First, let me say that the March Record was the best I've read.
I noted the opposing views of Calvin Brown and Zander Dunn on the virginity of Mary. To be Christian, a denomination must hold a core of beliefs that affirm:
- There is an omnipotent God separate from mankind
- Jesus is God
- The imperative of a Christian Church is to seek the Kingdom of God.
After that and only after that, each denomination can have a written or tacit mission statement.
In my view, all denominations should lean towards Diana Butler Bass's “ancient spiritual practices of hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony, diversity, justice, worship, reflection and beauty.” (She is quoted in Lynne Donovan's article A Place To Call Home.) That gives ample room for any denomination to emphasize particular injustices or art or post modernism or post colonialism or any other flavour emerging from changing technology without engaging in the corrosive struggle between “right” and “left” Christianity.
