Many liberals believe a lot of what Layman readers believe
Rev. Dr. Anne-Marie Hislop, Chicago, Ill., USA, March 28, 2012
In his letter, Michael Humphreys quotes Professor Gench of Union Seminary as saying, “I do not believe that the Bible was divinely dictated or faxed from heaven but rather it is every bit as fully human as was Jesus Himself.”
Humphreys then goes on with his own interpretation, “For those who might not quite understand what she was saying here, this is religious doublespeak. It is really series of code words for ‘The Bible is not divinely inspired and Jesus was just a good man, not the Son of God who pre-existed with the Father before the Incarnation, was born of a virgin, died and rose again.’”
He makes a common mistake. For a liberal, to say that the Bible is not dictated by God is not the same thing as saying that it is not divinely inspired. Nor is it a denial of the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the crucifixion and the resurrection. I am a liberal, who does not understand Scripture to be inerrant. However, I believe that it is divinely inspired and, as the Confession of 1967 says, written down by humans. I know no liberal clergy or regular church participant who would say that Jesus “was just a good man.” If I thought that, why would I dedicate my life to Him, to preaching His Gospel, and to working for His mission in the world?
It is easy, I suppose, to tar and feather all who do not agree with your perspective as being ridiculously empty of belief and 100 percent unfaithful. While one can always find some liberals on the fringe, maybe even some who express such empty belief, many of us believe a lot of what readers of The Layman believe. There may be subtle differences in perspective or shades of belief. I may understand the crucifixion slightly differently than your typical reader, but I can still say with integrity that Jesus died for our sins, that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, and that Jesus was God incarnate.
Jesus Christ is my heart and, yes, I am a liberal.