Beware the Myth of Collective Salvation

From a recent article I wrote:

Beware the Myth of Collective Salvation: The subject of Collective Salvation probably had its last great stand in the 1970's thru early 1990's under the guise of Liberation Theology, which primarily came out of the horror and suffering of South American civil wars. But here in the United States, we are now hearing it more and more and more. And unlike South America, where it sprang up from a synthesis between the communists and the Roman Catholic clergy, we are seeing it coming straight at us from our own Federal Government. That, in and of itself, should be very troubling to all faithful Christians.

First let me be very very clear. In Christianity and Christian Theology, salavation is an individual issue. Our salvation depends on Jesus Christ and our faith in Him as our Lord and Savior. Period, end of story, no ifs, no buts, and no add-ons, period!

Collective Salvation posits that there can be no wealth, unless all have wealth. There can be no successful people, unless all are successful. There can be no salvation until all achieve equality in all dimensions of humanity. The most sneaky formulation is that the grace of Jesus Christ has to be the same grace for everyone (more on that later).

Where wealth is mal-distributed (in someone's opinion), where some achieve worldly success but others don't (in somone's opinion), and where we all don't have all the same things (in someone's opinion), the priesthood of Collective Salvation demands that there must be sacrifices. In the theology of Collective Salvation, the poor and oppressed have a special duty to bring the wealthy oppressors to salvation by taking their wealth from them. The poor and oppressed cannot achieve salvation until they bring the wealthy to redemption by redistributing their wealth; hence the term "collective" salvation.

Please notice that in the previous paragraph there is no mention of Jesus! The arbitrars of equality are self-appointed judges who not only decide how wealth and success are to be portioned out, but also decide who will make sacrifices for the "Collective Salvation" of the whole.

Jesus told us a much different story of salvation. He told us (see the Gospel of John), "I am the truth, the way, and the life.........the path to the Father is through me". We each are personally responsible for our salvation through our devotion, worship, and faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. As we recently heard in the Gospel of Luke, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, but that brotherly, Christian love is not to be confused with the Christian Theology of our own personal salvation. Everyone can partake of the grace of Jesus Christ through faith. But that in no way shape or form suggests that all will achieve equal outcomes in their earthly existance. You might say, that is what heaven is for!

Does this seem confusing? There are those who try to make it that way. Please talk to your clergy if this confusion troubles you.

Archbishop of Canterbury condemns evangelist 'bullies'

This article provides some interesting insight into why that symbol above, The Episcopal Shield, a sign of The Episcopal Church in North America, will someday just be part of the dustbin of history.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader of the world-wide Anglican Communion, the confederation if you will of all the churches who fall under the umbrella of the Church of England (which split with the Roman Church in the 1500"s).

The Archbishop stated, The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned evangelist "bullies" who attempt to convert people of other faiths to Christianity.
Dr Rowan Williams said it was right to be suspicious of proselytism that involves "bullying, insensitive approaches" to other faiths.

But then, to backtrack just a little bit, he offers this very muddled piece of theology, "God save us also from the nervousness about our own conviction that doesn’t allow us to say we speak about Jesus because we believe he matters, we believe he matters, because we believe that in him human beings find their peace, their destinies converge, and their dignities are fully honoured."

Oh, so that's what Jesus is all about huh? Fully honoring our dignity?

Hey Rowen, how about the part that God so loved the world he gave His only Son that all who might believe in Him would be saved?

How about Jesus being God with us? How about the greatest gift mankind could receive from the uncreated Creator of all?

As opposed to your very mushy Jesus, this is a Jesus to be excited about, to be passionate about, to want to share with everyone you know so that they might be saved for all eternity as we have been.

If that is bullying, then count me in!!

Lesbian Parents and Children in Catholic Schools: WWJD?

It was a controversy tailor-made for the TV cameras: A lesbian couple in the liberal bastion of Boulder, Colo., had enrolled their children in a Catholic parish school, only to see those children denied re-enrollment once the parish priest learned of their home situation. When the story leaked last week, Boulder's vociferous gay-rights activists mobilized to protest the priest, the parish and the Archdiocese of Denver, brandishing signs outside the church that plaintively asked: "What would Jesus do?" To answer the WWJD question we have to determine which Jesus we are talking about.

Are we talking about the Jesus who is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament? Or, are we talking about the more modern Jesus who basically embraces everything we want to do anyway?

The Roman Catholic Church obviously hews to the path of the Biblical Jesus and should be expected to decide that parents who do not live in a manner keeping with the moral teachings of the Bible cannot enroll their children in Catholic Schools (question: why would they want to? Was there an agenda here?).

Others will say; what about parents who commit adultery? Who abuse drugs? Who commit a crime? Are you throwing their children out of the school?

Good questions! Jesus was into forgiveness and redemption. To parents whose manner of life does not follow the teachings of the Church, the Church could ask--are you willing to confess your sins, turn to a righteous path, and sin no more?

The adulterer could say "yes". The drug abuser could say "yes". The criminal could say "yes". What would the Lesbian parents say?

That is what makes this situation different.

Hat Tip: Stand Firm in Faith