Baker and Christianity

Submitted by Peter J. Herz (Taiwan), Jan 11, 2004 at 08:17

As I wrote earlier, shame on Dr. Schuller for hiring a guy like Baker, although I'll note Schuller later fired the guy. However, as I followed your links to Campus Watch's article on Baker, I noticed something very interesting:

"Baker's lectures at Crystal Cathedral so blatantly ignored the divinity of Jesus that it offended several moderate Protestant pastors who attended."[ Campus watch, quoting the journalist Brin].

If this is indeed good, accurate reporting, it shows Baker not as a Christian "fundamentalist", but a Christian theological "moderate" with extremist views on race--and Campus Watch is to be commended for associating him with the "fringe" rather than Christian "fundamentalism". The deity of Christ has been a central dogma of Christianity since the beginning; is central to the historic creeds; and was insisted on by the early 20th century Protestant fundamentalists as one of the non-negotiable fundamentals. Since Schuller sometimes identifies himself as a "Calvinist", it is worth noting that Michael Servetus got burned at the stake in 16th century Geneva (by the city fathers, who had just barely approved Calvin's return from exile in Strasbourg; not by Calvin, who was only a theological "expert witness" at the trial) for his denial of the deity of Christ.

Further, it may well be that the combination of Baker's ignoring the deity of Christ, as much as his hatred for Jews, might be the aspect that makes him palatable to certain Islamic groups.

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