Blasphemous Minister Who Supports Polyamory Claims ‘Holy Trinity Is a Polyamorous Relationship’

DALLAS, Texas — A blasphemous Baptist minister in Texas known for his book “The Queering of an American Evangelical” says that he supports polyamorous—or plural—relationships and believes that God Himself is polyamorous.

“The Holy Trinity is a polyamorous relationship,” Jeff Hood, who holds a doctorate with a focus in “queer theology” from Brite Divinity School and who was ordained at a church within the Southern Baptist Convention, asserted during a recent Patheos interview with Chuck McKnight.

“You can’t talk about the level of intimacy and ecstasy that these three beings are constantly experiencing without defining their relationship in such a way,” he claimed. “Their love has always been and will always be a shared phenomenon. In the Holy Trinity, love is never denied. We should spend our lives making sure that the love of polyamorous individuals is never denied and always protected. The Holy Trinity demands it.”

Hood has stated before on his website that he believes that “the disciples and Jesus were involved in some sort of polyamorous relationship.”

In August, he told Jennifer Martin of Splinter that he thinks polyamorous relationships reflect the Trinity.

“Not only is polyamory a positive thing, I think it’s a holy thing,” Hood opined. “I think it mimics the personhood of God. Different relationships can show us different things, and I think polyamory can show us what the Trinity looks like.”

Hood has also outlined that he believes that because “love is love,” polyamorous relationships should be supported just like same-sex relationships.

“While there could be many explanations of the polyamorous God, the one that matters the most is this: God dwells within the oppressed and marginalized (Matthew 25). Polyamorous folks are constantly oppressed and marginalized,” he told McKnight. “God is polyamorous, and if we want to get saved than we have to figure out a way to become connected to polyamory.”

Hood acknowledged during the interview that his views are rejected by many Christians, who he called “church [expletives] that have no knowledge of God.”

“Do these people sound like they know anything about love? [Expletive] no. I ain’t listening to a [expletive] word they say,” he said. “I know who I’m listening to. I hear the voice of God, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can can love Me and condemn polyamory, for I am polyamorous.’”

Hood’s views on the subject have been met with mixed reaction.

“God explicitly condones polygamy and the whole Bride of Christ is polygamous,” one commenter wrote.  

“Plural unity within the Trinity is not polyamory,” another stated. “What people want to do is their business; however, if you feel the need to justify it scripturally, at least be less sloppy when you try. Otherwise you’re just preaching to the choir, so to speak.”

“Jeff Hood is clearly biblically ignorant. His so-called knowledge of God comes from Satan,” a third wrote. 

Pastor Jeff Hood

 [written by  Heather Clark]

Church urged to restore the decaying levels of morality among the youths in Zambian society

The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) has called for the church’s cooperation in its efforts to restore the decaying levels of morality among youths in the country.

ZANIS Ndola reports that YMCA National president Thabo Kawana said this in Ndola this morning during a meeting with Ndola District Pastors fellowship at Ndola Baptist Church.

Mr Kawana explained that the recent development concerning youths that were rounded up at a sex-party in Woodlands area Lusaka was disheartening and that his organisation had since taken up a leading role in counselling the youths together with their parents.

“What happened in Lusaka is shocking. Infact it is disheartening. How can we have such types of parties where youths must be naked to enter? We have failed as parents. YMCA has since taken up a leading role in counselling the youths whose number has swelled to 138, together with their parents,” he said.

He added that the problem was that parents were only providers and had no time to be available for their children.

“The problem is that as parents we are only providing and not being present. If a child asks for money for a shoe we provide without knowing where they are taking that money to. That is why only rich people’s children were present at that party. We are failing as parents,” he said.

Mr Kawana further implored the church not to work in isolation with regards to issues pertaining to young people.

“As a church don’t work in isolation when it comes to youths. The church must lay the foundation and as YMCA, we shall build and then government shall out on the roof. Then we shall all be comfortable that we are raising responsible and God fearing young men, “ he said.

The YMCA National president furthermore challenged the church to be concerned with the reduction in the number of youths in church while bars and night clubs were recording increased patronage.

“You must be concerned with the way youths have reduced in number during your Sunday services and yet take a tour of bars and nightclubs they are always crowded with the same youths who have be at church. These are the issues that you should be addressing,” he advised.

PHARISEES AND CHRISTIANS ARE THE SAME

Christ reproved some Pharisees calling them hypocrites, and most “Christians” have mistakenly taken that to mean the word “Pharisees” denotes hypocrisy. Christ’s criticism of the Pharisees as recorded in “Mathew 23” does not imply that all Pharisees were pretenders. As a matter of fact, Christianity and Phariseeism have many things in common. To begin with, the word Pharisees stands for “separated ones,” Christians also claim to be the “called-out ones”.  Just as the Christians have different denominations; the Pharisees were also of diverse groups during Christ’s time. The Jewish Talmud- Ṣota 22b shows that there were seven different categories of the Pharisees and they all had different characters, surprisingly Christians have the same characteristics of the seven groups of the Pharisees.

[Part 1 of a 10 part series, written by Babylon Today staff writer]

Rabbi YITZCHOK ADLERSTEIN says Christians and Jews need each other in the new cultural battle

Yitzchok Adlerstein(Anacleto Rapping/Genesis Photos)

 

Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of interfaith affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, is an Orthodox rabbi who says he used to propagate “untruth” about Christians but is now “addicted to the goodwill of Christians.” I met him at a ceremony commemorating the legacy of William E. Blackstone, a pioneer Christian advocate for the Jewish community. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation in his West Los Angeles office: It took place before recent desecration’s in Jewish cemeteries.

As director of interfaith affairs, what kind of interactions have you had with other religious communities?We have been available to all kinds of religious groups to talk about the Jewish experience as a minority. I’ve spoken to many Korean, African-American, and Latino Christian groups, and I also speak to Muslim groups—sometimes people with whom we don’t always see eye to eye politically, as some hate Israel as much as I love Israel. But as long as they’re not endorsing terrorism, we will talk to them.

How do you assess the response to persecution of Christians?When we see hard-core religious persecution, we as Jews have to be the first to respond. We’ve succeeded in raising consciousness to the persecution of Christians around the world. Christians are being persecuted for their faith in the Middle East, yet the State Department has in the past refused to call it religiously motivated. So we kept on pushing back, writing pretty condemning letters to State. Until recently, we’ve been more aggressive about this issue than other Christian groups.

Are these efforts motivated by empathy or self-interest?Both. People would surmise that it’s the latter. I can’t prove it to them, but I can tell you it’s not. It is primarily an issue of principle. These endangered Christian communities in the Middle East whom we are trying to protect often do not like Jews or Israel. However, as people who were victimized by the Holocaust, we recognize that we can’t tell the world or our kids and our grandchildren, “Where was the world when they were silent about the killing of Jews?” and then be silent when the world is doing the same thing to Christians.

‘Ironically, traditional Christians and traditional Jews are now in the same boat. Not only politically, but culturally: How do you keep the next generation committed to the Word of God?’

What was your previous perception of Christians?I had a deep-seated revulsion to anything Christian. When I was growing up in Manhattan, I got beaten up by Irish Catholics after school. My mother was a Holocaust survivor. I believed Christians were either evil or out to convert me.

What changed?Along came a Catholic woman who started attending my Torah classes. After a while, she pointed out all the mistakes we were making in our publications in regard to Christian beliefs. Because of her, I researched more of Christianity: I read lots of articles, parts of the New Testament, and spoke to Christians from a variety of denominations. Since then I’ve learned that the strongest supporters of the State of Israel are Bible-believing Christians.

What did you think about the New Testament?I think Romans 9 to 11 is crucial, because that’s the section where Christians leave room for Jewish significance.

And what have you found is the biggest difference between Christianity and Judaism?You expect me to say Jesus. And that’s true—that’s a huge one. And yet! While it’s true we reject the divinity of Jesus, when we listen to you talking about Jesus, we think, “Oh, you mean God!”—without abstracting that into a Triune godhead.

No, the real difference is how we look at the Bible itself: Christians look for messages and deeper understanding in the Bible. Orthodox Jews see the Bible—particularly the first five books—as law. One consequence of this difference in outlook is that Christian seminary students study the Hebrew Bible a chapter at a time, but Orthodox Jews dissect it three words at a time, convinced that every letter, every nuance, is pregnant with meaning and instruction.

How do you study the Torah?I’m usually at the synagogue by 6 a.m. Then in the evening I study the Torah and Talmud some more. I am an addict of the Torah, particularly the Talmud—they’re my daily dose. Jews who don’t digest their daily dose of Torah can be just as ornery as males are reputed to be before dinner. My wife will warn the kids, “Don’t talk to abba before he’s fed!”

What most attracts you to your daily dose?We’re in the presence of God when we study the Torah. It’s engaging the mind of God and applying it to the human situation in all of its nuanced details. It’s absorbing it in a way that you can pass on to your children and build a sense of community.

If only more Christians studied the Bible as seriously as you do.Something I’m most concerned about is that too many Christian millennials just don’t have the same interest, intensity, and love for the Word of God as the older generation did. They say, “Just give me a message! Put it on a six-second Vine, a 140-character Twitter, a three-minute YouTube.” They just want to know what the “message” is—and they want it to be social justice and tikkun olam (a Reform Judaism phrase meaning “world repair”).

So …That’s not going to work! If people say the message is, “just be a better person,” what happens when you spot a Buddhist who’s doling out soup to homeless people with the same passion? You’ll start wondering, “He’s doing what I’m doing … so what does my faith have to do with it?” Even doing good things can be self-serving: It makes you feel good. If your beliefs are not related to the rest of your lifestyle, you can’t really hope to build lasting community and transfer your beliefs from generation to generation.

Why do you as a Jew care what’s happening to young Christians?Christians and Jews need each other. Today, America is not only looking down upon religion, but sees it as a countercultural force. American Christians have become vaguely aware that they’re no longer a cultural majority, but a minority. I won’t use the word “persecuted” just yet, but we’re getting there, and in some places, that’s true. Evangelicals are now waking up to the idea that they can’t afford to lose anything more. Ironically, traditional Christians and traditional Jews are now in the same boat. Not only politically, but culturally—which is the more important battle: How do you keep the next generation committed to the Word of God, committed to the idea that there are some things in culture that don’t change?

Many Jews are committed to secularism.If we Orthodox Jews had to choose between a Christian America and a hedonistic secular America … well, that’s not even a contest. I don’t have an invested interest in Christianity, but I have an invested interest in preserving human reverence for God, both because I don’t want to live in a society where God becomes a joke, and because I do believe it’s my Jewish mission—just as you believe it’s part of your Christian mission—to bring God-consciousness to as many people as possible on the face of the earth.
‘Ironically, traditional Christians and traditional Jews are now in the same boat. Not only politically, but culturally: How do you keep the next generation committed to the Word of God?’

[written by  Sophia Lee]

 

Theologians seek Protestant unity through ‘Reforming Catholic Confession’

More than 500 pastors and theologians have signed a ‘Reforming Catholic Confession’ designed to mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation on October 31, 2017.

Produced by a drafting committee composed almost entirely of US-based scholars, the Confession aims to highlight ‘the Reformers’s original vision for Catholic unity under canonical authority’. It says critics of the Reformation often ‘fixate’ on Protestant divisions. However, it says that ‘despite our genuine differences, there is a significant and substantial doctrinal consensus that unites us as “mere Protestants”.’

Martin Luther in the Circle of Reformers, 1625/1650© Deutsches Historisches Museum

Its sub-heading is: ‘What we, Protestants of diverse churches and theological traditions, say together’.

The Confession includes sections on the Trinity, Scripture, the atoning work of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church and baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

A section entitled ‘explanation’ stresses the Reformers’ original intentions and defends Protestantism from the charge of being inherently divisive. It says: ‘While we regret the divisions that have followed in its wake, we acknowledge the need for the sixteenth-century Reformation, even as we recognize the hopeful possibilities of the present twenty-first century moment.’ The Confession continues: ‘We therefore aim to celebrate the catholic impulse that lies at the heart of the earlier Reformation even as we hope and pray for ever greater displays of our substantial unity in years to come.’

The ‘explanation’ acknowledges Protestant divisions and says the Reformers ‘sometimes succumbed to the ever-present temptations of pride, prejudice, and impatience’. However, it denies divisions were the ‘inevitable consequences’ of the Reformation.

It says that rather than attempting to replace denominational credal formulations, ‘our statement aims at displaying an interdenominational unity in the essentials of the faith and agreement that the Word of God alone has final jurisdiction’. It urges further conversations and dialogue seeking to ‘achieve greater unity’.

Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama, who co-chaired the Confession’s steering committee, said that a significant motivating factor of the Confession’s participants is to call the Church to spiritual renewal.

He told the Christian Post: ‘It’s a call for the Church to be the Church in a world that is very much pushing against the things of God in so many different ways, and to believe that God will sustain in the midst of the storms that are all about us.’

George said: ‘I don’t think we can be faithful Christians in the tradition of the Reformation unless we take seriously Jesus’ words and his prayer [in John 17] that his disciples would be one so that the world might believe.’

He said the Confession was ‘a call to recognize that there is a brokenness about us and within us, which we have to pray that God, the Holy Spirit, will heal and mend in our midst. But we don’t think that relaxing into our divisions and accepting the status quo as divinely ordained is the way forward.’

[written by Mark Woods]

Spiritual Deception from Malawi to America!

Malawian false “prophet” wizard and ritualist Shepherd Bushiri (his real name is Chipiliro Gama) who is also known as “major one” launched his church’s branch in Washington DC on August 31,2017. Bushiri is from Malawi and resides in Pretoria, South Africa and is known for his “walking on air” claims as well as “angels” appearing in his church. Both accounts are proven to be fabrications.  He is also known for publicly threatening to kill people by spiritual means if they speak against him.  America, are you SURE that you want a man such as this in your neighborhoods? I DON’T! He’s NOT who he claims to be people. Be prayerful and ask God to open your eyes to see this clown for who he really is because he will unfailingly unleash a form of darkness unknown to most Americans into this country!