(Monroe sunset)
(I'm reposting this, to keep it in play.)
This is a statement crafted for followers of Jesus.
I propose we consider and pray about uniting around this statement.
Any differences in praxis can be discussed within the framework of this statement.
To see who has signed their name to this document go HERE. The signees represent much that is excellent in biblical and theological studies, and include Greg Boyd, Craig Keener, Randy Clark, Michael Brown, J. P. Moreland, Ben Witherington, and many more names that are familiar to me.
When I received an email from Craig Keener asking me to look at the statement and pray about signing it, I did. I signed. Ofcourse !
A statement like this is significant. If we come to unity over this, then the discussion, for followers of Jesus, becomes intra-theological. Our core unity binds us together against racism. From that place of unity, we then pray about how to live out #s 4 and 5.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, will you agree with us on this?
Blessings!
John Piippo
When I received an email from Craig Keener asking me to look at the statement and pray about signing it, I did. I signed. Of
A statement like this is significant. If we come to unity over this, then the discussion, for followers of Jesus, becomes intra-theological. Our core unity binds us together against racism. From that place of unity, we then pray about how to live out #s 4 and 5.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, will you agree with us on this?
Blessings!
John Piippo
The Gospel Opposes the
Sin of Racism
A Statement on Racism and the Gospel
Today’s situation requires more than a statement, but certainly no less than a statement. As evangelical academic voices, we condemn racism as contrary to Scripture and to the evangelical gospel. Evangelical history includes positively many voices for justice and pioneers of abolitionism, such as William Wilberforce, but also negatively those who assimilated the values of their surrounding unjust culture. Yet the basis of evangelical faith is Scripture, climaxing in the good news of Jesus Christ.
- 1. In this gospel, everyone must come to God on the same terms (Rom 1:16; 3:22-24; 10:12-13; Gal 3:28; Rev 5:9; 7:9), and become one body in Christ (Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 4:4; Col 3:15).
- 2. In reconciling Jew and Gentile in Christ (Eph 2:16), surmounting a barrier that God himself once established, God in Christ summons us to surmount every barrier erected merely by human sinfulness.
- 3. Scripture does not discriminate by color, and, on the most common understanding of Acts 8, the first Gentile convert may have been Black and from Africa.
- 4. Jesus, both by his example and by his teaching, summons us to serve and love fellow believers to the point of laying down our lives for them (John 13:14-17, 34-35; 1 John 3:16-18), and to love all our neighbors as ourselves (Lev 19:18; Mark 12:31; Rom 13:8-10; Gal 5:14).
- 5. This invites us to be swifter to listen to others than to speak (Eph 4:29; Jms 1:19), to mourn with those who suffer (Rom 12:15), and to join them in acting for justice on their behalf (Isa 1:17; Luke 11:42; Jms 1:27).
