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Theology and Worship offers a
cautious statement on Christology |
Office of Theology and Worship offers
statement on Christology
[10-6-01]
Responding to a request from the 213th General Assembly, the Office of
Theology, Worship and Discipleship on September 27 issued a statement
entitled "Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ," which seems
sufficiently narrow even to satisfy the
Presbyterian Layman.
Presbyterian News
Service has reported on the statement, and responses to it in the
meeting of the Congregational Ministries Division at the end of
September in Tempe, Arizona.
The
full text of the statement is available on the PCUSA web site.
Witherspoon's Issues Analyst, Gene TeSelle,
has commented on some of the shortcomings of the TAW statement, as
it appears to reflect an intention to perform a concern for "damage
control," rather than for exploring the large theological questions
that confront the church in the post-Christian and
"post-modern" world.
He points to five major concerns with the document:
- It seems to ignore the witness of Scripture and the
confessions that Israel and the Jewish people are included in God's
saving work.
- It limits God's self-revelation so narrowly to
Jesus Christ that it minimizes the affirmations of the Bible and the
confessions that God is revealed also, even if not fully, through
nature and human reason.
- It fails to take seriously the ways in which truth
may come to us through other faith traditions.
- It seems to limit salvation to those who claim the
name of Christ, even though our confessions are often more cautious
about limiting the scope of God's grace.
- It does not deal with a major issue of our time --
the growing religious pluralism of our own nation and of the world.
While these issues and others need far more (and more
creative) attention, we must add that the TAW statement, in its
classical Trinitarian arrangement, offers a helpful corrective to the
conservative demand that Jesus Christ alone be named as the defining
basis of Christian faith and life.
Clearly our Office of Theology and Worship maintains a more balanced
view of our tradition, as it affirms the one Creator God and the
indwelling and enlivening Spirit, along with Jesus Christ who "came
to us as one of us, sharing our joy and sorrow .... and was a friend of
sinners."
Also, it maintains the classic Reformed affirmation of God's sovereign
freedom and thus refuses to restrict the grace of God to those who
express explicit faith in Christ.
For this and more in the statement, we are grateful.
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| Responding to the comments above,
Barbara Kellam-Scott sees the Theology and Worship statement as offering
"magic words" rather than true
hope. [10-8-01] |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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