Last meeting, we decided we needed to do this.
Westboro Baptist Church's dogma does not reflect Christ, Christians, or Christianity.
The Westboro Baptist Church rejects the Bible's claim of what sins God can and will forgive. Biblically, there is only one unforgivable sin- rejecting the Holy Spirit, sometimes translated as "blasphemy" (Matthew 12: 31-32, Luke 12:10, Mark 3:28-29). A different post will discuss this.
Their hatred causes unbelievers to reject the Holy Spirit.
As Christians who accepted the great commission and respect Christ's sacrifice for EVERYONE, we repudiate this group.
There are more examples of their failure to adhere to Biblical priciples, but for now this will do.
This reminds me of the question was it possible for Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, et. al. to have a death bed conversion. The answer for me is unlikely but yes. So it is kind of silly to be picking certain sins as unforgivable. I heard an interview on BBC of a women who did not feel like she belonged at church because 10 years earlier she had an abortion. How sad. If she only new how happy I am there is a confessional prayer before communion every Sunday.
ReplyDeleteRe. Liz: Thanks for the way You faithfully and eloquently capture what is always a fast paced and highly Intelligent discussion. One (among many) things that jumped out at me when I read your transcription of " Try not to come alone " was your reference to Jeremiah (20:9). I believe if you expand the scope of the reference a few verses you get a truer idea of what Jeremiah is talking about here. : Jeremiah 20:7 - 9 & 14 - 18
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7 O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; YOU are Stronger than I,
and YOU have Prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the Word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention HIM, or speak any more in HIS Name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
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14 Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, “A son is born to you,”
making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without pity;
let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon,
17 because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.
18 Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?
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He is complaining To GOD about GOD (and who hasn't done that?). He is saying, I Love You LORD, but it hasn't given me a very Happy life. YOU make me tell people they are doing evil things that will result in their Destruction. They Hate me for it. I Try to keep my mouth shut... but YOUR Word is like a Fire within my Heart; its burns and consumes all barrier until it escapes and does what it is sent to do. He is in such Pain that he despises the day of his birth. I would submit that Evangelism is not so much something We Do... as it is something that is Done Through us. We can shut it up within us for fear of what others might think or do, but the Word is still there within us, burning to be set free.
Re. Dale: When I was a child, I was convinced that you could jump off the Empire State Bldg (the tallest there was at the time) while standing on a chair... and that if you jumped off the chair the moment before you hit the ground, the chair would be destroyed but you would be safe. I am older now and can see how foolish this thought was. You and the Chair share the same Impetus; therefore you share the same fate. This is not to say that I believe a deathbed Conversion is Impossible (GOD is Mighty and Kind) but there also is an Impetus at work there. I don't think its an Unwillingness of GOD to Forgive as much as there is a Hardness of Heart of the Hitlers and Stalins to ASK for the Forgiveness. At some point I'm not sure that it would even occur to them to do so.
ReplyDeleteRe. Repudiation: I am not all that well versed in Westboro's official Dogma. I have heard of their Works though. At the risk of being labeled Judgmental... I think they're A Holes! They should all be Required by Law to drink deepe from a big old Steaming Cup of Sit down and SHUT THE F UP!! I don't like them... but then again, I don't like ANY snakes.
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