Back in the spot light is Bishop Gene Robinson, who is an openly homosexual Episcopal Bishop, who has been invited to lead prayer at Barak Obama’s inauguration. But who is Bishop Gene Robinson before answer this let us peruse the news de jour.
Bishop Gene Robinson stated that Barak Obama’s transition team, “called up and said this has actually been in the works for a long time and at the same time, we understand that people in the L.G.B.T. [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered] community have been somewhat wounded by this choice, and it’s our hope that your selection will go a long way to heal those divides.”1
Bishop Gene Robinson concluded that, “In many ways it just proves that Barack Obama is exactly who he says he was and would be as president, which is someone who is casting a wide net that will include all Americans.” Or it may prove that he is a token that was inserted into the slot machine of political expediency as evidenced by the fact that he was only invited after the outcry by the L.G.B.T. community who are absolutely intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them.
Reverend Rick Warren will deliver the invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration. Reverend Rick Warren has been the target of L.G.B.T. community’s intolerant due to his stance against gay marriage. Reverend Rick Warren has “issued a statement praising Obama for selecting Robinson, saying the president-elect ‘has again demonstrated his genuine commitment to bringing all Americans of goodwill together in search of common ground. I applaud his desire to be the president of every citizen.’”2
Of course, Warren also promulgates a New-Age health initiative—see video here.
Never Fear: Pseudo-Syncretism is Here:
Bishop Gene Robinson has assured the nation that he will pray a pseudo-inclusive prayer as he was interviewed by National Public Radio:
Robinson: I have actually read back over the inaugural prayers of the last 30 or 40 years and frankly I’ve been shocked at how aggressively Christian they are. And my intention is not to invoke the name of Jesus but to make this a prayer for Christians and non-Christians alike. Although I hold the scripture to be the word of God, those scriptures are holy to me and Jews and Christians, but to many other faith traditions they have their own sacred texts. And so rather than insert that and really exclude them from the prayer by doing so, I want this to be a prayer to the god of our many understandings and a prayer that all people of faith can join me in.
NPR: The god of many understandings?
Robinson: “Yes. I was treated for alcoholism three years ago and grateful to be sober today. And one of the things that I’ve learned in 12 step programs is this phrase, ‘the god of my understanding’. It allows people to pray to a God of really many understandings. And let’s face it, each one of us has a different understanding of God. No one of us can fully understand God or else God wouldn’t be God.”
NPR: I’m not sure that a God of many understandings has been invoked at an inauguration before?
Robinson: Well, I’ve done a lot of things for the first time in my life and I will be proud to do this one.3
The New York Times reports the verbiage thusly, “Bishop Robinson said he had been reading inaugural prayers through history and was ‘horrified’ at how ‘specifically and aggressively Christian they were.’” They may have been referring to another statement. The NYT further reported that Bishop Gene Robinson stated, “I am very clear that this will not be a Christian prayer, and I won’t be quoting Scripture or anything like that. The texts that I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer.”4
On Rachel Maddow’s show Bishop Gene Robinson demonstrated his ubiquitous misunderstandings, misapplications and conveniently self-service partial allusions to the Bible:
“But as a religious person, no one had a bigger tent than Jesus, and I must say I think the whole notion of the big tent, where every human being is acknowledged as being a child of God and frankly, as worthy of our respect and concern, that sort of vision I believe is Barack Obama’s vision as well, and I long for a government that respect the dignity of every human being, especially those who are less fortunate.”5
Please allow me some elucidation and then we will consider who is Bishop Gene Robinson.
Note that accuracy of the statement “no one had a bigger tent than Jesus.” Indeed, yet Jesus’ tent was not the theological smorgasbord which Bishop Gene Robinson proposes. Jesus had a big tent revival, complete with the very gospel which Bishop Gene Robinson promises that he will shun-he will not even mention the name of Jesus.
As I began to read Bishop Gene Robinson’s interview with NPR I read the term “the god of our many understandings” and I thought, “Nay, you are referring to ‘the god of your understanding.’” By preaching what he will he is preaching his particular and peculiar theology, a god made in man’s own image. Thus, I was not surprised that as the interview continued he referenced, “the god of my understanding.” The god of this theology is not as inclusive as Bishop Gene Robinson proposes since Bishop Gene Robinson is the mouth piece of this unknown god this god’s words reflect Bishop Gene Robinson and the L.G.B.T. community’s concept of tolerance and inclusivity: they only tolerate and include those with whom the agree-the intolerant and exclusivists are not tolerated nor included. This is contradictory as it placed Bishop Gene Robinson and the L.G.B.T. community under the category of intolerant and exclusivist.
I referred to pseudo-syncretism (syncretism refers to merging conflicting view, philosophies, beliefs, etc.) because in his desire to be all inclusive Bishop Gene Robinson has become an exclusivist. I am not here referring to his exclusion of pro traditional marriage proponents. Note that he will “not to invoke the name of Jesus” in order to include both “Christians and non-Christians alike.” Of course, not invoking the name of Jesus excludes Christian prayer. But who are the non-Christians? He explained, “Jews and Christians” and “many other faith traditions…all people of faith.”
What about people of no faith? What about agnostics, atheists and secularists of every sort? They may have gone unnoticed by Bishop Gene Robinson but they have taken notice of their exclusion. In fact, the ever incorrigible Dan Barker (of the Freedom From Religion Foundation) “has filed a lawsuit demanding prayers be banned from official inaugural events – and that ‘so help me God’ be excised from the oath.”6 (see this post for my estimation as to how Dan Barker ensures his job security by filing lawsuits).
Introducing Bishop Gene Robinson:
Bishop Gene Robinson was appointed an Episcopalian Bishop and there has been much controversy ever since because he is a homosexual. Bishop Gene Robinson has casually stated, “sexual orientation was almost a footnote in this election”7 (referring to his election to the bishopric). Rather, than a footnote it was a headline.
It would not be any better if Bishop Gene Robinson purposefully lied, stole or committed adultery on a regular basis. This really is the issue, that of the unrepented sin of an unrepentant sinner. Every person who is made a Bishop has some sin that they struggle with, or against, and that is the point they should struggle against it and not find liberal activists to back them up and fight for their right to justify their sinful behavior. Simply stated, a defender of the word of God and shepherd of God’s people cannot simply disregard God’s word.
A translation of the Bible which is titled The Message presents a very telling translation of Jude v. 17-19,
“But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: ‘In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts.’ These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There’s nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!”
Note some very troubling statements made by Bishop Gene Robinson that demonstrate that his election as Bishop is problematic beyond even the issue of his personal homosexuality.
“It’s been a long time in coming. It’s not so much a dream as a calling, from God.”
If he really thinks that this is a calling from God, he should do what the word of God and test this alleged revelation against the Bible.
“I believe God is doing a new thing, in terms of its inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the world and in the church.”
This statement makes Bishop Gene Robinson a false prophet and false teacher.
“The whole notion of sexual orientation is quite a new one, it’s only about a hundred years old and we can’t take uh, uh, a, a modern day concept and plug it back into an ancient text and pretend that that’s what those people knew and meant when they wrote it.”
What could he possibly mean by this? He is alluding to a popular fade within the homosexual movement which I wrote about in quite some detail in my essay Rev. Dr. Mel White on Christian Homosexuality.
Moreover, his homosexual life style choice is only part of the sadly dysfunctional background that Bishop Gene Robinson brings to the table,
“In a profile posted on the Diocese of New Hampshire Web site – www.nhepiscopal.org – Mr. Robinson, who left his wife in 1986, described his divorce. The two of them, he said, ‘returned to church, where our marriage had begun, and in the context of the Eucharist, released each other from our wedding vows, asked each other’s forgiveness, cried a lot, pledged ourselves to the joint raising of our children, and shared the body and blood of Christ.’”8
Think about how many problems there are here; here is a man who destroyed his marriage to chase after his own lusts. He said that they released each other from their wedding vows, vows with no doubt said, “Till death do us part.”
The Bible states,
“The Pharisees came and asked Him [Jesus], ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ testing Him. And He answered and said to them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate‘” (Mark 10:2-9 & Matthew 19:3-6).
By in the context of the Eucharist one could only imagine that he imagined that since Jesus died for our sins, it must be acceptable to sin, continue to sin, take pride in our unrepented sin, be open about our continuing to sin, build social movements which express intolerance and prejudice against those who point out the fact that we are sinning and split churches. Then after having torn his marriage apart to fully embrace a homosexual lifestyle he partook of the Eucharist.
“We will show the world how to be a Christian community…I plan to be a good bishop, not a gay bishop.”9
The question is: how can a person who is constantly and purposefully disobeying God be a good bishop since he would be an example of rejection and rebellion against God’s own word.
“Bishops in the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church, approved a resolution in 1998 calling homosexual sex ‘incompatible with Scripture.’”10
“Mr. Robinson preaches at area churches and has been active in local causes such as Concord Outright, a support group that he established for teenagers.”11 [Concord Outright is a gay and lesbian support group].
“The Rev. David Jones, rector of St. Paul’s in Concord, N.H., where voting took place, said he was thrilled with Mr. Robinson’s selection even though he recognizes that the Bible denounces homosexuality. ‘The spirit works through that man, so who am I to say God’s not supposed to do that?’ Mr. Jones said.”12
Who am I? He asks. How about, you are a reverend that’s who. And if he feels uncomfortable in his role as reverend, he could resign. But if he feels as though he should not speak out then maybe he should not. Rather, he should let God speak as He already has in His Word, which Rev. Jones is supposed to be upholding and which he admits denounces homosexuality.
Bishop Gene Robinson stated “I do believe this is of the spirit.”13
Rev. David Jones and Bishop Gene Robinson are actually quite right: this is from god and the spirit-the god of this world (or age) and the spirit that we are called on to test in order to ascertain whether they are from the true God (see 1st John 4 and 2nd Corinthians 4).
Let us end by considering various statements regarding the controversy as well as various examples of just how far and away from traditional Christianity and the Bible some clergymen have gotten:
“The Episcopal Church, the U.S. version of what is known in the rest of the world as the Anglican Church, is divided over homosexuality and same-sex ‘marriages.’”14“In March, a theology committee for the House of Bishops for the Episcopal Church rejected same-sex rites after 18 months of study. In 1998, the world’s Anglican prelates voted that sex between homosexuals is ‘incompatible with Scripture’ at the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops in Canterbury, England.”15
“The gay bishop at the center of a Church of England storm surrounding his appointment has described his relationship as a ‘gift from God.’”16
“Canon Jeffrey John, appointed to be Bishop of Reading…described his ‘life partnership’ with another man as a ‘gift and vocation from God.’”17
Bishop Gene Robinson stated, “My own view is that there is a sound argument from scripture and tradition in favour of Christians accepting same-sex relationships, provided they are based on a personal covenant of lifelong faithfulness.”18
“Novelist and columnist Anne Atkins told Today: ‘If anyone could show me how to interpret the New Testament with intellectual integrity to say that homosexual relations are acceptable to God, I would be delighted.’”19
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