Seminary Dean eschews resurrection

[Anonymous]

Has anyone seen this Kristof Easter interview in the New York Times? https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/opinion/sunday/christian-easter-serene-jones.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

He interviews the dean of Union Theological Seminary, who is a United Church of Christ minister and a former Yale professor who doesn’t believe in the virgin birth or the resurrection and isn’t sure about heaven. Still, she considers herself a Christian.

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I think she is a heretic and in no way a Christian. Very sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a heretic and in no way a Christian. Very sad.

How do you suppose she got to be the dean of a prestigious Christian seminary - and to be ordained in the United Church of Christ and teach at Yale?

[Anonymous]

I think the only thing in that interview I disagree with is that if Jesus's body was found, our faith would be the same. No, I don't think that could be. But I agree with her that the core of our faith is also that God who made the universe cares enough about us to experience human life and lain and death. It's the incarnation i hang on to when the resurrection seems impossible, too.

See, I think she's right that none of us saw it, none of us really know, Mark's gospel that ends with a question mark is how we live our entire lives and how we die on this earth. Faith is the hope, not the absolute knowledge, that he lives again and that we may too. She didn't say it isn't true, just that she doesn't know - there's a yawning chasm of difference between denial and doubt. We're not the disciples who saw him again, and we don't know what heaven could look like.

But hey I grew up in the UCC and came back after an atheist period, so maybe I'm just more comfortable being uncertain than people from other backgrounds!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a heretic and in no way a Christian. Very sad.

How do you suppose she got to be the dean of a prestigious Christian seminary - and to be ordained in the United Church of Christ and teach at Yale?

Because it’s a sell out to PC thought

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a heretic and in no way a Christian. Very sad.

How do you suppose she got to be the dean of a prestigious Christian seminary - and to be ordained in the United Church of Christ and teach at Yale?

Because it’s a sell out to PC thought

Does that imply that Yale, Union seminary and the UCC are sell-outs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a heretic and in no way a Christian. Very sad.

How do you suppose she got to be the dean of a prestigious Christian seminary - and to be ordained in the United Church of Christ and teach at Yale?

Because it’s a sell out to PC thought

Does that imply that Yale, Union seminary and the UCC are sell-outs?

Completely. As is most of academia, if you haven’t noticed

[Anonymous]

Many people simply choose to redefine Christian. A christian refers by definition to a follower of Christ. The only things we know about Christ are from the Bible. Therefore a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ in the Bible.

Denominations have different interpretations of words/ themes / what should have more importance etc however at their core to be a Christian denomination or for someone to call themselves a Christian, they have to follow the teachings of Christ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many people simply choose to redefine Christian. A christian refers by definition to a follower of Christ. The only things we know about Christ are from the Bible. Therefore a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ in the Bible.

Denominations have different interpretations of words/ themes / what should have more importance etc however at their core to be a Christian denomination or for someone to call themselves a Christian, they have to follow the teachings of Christ.

Do you think you can follow the teachings of Christ without thinking that he's the son of God who was born of a virgin, died for our sins, was resurrected and ascended into heaven?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many people simply choose to redefine Christian. A christian refers by definition to a follower of Christ. The only things we know about Christ are from the Bible. Therefore a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ in the Bible.

Denominations have different interpretations of words/ themes / what should have more importance etc however at their core to be a Christian denomination or for someone to call themselves a Christian, they have to follow the teachings of Christ.

Which -- duh-- this so-called Christian is not doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people simply choose to redefine Christian. A christian refers by definition to a follower of Christ. The only things we know about Christ are from the Bible. Therefore a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ in the Bible.

Denominations have different interpretations of words/ themes / what should have more importance etc however at their core to be a Christian denomination or for someone to call themselves a Christian, they have to follow the teachings of Christ.

Do you think you can follow the teachings of Christ without thinking that he's the son of God who was born of a virgin, died for our sins, was resurrected and ascended into heaven?

I think you can follow Christ without KNOWING it. It should be hard to believe in miracles. What about faith as hope in things unseen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many people simply choose to redefine Christian. A christian refers by definition to a follower of Christ. The only things we know about Christ are from the Bible. Therefore a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ in the Bible.

Denominations have different interpretations of words/ themes / what should have more importance etc however at their core to be a Christian denomination or for someone to call themselves a Christian, they have to follow the teachings of Christ.

Yes, and Christ said He would rise again from the grave. So if you don't accept that, you are clearly not regarding the teachings of Christ.

This is a common red herring from non-believers, that all Christ taught was "be good to others." That's not at all the entirety of his teaching. He taught that was God in the flesh, that He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy of a Messiah, that He would die for our sins, that He would rise again bodily, that He would ascend to Heaven, and that He would return to judge the wicked.

If you throw out everything after "be good to others," you are not following the teachings of Christ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think she is a heretic and in no way a Christian. Very sad.

How do you suppose she got to be the dean of a prestigious Christian seminary - and to be ordained in the United Church of Christ and teach at Yale?

Because it’s a sell out to PC thought

Does that imply that Yale, Union seminary and the UCC are sell-outs?

Completely. As is most of academia, if you haven’t noticed

+1. And I’m a Yale alum. LOL that I’d consider Yale, the UCC, or the Union Theological Seminary to be faithful to or authoritative about the Christian faith. They’re super liberal institutions that try to make Christianity palatable to secular society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people simply choose to redefine Christian. A christian refers by definition to a follower of Christ. The only things we know about Christ are from the Bible. Therefore a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ in the Bible.

Denominations have different interpretations of words/ themes / what should have more importance etc however at their core to be a Christian denomination or for someone to call themselves a Christian, they have to follow the teachings of Christ.

Yes, and Christ said He would rise again from the grave. So if you don't accept that, you are clearly not regarding the teachings of Christ.

This is a common red herring from non-believers, that all Christ taught was "be good to others." That's not at all the entirety of his teaching. He taught that was God in the flesh, that He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy of a Messiah, that He would die for our sins, that He would rise again bodily, that He would ascend to Heaven, and that He would return to judge the wicked.

If you throw out everything after "be good to others," you are not following the teachings of Christ.

This is very Catholic, which she is not. I would not rule her out of the label Christian though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people simply choose to redefine Christian. A christian refers by definition to a follower of Christ. The only things we know about Christ are from the Bible. Therefore a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ in the Bible.

Denominations have different interpretations of words/ themes / what should have more importance etc however at their core to be a Christian denomination or for someone to call themselves a Christian, they have to follow the teachings of Christ.

Yes, and Christ said He would rise again from the grave. So if you don't accept that, you are clearly not regarding the teachings of Christ.

This is a common red herring from non-believers, that all Christ taught was "be good to others." That's not at all the entirety of his teaching. He taught that was God in the flesh, that He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy of a Messiah, that He would die for our sins, that He would rise again bodily, that He would ascend to Heaven, and that He would return to judge the wicked.

If you throw out everything after "be good to others," you are not following the teachings of Christ.

This is very Catholic, which she is not. I would not rule her out of the label Christian though.

No. The above is very Biblical. The catholic label has nothing to do with it