Dear Brian,
I want to thank you for you commitment and sincerity as you continue to tackle the difficult and important questions that Christians face today. I have just come back home from a four-day trip with my family, and we had great discussions about the topics in your book during our many hours of driving. I really admire your courage to ask the questions when you knew you would be criticized and belittled, and encouraging Christians to look into our faith with critical and new eyes.
I want to tell you a little bit about our trip and the context of the people in the car. Both my husband and I are missionary kids, and our families were in Niger and Portugal respectively. We have collectively experienced and interacted with many cultures and religions from Asia, America, Africa, and Europe. The conversation in the car (me, my husband, and my two in-laws) was inevitably about how your theses applied to these difference cultures, and our experiences.
I will admit that I was ranting about some of the things that you said in the first chapter, but from the little bit of experience I have from your previous books, (and with encouragements from my husband who has read most of your books) I knew and appreciate that you are a writer who builds his arguments throughout his book, and doesn’t settle on one-liners.
None of us in the car disagree with your critique of the Platonic framework that pervades Christian narrative, and we commented on how we have seen an uncomfortable dissonance when this kind of Christianity is introduced to other cultures. I also agree with you on the problems of the Western Church, and the arrogance and ignorance with which we do the opposite of love within our communities and beyond. I also fully agree with you on the matters of social justice and environmental responsibility. I really appreciate your practical focus on how we should treat the LGBT community as a church, and agree that we as Christians are first to love and not judge.
At the most basic level, I have questions about your views on sin and Jesus’ role in that sin. While I understand your problems with the concept of the “Fall” I do wonder about your views of sin and God’s continual response to this sin. I agree with you that Jesus is the full manifestation of God. I believe that Jesus shows us how much God loves us, and his wish to literally be Emmanuel. I do agree with you that Jesus is not just a concept that we can change according to our convenience, and that he came to forgive, reconcile, and free the oppressed. I agree with you that Jesus calls us to follow him, and that the kingdom of God is here now, but my question to you is, what about the problem of sin? Even if one has issues with the concept of original sin, what about the day to day sin that distances us from God? What about the sin of rejecting God, hating and hurting others, oppression, and judgementalism? I really appreciate your analysis of Paul’s writing and your emphasis of his focus on love, but wouldn’t you agree that Jesus’ love was shown on the cross by the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation of humanity to God? If we’re reading the Bible “front to Jesus” within the stories of the Jewish tradition, can we ignore the tradition of the sacrificial lamb and the atonement of sin throughout the Old Testament? I think you would agree that this would not be a part of the character of “Theos.”
I would really like to write more about the many things with which I agree and disagree, but at this time I am limited on my word count. While I disagree with some major things, I really wanted to say that I appreciate your work so much, and thank you for making me and many others think about these very important issues. May God bless you and your work as you continue to engage us with this ongoing conversation.
God Bless,
Hi Uan
Greetings Hi Uan,
Thank you for writing down your thoughts about Brian’s newest book and allowing them to be published on this blog. I resonate with a lot of your comments and questions – especially the ones about the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Why this was not the only purpose of Jesus, like you, I still see it as a major focus point of the Bible. There was a reason God set up the Temple sacrifices like He did… granted, I admit, I don’t fully understand all the whys, but reading from Genesis to Matthew, it is there. =/
On another topic, I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit on your comment about the “uncomfortable dissonance” that happens when a Platonic “Christian narrative” is “introduced to other cultures.” I’m wondering if you are referring to the closeness of the spiritual world in non-Western cultures versus the material-world-only mindset of most Western Christians. Or are thinking along totally different lines… I just curious about your thoughts coming from such a multicultural background. =)
Thanks again for sharing your heart and thoughts.
Blessings,
-Joshua
Hi,
You piqued my curiosity with your opening paragraphs regarding your trip. You mentioned that you traveled with your in-laws, how did they respond to the issues you brought up? What are some of the other issues you would have addressed if you had the time?
Marty
Brian isn’t introducing any “new” teaching just an old lie. Remember satan comes as an angel of light & it is no wonder if his mnisters be falsely transformed into ministers of righteousness.