Zguy28
April 24th 2008, 01:36 PM
First off, I apologize if this has been posted previously. I searched Christianity, Theology, Ecclesiology, and Unorthodox Theology forums and came up empty.
An atheist I know posted this on another forum I visit:
"the "myth" of the virgin birth "was not intended as historical fact, but was employed by Matthew and Luke in different ways to appoint poetically the truth about Jesus as experienced in the emerging church." Sprague defined a theological myth as "not false presentation but a valid and quite persuasive literary device employed to point to ultimate truth that can only be insinuated symbolically and never depicted exhaustively." Jesus, Sprague insists, was born to human parents and did not possess "trans-human, supernatural powers."
Apparently he's a Bishop in the United Methodist Church.
I would call these views heretical. Is this accepted doctrine these days among the leaders and layperson of the UMC?
An atheist I know posted this on another forum I visit:
"the "myth" of the virgin birth "was not intended as historical fact, but was employed by Matthew and Luke in different ways to appoint poetically the truth about Jesus as experienced in the emerging church." Sprague defined a theological myth as "not false presentation but a valid and quite persuasive literary device employed to point to ultimate truth that can only be insinuated symbolically and never depicted exhaustively." Jesus, Sprague insists, was born to human parents and did not possess "trans-human, supernatural powers."
Apparently he's a Bishop in the United Methodist Church.
I would call these views heretical. Is this accepted doctrine these days among the leaders and layperson of the UMC?