Two United Methodist Church (UMC) pastors prominent in the denomination’s self-described “Centrist” movement recently discussed why they have decided to remain in the United Methodist Church, alleging misinformation is being circulated about the post-separation UMC.
In a recent North Texas Annual Conference webinar titled “Diverse and Still United,” the Rev. Felicia Hopkins hosted the Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and the Rev. John Stephens, pastor of Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas.
Hamilton believes that a post-separation UMC has a better approach to the Gospel in reaching 21st-century people than the Global Methodist Church (GMC) approach. While he agreed that there are some things that a post-separation UMC needs to adopt from the GMC, Hamilton emphasized: “but overall, I believe the United Methodist Church is the better church for most United Methodist congregations in the United States.” Hamilton sought to counter what he charged was misinformation about the post-separation UMC.
“Will the United Methodist Church reject our founding foundational beliefs of the Christian faith…? This is absolutely not true,” Hamilton insisted, arguing that the UMC’s theology follows the United Methodist Book of Discipline, specifically part three, which discusses “doctrinal standards” and “theological task.”
Hamilton pointed out that the doctrines of the Global Methodist Book of Discipline came from the United Methodist Book of Discipline.
“It’s like a scaled-down or skinny down version…of the United Methodist Book of Discipline, part three,” Hamilton insisted. While Hamilton affirmed that the UMC will continue to hold the same Book of Discipline, he also believed that the UMC Discipline is a “more powerful statement of theology and how we live out our theology and how we derive our faith.”
Hamilton argued that no clergy in the post-separation UMC will be required to officiate same-sex weddings after the GMC separates. He stated: “No one will be forced to officiate at a same-gender wedding.”
However, he expects that, at General Conference 2024, the post-separation UMC would remove sentences from the Discipline defining “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
“We’re going to take that line out [of] the Book of Discipline, [it] doesn’t say anything about that,” Hamilton predicted.
Before 1972, homosexuality was not addressed by name in the Book of Discipline. Hamilton thinks that this previous version of the Discipline allowed “pastors who have…different ways of interpreting scripture…to minister contextually in the way that they feel they need to minister.” In removing sentences related to homosexuality, the post-separation UMC will allow churches to pursue their understanding of the Bible while remaining in UMC.
“[Traditionalists] will continue to hold those views…no one will be forced to officiate at same-gender weddings,” Hamilton declared.
Stephens claimed the separation of UMC hindered its mission in the world. “I just think that’s a bad witness when it comes to what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ… and that’s not a really good witness to the world,” he insisted.
The Houston pastor defined key terms: traditionalists, progressives, and compatibilists. Traditionalists believe in the authority of Scripture and interpret it as teaching a traditional understanding of human sexuality and marriage. Progressives believe in the authority of Scripture and interpret it to conduct a more inclusive understanding of human sexuality and marriage. Compatibilists, which Stephens defines as centrists, can be traditionalists or progressives; they can remain in a church where they may be in a place or a position where they interpret Scripture differently on particular issues.
He clarified that traditionalists are not equal to homophobic or anti-homosexuality. “A traditionalist does not automatically mean that people think that LGBTQ people are less than or mistakes or tolerated,” he argued. He believed that understanding both sides could lead to dialog with one another.
Stephens shared a letter from the late Bishop John K. Yambasu, who negotiated the Protocol for Separation that some progressives and centrists have since disavowed. In the letter, Yambasu wrote that continued dialogue is the crucial step to resolving the debate on human sexuality. At the end of the letter, Yambasu stated: “Africa will remain in the United Methodist Church, and they will remain traditional. A centrist and progressive coalition in the U.S. will remain in the United Methodist Church, and many traditionalists in the United States will remain in the United Methodist Church. How this will work out? The Post-Separation U.S. church with centrist progressives and traditionalists remains to be figured out…”
As Yambasu articulated, Stephens thought separation is easy, but it is the moves of the world, not Jesus Christ, and emphasized that we must listen and talk with one another no matter where we are. “I would just encourage us all to follow the model of Jesus,” Stephens accentuated.
The two ministers regard themselves as “traditional compatibilists” considering LGBTQ-identifying persons as a matter of interpretation, not of Biblical authority. Unlike Hamilton, however, Stephens expected that reforming the Discipline will take time “if we’re going to be led by not only those who are here remaining in the United Methodist Church, but also if we’re going to take leadership from the [overseas] central conferences,” Stephens pointed out.
At the end of the webinar, Hopkins asked both ministers about their hope.
Hamilton replied that many surveys indicate that most UMC members are “traditional compatibilists.” He hopes that many UMC members would say, “I am a traditional compatibilist.”
Stephens wants to be a church “that can live into the context of the future upholding those doctrinal standards but giving us some flexibility” and a church that could “be led by the rest of the [Methodist churches in the] world” about the homosexuality issues. Stephens believed this would enable American United Methodists to see big blind spots.
Comment by Anthony on June 30, 2022 at 1:48 pm
Change the title of this article to: THE BIG LIE.
Comment by Jeff on June 30, 2022 at 1:55 pm
By his arrogant and prideful slicing and dicing of the holy and sacred Word of GOD into “buckets” of his own choosing, 75% of which may be situationally discarded (according to Adam Hamilton), this evil man has revealed himself to be the WORST of the many heretics in the UMC.
No centrist, this one; rather, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. His unholy thesis gives cover to all manner of perversion, idolatry, and false teaching. The UMC’s alphabet perversion and paganism proponents, shameful as they are, are DOWNSTREAM of Hamilton’s enabling, and draw strength from it.
Comment by Jeff on June 30, 2022 at 2:00 pm
Anthony, I lost count of the number of BIG LIES from those two deceivers.
Here’s just one: “traditional compatibilist”. Might as well say “methodist unicorn”; they don’t really exist.
Comment by td on June 30, 2022 at 2:06 pm
Hahaha. Hamilton is such an elitist.
“Many UMC members would say, ‘I am a traditional compatabilist’ “. Is that a joke? Who would ever use words like that?
And he is wrong – the post UMC will eventually require all their ministers to marry same sex couples. It won’t even take 5 years for that to occur. Either it is right or wrong to do so, there can be no personal interpretation of who the UMC marries.
Hamilton may “technically” be correct simply because a minister may theoretically have the discretion to not marry anyone they choose not to marry. But once it is allowed, they will claim that to refuse to marry same sex couples will be akin to refusing to marry black people because “they were born that way”. Hamilton is a snake.
Comment by Steve on June 30, 2022 at 2:12 pm
The problem with their approach is they are too busy focusing on the fish bowl and ignoring the ocean. Everything they want to accomplish regarding human sexuality has already been achieved in many denominations. Yet, those denominations have lost members not gained them. As Anthony wrote, that’s the big lie. Changing our stance on LGBT+ marriage and clergy turns people away from Christ. How these two can convince themselves the change is needed to minister to the next generations is beyond me given the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Plus, there is already a church that has progressive churches, traditional churches, and centrist churches under a big tent: it’s called the Protestant Church. Dividing the fish bowl into differing theologies ignores the diverse ocean the fish bowl sits in. They just can not understand that Progressives and Traditionalists are more comfortable in denominations that meet their specific theological needs. We Protestants already have that. These two need to look past the fish bowl.
Comment by Dan W on June 30, 2022 at 2:25 pm
Reverend Hamilton doesn’t get it, or he’s being deceptive. It doesn’t matter what the Book of Discipline says if it isn’t upheld, if it’s not put into practice. If Methodists don’t follow the rules, don’t honor their covenants, there can be no unity.
I agree with Hamilton on one point – if the G.M.C. wants to operate like the old U.M.C. there won’t be a dime’s worth of difference in the two.
Comment by RHJ on June 30, 2022 at 2:59 pm
That sounds like what leaders of the ELCA were saying before their “new truth”.
There were supposed to be four equally respected stances on sexuality. That rapidly collapsed down to the woke position being the only one allowed in ELCA institutions.
Comment by Bevan on June 30, 2022 at 3:03 pm
Both were specifically bending stats to make people wanting to leave feel alone. He constantly dodged direct questions about what we believe. They were more interested in polls of their pews to determine what they should believe as UMC pastors than teaching the congregation what Jesus said and meant. They explicitly said that a pastor was welcome to believe and preach anything they want to, even if it was contrary to the Bible. They hid behind the BOD while disparaging it. If you were on the fence before this conference you were probably going to choose to leave after sitting through this travesty.
Comment by David Mu on June 30, 2022 at 3:10 pm
Yet again the display that must have crossed Constantine the Great’s mind after he legalized Christianity; these people love division and love to hate each other for this divisive behavior to yet go on and on and on…
Comment by Rev. Dr. Lee D Cary (ret. UM clergy) on June 30, 2022 at 4:54 pm
“The Houston pastor defined key terms: traditionalists, progressives, and compatibilists. Traditionalists believe in the authority of Scripture and interpret it as teaching a traditional understanding of human sexuality and marriage. Progressives believe in the authority of Scripture and interpret it to conduct a more inclusive understanding of human sexuality and marriage. Compatibilists, which Stephens defines as centrists, can be traditionalists or progressives; they can remain in a church where they may be in a place or a position where they interpret Scripture differently on particular issues.”
Or, in plain English:
“Traditionalists” believe in the authority of Scripture where te intended meaning is clear and consistent. (Example: The SCOTUS delegated the abortion issue to the state where it’ has belonged during the last 49 years, since it’s not an issue addressed in the US Constitution.)
“Progressives” believe that the Bible is a living document to be interpreted by each generation according to shifting world views and evolving moral codes. (Example: The six US cities that today lead the nation in criminal activity are all run by Progressives who do not enforce laws.)
“Compatibilists” are relativists who drift in the shifting wind. Neither hot nor cold.
Comment by Tom on June 30, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Hamilton argued that no clergy in the post-separation UMC will be required to officiate same-sex weddings after the GMC separates. He stated: “No one will be forced to officiate at a same-gender wedding.”
Mr. Hamilton has apparently lived on Neptune for the last 20 years.
Comment by Steve on June 30, 2022 at 7:23 pm
Tom,
Right. One group strongly feels the other group’s beliefs are akin to oppression and hate. Anyone who thinks those two groups can coexist in one denomination is deluding themselves. This is why we have separate denominations in the Protestant church. These two act like they are intelligent but they can’t grasp this basic concept.
Comment by Anthony on June 30, 2022 at 7:42 pm
The LGBTQ people will tell Hamilton what he can do with his sales pitch of pastors being able to opt out of LGBTQ weddings. He’ll find out how many friends he actually has in that community when he tries to sell them that. I could go on and on about Hamilton and his fellow heretics. Stop. Updated title of article: THE BIG LIE UNDER THE BIG TENT.
Comment by David S. on July 1, 2022 at 9:11 am
I have a newsflash for them…it is hubris to think that psUMC will not have any significant changes. Consider ECUSA, the UMC’s nearest relative, at first traditionalists, including traditional bishops were welcome to stay, yet eventually bishops were required to affirm the new ethic with Bishop William Love, the last remaining holdout being forced at the end of 2020. Or look at the PC(USA), the denomination has an official polity of diversity of thought, yet the leadership only gives lip service, when pressed. If you hold to a traditional ethic, you are ostracized to force conformity or departure. Or consider the ELCA, there is a rather quiet exodus of more traditional and moderate ELCA congregations as the national institutions of that denomination push the boundaries in rejecting not just unbiblical theology surrounding sex and gender, but any other distinctively Christian doctrine. Apparently, the only sin not tolerated in the ELCA is blatant racism, even when committed by the most popular flavor of the day, a transgender bishop. One doesn’t hear about the exodus in the ELCA, because unlike ECUSA, UMC, and PC(USA), there are no trust clauses to get in the way to trigger a lawsuit over valuable church property.
While I wish I could say that neo-paganism being adopted by the denominations on sex and gender are leading to the rejection of core historic doctrines, that would be to misstate the situation. That matter has already tacitly occurred through the toleration of individuals such as Mr. Spong (ECUSA) or Mansfield Kaseman (UPCUSA, immediate PCUSA predecessor). At this point, if you hold to fidelity to historic Christian doctrines, you are the one who are marginalized or cast out, while the heretics are the ones who are openly celebrated. Just search your respective denomination’s website and publications for examples. The bigger issue is that each of the mainline denominations have increasing transformed themselves into a cult, a false religion, that, like the Mormons, JWs, Christian Science, Oneness Pentecostals, the more originalist sects of Seventh Day Adventism, and others, use the language of orthodox Christianity, but are an entirely different religion as Machen observed of the liberal Christianity of his day, which has become the “Progressive Christianity” of our day.
Comment by Steve on July 1, 2022 at 2:14 pm
David S. you are right. I watched the entire webinar and they talk as if the UMC exists in a vacuum and this has never happened in another denomination before. There is more than one example of how this will play out.
They keep saying it is hurtful for members of the LGBT+ community to not have yet another denomination change its stance on marriage. They argue in the webinar that it is keeping LGBT+ members and the young from the UMC and receiving Christ. But statistics show that neither group is going to the denominations that are already LGBT+ friendly. In fact, those denominations are losing members faster than the UMC is.
Comment by Gary on July 1, 2022 at 10:53 pm
Felicia is a DS from NWTX. There’s too
Much misinformation
Comment by Anthony on July 3, 2022 at 8:51 am
David S.,
Thank you for describing what is happening with “liberal Christianity”, including the United Methodist Church in this age of unsubstantiated, unverified secular propaganda being fed to a gullible populace that has worked its way into these denominations. No wonder so many of those who attend these liberal churches fall for, (as you describe it, “use the language of orthodox Christianity”), the heresy, even blasphemy as a consequence of their Biblically illiteracy. The Great Deceiver has essentially placed the Bible in the archives of these places and is the director of this heresy, this paganism disguised in Christian clothing.
Comment by Nelson Castorillo on July 4, 2022 at 11:00 am
We are commanded to pursue peace and do the ministry of reconciliation. We are one in Christ and we have different ways of doing ministry. We cannot have a uniform method for doing certain activities for we have our individual personalities. We should all live in harmony and love not in hatred.
Comment by Washington on July 4, 2022 at 11:30 am
[Hamilton argued that no clergy in the post-separation UMC will be required to officiate same-sex weddings after the GMC separates. He stated: “No one will be forced to officiate at a same-gender wedding.”]
But what happens when a gay pastor, drag queen, or clergy that does same-sex marriage is appointed to a traditional church? There is absolutely no recourse for the congregation. You can count on liberal clergy being appointed to large churches (w/good salaries) that were once headed by evangelicals pastors [thats already been happening]. So Hamilton and the so-called Centrists are not being truthful when they say this won’t affect traditional churches. You can expect more radical clergy being elected to the office of Bishop, who punitively punish traditional clergy that refuse accept the LGBT lifestyle. Look what happened years back in VA, when the a pastor refused to admit into membership an unrepentant gay man.
Comment by Anthony on July 4, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Mark,
Can you please DELETE the John Kenyon post?
Comment by Jeffrey Walton on July 5, 2022 at 9:27 am
A comment with profanity has been removed.
Comment by Loren J Golden on July 4, 2022 at 7:15 pm
“Before 1972, homosexuality was not addressed by name in the Book of Discipline. Hamilton thinks that this previous version of the Discipline allowed ‘pastors who have…different ways of interpreting scripture…to minister contextually in the way that they feel they need to minister.’ In removing sentences related to homosexuality, the post-separation UMC will allow churches to pursue their understanding of the Bible while remaining in UMC.”
Mr. Hamilton is self-deceived, if he thinks that United Methodists prior to 1972 were of two minds on the sinfulness of homosexuality. The reason it was not in the Book of Discipline, is because prior to 1972, practically no one in the Church had controverted the fact that Scripture condemns it as sin (Gen. 19.4-9, Lev. 18.22, 20.13, Dt. 23.17, I Kg. 14.24, 15.12, 22.46, II Kg. 23.7, Rom. 1.24-28, I Cor. 6.9-11, I Tim. 1.8-11, Jude 7). And as a foretaste of how well pastors and churches who believe, based on the teachings of Scripture, that homosexuals ought neither to be ordained into office in the Lord Jesus’ Church nor joined in a “same-sex marriage” will be allowed “to pursue their understanding of the Bible while remaining in (the post-separation) UMC,” one only has to count the number of UMC congregations that are now pastored by men who believe that the Scriptures proscribe the ordination of women (I Cor. 14.33-38, I Tim. 2.8-3.16).
Homosexuality and a host of other forms of sexual immorality are now accepted by American (and Western) culture as positive goods and any opposition to them as morally unacceptable. A majority of American UMC clergy have also come to this conclusion, whether by conviction or concession, and they are open to neither the Scriptures nor the Spirit telling them otherwise. It may very well be true, that “no (traditionalist clergy) will be forced to officiate at same-gender weddings,” as Hamilton claims. But I foresee that conferences in the post-separation UMC will be increasingly unwilling to ordain men and women who hold to Biblical teaching on gender and human sexuality as the Word of God on the matter. Likewise, I foresee that bishops will not long allow such men and women who are already ordained to remain in pulpits of influence in the post-separation UMC.
Comment by Loren J Golden on July 4, 2022 at 7:41 pm
“Hamilton believes that a post-separation UMC has a better approach to the Gospel in reaching 21st-century people than the Global Methodist Church (GMC) approach.”
Really? When was the last time that the American UMC, discounting the overseas portion of the denomination, grew numerically? It does not seem to me that most American UMC churches are reaching anyone with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly, the UMC congregation I left 31 years ago was not reaching anyone with the Gospel.
And perhaps more to the point, which “gospel” is Hamilton talking about? Paul sums up the Gospel in this: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Rom. 5.8-10)
Now, while he would very likely agree with Paul’s statement (at least on the surface), Adam Hamilton’s ill-treatment of the Scriptures (not addressed in Mr. Jang’s post) throws into doubt the meaning of the word “sinners”. What, exactly, is meant by the word “sin”?
The Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 14 gives this succinct answer: “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.” Sin, at its most basic level, is an offense against God, whether by failing to do what He commands, or by doing what He forbids. It is the reason why every Sunday we come before the Lord and confess our sins corporately and publicly (although with an attitude much more like the Pharisee than the tax collector, even in the best of churches), with a moment of silence (which I find all too short) to confess our sins to Him individually and privately. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3.23)
Before we continue, we need to pause, to point out that there is a distinction between three types of laws in the Old Testament Law. The first of these are the Ceremonial Laws, which attended the sacrificial system established by God prior to the coming of Jesus Christ, wherein an animal was slain in the place of individuals and of the people as a whole. These included things like circumcision (Gen. 17.10-14, Lev. 12.3), prohibiting certain foods (Lev. 11), laws requiring purification after childbirth (Lev. 12), laws concerning leprosy (Lev. 13-14), laws concerning bodily discharges (Lev. 15), laws prohibiting breeding two different kinds of cattle, sowing a field with two different kinds of seed, or wearing garments sewn from two different materials of cloth (Lev. 19.19), and the like. The Ceremonial Law was intended as a tutor, to teach the children of Israel the meaning of holiness by giving them concrete examples (Gal. 4.1-3). But with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and His once-for-all sacrifice on the Cross, the Ceremonial Law is passed away with the Old Testament sacrificial system that gave it meaning (Mt. 15.17,20, Mk. 7.15-19, Acts 10.10-16, 15.1-29, Gal. 2.1-14, 4.4-7).
Secondly, the Old Testament Law was intended to govern Ancient Israel as a sovereign nation under the rule of God. As such, it included laws stipulating penalties for many sins—especially capital punishment. However, Ancient Israel perished as a sovereign nation in 597 BC, when the Lord allowed Babylon to conquer the Southern Kingdom and carry its people away captive. And when the people were at last allowed to return to the Promised Land, it was as a vassal state to a foreign power, and thus it remained until Ancient Israel perished as a nation again in the sack of Jerusalem in AD 70. Thus, the Judicial Law also passed away with the state of Ancient Israel.
The remaining laws of the Old Testament are classified as the Moral Law, and violation of such laws offend the Lord, including all the laws concerning sexual immorality in Leviticus 18 (among other places), for violation of which He was driving the Canaanites, Amorites, et al, from the Promised Land (after all, it was not for eating pork or shellfish, or for wearing a garment woven from a cotton/wool blend that He was driving them out). Indeed, many of the Leviticus 18 laws are repeated in the New Testament.
Now, it is not to these three categories that the neo-Marcionite Adam Hamilton refers when he talks about his “three bucket method”. Rather, it is these (quoted from his blog):
“1. Scriptures that express God’s heart, character and timeless will for human beings.
“2. Scriptures that expressed God’s will in a particular time, but are no longer binding.
“3. Scriptures that never fully expressed the heart, character or will of God.”
When it comes to Scriptures concerning homosexuality, Hamilton is more than happy to dump them in his Third Bucket. “Anyone who has a child that is gay would rightly ask, ‘Did God ever really command that gay and lesbian children be put to death?’ They might also ask, ‘Does God really see my child, or the love they share for their partner, as an abomination?’” Essentially, he is reposing the question the serpent originally put to Eve: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” (Gen. 3.1)
To answer his questions: Yes, the Lord through Moses did, in fact, say: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death.” (Lev. 20.13) Again, the requirement that they should be put to death is part of the Judicial Law and is passed away with the state of Ancient Israel, and the Church is not obligated to advocate for its reenactment in state or federal law. The same applies to the capital punishment required for people guilty of child sacrifice, consulting spirits and mediums, cursing one’s father or mother, adultery, incest, bestiality, or practicing witchcraft (the broader context of Lev. 20). These things are an abomination to the Lord; they offend Him.
In Luke 7.36-50, the beloved physician recounts the time when the Lord Jesus was visiting the home of Simon the Pharisee, and a sinful woman (likely a prostitute or an adulteress) came in and washed His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with expensive ointment. Simon thought to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” But Jesus, apparently reading his mind, answered by comparing two men owing vastly different levels of debt that were forgiven them, and asked Simon which of them would love the one who forgave the debts more, and Simon correctly answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And Jesus explained that this woman’s “sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loves much. But he who is forgiven little loves little.”
The Gospel is good news only to people who are convinced that they have sinned, and that their sins are forgiven. Conversely, it is not good news to people who are not convinced that they have sinned, nor that they need God’s forgiveness for what they have done, despite the fact that God regards what they have done as sin, that what they have done has offended Him. They are not reconciled to Him; they are still estranged from Him.
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life.” (Rom. 6.1-4) The Christian is called by God to live a life of repentance. We all sin; by nature, we are descended from Adam, the first sinner. Our life in Christ, this side of the Resurrection, does not change that. We still sin, even after having been forgiven. But the difference is this: We know that we have sinned, we know that God is offended by it, and we repent of it. Constantly. That means, we stop doing it, we confess to the Lord that we have done it, that we have offended Him, and we seek His forgiveness for what we have done and His strength, which is ours through the Holy Spirit, to keep from doing it again. Yes, we will fail. But rather than giving up on sanctification, and going back to fulfilling the desires of the flesh, we “forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead. (We) press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3.13-14)
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (I Cor. 6.9-11)
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Cor. 5.16-21)
Comment by BG on July 5, 2022 at 10:29 am
My liberal church friends would defend gay marriage by saying “If two people LOVE one another, how can you deny them marriage (and having sex)? In the future I can hear them continue, if three, four, more people LOVE one another, how can you deny them polygamous marriage (and having sex)? And it goes on, if an adult and a child LOVE one another, how can you deny them marriage (and having sex)? If a human and an animal LOVE one another, and so on and on. You see for them “LOVE” justifies sin.
I only hope that for many middle of the road Methodists, the liberals will at some point cross the line for even them. Wonder where that line will be for Hamilton and Stephens?
Comment by Anthony on July 5, 2022 at 3:15 pm
The word discrimination was used earlier here to describe the reaction from the LGBTQ+ community when a future UMC pastor refuses to “marry” same sex couples and other types of arrangements. Not only will the cry of discrimination go up – it will most definitely become a chargeable offense, written into the Book of Disciple, with such pastors being placed in the position of being defrocked. Nothing short of that, and much more, will ever be accepted by the LGBTQ+ members. Hamilton needs to stand in front of a mirror and repeat over and over – I should have been a full time fiction writer.
Comment by Loren J Golden on July 7, 2022 at 9:04 pm
Anthony, don’t ask him to do that. Fiction writers can communicate theological truths to great effect. Indeed, C.S. Lewis wrote both fiction and non-fiction very well. On the other hand, I don’t think Mr. Hamilton’s fiction would be half as interesting to read as Lewis’ works.
But I do think that, barring a complete change of heart (which is not out of the Lord’s power), whereby he forsakes heterodoxy for orthodoxy once more, I think eternally he would be better off seeking a different vocation.
Comment by JoeR on July 16, 2022 at 8:32 pm
Who made up the term traditional compatabilist? Even my spell check keeps changing this made up term.
May the last Methodist turn out the lights and lock the doors.