To Forgive is Human

In his Pentecost 3 sermon Clay takes on how we get forgiveness, challenging the church's notion that Jesus death on the cross had anything to do with it. Neither does God. God doesn't forgive us. Listen as to why. "This understanding reduces the crucifixion to an accountant’s ledger. The balance sheet of our souls is out of whack. Our debts have to be reconciled. We couldn’t do it, so God made payment in full with Jesus’ life. Considering their context it was a reasonable leap for those first Christians to make. Yet, I can’t help thinking it’s too bad they didn’t have Luke’s story of Simon and the woman of ill repute to reflect on. We might have been spared two millennia of blood sacrifice and Christian imposed guilt." Read full text at http://www.stmatthews.org.nz/nav.php?sid=327&id=735,