I was taken aback by the responses to Dr. Dorcas Gordon’s “Christ Alone.” There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about what Dr. Gordon was trying to say. Recently I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Gordon speak at a retreat about women in the gospel of John. Questions are one of Dr. Gordon’s main teaching methods, and one that she encourages her students to use on their own. She asked us all to be “resistant readers”—to ask questions as we encountered the text, its characters and its received meaning.
The questioning brought forth lots of new detail, yet so many of the questions remained unanswered and unanswerable. But it opened our minds to look at the issue in a new light and we were inspired.
When I reread Dr. Gordon’s article on Christ Alone, I realized that she was doing something very similar—using questions to shed a new light on a long-held belief, helping us see what we have been leaving out of our discussion.
I think she is encouraging us to be open to questioning our beliefs in order to see where they might exclude or hurt. In doing so, we’ll ask ourselves a lot of questions, sometimes painful ones, and we might not get many answers, but the questioning helps us to open our minds and allow new light to inspire and sustain beliefs both new and old.
Jessica Clark, Ottawa
For me, Dorcas Gordon’s article is a thoughtful and respectful position written by someone who obviously has been out in the world as it really is today. There are millions of people today for whom “Christ Alone” is simply not where they are at in their faith journeys in any of the world religions, including Christianity. One of the letter writers says, “we should be completely humbled by the fact that Christians have exclusive access to the mind of God.” Exclusive access to the mind of God?! Such a belief is untenable in the face of the many ways God makes God’s self known in the world today. God still sees the suffering of all God’s people and still says as He did to Moses, “I have seen the affliction of my people … and have heard their cry … and I have come down to deliver them.” But wait, then God says to Moses, “I will send you to Pharaoh.” That’s God’s word today to the whole world. God is still saying I love my people, I am saddened by suffering so do something about it! It is the prophets’ message, Jesus’ message, the Bible’s message and the message of all other religious faiths as well. We do not have a monopoly on the “golden rule.”
None of us in the world religions have the final definitive word from God because there is no such thing. Dorcas Gordon is right. We live in a time when “God is calling us as a church to deep and likely painful theological reflection.” That reflection is about just such issues. Many years ago, J. B. Phillips wrote a little book called Your God is Too Small. That would be a very good place to start such deep theological reflection. Too many people in all the world’s religions have a God who is too small—we all need to begin to look at whether the God we think we know is truly the God who watches over us, loves us, and calls us to activate in our world the possibilities of beauty, truth, creativity, harmony, peace, compassion and distributive justice; a God who is far bigger than our small parochial visions of “our” God alone.
Helen Goggin, via email
With Dr. Gordon I affirm the importance of contextual awareness when reading the Bible, considering ecumenical and Reformed creeds and engaging in theological reflection. As I see it, anyone following in the way of Jesus in 2012 must engage significant questions particular to our time and context. In the area of biblical studies there is much that is fluid rather than solid, especially in light of recent archeological research and discovery. The Hubble and Kepler space telescopes have broadened and deepened the mystery of our existence. Interaction with people of other faiths challenges any latent feelings of superiority we as Christians might maintain. The sad history of church-sanctioned violence, domination and abuse leaves little room to criticize other world religions.
I believe it is through Jesus alone that we meet God as a divine parent. I do not believe that only those who know God as “Father” can experience God as gracious, loving, compassionate, accepting, nurturing and empowering. I have experienced grace through faith in Christ and have a living hope in the risen Jesus. I give witness to that truth. But I cannot claim that other beings on our “spaceship earth,” and any other earthlike planets in the universe, must believe as I believe, or express their faith as I express mine, in order to be loved and accepted by God now or in eternity. A few “proof texts” don’t suffice. It’s just not that simple.
Keith Boyer, Barrie, Ont.
