
Huckabee for Me
David Hughes
Mining Grace
Mormon Coffee
Scott W. Kay

Christianity, Elections, LDS,
Mormons, President '08, Mitt Romney

EMERGENT ANARCHY: Shooting oneself in the foot!

Philosophical anarchy can be described as ...

A system of thinking in the field of knowledge which leads to a belief in the eradication of "all direct or coercive government as a political ideal" and that "proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society" without formal government.

Communism is and was is a philosophical anarchist movement, perverted and corrupt as it is and was.

Ecclesiastical anarchy can be described in a similar fashion ...

A system of thinking in the field of ecclesiology (or theology) which leads to a belief in the eradication of "all direct or coercive government as a theological ideal" (i.e., I think perhaps a pure theocracy) and that "proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of believers and churches as the principal mode of organized Christian society" without governmental hierarchy.

The emerging church movement is an ecclesiastical anarchist movement; as idealistic and energetic as it is, it is at its roots an ecclesiastical anarchy ... nothing more and nothing less.

Emergents are not alone today (2007) ... the Anglican Global Communion is currently having its own run-in with this destructive force. Ironically, just as amongst the Emergents, the Anglicans anarchists deny their classic anarchy.

Anarchists apparently do not understand or deny the power of collective wisdom and experience; instead they prefer to repeat past errors in order to experientially acquire an independent philosophy of life or worldview.

For those of us who continue honor history and tradition (those who desire but often fail to avoid the errors of the past), we see Emergents as dismissing the collective wisdom of our historical and theological ancestors, something human experience and Scripture warn against.

G. K. Chesteron: "tradition is only democracy extended through time." [Orthodoxy, chapter 4] He says we should give more credence to the hero than the historian for the latter was not there. He said he is more inclined to believe the democratic ideas of the masses over those of the literary classes since their collective wisdom is that of the ages and not the moment.

One should not trust the idealism of the youth over that of the seasoned and elder member of a tribe; even though that elder was at one time an idealistic youth with idealistic beliefs.

Anarchy, Christianity, Emergents, Idealism,
Orthodoxy, Traditionalism, Wisdom