Where Did The Pagan Doctrine Of Original Sin Come From?

Before Augustine, no one taught that humans were born sinners and therefore that their freewill is in bondage to their flesh.  

Original sin is not a Biblical teaching.  The creation of the pagan doctrine of original sin can be traced back to 4th Century Rome, where the pagan philosophies of Gnostics and Manicheans blended into Christian teaching.  

Unfortunately, this erroneous doctrine has had an inordinate influence on evangelical dogma and how the Gospel is preached.

Augustine of Hippo was the first to formulate the flawed doctrine.  As a student, he studied under the Manicheans, who had a dualistic worldview which saw the material world as inherently evil; therefore seeing all humans as evil by nature from the day of their conception.

Augustine's background in pagan philosophy set the stage for what would be his idea of grace, faith, and salvation.  Before Augustine, no one taught that humans were born sinners and that, therefore, their freewill is in bondage to their flesh.

In fact, the Old Testament contradicts Original Sin.  One example is Ezekiel 28:15 which says, "You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created ..."

Another example is Ecclesiates 7:29 which says, "Truly, this only I have found; that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes."

The false doctrine of Original Sin erroneously makes God the author of sin.

The teachings of the early Church Fathers - who were direct descendants of Jesus' apostles - also contradicts Original Sin. The early church talked about sin as an action or an illness, Augustine and others shifted language to an inborn sin nature.

Justin Martyr (c. 160) said, "Unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be."

Tatian (c. 160) stated that, " ... nothing evil has been created by God; we ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able to reject it."

The doctrine of original sin renders the Gospel ineffective.  It destroys man's free will and turns God into a tyrant since it results in a God that demands something which humanity is incapable of doing.

Read more here about how Original Sin Is Biblically Refuted 

Call To Worship: "We" by God (based on Matthew 18:20)

Drawn by God’s presence,
we gather together

Opened by God’s love,
we share together

Inspired by God’s spirit,
we raise our voices together

Empowered by God’s grace,
we give thanks together

Christian Reformed Church Reaffirms Response To Refugees

The Christian Reformed Church is remembering, reaffirming, and reinvigorating our response to refugees as a denomination. The denomination has welcomed refugees for decades. To remember this rich history, here are some stories of Christian Reformed churches and individuals across the United States and Canada who have opened their hearts and homes to those fleeing from war and persecution.

Check out these beginning stories of welcome!

How Trump Makes A Spectacle Of Religion - Evangelical American Chris Curia

Trump's religion world tour displayed prominently his tendencies to jump to conclusions about long-lasting issues he does not and cannot fully understand in order to appease his fan base - right wing American evangelicals.

As an evangelical Christian American, I am left confused by my president’s behavior, rhetoric, and religious convictions. I get the feeling that my religion is being used to further an agenda rather than as a foundation for the formation of impactful and sustainable policy.

The full article is available here

Benediction: Let's Serve All That God Created and Called "Good" (based on Genesis 1:31)

As we go out now into our parts of God’s world ... let's listen for God’s voice within and around us, let's serve all that God created, called “good,” and loves, and let’s remember that God's Kingdom is always at work, making all things new again in everything that surrounds us.

This GOP Christianity (or “What Wouldn’t Jesus Do?”) - John Pavlovitz

The seemingly elemental question of 'What Would Jesus Do?' is one the professed religious folks running this country right now and those applauding them from pulpits and pews, would be wise to resurrect.

In nearly every small and large decision, and in every piece of legislation, they are providing a remarkably vivid illustration of exactly what Jesus would not do.

The full article is available here

Responsive Call to Worship: We Have Come Seeking (based on Psalm 34:8)

Reader: God of peace, we have come seeking.
All: Your life-giving spirit is nourishment for our souls.

Reader: We have come seeking meaning, connection, and togetherness.
All: Help us to be open and to lean into your presence,
which is always moving within and around us.

Reader: You are good. Your care and compassion know no end.
All: For this amazing gift, we have come to give thanks together.

Reflection and Renewal: We Should Focus On Giving, Not Getting (based on Luke 12:48)

 
God, you’ve told us that the more that we dedicate our lives to love - and to giving that love away - the more that we are growing towards grace.

But we have to admit that we often struggle to live out that kind of generous love. Sometimes we simply get absorbed in our little corner of your world and lose sight of the bigger picture.

And sometimes we avoid living out that kind of sacrificial love because - to us - it seems like your kingdom has terrible arithmetic, God. You tell us to "follow a way of living in which giving is the priority," but we’ve absorbed the message that says that the wisest course of action in life is to "get." We're told to look out for #1, that what we acquire - or do not possess which others do - defines our value, and that we should see our fellow beings as competitors through a lens of scarcity and fear.

We often get it wrong, so we come asking for grace and mercy. Give us eyes to see where we've let priorities other than yours guide us. Give us wisdom to listen - not to the clashing gongs and clanging cymbals of greed, fear, and cynicism - but instead to the still, small voice of your love's life-giving wisdom.

Amen.

Responsive Call To Worship: Take Up Our Cross and Follow (based on Matthew 16:24)

Reader: Loving God, you call us to turn away from our own selfish interests,
to take up our cross, and to follow you.
All: To find our lives, may we live them in service of your mission.

Reader: As we come before you this morning given us open hearts and open hands.
All: Make us eager to hear your voice and seek your guidance.

Reader: Open our minds to your ever-present spirit that is always moving within and around us
All: Open our spirits to your nudging and open our lives to your love.

Reflection and Renewal: Not Seeing Original Goodness Or Need For Community (based on Genesis 1:31)

God, you are loving and kind. Your grace is bottomless. You want us to reflect that same love, kindness, and grace in your world.

But this can be difficult to do sometimes. We're constantly bombarded with a different message from other voices; voices that say that we are the center of our world, voices that say that our focus should narrowly hone in on getting ahead, voices that say that we should pursue what will gratify us instantly.

As a result, we sometimes find ourselves pushing away from community and connection because we don't want anything to prevent us from having things go our way - because we want to have control.

Other times, we think we're not worthy of being loved. We think that we have no value and that if anyone knew the real us, they wouldn't want anything to do with us.

It can be so easy for us to get off track. Without intending to, we slide back into familiar ways of thinking, so we need your grace.

May your love and mercy be continual reminders of the abundant life and wellbeing that we should wish for all of your creation. May your goodness be a continual reminder of the inherent value that we have and the original goodness which you created the universe with.

May we stay committed to one another and remain active together in the ongoing work to renew and restore your world.

Amen

Benediction: The Active Vision of God's Kingdom Is Our Agenda (based on Psalm 24:1)

The love of God - which Jesus made known - helps us to sense the Spirit anywhere and everywhere.  

This love is intended for all, boldly claiming that the whole world is God’s work-space. Just as Jesus welcomed the marginalized, the excluded, and the dehumanized; God's love removes barriers so that life and grace can pour out in abundance.  

This active vision of the kingdom of God is to be the agenda of those of us who strive to follow Christ. So may we work for the restoration and redemption of the entire world, which God created, called “good,” and inhabits.

Call To Worship: God's Spirit Reaches Everywhere (based on Romans 8:19)

God, we remember that your spirit is reaching everywhere. It rejoices in the wonder and beauty of creation.

Your spirit is near to all that is wounded or weighed down. It gathers in the lonely, the lost, and the least. Your spirit creates and recreates a vision of hope.

May our worship rejoice in your work of renewal and transformation.

Liberty University, Your Ugly Roots Are Showing - The Christian Century

The Moral Majority was formed to fight desegregation and the Civil Rights Act and Jerry Falwell Sr. championed segregationists.  So it makes sense that Donald Trump - who vilifies Muslims and Mexicans, who wants to build walls and institute bans, who hired Jeff Sessions as Attorney General - would find friends at Liberty University. 

Loyalty explains why Trump loves Falwell, but why is the feeling mutual? Why would Falwell see such dreamy qualities in Trump? How could the Moral Majority and a famously immoral president form an alliance? And how could most of Evangelicals go along with it?

The answer lies in the reality that we have a false story of the origins of the Religious Right in our minds. Despite the common perception that it was founded to fight Roe v. Wade, the Moral Majority was formed to fight desegregation and the Civil Rights Act.

Jerry Falwell, Sr. championed segregationists. In a sermon, the elder Falwell preached in reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to desegregate public schools:

If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God’s word and had desired to do the Lord’s will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would never have been made. The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line.

The elder Falwell went on to say that integration will “destroy our race eventually.” Falwell worked to start a white Christian schools in response to desegregation and strongly defended others who started them. Then in 1971, when the IRS moved to revoke the tax exempt status of Bob Jones University which forbade interracial dating, the Moral Majority movement began.

Once again, Liberty University's ugly roots are showing. So it makes sense that President Trump, who vilifies Muslims and Mexicans, who wants to build walls and institute bans, who hired Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, would find friends at Liberty University.

The full article is available here

The Cross - Richard Rohr

Jesus Debunked Scapegoating - Richard Rohr

Navigating the Cobblestones: Christian Leadership in Difficult Times - Julius Medenblik

If you are leading, you should have an understanding that difficult circumstances are either present or just around the corner.

Leadership is always difficult. If you are leading, you should have an understanding that difficult circumstances are either present or just around the corner. Here are a few principles for navigating these challenges.

Leadership is about the journey.  I know too many people in the church who want everything “settled.” Many people have a destination perspective about life and even the Christian life. As a result, they miss the journey that God is placing before them and the growing in faith and discipleship that comes from being attentive to the journey.

In the present age, I see that the cultural milieu on expedience has led to a bumper sticker, microwave mentality where we want a few words to settle any issue—now. We live in an age of slogans rather than engagement.

The leadership journey is a marathon. If you and I are to flourish in ministry, we need to be like marathon runners who find a group of other runners and pace ourselves to run the race—together. A key African proverb that has guided me is—“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.”

Leadership is first about listening. Listening is part of a spiritual discipline and practice of being attentive to what God is doing already before you even show up.

Finally, leadership is also about giving voice to those whose voices we do not always hear. A good reminder is to "remember those who are not in this room." Leadership is about listening to people from different cultures and experiences and then helping those voices be heard. What does that mean for me?

As a white male; I need to keep before me the need (if I am going to be a good leader) to seek out the voices of others who will bring wisdom and insights that I would miss—if I am not deliberate to listen and learn from them. If we really see value in a chorus of witnesses, we need to be willing to seek those voices out to be part of that choir.

The full article is available here

When Christianity First Lost Its Gospel Perspective - Richard Rohr

Before AD 313, the Church was on the bottom of society, which is the vantage point for understanding the liberating power of the Gospel for both the individual and for society. But then the Christian church became the established religion of the empire and started reading the Gospel from the position of maintaining power and social order.  In a sense, Christianity almost became a different religion!

The last great formal persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ended in AD 303.

Ten years later, Christianity was legalized by Constantine I. After this structural change, Christianity increasingly accepted, and even defended, the dominant social order, especially concerning war and money. Morality became individualized and largely sexual.

The Church slowly lost its free and alternative vantage point. Texts written in the hundred years preceding 313 show it was unthinkable that a Christian would fight in the army, as the army was killing Christians. By the year 400, the entire army had become Christian, and they were now killing the pagans.

Before AD 313, the Church was on the bottom of society, which is the privileged vantage point for understanding the liberating power of the Gospel for both the individual and for society. Overnight the Church moved from the bottom to the top, literally from the catacombs to the basilicas. The Roman basilicas were large buildings for court and other public assembly, and they became Christian worship spaces.

The Christian church became the established religion of the empire and started reading the Gospel from the position of maintaining power and social order instead of experiencing the profound power of powerlessness that Jesus revealed.

In a sense, Christianity almost became a different religion! This shift would be similar to reversing the first of the 12 Steps to seek power instead of admitting powerlessness. In this paradigm only the 'winners' win, whereas the true Gospel has everyone winning. Calling this power 'spiritual' and framing success as moral perfection made this position all the more seductive to the ego and all the more disguised.

The failing Roman Empire needed an emperor, and Jesus was used to fill the power gap, making much of his teaching literally incomprehensible and unhearable, even by good people. The relationships of the Trinity were largely lost as the very shape of God: the Father became angry and distant, Jesus became the needed organizing principle, and for all practical and dynamic purposes the Holy Spirit was forgotten. An imperial system needs law and order and clear belonging systems more than it wants mercy or meekness or transformation.

By the grace of God, saints and holy ones of every century and in every denomination and monastery still got the point, but only if they were willing to go through painful descent--which Catholics call 'the way of the cross,' Jesus called 'the sign of Jonah,' Augustine called 'the paschal mystery,' and the Apostles' Creed called 'the descent into hell.' Without these journeys there's something essential you simply don't understand about the very nature of God and the nature of your own soul.

You try to read reality from the side of power instead of powerlessness, despite the fact that God has told us (through the image of the Crucified) that vulnerability and powerlessness is the way to true spiritual power. But Christians made a jeweled logo and decoration out of the cross, when it was supposed to be a shocking strategic plan, charting the inevitable path of full transformation into God.

Mercy Is Something God Is - Cynthia Bourgeault

Love Is Risky But Fear Is Worse - Sojourners

To be led by the spirit of a loving God means that when we see fear and pain and need around us, we head toward it. That’s the job description.

Giving in to fear takes us to many dark, ugly places. It’s the incubator for hatred, racism, sexism, homophobia, religious conflict, political wars, and the many other evils in the world. All of them are rooted in a fear of those who are different from us.

The alternative? Label fear for what it is — a vampire that sucks life and love out of us and our world. Recognize that those monsters beneath our beds are ones that we’ve created in our fearful minds.

It’s not easy, of course.

Fear is always tugging at us, trying to hold us back from loving — not only loving others, but ourselves, too. In those moments, we have to take a breath and act like the cowardly lion who, though still trembling, marches into the witch’s castle to save someone who needs us.

Even if that person is very different from us.

To be led by the spirit of a loving God means that when we see fear and pain and need around us, we head toward it. That’s the job description.

The full article is available here

Benediction: Agents Of Restoration and Renewal (based on Isaiah 43:19)

May we seek God's spirit within and around us so that we become agents of restoration and renewal in God's world; working to set things right and to make all things new again.

Reflection and Renewal: The Universe Is God's Handiwork (based on Psalm 19:1)

God, you've commanded us to be stewards of the Earth, which you created and called “good.”

Yet all too often we don’t see beyond our own interests. We can easily fall into a mindset that approaches your creation - and all that lives within it - as though we are its owners and it is ours to use as we see fit - instead of approaching it as your stewards.

We mask creation’s witness to your awesome beauty whenever our choices lead to harm, destruction, and disaster.  We sometimes fail to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves; even as simply and indirectly as by existing within systems which benefit us at the end but involve injustice, exploitation, and pollution earlier in the process.

So instead of always working together to fix-up your world, we sometimes degrade and harm it.

Forgive us.

Help us to relate to everyone and everything that surrounds us in ways which recognize that the universe is your sacred handiwork; that all of creation is where you appear and where we worship you.

You are a God of endless creativity, incomparable beauty, and bottomless grace. For this, we give you thanks.

Amen.

It Is One Sacred World - Richard Rohr

Holy Saturday: Descending To The Place Of Death - Jeff Wiersma

It can be tempting for us to skip right to the good news of Easter Morning. However, it’s only after the pain of Good Friday and the grief of Holy Saturday that the revolutionary, universe-changing event that is Easter Morning is possible. 

“Jesus was crucified, dead, and was buried. He descended to the place of death.”

In between the painful, gruesome darkness of Good Friday and the radiant brightness of Easter Morning lies Holy Saturday.

 On that day, Jesus was buried behind a tomb. Some translations of the Apostle’s Creed describes it as Jesus “descending to a place of death;” a hell of sorts.

Jesus’ followers also descended into their own kind of hell. On Holy Saturday, they are hiding in justifiable fear that they might also be put to death by the Romans and the Religious Leaders. They are lost in overwhelming sorrow and confusion. Everything that they had based their life on was suddenly and traumatically obliterated.

Judas, who had been one of their fellow disciples - like a brother to them - had betrayed Jesus and then hung himself. Peter had his denials of the now-dead Jesus hanging over his head. All of them had failed to stay awake with Jesus in the garden when he was desperately afraid and distraught. All of them had fled or remained at a distance when Jesus was arrested instead of standing by him.

I’m sure all of us have had experiences like this - when injustice and cruelty seem to have free reign, when someone we’ve built our lives around is suddenly taken from us, when someone we trusted betrays us, or when we’ve done something to someone we loved which is so hurtful that it feels like our guilt will never go away.

This is why Holy Saturday is a key component of the Holy Weekend. It can be tempting for us to skip right to the good news of Easter Morning. However, it’s only after the pain of Good Friday and the grief of Holy Saturday that the revolutionary, universe-changing event that is Easter Morning is possible.

Likewise, when we face the reality of the inevitable pain and grief in our lives - and determine to lean into them instead of trying to avoid them - our view of the world has the potential to be transformed. We can begin to see that life itself is grace. We can begin to see God in all things once we have faced our darkness and discovered light in it.

The Cross: God As An Iconoclast Of Flawed Notions of God - Jeff Wiersma

At the cross God deconstructs many of our notions of what God is like, and in their place shows us a being whose very essence and nature is love and who is truly affected by creation.  This is where the rubber meets the road in Christianity.

Around mid afternoon, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “My God … my God … why have you abandoned me?!?”

This soul-wrenching plea that Jesus makes is a cry of utter despair, given when it feels like all hope is lost, and justifiably so. Jesus had been arrested, mocked, and beaten by religious hypocrites, then grotesquely whipped and sentenced to death by the wicked empire that those scheming religious leaders collaborated with.

Jesus‘ closest friends had all scattered. He is being blasphemously mocked by the crowd. Jesus is midway through the dying process; his torn flesh bleeding profusely and repeatedly congealing to and being peeled from a bare wooden surface. He is hemorrhaging brain tissue from the crown of thorns that was smashed into his skull.

The spikes through Jesus’ wrists and the one pinned through both of his feet are sending searing pain through his entire body - as they freshly tear through his muscles and nerves with each excruciating attempt he makes to lift his entire body weight to draw a breath.

It’s interesting to note that Jesus says, “My God” and says it twice. In quoting the lament from Psalm 22, Jesus is protesting the fact that someone who he has close relationship with is noticeably distant in his time of abandonment and torturous pain. It was a most natural time to cry out those words.

I’m sure that every one of us have had times where we also felt like God had forsaken us - times of tragedy, illness, and loss - times when we’re in valleys of the shadow of death.

In these times, we often echo Jesus’ protest. We demand to know why we suffer so painfully. We protest how the bad things that keeping happening violate our sense of justice - things like heartache, disease, abuse, corruption, racism, hatred, and violence. We cry out to a God who often feels distant when we feel abandoned.

Jesus - crying out in such a desperate state, brutalized and bloodied to a pulp - tends not to look very much like God to us. We’re used to picturing God as transcendent and “up above” it all somewhere. And we’re used to a limited, cynical understanding that sees strength and power as operating in terms of control, command, and dominance.

But when God willingly entered into the human pain and suffering we experience, it showed us an entirely different idea of strength; a power shown in vulnerability, which is the greatest kind of strength that there is. In Jesus, we see the truest picture of God; a loving servant whose approach to the universe is one of sacrificial love - which is the greatest kind of love that there is.

This doesn’t mean that there are easy answers to the difficult mystery of suffering. It still hurts. It still feels unbearable. We’re still tempted to wonder why God won’t supernaturally intervene. It still violates our sense of justice.

But what Jesus’ suffering on the cross shows us is that God voluntarily chose to leave the glory of heaven and genuinely participate in human suffering. In doing so, Jesus made the realities of suffering, pain, humiliation, and death part of the life that God lives as the Trinity.

At the cross God deconstructs many of our notions of what God is like, and in their place shows us a being whose very essence and nature is love and who is truly affected by creation.  We see a God of compassion, which literally means “to suffer together.”

This is where the rubber meets the road in Christianity. This God of grace is not only capable of but is - quite literally - dying for genuine relationship with creation!

The Garden of Gethsemane: Jesus Chooses His Path - Jeff Wiersma

The time in the garden reminds us that Jesus chose his path, and that we can choose our own as well.

[Jesus and his disciples] came to an area called Gethsemane. Jesus told them, “Sit here while I pray. “ He took Peter, James, and John with him and began to be filled with horror and great dread. And he said to them, “My soul is crushed by sorrow to the point of death!”


In the first hours of Good Friday, Jesus knew what would happen if he followed God’s will that day; violent arrest, cruel torture, public humiliation, and brutal execution. For obvious reasons, this troubled him greatly.

But from our standpoint in history, this can seem strange to us - thinking of Jesus as having fears and doubts, as asking for a way out, as needing human compassion - because we know how this story ends. But try to put yourself in Jesus’ shoes that night and imagine facing what he was facing.

In the garden, Jesus prayed in anguish and asked for a way out. He prayed like a man who knew he would be hurt by his friend’s abandoning him and the betrayals of Judas, Peter, and his own countrymen who would hand him over to the Romans to be killed. Jesus agonized like a man who would feel the excruciating pain of being whipped, made to carry his own cross after being whipped, and then being crucified on that cross. He prayed as a man who knew that if he would follow God’s will, there would be indescribable suffering.

In the garden, Jesus was unmistakably human. When he says to his disciples, “The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak,” you get the feeling that he was saying it as much about himself as he was saying about them.

And yet, Jesus followed through as a human who decided to follow God’s will and give love sacrificially. The time in the garden reminds us that Jesus chose his path, and that we can choose our own as well.

We can follow the path that our competitive culture lays out - living in a way that looks out for number one, striving for comfort without regard for its effect on others, ignoring the outcast, condemning the poor, treading on the orphan and window and migrant, and seeing people’s value only in terms of what they can do for us.

Or … we can follow Jesus’ example and say to God, “Not my will, but yours be done."