Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

I am quite enjoying the diablogue with James McGrath, Ken Brown and Drew Tatusko. It has been fun so far. I feel that at this point, I need to clarify some of my statements and perhaps, in the process of this crystallization, make a few more arguments concerning the topic at hand. Firstly, I never accused James of being a Universalist. Instead, I was arguing that given what he's said in the diablogue up to this point, he appears to be on the "fringes" of Universalism. Secondly, I have never argued against Abraham's salvation. In fact, I've noted a few times that he probably was saved. This becomes even more clear when I note that in God's mind, it is quite possible (theologically speaking) that the cross was as good as done before the foundations of the world. This is, of course, a debatable theological tenet that I'm proposing. More will be said about this in point 11. Thirdly, I disagree with both Ken and Drew that one can worship Christ or be a Christ-...

So, here's the order of the conversation thus far: Initial Post: James ( Flaming Meteorite Challenge ) First Reply: Michael ( A Response to James ) Second Response: James ( Community of the Saved or Salvation of the Community ) Third Reply: The current post (contents below) Some others who have joined in the convo: Ken Brown ( 1 ) ( 2 ) *[update] ( 3 ) and Drew Tatusko ( 1 ) *[update] ( 2 ). In his latest addition to our “blogalogue” or as McGrath calls it, a “blogversation”, James posits the idea that, “…it is not that Christianity is a group that one enters because only therein one can find salvation, but one enters it (either?) because it offers a community of those who have had a particular experience of God and are united by it, and invite others to have it.” Fundamentally, I disagree with this. Let me explain why. Firstly, while there is a communal aspect to the Church/Christianity, I think it a travesty to say that this is why one enters. The Body of Christ is more than a so...