Orthodox priest Fr. Jonathon Tobias of Second Terrace poses the following provocative scenario:
"Let's assume that you're a nationally sought-after speaker from an eastern college, who for some strange reason has developed egalitarian sensitivities on behalf of the feminist and homosexual consciousness movements.
Let's assume, too, that you will be appearing on stage to about two thousand adolescents and adults and clergy from a denomination that only lately characterized itself as fundamental, but has now stepped boldly into the progressive evangelical church growth (read 'anti-ecclesial') movement.
Let's assume, finally, that this happened last week somewhere in the midwest. What talking points will you (or did you) follow in order to entertain the masses?..."
Read the answer here.
Do you recognize the "nationally sought-after speaker"? Hint: He's popular on the left-leaning side of Emergent circles.
One of the "talking points" is to make misleading reference to Orthodox doctrine, a temptation that is hard to resist if it works for you. As an evangelical I used to do it in debates with Calvinists. "The Orthodox do such and such" is a sentence that even now, I remind myself, I must use with caution!
P.S. Although this post is clearly critical (the sensitive be warned), there are some conciliatory notes in the comments.
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4 comments:
Whoozit?
Tony Campolo izit.
Actually saw him speak many years ago. Fantastic. I think he may have started to believe his own hype though.
And I can't shake the fact that he reminds me of Dick Vitale.
"And I can't shake the fact that he reminds me of Dick Vitale."
They share the same foaming-at-the-mouth tendencies. ;)
A good sign that some b.s. is about to be offered up by a non-Calvinist is "Calvinists believe..." so I can sympathize with the sensitivity to claims such as "The Orthodox believe..." Not a good trail to go down unless you've actually looked into the claim you're making. And by "look into" I don't mean one of your own apologists unless they can point you back to original sources.
Campolo delivered a series of lectures/sermons at my college when I was a senior (spring of '99). I'll go ahead and admit that I didn't find him all that offensive.
Now that Walter Brueggemann is getting that "old man" look about him, I think that Campolo and Brueggemann look quite similar.
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