Dave B,
Thanks for your wonderful response and clarifications. I certainly don’t think any ban is needed. I’ve always enjoyed your participation here, and yes, I can see how the language of betraying the Gospel can press our buttons. If I took it as “bullying” me toward a position, I would resent it too. Yet I’m afraid that the reality is that most evangelicals do see Christ’s deity and the incarnation as a basic building block of the Gospel’s story. So if we say that only the Father is God, it truly sounds to them that we have violated an essential.
My own bias is that what is crucial in traditional belief about Jesus, is to trust that in him we really find a trustworthy picture of God’s character (that “God was in Christ reconciling the world,” or as Jerzak argues in “A More Christ-like God,” that God’s nature is most clearly revealed as self-emptying love and goodness). Thus my preference was that we as an ‘evangelical’ site convey openness to all who want to argue beliefs on the basis of Scripture (such as universalism; even if their interpretations are not traditional). Therefore I argued with the other moderators for using Biblical terms and texts for Jesus, just as we did for every other affirmation in our creedal statement, and not philosophical concepts of later centuries.
All of them liked that language and were gracious to me, BUT vigorously insisted that since the Biblical terminology was “ambiguous,” it was crucial to use creedal Trinitarian language and identify ourselves with historic orthodoxy. Part of this was because they thought anything less would raise red flags for the average conservative evangelical who we were inviting to consider a more universalist vision in Scripture. But much of it was clearly because they are more inclined than I to think that Scripture strongly backs up the Trinitarian formulation, and as I said, that that incarnational scenario is intrinsic to the Gospel message, and perhaps even essential to the mechanics of assured salvation.
Unfortunately I learned that if you and I concede that we are not “strictly orthodox,” I have to expect many to say that my position ‘betrays’ evangelical interpretations of the Gospel. My impression is that Parry himself is broadening a bit beyond his initial claims to be classically evangelical (except for his U.R.). I’m not familiar with the context of his old statement here. I suspect it was in the context of the kind of debate I sketched above over language of an evangelical statement of doctrine, and reflected concern that questioning a classic incarnation not turn off his own traditional constituency to universalism, as opposed to making a judgmental claim about the status before God of others of us who interpret such things differently. I suspect it’s a tricky balance to be The “evangelical” U.R. spokesman, and yet communicate as much openness as you and I would prefer. But hearing him at the recent Pasadena conference confirmed to me what an effective representative he is.
All the best to you,
Bob