If his latest blog on Huffington Post is any indication, ordained Baptist minister Brad R. Braxton was obviously sleeping through seminary. How else to explain the flat inaccuracies and new ideas he expounded on one of the oldest religions on the planet?
Just as liberals think nothing of twisting the U.S. Constitution to affirm their latest cause célèbre, Braxton's argument suggests that we do what we want and let Christ catch up.
“Could it be, however, that we follow Jesus most faithfully when we walk ahead of Jesus? I argue for a progressive Christianity that extends the meaning and mission of Jesus into the present and future, rather than promoting an obsession with the past,” Braxton said.
The writer would remake Jesus in Braxton's own politically liberal image and recast the meaning of His message to fit whatever Braxton feels is important.
“Consequently,” Braxton wrote, “those of us who bear Jesus' name should creatively replicate Jesus' progressive stance. Following Jesus requires us to turn our faces as much to the present and the future as to the past. The good news of the gospel is progressively unfolding itself and inviting us to proceed with faith and flexibility, instead of unyielding set of narrowly defined, rigid doctrines,” Braxton said.
To that end, he challenged the inerrancy of Scripture, and argued for its “continual reinterpretation,” presumably until he finds an interpretation he likes. He was untroubled by the Bible's clear admonition in Revelation 22:18-19 that man is not to add nor take away from Scripture.
Braxton and his ilk are even inventing their own nomenclature to avoid being confused with the fundamentalist Neanderthals they so disdain.
“Yet in light of the media's assumption that all evangelicals are fundamentalist or conservative, many progressive Christian leaders are now modifying the word “evangelical” with the adjective “prophetic,” thereby creating the term “prophetic evangelical,” Braxton said.
Why stop there? Why not reinvent Jesus himself in whatever image suits you at the time. Indeed, Braxton argued just that.
“Furthermore, my interfaith conversations have revealed how exclusive approaches to Christian scripture frustrate interfaith dialogue and cooperation. Colleagues in other religious traditions have indicated to me the problematic nature of certain biblically-sponsored conceptions of Christian evangelism. For example, Christian evangelism that presents Jesus Christ as the only way, the only truth, and the only life perpetuates, even if unintentionally, a genocidal impulse. This exclusive claim can represent the desire to eliminate all "religious others" such as Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews by converting them into Christians.”
How awkward! If only salvation could be more like a weight-loss program, wherein you choose the plan best for you.
True to form, the 'Religion' section of the Huffington Post is a religion section that hates religion, in particular, fundamental Christianity.
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