The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?Christopher Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.
I love it. Now, all Hitchens needs to do is change his entire worldview and become a Christian, then he can keep making good points like this one.
Thanks for that - will work it's way into the Machen/Christianity & Liberalism class we're conducting in Sunday School now.
ReplyDeleteAdam,
ReplyDeleteI deal on a forum particularly with one man who is quite intelligent (he claims to be a Christian although ALL of his arguments are from a liberal point of view). He is a retired Carter administration economist, his father opposed VanTil). He won't answer this question, "Is it a historical fact in time and space that Jesus rose from the dead?" He returns argument (while expressing an ardent distaste for Inerrancy) but he never answers that question that I pose to him. If he ever answers yes, I'll ask him why he believes that. There is something implicit in his non-answer.
it should be 'his father opposed Machen'
ReplyDeleteAdam, again, that is a great quote
ReplyDeleteLink:
http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/arts-and-entertainment/category/books-and-talks/articles/christopher-hitchens/1/