Saturday, March 1, 2008

Say What?


The following quote was found in this article in the Christian Index.

“If you are spiritual you can believe everything and nothing at the same time.”

-Ergun Caner, president, Liberty Theological Seminary
(Photo Credit: Caner's website)

13 comments:

Gordan said...

Ergun Caner = Deviant Monk

Fred said...

??????????????????????????????

Joshua A. Hitchcock said...

Actually....this quote makes alot of since to me...IF you are spiritual....non believers are often spiritual...they believe in getting in touch with the divinity inside them...and a whole bunch of other ridiculous mess...Almost a new buddhism....so spiritual people can have a wide variety of beliefs (everything), but it is nothing of eternal value..I actually think this quote makes since.

Machine Gun Kelley said...

I see that SBTS education is paying off. Do they have a Canerisms 101 class or something? LOL!

I hope that's what he was meaning. Perhaps they should provide a bit more context next time?

Thanks for the help Josh. :)

J.C. Thibodaux said...

I was about to ask, "What's the context of the quote?" Might seem kind of funny to hear,

"make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness"

without knowing the context from Luke 16:9.

Fred said...

Canerisms 101 LOL.

Here's what Paul says in 1Co 14:37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.

Lucas Defalco said...

like to hear the context too. I've heard Caner speak many times and my hunch is that he is responding to postmodern spirituality that is so common in today's culture.

Other notable quotes from the conference:

“We are nobody except by the grace of God.” - Junior Hill

“We are not free until we become bond slaves of Jesus Christ.” - Robert Smith, Beeson Divinity School

Joshua A. Hitchcock said...

I heard the sermon that he preached where this quote is taken from. He preached from 2 Kings 17:7-37, Why Isreal Fell, and making the point that we are experiencing the same things Israel did then...and it was actually a really good sermon :I know us Calvinists don't expect much good from Caners mouth, but this sermon was really good.

1. Israel fell because of spiritual relativism
2. Israel fell because of a culture of ethical pragmatism
3. Israel fell because of generational cynicism.
4. Israel fell because of a culture of personal narcissism.
5. A culture of political activism.

So I can assure you he was handing the postmodern spirituality of the new age movement that is present within our culture.

Exist-Dissolve said...

Actually, I think he is all but plagiarizing Schleiermacher's second lecture On Religion.

The truly religious person, in Schleiermacher's view, is not the one who believes in a particular series of dogmatic proscriptions, but is rather the one whose person is open to the fullness and infinity of the divine indwelling them, which indwelling is both "nothing" (per its rejection of religious belief being constrained to human opinions about morality, ethics and metaphysics) and "everything" (as the indwelling of the divine is necessarily encompassing of all reality).

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but Schleiermacher wouldn't let someone shoot him with a tazer during a lecture, so it's no big deal!

Gordan said...

I believe nothing you assert as true, and everything the Bible does.

I believe nothing I don't like, and everything I do like.

I believe nothing ought to be defined by your use of language, and everything is cool when I speak.

Hey, this is fun.

Anonymous said...

Schleiermacher must be Oprah's spiritual father.

Fred said...

Hey This is easier to understand than Emerging and Emergent!