Wednesday, January 03, 2007


" Relationships don't thrive because the guilty are punished but because the innocent are merciful."
Max Lucado

9 comments:

Constantine said...

Whoa. So true...theologically speaking anyway. I'm surprised, very surprised, at the origin of your quote though.

voixd'ange said...

Why is that, C?

Constantine said...

Because he's a right-wing evangelical loon. He writes beautifully on occasion (I’ve read some of his work), but underneath it all, he is a very narrow exclusivist.

voixd'ange said...

Really - don't hold back C, tell me what you really think . . . ha ha.

In what way do you feel he is an exclusivist?

I have always enjoyed his writings because they have really helped me to embrace the love of God.

Constantine said...

He's among those who narrow the term salvation to essentially about going to Heaven and avoiding Hell. Also, the way to such a salvation is very limited and particular--kind of the Four Spiritual Laws mindset.

voixd'ange said...

I'm asking this question out of interest, not to disagree with you -

How do your views on these issues differ from his?

Constantine said...

I don't see the notion of "salvation" in a formulaic sense, as do the Evangelicals. For them it's about accepting Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and confessing with your mouth that He is Lord, etc., etc. It’s a pick and choose buffet of Scripture and way too systematic in its approach. It's primarily forensic and legal. It’s about justification and satisfaction. While at face value I might not necessarily disagree with these ideas entirely, I nonetheless think it turns the whole process into a recipe and largely a onetime event (their cute little alter call), eliminating altogether the reality, in my opinion anyway, that it, “salvation,” is indeed a process as such.

Let's put it this way Amiga. I'm not comfortable with these "religious" types. When I’m around a “Left-Behinder,” I can’t wait to get as far away from them as possible. I'm a bit too earthy, if you will. In my estimation, "salvation" is a term much bigger than we can fathom, and is much, much more than just an "individual" experience. For me, it's a life long journey punctuated by any number of events and with much and many ups and downs.

Btw, you can disagree w/ me as much as you like. I don’t mind.

voixd'ange said...

I don't disagree with you at all, actually. Who was it, Paul, that said "work out your salvation with fear and trembling . . ." Unless I am quoting him wrong. No, I too beleive that the salvation of our soul is an ongoing process, while the salvation of our spirit is instantaneous.

Constantine said...

One can hope.