Heretic to give Methodist Lecture

[Shodan]

The church bulletin from my parent's Methodist Church, today, announced that Phillip Gulley will give the the Wright Lecture for the Methodist Morningside College at the Mehtodist Church there. He believes Jesus was only a man.

 "He (Jesus) was a monotheistic Jew who did not see himself as divine. He saw himself as a rabbi, probably a prophet."

 "If I use any divine language in regards to Jesus, I tend to use the language of my Quaker tradition, which talks about "that of God in all people." This understanding allows me to celebrate God’s presence in Jesus, while affirming that same divine reality in others."

 He is advertised as a Quaker pastor, but he did not grow up Quaker and fellow Quaker pastors asked that he be removed as a Quaker pastor. But the Quaker business style is not to vote but to make decisions by consensus. If there are strong objections, nothing is done. And now, there are too many liberal Quakers to do such a thing.

[larry2]

Hi dear Brother Shodan. As time draws nearer of our Lord's return, evil certainly waxes worse. There are so many different doctrines hopefully his meaning is not as dire as it sounds else how are the following scriptures dealt with?

Matthew 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Philippians 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Philippians 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Blessings in Christ Jesus.

[Shodan]

...hopefully his meaning is not as dire as it sounds...


Philippians 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Blessings in Christ Jesus.

His 'meaning' is truly heretical. Like all heretics, he does not accept Scripture as the word of God.

[stevehut]

"He (Jesus) was a monotheistic Jew who did not see himself as divine. He saw himself as a rabbi, probably a prophet."

I find this part interesting. In the first century, the term "rabbi" (small r) simply meant "teacher," and in this Jesus was far from unique. It was not the same as the modern sense of "Rabbi" (big R) in a Jewish congregation today, which is a very modern construct.

[MaryBeth]

As with any church, we are not going to agree with everything that goes on nor with every guest speaker who comes to speak. Pray and take away what it is that God is conveying, and disregard everything else. Stay focused on Christ and perhaps, there is something in the message that is meant for you.

If you are really in disagreement with the Methodist Church, you can always 'shop around' for another denomination. Sometimes, we need to be careful not to 'nit-pick' and to just simply seek God's wisdom.

Would we have been in agreement with the choices that Jesus made when he picked his 12 disciples?

[Shodan]

As with any church, we are not going to agree with everything that goes on nor with every guest speaker who comes to speak. Pray and take away what it is that God is conveying, and disregard everything else. ....


Would we have been in agreement with the choices that Jesus made when he picked his 12 disciples?

 Scripture tells the Church to have nothing to do with false teachers. And this guy was not simply a false teacher but a heretic who denies Jesus' divinity.

Remember that in the NT the churches met in houses:
 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.--2 John

[fcadcock]

As with any church, we are not going to agree with everything that goes on nor with every guest speaker who comes to speak. Pray and take away what it is that God is conveying, and disregard everything else. Stay focused on Christ and perhaps, there is something in the message that is meant for you.

If you are really in disagreement with the Methodist Church, you can always 'shop around' for another denomination. Sometimes, we need to be careful not to 'nit-pick' and to just simply seek God's wisdom.

Would we have been in agreement with the choices that Jesus made when he picked his 12 disciples?

Is it really nit-picking though, to say that someone who denies the divinity of Christ in his teaching is a heretic?  Is it?

This is why I left the Methodist Church.  At least in the city I'm from, the Methodist churches have all given up.  They've watered down their message into that "God wants you to be happy" crap that Joel Osteen preaches.  They aren't going out into the streets to win over the hearts and minds of non-believers, they're closing in among themselves and shunning the non-believers while sharing recipes at pot-luck dinners for the congregation instead of feeding the hungry.

[John 8:32]

Having grown up in the Methodist Church, I can assure you this is not the first heretic to teach in the Methodist Church.

[AVZ]

From what I understand, a Quaker pastor will come to give a lecture to students of the Morningside College.
The event will be held in the facilities of the Methodist Church on a Wednesday night.
Seems to me this is an educative event, it has no ill intent other than to present a different perspective of scripture.

I am hard pressed to find any fault with this.