514: God's Amazing Universal Grace Versus the Cheap Grace of Exclusivist Church Doctrine

By Rudy Barnes, Jr., September 28, 2024

God’s amazing grace isn’t just for Christians.  It’s a universal and reconciling spiritual power available to all who seek it, and those who seek it will find it.  I’m awed by the power of God’s grace when I hear Ray Charles sing Amazing Grace.  It’s a transforming power of God’s love that enables the spiritually lost to be found and for the blind to see.

That may not be obvious to those outside the church, since the exclusivist doctrines on salvation of St. Paul and Martin Luther conflict with the universalist teachings of Jesus.  While God’s saving grace is needed for salvation, it’s not limited to Christians.  It’s a joint venture between a God of love and mercy and all those who are spiritually lost and blind to God’s truth.

The early church knew that if discipleship were essential for salvation, Christianity would never be popular, so it promoted exclusivist beliefs in Jesus Christ as the alter ego of God as the only means of salvation.  Such exclusivist church doctrines never taught by Jesus are a form of cheap grace, yet they enabled Christianity to become the world’s largest religion.

The concepts of cheap grace promoted by St. Paul and Martin Luther in the Reformation reflect the contrast between the universal teachings of Jesus on God’s grace and exclusivist church doctrines on the divinity of Jesus.  Jesus was a Jew who called his disciples to follow him, not to worship him.  He knew that any claim of divinity by a Jew was blasphemous.

Paul’s exclusivist atonement doctrine in Romans 3 opposed the universal truth taught by Jesus that all who do God’s will are his spiritual brothers and sisters (Mark 3:33-35).  God’s amazing grace is universal, based on the transforming power of God’s reconciling love, and then sharing that love with others.  It’s not dependent on a person’s religion.    

Exclusivist church doctrines began to lose their popularity when reason and advances in knowledge ushered in the 17th century Enlightenment.  The church began to shrink in the 20th century, and it lost its legitimacy in 2016 when most white Christians elected Donald Trump President.  Trump’s narcissistic moral standards are the antithesis of those taught by Jesus.

The church should reject the exclusivist doctrines of St. Paul and Martin Luther as the only means of salvation, and conform its doctrines to the universal teachings of Jesus.  That’s unlikely with ancient church doctrine that limits salvation to exclusivist beliefs that conflict with the altruistic teachings of Jesus, yet allowed Christianity to become a popular religion.

In the Reformation Martin Luther affirmed St. Paul’s emphasis on exclusivist Christian beliefs as the only means of salvation.  In modern times UMC Bishop Kenneth Carter articulated a version of John Wesley’s concept of God’s grace that more closely conforms to God’s universal love as taught by Jesus.  It’s a good beginning point for reforming church doctrine.

 

Notes:   

The Prayer of St. Francis describes the reconciling power of God’s love in this life and the next:           Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.  Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy.                                                                                                                                          O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood, as to understand; To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.  See https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/prayer/traditional-catholic-prayers/saints-prayers/peace-prayer-of-saint-francis/ife.

On A Wesleyan understanding of grace by Retired Bishop Kenneth L. Carder that describes prevenient, justifying and sanctifying grace, and emphasizes that “The early Methodists devoted themselves to pursuing holiness of heart and life by practicing the "General Rules for the United Societies." Continuation in the societies required that the members demonstrate their desire for salvation, "First, by doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind. ... Secondly, by doing good: by being merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, ... Thirdly, by attending upon all the ordinances of God" (The Book of Discipline 2012, 78-79).  https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/a-wesleyan-understanding-of-grace#:~:text=Wesley%20described%20prevenient%20grace%20as,are%20all%20givens%20or%20gifts.

On Ross Douthat’s commentary on What Has Trump Cost American Christianity?, see

 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/opinion/tim-keller-donald-trump-election-2024.html.

On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Divinity and Moral Teachings of Jesus, see  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/05/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

On Religious Exclusivity: Does It Matter?  see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/religious-exclusivity-does-it-matter.html.

    

On The Cost of Discipleship and Cheap Grace, see 

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/12/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-cost.html.

On The Cost of  Discipleship to the Church, see  

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/06/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-cost.html.

On How Following Jesus, Not Worshiping Christ, Can Bring Light Into a Dark World, see https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/03/musings-on-how-following-jesus-not.html.

On Going Back to the Future on the Evolution of Christianity, see 

https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/04/musings-on-going-back-to-future-in.html.

On Why Churches Ignore the Moral Teachings of Jesus, see https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/06/500-musings-on-why-most-churches-ignore.html. 

On Popularity as the Measure of Success in the Church and Democracy, see 

https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/08/musings-on-popularity-as-measure-of.html.

By Rudy Barnes, Jr., September 28, 2024

Musings on Whether the Atonement Doctrine Is God’s Word, or a Christian Myth

By Rudy Barnes, Jr., September 21, 2024

The Apostle Paul promulgated the doctrine of atonement, asserting that God sent Jesus Christ into the world as a blood sacrifice to die for the sins of all believers (Romans 3:9-31); and it remains at the heart of Christian doctrine to this day.  As a retired UMC pastor I never believed that God ordained the crucifixion of Jesus as a blood sacrifice to save believers from sin.

Paul was a Jewish religious zealot who believed that Mosaic Law was God’s standard of righteousness, and that it required a blood sacrifice to atone for sin.  The Gospel of John introduces Jesus as the Logos, or God’s Word (John 1:1-2), and includes the new command to love one another (John 13:34) as God’s moral imperative for humankind.

Jesus taught that God preferred mercy over sacrifice (see Matthew 9:10-13; Hosea 6:6 and Amos 5:21); and he never taught that salvation depended on belief in a blood atonement to forgive sins.  The crucifixion was an act of human depravity orchestrated by Roman authorities and Jewish religious leaders, yet the church has never questioned the doctrine. 

I reject the atonement doctrine as a Christian myth, but I believe that the resurrection was God’s promise that His Word would never die.  A loving and merciful God would never limit salvation to those who believe in a human sacrifice as the only means of salvation; and it’s ironic that Christianity became the world’s largest religion with such a barbaric doctrine.

Emphasis on exclusivist Christian doctrines that ignore the altruistic and universal teachings of Jesus have caused the decline of Christianity with its increasing irrelevance in a troubled world of growing religious pluralism.  To save Jesus from a church that emphasizes exclusivist beliefs, Christians should emphasize the teachings of Jesus to love one another.

In Judaism and Islam the moral imperatives of atonement are similar to those of social justice and repentance for harming others, and more consistent with following Jesus than belief in blood atonement to forgive sin.  The Enlightenment ended the sovereignty of God in politics, and ushered in democracy that made humans the master of their political destiny.

The Christian doctrine of blood atonement has promoted standards that conflict with modern moral and legal standards of justice.  Blood atonement has its focus on saving sinners who have harmed others, and ignores justice for those harmed.  Such disparities between the Christian concept of atonement and modern concepts of justice should be rectified.  

Exclusivist Christian beliefs that ignore moral and legal standards of justice should be reconciled with universal forms of justice based on the altruistic moral teachings of Jesus, rather than promoting ancient barbaric beliefs like blood atonement that were never taught by Jesus.  Christianity is overdue for reforms that conform to reason and modern forms of justice. 

Notes:

On Seeing the Resurrection in a New Light and The Cross as a barbaric instrument of death, see Question & Answer, Progressive Christianity, March 21, 2024:                                                                                                        Question: The Cross, an instrument of death, repels me as a barbaric way to symbolize Christianity.  Were a modern-day Jesus or a female equivalent to die from gunfire, would it be appropriate for the resulting places of worship to feature guns on top of their buildings and for religious leaders to wear guns around their necks, all for honoring the new messiah?      Answer: Thank you, Barry, for questioning the cross! There are so many ways we can symbolize, uphold, and remember Jesus' life and actions, so why boil it down to the moment of his death?  The era of Constantine (4th century) marks a point in history where the church went in a very different direction from what Jesus taught.  Constantine, a Christian convert, claimed the cross as an official symbol.  Crucifixion scenes were popularized as late as the 11th century to support theories of atonement and the crusades which served politics and power. For Christ followers today, the cross is over-simplified and most certainly misunderstood, and it can also be one symbol in a host of others that invites us to connect more deeply with the teachings of a man and his steady invitation for us all to choose Life.~ Rev. Lauren Van Ham
https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/03/. 

Atonement, atoning, or making amends is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other expression of feelings of remorse. Atonement "is closely associated to forgiveness, reconciliation, sorrow, remorse, repentance, reparation, and guilt".[1] It can be seen as a necessary step on a path to redemption.[2] Expiation is the related concept of removing guilt, particularly the undoing of sin or other transgressions in religious contexts. In the legal systems, the concept of atonement plays an important role with respect to criminal justice, where it is considered one of the primary goals of criminal rehabilitation.[4] In religion, atonement is "a spiritual concept which has been studied since time immemorial in Biblical and Kabbalistic texts",[1] while "[s]tories of atonement are ubiquitous in religious discourse and the language of atonement fundamentally reveals a redemptive turn".[5   Concepts in religion include: Atonement in Judaism - the process of causing a transgression to be forgiven or pardoned. In Rabbinic Judaism, people achieve atonement through repentance, sometimes followed by some combination of confession, restitution, tribulations (unpleasant life experiences), the experience of dying, or other factors.  Another aspect of atonement is the occurrence of Yom Kippur (the day itself, as distinct from the Temple service performed on it), also known as "the Day of Atonement", which is a biblical/Jewish observance.  Atonement in Christianity, in western Christian theology, describes beliefs that human beings can [only] be reconciled to God through Christ's sacrificial suffering and death.[6] Atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin in general and original sin in particular through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus,[7][8] Throughout the centuries, Christians have used different metaphors and given differing explanations of atonement to express how atonement might work. Churches and denominations may vary in which metaphor or explanation they consider most accurately fits into their theological perspective; however all Christians emphasize that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and through his death the sins of humanity have been forgiven,[9] enabling the reconciliation between God and his creation.  For different concepts of atonement, see Wikipedia, at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atonement#In_religion_and_behavior.  

Musings on Our Values. We'll Find Out What They Are on November 5

By Rudy Barnes, Jr., September 14, 2024

The big debate is over, and the only poll that counts now is the one on November 5.  That’s when we’ll find out the dominant values in American democracy.  I’m an octogenarian, too close to my expiration date to move to another country if Trump wins.  My wife and I will ride the uncertain political waves that will lead to the election, and see it through.

I have attached several articles that describe the political situation better than I could, so I won’t dwell on it at length, other than to say the only way a libertarian democracy can provide freedom for its people is for a majority of its voters to promote the common good.  If they do not, democracies can be polarized by single issue groups or political parties--as in the U.S.

In America, faith shapes our values, and most Americans identify with the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors of other races and religions as we love ourselves.  It’s taken from the Hebrew Bible, was taught by Jesus and accepted by Muslim scholars as a common word of faith that promotes the common good; but it has been ignored in politics.

All true democracies have free and open elections, Russia (and perhaps Israel) being notable exceptions.  Standards of political legitimacy in a democracy are based on the public perception of values projected by winners in national elections.  In pluralistic democracies like America those values can be diverse, based on age, sex, education and income disparities.

Demographic changes in birth rates, immigration and growing disparities in wealth can change standards of political legitimacy and create political volatility that threatens the common good essential in a stable democracy.  And racial and religious differences have exacerbated unrest and political instability in pluralistic democracies around the world.

The U.S. is the most prosperous and powerful democracy in the world, but Russia and China are threatening American hegemony.  Issues in foreign policy and domestic fiscal policy, including the debt, the dollar and alternate cyber currencies will likely become dominant issues in the next couple of months; but Harris and Trump have not yet addressed those issues.

Before 2016, America’s two-party duopoly provided a modicum of political balance and stability in American politics.  Since then the self-destruction of the Republican Party under Donald Trump and his radical right surrogates have left America’s democracy and its values without a political center. 

Fasten your safety belts.  There’s dangerous turbulence ahead in America’s politics on how it will manage its massive national debt and continue to support wars in Israel and Ukraine.  The election on November 5 will be a test of America’s national values.  Hopefully the common good will prevail and restore a sense of balance in America’s dysfunctional democracy.      

Notes:

Ross Douthat and David Brooks are distinguished political commentators who support Pamela Harris, but are afraid Trump will win the election.  Ross Douthat explains Why I Think that Trump Will Win at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/06/opinion/trump-victory.html.  David Brooks explains How Trump Wins (and Harris and the Democrats Blow it) at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/04/opinion/trump-win-election-harris.html.  Both of those articles were written before the debate. 

A post-debate article emphasizing the differences between the two candidates that’s more favorable to Harris is at   https://time.com/7019747/harris-trump-debate-cover/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc&utm. 

On how many American voters are considering leaving the nation based on the election, see These Americans Want Out at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/09/06/realestate/american-voters-leave-us-politics.html.

 On Democracy, Morality and Reason and the Greatest Commandment as a Common Word of Faith that Promotes the Common Good, see https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/08/democracy-morality-reason-and-faith.html.

On promoting values essential to the common good as standards of political legitimacy in American democracy, see https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/08/musings-on-promoting-common-good-as.html.