This question is in relation to another thread that got sidetracked. It has to do with Kirby Godsey, president of Mercer University in GA. David Cooke wrote:
Christians seem to become remarkably troubled about whether Jesus is humankind's only savior. Is Jesus God's only word? The simple answer is "Of course not." But beyond a simple answer, the issue is largely a mistaken one. There are no right answers to wrong questions....For me as a Christian, Jesus is the defining revelation. This confession that lies at the center of my faith does not require an exclusivist position whereby I should feel compelled to deny every other person's claim to know God. I can say only that, for me, Jesus is the central event of history. I cannot speak for another (p. 133; cf. p. 119).
So, Godsey denies the exclusivity of Christ as God's saving revelation. He also denies the full deity of the Lord Jesus:
The deity of Christ can never be more than a confession of faith, and it shall never be less (p. 121).
If these things don't bother you (HOW COULD THEY NOT?), then consider Godsey's advocating universalism:
Jesus did not come to tell us how to be saved. Jesus came to tell us that we are saved (p. 144).
Jesus came to say that we are saved. We are forgiven. God's forgiveness lies within us. We are loved. God's embracing love lies buried within us underneath a load of guilt and fear. No conditions, no prerequisites, no plans to follow--grace is not a conditional affirmation (p. 145).
God's word of grace is that we are free. The announcement comes. Jesus himself is the announcement. Everyone who has lived in this awful state of being trapped has been set free (p. 155).
Universalism has a very high view of God. God's grace and God's love are the ultimate realities revealed in Jesus (p. 202).
We are like the wandering Israelites [who "longed for a golden calf that they could cherish"]. Jesus is our word. Like Israel, our first temptation is to make Jesus into an icon of devotion. We want to see God, touch God, clutch God, and make sure that God belongs to us. So, we make Jesus into an object of worship. Let us not make Jesus into a magic fetish. Jesus is God's speaking to us. Jesus is not God. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the speaking of God (p. 128).
He denies the omnipotence of God. If God is not omnipotent, then how can He be God?
The notion that God is the all powerful, the high and mighty principal of heaven and earth should be laid aside....God does not abolish evil and suffering because God cannot abolish evil and suffering [think of what this does to our hope of heaven!]. "Cannot" may seem like a difficult word to use when we speak about God, but it is a word that we must have the courage to say if we speak honestly about God's suffering (p. 99).
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So, my question for discussion is this - Should a Baptist University President be an Orthodox Christian?
By the way, David, my God is bigger than any "fence" I could construct, but Godsey's god isn't - his god isn't even omnipotent.
"Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work."
- 2 John 9-11
In his book When We Talk About God, Let's Be Honest, Godsey declares the following:Nothing is wrong with what Dr. Godsey said. As long as he is there, my money will support Mercer University. God is bigger than the fence WE have chosen to draw around him.
Christians seem to become remarkably troubled about whether Jesus is humankind's only savior. Is Jesus God's only word? The simple answer is "Of course not." But beyond a simple answer, the issue is largely a mistaken one. There are no right answers to wrong questions....For me as a Christian, Jesus is the defining revelation. This confession that lies at the center of my faith does not require an exclusivist position whereby I should feel compelled to deny every other person's claim to know God. I can say only that, for me, Jesus is the central event of history. I cannot speak for another (p. 133; cf. p. 119).
So, Godsey denies the exclusivity of Christ as God's saving revelation. He also denies the full deity of the Lord Jesus:
The deity of Christ can never be more than a confession of faith, and it shall never be less (p. 121).
If these things don't bother you (HOW COULD THEY NOT?), then consider Godsey's advocating universalism:
Jesus did not come to tell us how to be saved. Jesus came to tell us that we are saved (p. 144).
Jesus came to say that we are saved. We are forgiven. God's forgiveness lies within us. We are loved. God's embracing love lies buried within us underneath a load of guilt and fear. No conditions, no prerequisites, no plans to follow--grace is not a conditional affirmation (p. 145).
God's word of grace is that we are free. The announcement comes. Jesus himself is the announcement. Everyone who has lived in this awful state of being trapped has been set free (p. 155).
Universalism has a very high view of God. God's grace and God's love are the ultimate realities revealed in Jesus (p. 202).
We are like the wandering Israelites [who "longed for a golden calf that they could cherish"]. Jesus is our word. Like Israel, our first temptation is to make Jesus into an icon of devotion. We want to see God, touch God, clutch God, and make sure that God belongs to us. So, we make Jesus into an object of worship. Let us not make Jesus into a magic fetish. Jesus is God's speaking to us. Jesus is not God. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the speaking of God (p. 128).
He denies the omnipotence of God. If God is not omnipotent, then how can He be God?
The notion that God is the all powerful, the high and mighty principal of heaven and earth should be laid aside....God does not abolish evil and suffering because God cannot abolish evil and suffering [think of what this does to our hope of heaven!]. "Cannot" may seem like a difficult word to use when we speak about God, but it is a word that we must have the courage to say if we speak honestly about God's suffering (p. 99).
________________________________________________
So, my question for discussion is this - Should a Baptist University President be an Orthodox Christian?
By the way, David, my God is bigger than any "fence" I could construct, but Godsey's god isn't - his god isn't even omnipotent.
"Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work."
- 2 John 9-11