What those crypto-atheists are trying to do is to downsize Our Lord into an ordinary human being, trying to make it look on the surface as if He had to work His Way up into becoming a “Son” of God (presumably on the Cross) – whereas we KNOW that He was ALWAYS both God AND Man simultaneously!!! He was after all of ONE SUBSTANCE with the Father!!

THAT’S the answer (in so far as I can tell) that those Spongians need to hear – and loud and clear!!! [And all the advertisements I've seen with a few seminaries about "getting into" Bultmann, Barth, Tillich, Schweitzer et al simply prove those institutions don't worry God but Man.] Those lowlives can as well go Buddhist and/or Confucianist (already done in the Orient), only that instead they can put in their place any or more of Plato, Aristotle (as Mr. Johnson stated it so well!), Epicurus, Zeno, Diogenes, Seneca or whoever else they want. At least it’s more honest than to pretend whom they at heart don’t want to “worship”!!!!

[As to whether Jesus was testing the Canaanite lady, or simply stressing that He was FIRST Sent for Israel and wanted to ensure they would reject Him so as to then Shame Them by welcoming the Gentiles (as St. Paul tells us in Romans) - or both - is not ours to categorically seek to know. We're after all terrestrial beings lower than the angels - who themselves don't know everything there is to know!!...]

Errr, The Anglican Organization of Canada needs to proof their pamphlets a little better. Matthew 14:22-27 is the story of Jesus walking on water. I think they mean Matthew 15:22-27. Or maybe not. Who knows?

Little Myrmidon, perhaps it is Matthew 14 in the Revised Canadian Gospel.

After all, if Jesus only discovered his universality for the first time in the encounter with the Canaanite woman, then obviously this had to precede, not follow, the walking on the water (or rather, the walking-on-the-localised-ice-floe as we now know it to be, thanks to “a study led by Florida State University Professor of Oceanography Doron Nof”.)

I mean, come on: if you put the miracle first (assuming that you actually still believe in such things as “miracles”, which I’m sure a later Lenten meditation will address), that means he wasn’t Just Some Guy, and that completely ruins the point of the meditation, doesn’t it?

Perhaps they think Canadians no longer read their Bibles seriously. Once they find out somebody does, that person is a marked man…

These people are open to the Muslim criticism of Christianity. If Jesus was only a man, then isn’t your whole religion idolatry? Why did Jesus perform all those miracles? At least the Muslims believe in the miracles, which liberal “Christians” don’t, mostly. But why did he come and do all these things? Neither the Muslims nor the liberals have any answers.

I actually heard this same thing in an Episcopal sermon about 20 years ago. We gave the paster a really hard time about it, if I recall.

Yipes! There really is a “Florida State University Professor of Oceanography Doron Nof” who really did publish this theory. No explanation given for how big this alleged ice floe would have to be in order to support the weight of a full-grown man, I notice, even though it’s supposed to have just spontaneously occurred? And Jesus just happened to look out and see it? During a raging storm? And then the storm just dissipates for no reason at all?

Idiot.

“This not a story for people who need to think…”

I think that this statement accurately describes the writings of the Rev. Barbara C. Crafton.

When you ask what these people go to chuch to worship, the answer is “themselves” of course. After all, “they” don’t need to grow to the point of being loving and inclusive of oppressed palestinian minorities. No doubt once that jesus fellow grows to the point of reaching their lofty moral plane, they can all go for a double latte and discuss the MDG’s.

It fits perfectly with the idea of “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for!”

Of course, the challenge to the woman to reach out in faith against all the odds goes unnoticed.

Some folks really need to see the way it’s described here so they can justify Their teaching Jesus today what he got wrong, still has wrong, and won’t be right until he agrees with them.

Wanna guess what that might be, boys and girls?

Here are some more people who are apparently fond of completely wasting their time once a week.

Once a day, actually – this is a Lenten meditation.

And from Page 45:

“A scientist tests a theory. It works or it doesn’t. Sensing Christ’s presence can be like testing a theory: We can proceed as if we knew Christ were with us, and see what happens. We will remain
free to decide if Christ is there based upon our experience.

An odd view of the Christian walk – sort “walk by sight, not by faith.” And I’m not sure what “free to decide” means here, in that the implications of the decision are life-shattering. In fact, this “view of the Christian walk” is to “the way” as “shacking up” is to “getting married.”

Big deal. The Samatritans and Philistines were further from God than the Jews 2000 years ago – and their direct descendants – Hamas and Hezbollah – are surely further from God than the Jews are today!

Jesus knew that then and knows that now.

So what’s the problem with the Gospel reading then?

well nothing – unless you’re a liberal.
Yep, liberals would say Jesus was a racist pig.

And by the liberals’ standards Jesus was a racist, homophobic libertarian pig. Jesus supported slave-ownership, the death penalty, “sword-ownership” and many of his disciples routinely carried concealed weapons.

Yep – Jesus was a redneck. Sorry liberals. RTFB.

Now to any liberals reading this, (Ha!), yeah he also insisted that the rich were damned, basically as a job lot. Well yeah he did that too. And he and his disciplies basically lived like commies. But they were redneck commies!
Racist, homophobic, libertarian, sword-owning, slavery-supporting redneck commies. RTFB

Little Myrmidon, I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you!

Did you think I would (or could possibly ever) invent the likes of a Florida State professor rejoicing in the name of Doron Nof? No, I must regretfully decline the honour.

These kind of rationalisations kill me. So the Apostles in the boat – professional fishermen who made their living working in, on and around the Sea of Galilee – had no idea of the weather conditions at the time, and when they saw Jesus walking on the ice, being completely ignorant of the environment they grew up in and spent their entire working lives in, they immediately leaped to the wrong conclusion that He was walking on the water.

I can at least respect a genuine atheist who says all this miracle stuff is crap that a six-year old would be ashamed to believe. But the mushing up of the Gospels into baby food, because educated modern adults will find such events hard to swallow and must be spoon-fed something easily digestible that won’t involve mental effort to chew? What is the point?

Can’t we just declare an extended “hunting season” on these heretics?

This story (which is found in Matt 15:21-28, with parallel in Mk 8:24-30) takes place while Jesus was in the region of the Decapolis – a Gentile region to the east and south of Galilee. There is some speculation that Jesus was in the area for about 6 months so that he could teach his 12 disciples what they needed to know before he turned his face to Jerusalem and the climax of his earthly ministry.

The story occurs right after Jesus declares that nothing defiles a man which enters in from the outside but that what defiles a man is what issues from the heart. It is also right before the feeding of the 4000 (in Mark and Mattew at least) which from internal evidence occurs in a Gentile region with Gentile crowds.

Jesus’ point is that he is sent primarily to the House of Israel, which was true enough. Her response is one of personal faith in Jesus and acceptance of his message. It is her faith that causes Jesus to answer her request, not some kind of “inner burst of self-awareness.”

Yes, +Griswold did do a similar riff on this one as part of his overall theme of “Embracing the Other.” I have heard similar silliness from other sources. All of them are based on the idea that Jesus was a mere human being and not divine at all. The people who preach and teach such foolishness believe that Jesus’ good works and his obedience to God’s commandments caused God to Adopt him as His Son. This is otherwise known as the Adoptionist Heresy and teaches that good works are what get you into Heaven. Of course, the Ecumenical Councils of the 4th Century Church thoroughly condemned such thinking.

But periodically, some other “scholar” rediscovers the old heresy and dresses it up in pretty clothes and trots it out as original thinking. So we get to go through the same dreary mess all over again.

I feel sorry for these poor fools. They are in deadly danger of damnation. We should pray for their enlightenment.

Allen Lewis, I would further argue that the “scholar” hasn’t rediscovered the heresy. He simply never knew it existed, because of a woefully inadequate theological training. The scholar then proposes this new “theory” and no one challenges it for the same reason. Then it gets promulgated to the general pew-sitting populace who don’t have the resources to understand that it’s heretical. Crapola like this has been spewing from pulpits since the sixties. No wonder people don’t know that’s right or wrong anymore.

Sinner – not only was Christ a “racist, homophobic, libertarian, sword-owning, slavery-supporting redneck commie,” but he obviously was in need of some anger management training, e.g. cursing the barren fig tree, the inicident at the Temple involving the money changers, and all the name-calling, “generation of vipers, house of desolation, etc.” Too bad there apparently wasn’t a 1st Century equivalent of “Kumbaya.” He should have at least tried a “group hug” with the disciples. Oh, and don’t even get me started on how “non-inclusive” Christ was! “Narrow gate, few are chosen” My,Oh,My! The woman who sought His mercy and healing is lucky she didn’t get a sandled foot in her face!

But it makes one wonder why people who write crap like this waste their time going to church. Why in the world do they bother?

Yeah, I’ve wondered that myself for many years, Christopher.

Why, to worship of course.

To worship what? A first-century rabbi who could turn an artful phrase now and then? A prejudiced Jewish guy who “grows” when called out on his racism? A guy who undergoes a moment of “self-discovery” when instructed by some Canaanite woman

I don’t think so. They’re there to worship something alright, but it isn’t Jesus. I think they’re there to worship themselves, their philosophies, and to try to deprogram/reeducate dumb fundies who haven’t seen their light.

I grew up in a liberal church; in my observation there are various reasons for staying:
– some are faithful and orthodox and stay out of commitment to the church, with the goal of being a “light shining in the darkness.” These people are often attend less and less as the teaching gets more liberal, but they are not likely to attend the non-Anglican-but-faithful church down the street. All too often they have their faith “debunked” by zealous apostate leaders, and either leave the church or become liberal. They will jump ship to an ACNA church if their faith lasts long enough.
– some are liberal through and through. They have a complex set of beliefs based mainly on “what I think makes sense” and pick and choose Bible stories that support those ideas. They stay because they want their home-made philosophy to absorb credibility from some connection to a world religion. They quickly figure out that it can gain this credibility from any of the world religions, and hence become defacto Unitarians. Church leaders know that to retain these people you keep them busy, give them titles such as “deacon,” give them fancy robes, have nice music, and titillate them with radical new ideas from any source (e.g. super-soaking them with holy water). They will fight ACNA zealously.
– many are un-intellectual and un-informed. They encountered Jesus in their youth, or in a moment of family crisis, and keep coming because of a commitment made at that time to the Person of Jesus but not to any theology. The liberal propaganda feels vaguely wrong but they can’t win any arguments against their liberal priest. They will join the neighbourhood ACNA or non-Anglican church if their kids tell them that it has a better Sunday School, or if their good friends invite them to a friendly weekly Bible study.