Dodgy Liberal Theology of Anglican Priest Jeffrey John

I have just read, on another blog I sometimes read (by a liberal-ish Anglican Priest), an article about the Sermon that was aired on BBC Radio 4 by Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans. You can read his sermon here. The Telegraph ran an article commenting on it. Of course there is spin on the reporting but it makes good reading.

Now I am not a Biblical Scholar but I do read the scriptures. I know Liberal Theologians have very different understandings of the Bible but this interpretation is simply not correct. In my view it is only half right. It sounds to me like a man trying to have a rather fluffy view of the Love of God and forgetting the other totally Biblical attributes of God such as Justice and Holiness. The evangelical view is not '...Jesus reconciling an angry God to us'. It is Jesus reconciling us to not an angry God, but a Just, Holy and Loving God. He seems to think that God demanding Justice for our sins somehow overshadows His great Love and makes him angry. Father issues anyone? Though him being originally from a Welsh Calvinist church I can understand where he would have picked up such views, however inaccurate.

Sorry Mr John, 'penal substitution' is biblical, Christ did bear the right and just punishment for our sins on the cross, that is death! However by being raised again He overcame death and therefore we can live under Grace and do not have to face that same punishment if we believe in Christ as our Saviour. If he didn't pay the price for our sins then He didn't save us from anything, He merely shared our suffering. Mr John seems to not have read the old testament law nor understand Christ's fulfillment of that same law.

How sad such a prominent man in the Anglican church doesn't understand the Gospel he is supposed to be a minister for. Sounds more like a belief that allows him, in his own head, peace with God for his own sin without facing the absolute Holiness demanded by God and the consequences for not measuring up. No wonder the Anglican church has lost its way so much with views like this. If there is no punishment for sin there is no moral absolutes. You cannot pick and choose the bits of the Bible or the characteristics of God you like.

I just want to make it clear I do not tar the whole Anglican church with the same brush and am fully aware there are many clergy who hold to a more conservative view of scripture and hold the teachings of the Bible in the highest regard. Hats off to you for standing up for biblical truth and the authority of scripture and not watering down the message of the Gospel in the face of wishy washy liberal interpretations.