[D]mergent

REFORMATION II – an invitation


Sunday, October 31, 2010
on the 493rd anniversary of the posting of the
Thesis of Martin Luther

An Invitation

I am tired of God being used as a political, liturgical or personal bludgeon.

I am weary of God and Jesus and Christianity and church and scripture being abusively used in the service of or as an excuse or a justification for: death, war, murder, destruction, violence, oppression, condemnation, retribution, vengeance, hate, fear, slavery, systemic injustice, oppression, condemnation, retribution, exclusion, segregation, discrimination, sectarianism and censorship. I reject these actions. These actions are evil, are not of God or from God, are no part of the Good News message, are not how life is lived in the Kingdom of God.

There is no spiritual validity to worshipping God as though God were a narcissistic Greco-Roman pagan deity or as a nationalistic cheerleader and protector.

It has been 493 years since Martin Luther posted his Thesis on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral. It is time – long past time – for a posting of another thesis and for the same reason – to reclaim the church.

On Sunday, October 31, 2010, here at [D]mergent, the Second Reformation will begin. On the 493rd anniversary of the first reformation, God and Jesus and worship and the Good News message and Christian theology will be reclaimed. The universal faith of hope will replace a civic religion of fear. The universal faith of love will replace a civic religion of hate. The universal faith of universal inclusion will replace a civic religion of exclusion. The universal faith that holds justice as healing and rehabilitation and restoration will replace a civic religion that holds justice as abandonment and abuse and obliteration. On that day, it will be proclaimed that a parochial and civic and nationalistic God of judgment and conditional acceptance has been replaced by the one true God of unqualified grace and unrestrained love. This is a not progressive theology revolution. This is a reclaiming of the original Christian fundamentalism.

For insight into the theology of the Second Reformation, click on this link to read the article…

RECLAIMING FORGIVENESS – it’s personal

At the bottom of that article, there are links to six (6) other relevant articles.

Until October 31…

Peace,
Douglas C. Sloan

Responses

  1. Eric Gubelman Avatar
    Eric Gubelman

    Thank you, Doug. I had missed your early submission, “Reclaiming Forgiveness,” and this gave me an opportunity to read it. I was deeply moved.

    Today’s post struck a chord, particularly your observation that we are reclaiming an original Christian fundamentalism. That thought has been in my head recently while reading “Jesus and Gin: Evangelicalism, the Roaring Twenties and the Today’s Culture Wars.”

    In the ’20’s, liberal Christianity won the hearts and minds of the mainstream, but we have always carried the burden that we are somehow a man-made change of the message from Jesus. Instead, we are post-modern, rediscovering the Good News as Jesus taught it.

    In the film “The American President,” Lewis Rothschild (Michael J. Fox), an aide to President Andy Shepherd (Michael Douglas), urges the President to exercise leadership, arguing that the people are hungry for it.

    The world is hungry for Good News, which I’ve substituted for “leadership” in Lewis’s dialogue:

    “People want Good News, and in the absence of genuine Good News, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want Good News. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.”

    A Second Reformation is about living water, not sand.

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  2. Brian Morse Avatar
    Brian Morse

    Doug,

    I know that you and I have honest theological differences, but I want you to know that you always have my respect and support. It makes me VERY happy to see laity lead the Church.

    Peace,
    Brian

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  3. Doug Sloan Avatar
    Doug Sloan

    Brian,

    I’ll be happy with a vigorous discussion by a wide-ranging and large number of participants.

    Peace,
    Doug

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  4. Brian Morse Avatar
    Brian Morse

    I believe we all want the same thing: A large number of participants. For the time being, we are stuck with each other. That’s cool with me!

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  5. Ken Silva Avatar
    Ken Silva

    ” The universal faith of universal inclusion”…

    Just so you know Doug, this is not the message of the Chuch; we proclaim the Gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus Name.

    You know, salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ’s finished work in the Cross alone.

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  6. Doug Sloan Avatar
    Doug Sloan

    Ken,

    So who is to be excluded…
    …from the table?
    …from the grace of God?
    …from the love of God?
    …from our compassion?
    …from being fed, quenched, clothed, welcomed, and visited?

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    1. Phil Brady Avatar
      Phil Brady

      As an untrained layperson I can only share my personal understanding in an answer to this question of “who do we exclude?”.
      From study of the Holy Scriptures chosen for inclusion in modern (since @ 350 AD) it seems we (humans) are to exlude no one. We are commanded to show Christ’s Love and compassion toward all God’s creation, and are not to judge.
      From God’s perspective, as shown in the scriptures He is perfect and Holy accepting nothing less in His presence. His Love and Compassion are unlimited to all creation, yet His grace and forgiveness to be allowed entrance into His presenceare extended to all BELIEVERS (in Christ).
      Traditionally the communion table has been open to all who profess faith in Christ, thogh many churches expect youth to be old enough to understand this concept. While I accept there may have been other letters (or books) that should have been included in the Holy Bible, we can not know for sure until the return of Jesus Christ who will make all things known.
      Until then this believer will continue to be more Christ- like and less self centered. Peace and blessing to my fellow bloggers! P.S. I know- long winded as usual. :>)

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  7. Elsie Dursi Avatar
    Elsie Dursi

    We need to be careful about the “message of the Church” so it doesn’t depart from the message of our Lord.

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    1. Doug Sloan Avatar
      Doug Sloan

      Elsi,

      The question is: What is “the message of our Lord.”?

      Since my first article, I have been doing my best to answer that very question. How do you answer it?

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  8. THE SECOND COMING – RECLAIMED | [D]mergent

    […] is not about Reformation II (or III or IV or V or…) It is about the Second Coming of […]

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