Response to reviewer of PK books (Aug 5)

KINGnet User (Banyan.Mail@earth.brhs.gen.tn.us)
Sat, 26 Aug 95 16:05:42 -0700

As an occasional reader of the IBIC Journal, and as an enthusiastic
member of the Promise Keeper movement, I was interested in your reviews
of the books THE SEVEN PROMISES OF A PROMISE KEEPER and THE POWER OF A
PROMISE KEPT which appeared in the Aug. 5 issue. While I generally agree
with your opinion of the literary merits of the two books, I was puzzled
by your theological view:
"But I believe that ideology is less important than humanity.
> I believe that when God looks down from eternity, he does not judge
> us on whether our ideology--or our theology-- was correct or
> advanced in the context of its times; he judges us on how well our
> lives have served His purposes. And, for Christians, the Four
> Gospels make those purposes quite plain. "Love thy neighbor as
> thyself." Nothing more and nothing less.

I'm rather puzzled by the bit about "he judges us on how well our lives
have served His purposes." The Apostle Paul (in Romans 8:28) says that
"all things" (and by extension all people) are working according to His
plans. The noted apologist C. S. Lewis echoes this view in his
"children's" novel THE LAST BATTLE: the Calormenes loyal to Tash were
given credit for their devotion to Tash as though they had served Aslan.
Their devotion to their notion of God (even though their notion, their
ideology, was false) "was accredited to them as righteousness."
It would seem that your position is basically that, as long as one is
sincere in one's beliefs and earnestly works to live according to those
beliefs, one is considered righteous before God. Is this a fair
statement of your beliefs, or have I misunderstood? (I'm not necessarily
disagreeing, mind you; I simply wanted to make sure I understood you
correctly.)

Andrew Callender
afcallen@king2.king.bristol.tn.us