News: Accepting Marital Violence – the Bible Requires It
Why do many religious believers insist that faith should usurp humanity? Why should 2000+ year old pronouncements allow or encourage misery in the lives of people today?
That seems to be the instruction of Pastor Tom Holladay from megachurch Saddleback Church in southern California. This church was founded by best-selling author Rick Warren. Holladay says that violence in marriage does not provide grounds for divorce. Apparently the Bible only specifies abandonment and infidelity. By violence Holladay is means:
”Physical abuse, he defined, is someone “literally” beating another person up regularly.”
Even this isn’t enough for divorce. (See article at Christian Today web site.)
Last Sunday I attended Sunday service at St Michael’s Church in Melbourne, Australia. It’s a Uniting Church with Dr Francis Macnab as its executive minister. I’ve mentioned Macnab before as a leading light for progressive Christianity in Melbourne, if not Australia. He preaches a new kind of faith with the welfare of humanity as more important than mindlessly enforcing 2000-2500 year old rules. Macnab’s vision of positive faith makes an interesting comparison with Holladay’s ancient rights-and-wrongs approach to marriage counselling.
Alex McCullie
Macnab replaces 10 commandments (news article)
A different theological response from the Uniting Church to Macnab
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