Comments on: I'm a heretic, so what?

By: Norma

Norma — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 16:12:25 +0000

If your readers think you and they are breaking out of a "box" of traditional Christianity by snuggling with Dan Brown for comfort in believing you've found some sort of secret suppressed truth, welcome to the box of gnosticism, rather old, confining, and boring. There's no there there. And that's a box too.

By: Kenneth

Kenneth — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:39:25 +0000

Liberty University is built upon the false doctrine of Pre-trib Rapture.
Tim Lahaye's Left Behind books are a bunch of crap.

Christ shall return exactly as He said He would,ever read God's Word instead of crapture teachers books?

By: Throwing Around The “H” Word « Reformed And Reforming

Throwing Around The “H” Word « Reformed And Reforming — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:36:33 +0000

[...] at Julie Clawson's blog, I stumbled on this post, entitled, "I'm a heretic, so what?". While I sympathize with her thoughts on [...]

By: Michael J. Kimpan

Michael J. Kimpan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:43:26 +0000

I love this, Julie! I'm proud to be a biblical heretic myself. Interestingly, when I started blogging, my posts received an average of about 6 or 7 comments a piece. I then made a post about the importance of prioritizing loving God and loving others OVER doctrine, and my average quickly went up. Comments–no, debates–ensued.

Some struggle to let go of their preciously held doctrines, even at the expense of abandoning the simple message of love. Oh…and the title of my blog post? 'heretical. but biblical.'

Interesting.

By: Mike Clawson

Mike Clawson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:11:24 +0000

My point was that there is a big difference between expressing disagreement with others and labeling those others a "heretic". The latter is about using one's power to condemn and exclude, and frankly, I don't see Brian or Jim doing those things. You might not like what they say or that they disagree with your theology and/or politics, or that they say so publicly, but that doesn't make them hateful or neo-fundamentalists or whatever.

Honestly, have you ever even met Brian? He is one of the most gentle, generous, and irenic people I have ever met, especially considering the huge amount of genuinely hateful condemnation that comes his way all the time. Almost every single one of his books (including his most recent one, which I am currently reading) contains some kind of disclaimer about how he is NOT trying to condemn or vilify those who think differently than he does – he is simply presenting his own views for those who will find them helpful (and usually recommends that those who do not find them helpful simply ignore him.)

I'm sorry, but simply expressing an alternative viewpoint is not the same as accusations of heresy. As one who has been a target of the latter, and forced out of a job because of them, I definitely know the difference. (And I have to be honest, I sometimes wonder why critics of the emerging church often have such a thin skin in this regard. Can you honestly not see the difference between honest disagreements and exercises of power?)

By: Argh

Argh — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:20:34 +0000

I agree with Rick- ideology is in many ways more of a circle than a line- those further left and further right, politically or theologically, are actually quite a lot more like each other than they think. It's not about how conservative or liberal you are- there are fundies on both sides, there are hateful people on both sides. I've known people who you would label 'theologically conservative' who've had far more gracious and civil conversations (even while ultimately disagreeing with my more liberal conclusions) with me on religion, faith and politics than those who'd you'd expect to be more inclusive. While the paradigm of progressive Christianity has proved a far more helpful one to help me work through my own faith, I've found as much judgement, if not more, on the left than on the right. Of course, as Mike has so often said- that the other side does it too is not a good argument. No it's not. This isn't about taking sides. I just think as much as we need to move beyond conservatism, we also need to move beyond merely seeing conservatism as 'the other side'.

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:15:00 +0000

Mike,

You're setting up straw men man… I never said that conservatives are some kind of persecuted minority… not sure where that came from… what I'm telling you is that McLaren and his ilk are neo-fundamentalists who are quick to decry those who believe not like they do… period…

Of course it's true that there are some in conservative circles who are quick to claim heresy… but it's as true that if you run from conservatives into the arms of far too many progressives, you'll find the same sort of black and white thinking only the tenets to which one must swear are different…

By: Mike Clawson

Mike Clawson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:07:10 +0000

Rick – you're going to have a hard time persuading me that theological conservatives are some kind of persecuted minority with McLaren and Wallis as grand inquisitors. Brian and Jim have what? A website, a magazine, a few books and some speaking gigs? Compared to dozens of seminaries, publishing houses, denominations, mega-churches, radio and television empires, and enormous political clout on the conservative side? Of course people on the "Left" speak up in disagreement with conservatives. There isn't just one Christian perspective out there and you can hardly expect them to remain silent about their deep convictions. But labels of heresy are about more than just expressing disagreement with others. They're about exercises of power and exclusion. And frankly conservative Christians have way more power to exclude these days than Wallis or McLaren could ever have. After all, it's not emergents or progressive evangelicals who are kicking people out of churches, denominations, and schools for not toeing the line. We are the ones currently being kicked out.

By: Dan S.

Dan S. — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:03:16 +0000

Hopefully this won't get me accused of toeing the line to defend a mindless allegiance to a frozen ideological box of stale tradition so I don't have to wrestle with new ideas, but isn't "historic Christian orthodoxy" vs. "faith in the living transforming God" kinda sorta possibly like a false dichotomy, maybe?

By: David Henson

David Henson — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:43:27 +0000

One of the most startling revelations I had in grad school was when I mentioned to a Jesuit priest/professor that what I was about to say was likely heretical, he quietly listened and nodded.

And then informed me (gently) that I might not be mainstream, but neither was I heretical. Over the next few weeks, he showed me that my faith was not so out of place historically, and in fact, was under the wide, sheltering umbrella of Christian orthodoxy (it might be more accurate to call them orthodoxies).

Then I read "When Jesus Became God" and realized that we've been fighting the Arian controversy basically for the past 1,800 years.