Thursday, April 21, 2005
Taking The Christ out of "Christian"
Pastor Marty Minto was apparently fired from his talk radio show gig after responding to a caller who asked if the pope was going to heaven. Mr. Minto said that yes, he would, if he was born-again and believed that Christ died for his sins. (spotlight: Wittenburg Gate)
Now saying such a thing is akin to questioning if a sailor loves the sea. But you know, some sailors don't love the sea. Being pope is not like a get out of hell free card. A pope has to believe in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ in order to be saved, just like the rest of us.
Another recent phenomenon (to me anyway) that may have spurred this response by Mr. Minto is the seemingly growing group of "Christless Christians". People who call themselves Christians, but don't agree with the basic tenets of the faith. Each member of this group seems to have their own individual twist to it, but they all subscribe to the idea that Christ was not born of a virgin and was not the son of God. To them Jesus was basically just this great guy who said some cool stuff that got taken way out of context by misguided disciples.
In this age of relativism people hate to see hard lines being drawn. People hate to be limited in anyway. However, that doesn't change the fact that hard lines must, and do, exist. For example, the shortest distance from me to you is a straight line. No way around that. I will leave the next example to God himself:
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "
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Now saying such a thing is akin to questioning if a sailor loves the sea. But you know, some sailors don't love the sea. Being pope is not like a get out of hell free card. A pope has to believe in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ in order to be saved, just like the rest of us.
Another recent phenomenon (to me anyway) that may have spurred this response by Mr. Minto is the seemingly growing group of "Christless Christians". People who call themselves Christians, but don't agree with the basic tenets of the faith. Each member of this group seems to have their own individual twist to it, but they all subscribe to the idea that Christ was not born of a virgin and was not the son of God. To them Jesus was basically just this great guy who said some cool stuff that got taken way out of context by misguided disciples.
In this age of relativism people hate to see hard lines being drawn. People hate to be limited in anyway. However, that doesn't change the fact that hard lines must, and do, exist. For example, the shortest distance from me to you is a straight line. No way around that. I will leave the next example to God himself:
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "
# posted by Joe Florida @ 5:39 AM 
