As Christmas Day approaches our attention turns away from all of our controversies (at least I hope none of us spoils this beautiful time and misses out on the profound mystery of love in flesh appearing). But in case you want something to read during the last week of the year, here are some more articles.
First, the Presbyterian Outlook ran a couple of pro/con articles about nFOG:
nFOG Pro: A polity “reboot” by Daniel S. Williams, co-moderator of the Form of Government Task Force
Knowing, and voting “no” , by Bob Davis, pastor of the Chula Vista (CA) Presbyterian Church and a frequent commentator on polity issues.
Williams argues that nFOG takes us back to our Presbyterian roots by stripping away all the accretions that have turned it from a constitution into a manual of operations. Davis asserts that nFOG won't fix what's wrong with our polity, and will create massive uncertainty in the years to come.
Some critics of nFOG have expressed concern about its very first sentence: “The good news of the Gospel is that the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – creates, redeems, sustains, rules, and transforms all things and all people.” Is this an official statement that the PC(USA) endorses universal salvation?
James C. Goodloe IV, Executive Director of the Foundation for Reformed Theology, says yes in his article An nFOG analysis. He writes, "I have for many years promoted the idea that we need a new, or at least radically revised and simplified, Form of Government. But I cannot even get past the opening paragraph of this proposal."
Daniel Williams responds in Proposed Form of Government: Universalist creed? He says no, that the Scriptures and the Book of Confessions interpret the Book of Order, not vice versa.
Well, I think that's enough for now! Merry Christmas, and in the words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, every one!"
I can't help but roll my eyes a little on the universalism issue. Has no one noticed "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess"? Or how the Torah will be written on everyone's hearts; that the spirit of God will cover all the world? Obviously I could go on and on.
ReplyDeleteIf people are that allergic to universalist-sounding statements, they should at least be consistent and have at the Bible with a bottle of white-out.
Here's one that might get more acclaim, though perhaps not out loud:
“The good news of the Gospel is that the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – creates, redeems, sustains, rules, and transforms the things and people I like and agree with.”
Sounds like less of a Gospel to me.
I admit that folks who would reject nFOG because of the first sentence are hypersensitive. The Book of Confessions clearly upholds the Scriptural teaching that salvation is not universal. There are some, whether many or few, who will not go to Heaven.
ReplyDeleteI think you're being unfair in your assessment of the motives of those who do not hold to universal salvation. People who would affirm what you wrote above should question their own salvation.
The ground at the foot of the cross is absolutely level. It doesn't matter how rich or famous or powerful you are. None of that will get anyone to Heaven. This is the beauty of the Gospel. All nearly 7 billion people on the planet stand in need of God's grace, and Jesus died for all of them.
I don't relish the thought of people going to Hell, whether they are like me or not, and whether they agree with me or not. I hope that Spurgeon was right when he wrote that he thinks that there will be fewer people in Hell than in Heaven. I'll have to find the quote and send it to you.
My position, though I know it is by far a minority one, is neither universal salvation necessarily, nor any doctrine of Hell. I'm pretty convinced that there are lots of very sound reasons to believe that, rather than being tortured for eternity, people who die and are not saved just die (are 'consigned to destruction' one might say), while people who die while in the midst of abundant life in Christ will find that the abundant life lasts beyond death in a new creation beyond history.
ReplyDeleteThat's an important thing for me, because I realized long ago that I could not abide, much less worship, a God who would, by action or inaction or self-restraint, allow any conscious being to be tortured for eternity under any circumstances. That would cause all human evil to pale in comparison, since all the suffering humans can inflict on each other is ultimately bounded by time and an eventual end.