SOUNDBITES — “Many of the leaders of the Episcopal Church would have you believe that this is within the context of mainstream Christianity — and that’s just not true. The Bible is very clear on its teachings regarding human sexuality, and the Christian church has taught the same thing for 2,000 years so there’s no pretending that this is definitely a further step away from traditional, biblically based Christianity, unfortunately.” —American Anglican Council’s top flack Robert Lundy, who would love to welcome anti-gay Episcopalians into the AAC, criticizing the election of the lesbian Rev. Mary Glasspool (via)
American Anglican Council
Mary Glasspool’s bishop election ‘is definitely a further step away from traditional, biblically based Christianity’
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AndrewW
It is becoming easier and easier to identify the Christians that cling to their literal interpretation of the Bible and their bigoted belief system. These conservative Christians represent about 1/3 of all Christians. They are also losing membership.
ALL good news for the LGBT Community.
Peter
Well, not quite 2000 years. The early “Christian Church” had liturgy to marry two men. The early heterosexual marriages were only conducted to record the transfer of property from the woman’s family to the husband. Then a new king had parts of the bible re-written; guess he thought a great deal of his own knowledge. Years later the catholics saw the need to have more of themselves, and got on the kick to have more children in order the catch up to ever increasing Muslims. And along about 1215 AD “they” thought up the idea of creating the Sacrament of Marriage.
Interesting that most religious persons have practically no comprehension of their history.
Josep
@Peter: I think what you wrote is interesting, but is it even true?
Joey
@Josep: Why don’t you get off your ass and do some research?
hyhybt
I wonder what the Episcopal parishes which are against ordaining gays, but in favor of it for women, will do.
B
In No. 2, Peter, wrote “Well, not quite 2000 years. The early “Christian Church” had liturgy to marry two men.” It wouldn’t surprise me – the beliefs were all over the place. You probably had some stories that grew on each other as in “I heard it through the grapevine.”
How about this one
http://www.das-wort.com/english/books/dimw/dimw.html – I have no idea if this was something someone made up recently or if it is based on some early Christian writings that didn’t make it into the official Bible, but it’s yet another data point for the range of beliefs these people have held. (This one is partly an animal-rights/practical-joker Jesus, and stylistically, you wouldn’t know that it isn’t from the Bible).
As an example from Chapter 24:
1. As Jesus passed through a village, He saw a group of idlers. They were tormenting a cat which they had found and ill-treated it shamefully. And Jesus commanded them to stop and began to reproach them; but they disregarded His words and reviled Him. (Chap. 24:1) 2. Then He made a whip of knotted cords and drove them away, saying, “This earth, which My Father created for happiness and gladness, you have made into the lowest hell with your deeds of violence and cruelty.” And they fled before His face. (Chap. 24:2)3. But someone even worse than the rest returned and threatened Him. And Jesus extended His hand, and the young man’s arm withered. And great fear came upon all. And one said, “He is a sorcerer.” (Chap. 24:3) 4. The next day, the mother of the young man came to Jesus, and asked that He heal his arm again. And Jesus spoke to them of the law of love and the unity of all life in the one family of God. And thereafter He said, “As you do in this life to your fellow creatures, so shall it be done to you in the life to come.” 5. And the young man believed and confessed his sins. And Jesus stretched out His hand, and the withered arm became as whole as the other. And the people praised God that He had given such power to a man.
You can just imagine the private discussions at Nicea
(see http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/nicaea.html for something that might be a bit more realistic): “We can’t have an animal-rights Jesus – the emperor would lose too much tax revenue if people stopped selling lamb meat.”
Mark S. Vigil
You are a very misguided person!
Rick Harper
The decline in Church membership is due to the weakness in the Christian message proclaimed today.
All serious minded people “seeking after God” wish to understand the Truth found in the Gospel of Christ.
For example, there are two ways the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed:
First, the Gospel can be delivered in word only without power.
Second, the Gospel can be delivered in word with power.
It does not take long for a “seeking after God” person to discover that theological assent is not “Faith”!
How can a person love a God who is only a deduction from a text?
Powerless religion can cause many surface changes in a person’s life but will leave a person exactly as they were before. The “creature” is changed but not “new”.
Whenever the Gospel of Christ is perverted, the “gift “element in the Gospel becomes the exclusive content; the shift element is ignored.
The Word of God preached and taught in power shifts the bases of life from Adam to Christ and a new set of motives go to work within the soul.
Sinners want to cease being willful sinners and become obedient children of God.
Our Baptism should be lived.
The Gospel of Christ is not good news only, but a judgment as well.
Is justification from past offenses all that distinguishes a Christian from a sinner? Can a man become a believer in Christ and be no better than he was before?
A relationship with the Person of the Holy Spirit fits everywhere in-between Hearing the Gospel, Repentance and Obedience.
Failure to get a right viewpoint in the beginning of Christian life will result in weakness and sterility for life.
Most people as well as God hate religious artificiality and pretense.