Category Image Salvation, Orthodoxy, and the ECUSA


I've been following a relatively new blog lately, which I highly recommend. This priest is truly inspired.

If you follow the link, you'll get directly to an article on the Orthodox view of salvation. There are some follow on articles, as well, on atonement, etc. One point that is made along the way is that the Westernized view of the angry God that needs to be placated by sacrifice is an unfortunate caricature, and the not the view of God worthy of worship. You'll have to read the blog and the comments to really enjoy the fullness of the conversation.

Now, what does the ECUSA have to do with this? Well, many of the liberals in the Episcopal Church get a lot of grief over their apparent inability to engage the nature of sin. More specifically, they focus on God becoming man (or to be PC, human), and seem much more interested in the relationship, the healing, the love. Unfortunately, they do this at the expense of the notion of our sinful nature. What I suspect is happening is that this is precisely a reaction to the medieval "angry God" bit. In fact, its in some ways incorrect to assign this notion to the middle ages as Marcion held that the God of the OT was a perpetually angry God. This led him to establish that the God of the NT was an entirely different God. I think in many ways that modern liberals have followed suit, and have created a new God that is more consistent with the Christ they see in the NT.

So, in some ways, the modernists are being Orthodox. They rebel against the construct of placating the angry God. Unfortunately, in so doing, they throw the baby out with the bath water. They forget that sin is very real, and that is separates us from God. Not because God kicks us out, but rather because that is where we place ourselves. It is unfortunate that at precisely the time when modernism was rearing its head in this country, Orthodoxy was not readily available to provide answers.

Posted: Wednesday - December 13, 2006 at 10:37 AM          

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