Friday, October 17, 2014

God and Jesus: no bill to be paid...a union to be named

This Fall, we have two groups of people at All Saints' Littleton gathering for Christian Formation/Spiritual Growth by exploring a video series called Embracing an Alternative Orthodoxy:  Richard Rohr on the Legacy of St. Francis.  I will be posting some of what we hear from Rohr and his conversation with a group of Episcopalians on the blog, in hope that people beyond our group may participate.


Beginning of Session One:  Two viewpoints...

Western theology mainline position:  Jesus died for our sins.

Based on Dominican argument, using quotes from the New Testament, that a transaction was necessary to make humanity alright with God…and that transaction was the death of Jesus.

Creates a barrier to mystic exploration:  God's love had to be bought...

Franciscan minority viewpoint within Western Christianity:  used other New Testament texts to illustrate that the Christ existed for all eternity, and so Jesus’ life is part of God’s inherent love for creation.

“Jesus did not come to change God's mind about humanity...God's mind didn't need change...Jesus came to change humanity on the idea of God!”

No bill to be paid...a union to be named.






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