TULIP and John Wesley

I have created a new "TULIP" handout to use when teaching Wesleyan theology. This is a simplified version of classic Calvinist teaching. Why not share it here with the world?

I've discovered over the years the best way to teach Wesley's "Scripture Way of Salvation" (God's sacred initiative in shaping our lives into fullness through prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace) is to start with TULIP. Then I contrast these ideas with the Arminian point of view (free will vs. predestination), and the sheet provides a way to offer Wesley's nuanced approach.

Historically, it makes sense because Wesley's teaching (which is a recovery of eastern Christian spirituality, expressed in more exacting Protestant language) came out of his struggle against Calvinism historically. He was brilliant in what he taught, in my humble opinion!

I say his approach was nuanced because his teachings aren't direct opposite of these teachings, but definitely contrast with them. He taught direct opposites when it comes to the middle three, but his response was nuanced when it came to the first and the last. He believed we are born tainted from our original luster because of original sin, but that our "essential nature" is that we are born in the image of God, not that we are a sinner. Christianity restores us to that original nature, rather than changing us from our original "bad" nature into something else.

Likewise, his response to the Calvinist "once saved always saved" mantra is more nuanced than it is often characterized to be. It should not lead directly to anxiety about whether we are saved or not (the Calvinist critique of Wesley). We don't need to be saved again and again because we fall, heavens no. He also taught ASSURANCE of our salvation, but maintained that God always grants us free will to turn toward God, or away from God. God never forces love. Of course, Wesley's language of "salvation" is rooted in New Testament Greek, and so does not refer simply to whether we have a ticket to heaven or not at the moment of death. It refers to whether we are on the journey of being made whole in Christ. This is part of the mischaracterization of what he means when he indicates we can "fall from grace."

Wesley’s theology in a Nutshell

On Vaccinations

GET YOUR VAX, PEOPLE!

We are at the ER tonight, where my father-in-law has been stuck in a gurney for hours because there are 90 beds and 140 patients.

- 90% of Covid patients in hospitals are unvaccinated.

- 95% of Covid patients who die here are unvaccinated.

- Soon we will pass 5 million people in the world who have died of this.

- 80 million people in the US are eligible for a free vaccination and refuse to get one.

- The reason we have variants appearing is because everyone is not getting vaccinated quickly.

- There are no microchips being put in your bloodstream, there is no conspiracy to take your rights away, Dr. Fauci is not a liar, and the vaccination is safe.

- If all of us can’t come together on this, it will keep going and going. More people die. This is a fact.

- This is not about personal choice. This is about what it takes to protect humanity.

- This is not about politics. It’s about compassion. Put politics aside.

- It doesn’t matter if you “don’t know what’s in it.” I don’t know what’s in a hot dog and I eat them.

- If we trust God, we should participate in the miracle that the science God created has now created.

- The vax is not just for you. It is for humanity. You’re not just taking your chances. You are endangering other people.

- It’s not about you.

Thanks for listening.

(Of course, there are people with legitimate medical conditions that do not need to take the vaccine. The rest of us should cover for you by getting ours. That’s another way we are all in this together.)

We're Grounded

I am reading Grounded by Diana Butler Bass. I feel led to post a few direct quotes from the introduction to the book. It gives me great hope.

"Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor awaiting execution in a Nazi prison, understood that the three-tiered universe with its majestic God had been swept away by the war and argued that a new 'religionless' Christianity must emerge from history's ashes." (5)

"In the decades that followed, it became increasingly evident that you cannot revive a God for a world that no longer exists. Venerating a God of a vanished world is the very definition of fundamentalism, the sort of religion that is inflicting great pain and violence on many millions of people across the planet and is leading to the rejection of religion by millions of others." (5-6)

"Some stubbornly maintain that a distant God sits on his heavenly throne watching all these things, active as either a divine puppet master or a stern judge of human affairs, ready at a moment's notice to throw more thunderbolts or toss the whole human race into an eternal lake of fire. But this is a vision of God whose time may be up, for such a divinity looks either increasingly absurd or suspiciously like a monster." (8)

"In its crudest form, the role of religion ... is to act as a holy elevator between God above and those muddling around down below in the world. Despite my familiarity with conventional theology, I do have experience of another sort of language for God, for throughout my life something odd kept happening to me. God showed up ... For whatever reason, my soul has a mile-wide mystical streak." (12)

"The language of mysticism and spiritual experience cuts a wide swath through the world's religious traditions, and it presents an alternative theology, that of connection and intimacy." (13)

"The language of divine nearness is the very heart of vibrant faith." (14)

A former Catholic told her, "'But these other things - the Spirit all around, caring and praying for people, working for a better world - they ground me.' Her tale was similar to many stories in circulation about leaving religion behind in favor of spirituality. But it had a twist. She felt grounded by God." (17)

"In Christian theology, the word 'ground' conjures a very particular image. In 1916, a young German military chaplain named Paul Tillich was stationed on the front lines of World War I. The war undid all Tillich's youthful confidence in the world and in faith ... After the war, Tillich made it his work to find dependable theological ground. Eventually, he proclaimed that God is the 'Ground of all Being,' the 'centered presence of the divine'; the 'whole world' is God's 'periphery.' Human life may be finite, destined for dirt and death; but the ground and all that came from it and was connected to it, claimed Tillich, was drenched with the divine, the source of infinite holiness. This insight appears in many of the world's faith traditions. Most tribal religions are based upon the absolute connection of God (or gods) and the earth. Buddhists see 'the world as it is' as the stage of spiritual activity. For Hindus, Brahman is the source of all life, represented by the sacred word Om; the world itself is the expression of Brahman's dream. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share a creation story in which the earth is the embodiment of God's breath and insist that God is present everywhere and in all things ... Indeed, the primary hope of the ancient Hebrews was for 'Immanuel,' or 'God with us,' the God who dwells with humankind in love and justice. Christians refer to God's embodiment as 'incarnation,' God made flesh in Jesus, who is called Immanuel, and believe that God is present through the Spirit sent into the world after Jesus's death and resurrection ... in an age of profound, perplexing, and even frightening change, millions of people are rediscovering from the deepest human wisdom a simple spiritual reality: we're grounded." (17-20)

Remembrances of Richmond Pierce West

These are the brief remembrances I shared at the funeral service of my dear brother, Rich, on August 12, 2021.

On behalf of my family, thank you all so much for your love and support. We feel your prayers. They are holding us fast.

The Wests boys were two sets of brothers, and he and I were the younger set. I could tell you about the childhood shenanigans of “Stephen and Richey.” I could tell you about singing “Johnny’s Gettin’ Nothin’ for Christmas” every year (complete with at least 17 verses). I could tell you how often he reminded me about the time he pushed me over the lawn mower. I could tell you about the time he told mom I was eating all the marshmallows (after he ate his half). I could tell you how many times I heard the phrase, “Mom! Stephen’s aggrivatin’ me!” I could tell you about the family video of him imitating Howard Cosell with Andy. He was goofy, he was funny, we called each other punk.

I could also tell you about his relentless love for God, for theology, for social justice, and for the Church. I could tell you about how much he loved Camp Sumatanga. I could tell you about his amazing academic accomplishments. But what I really want to tell you is this. He had a brilliant and beautiful mind.

I sometimes say he could walk into a room and teach a course in world religions that could knock your socks off, but he might not be able to find his own socks. Today, I want you to know this inspires me the most about his life.

The unfolding of his beautiful mind started when he was teaching and involved in his first doctoral program before mom died 18 years ago. I say that not to call attention to his suffering, oh no. I say that because more than anyone I know, he was an overcomer.

No matter what the obstacles, he was eternally fascinated with theology and philosophy. He refused to stop creating. He finished a Ph.D., which was his proudest moment. He self-published 3 books and some graphic novels. He was excited about the new book of ghost stories he had found a publisher for.

I once told him his writing “defied genre” (he took that as a huge compliment, which it was). The threads he could weave between philosophy, comics, memories, painful experiences, science fiction, and theology gave me insight into the beauty of his mind. Writing was his way of making sense of things, of finding peace, and of blessing the world.

I have learned more from my brother than anyone I have ever known about courage, determination, and relentless creativity. And I love the way that after that whole intellectual journey, he had unwavering faith in Christ. In recent years, he just loved going to church and being involved in teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, and ministries of addiction recovery.

I also want to say one more thing that’s really important. Watching Dad and Richmond work out a mutually supportive living arrangement in the years after mom died was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life. It wasn’t always easy, but the greatest gift of God we have is each other.

He died too early, and that was a total surprise. But my heart is full of gratitude that he died happy, stable, creative, and excited. And in all things, he had unshakable hope in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That’s what I want to celebrate with you today.

Richmond would have been thrilled to know that at his funeral, I would close my brief remarks with the famous quote from Captain Kirk at the funeral of his dear, Vulcan friend Spock. “Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most … human.”

And it was. Rest in the peace of Christ, Richmond. Amen.

In Memory of Richmond Pierce West

My younger brother, Richmond West, which some of you remember fondly by his childhood nickname “Richey,” died of a sudden heart attack early Sunday morning.

He was a gifted professor and writer and a man of Christian faith, and he had a brilliant and beautiful mind. Thankfully, he spent his last day of life with some of the family on a day trip to Montgomery. I was very close to him and will miss him so much.

He was a huge fan of philosophy and theology, Star Trek, Marvel Comics, and Alabama football. 

You will find his obituary, arrangements, and photos of his life and love here.

An Open Letter to Chris Ritter

Dear Chris,

The United Methodist Church that you and I both love is facing schism. It is a matter of public record that the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA), the advocacy group which you help lead as part of their Global Council, has announced that whether or not the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation finds support at our next General Conference, the new breakaway denomination called the Global Methodist Church (GMC) will be formed without delay.

I have not had the privilege of meeting you, though you served as keynote speaker in a rally in Birmingham, near my home, held to gain support for the new Methodist movement that will be seceding from the UMC. I wrote a public letter after that event, indicating personal reasons why I am choosing to stay in the UMC. It surprised me as much as anyone that it went viral, and a response to my letter was written and signed by the North Alabama chapter of the WCA and others who organized the rally.

In the spirit of open conversation, I offer this open letter to you, since you recently published a comparison chart that is being distributed by the North Alabama chapter of the WCA, and I presume other chapters as well. It was a well-designed effort in which you contrasted what will be the post-separation United Methodist Church with the newly announced denomination the GMC.

I can see the appeal of such an exercise. Laity need to understand the issues before us, and the issues are complex. There is generalized anxiety in the church. There are many variables, since there is a strong possibility that General Conference will be delayed again due to the coronavirus, and it is possible that the Protocol will not pass, or that one of the other plans coming before General Conference will pass, or that the Protocol will pass but with significant changes, or that all or part of it will be deemed unconstitutional by the Judicial Council. However, no matter what happens, the GMC has announced that it will withdraw and form as a new denomination. As churches prepare for a journey that may eventually lead to local church decision making, a chart makes it simple and easy to understand.

Most of what you indicate on the chart could be considered accurate. However, there are three major blind spots which force me to deem it a well-designed promotional piece, intended to persuade people to leave our denomination, instead of providing a balanced and complete picture.

First, the sections describing the beliefs of the post-separation UMC on abortion and pluralism are pure conjecture and have nothing to do with the Protocol. Of course, the UMC will continue to have a General Conference every four years. But no changes in teaching on these issues are indicated in any of the Protocol legislation. Speculating about these “hot button” culture war issues muddies the waters, alarms and confuses laity, and makes the chart a biased effort with partial truth, at best.

Second, it is conspicuous that the chart does not address contrasting information that is less of a “selling point” for people you are hoping will join you in the new denomination. For example, there is a section on “congregational fidelity” in the GMC’s Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline by which a local church can be summarily dismissed from the new denomination if their beliefs or practices are deemed unacceptable in some way by governing bodies beyond the local church (this has no parallel in the United Methodist Discipline). There is a subtle but important change in how the doctrine of grace is presented in the new Transitional Discipline compared to the standard, traditional UMC teaching. There is an intentional change in language about laity trials, compared to the same section in the UMC Discipline, that implies laity could be put on trial for their sexual orientation. There is a self-appointed governing body called the Transitional Leadership Council which has an overwhelming amount of influence over the affairs of the church and broad powers it can later bestow on “its successor.” We have no such thing in the UMC. I could go on.

Third, the very nature of your chart implies that this is a binary choice between two destinies, and this is simply a false narrative. The Protocol does not split the denomination into two parts. Rather, if it even passes, it will allow for the gracious withdrawal of more than one denomination, at least one “traditionalist” denomination and one “progressive” denomination, from the main body of the UMC with millions in start-up funding. The post-separation UMC would remain the largest Methodist body in the United States and remain diverse in thought with traditional, centrist, and progressive pastors, laity, and churches. The Protocol does indicate that the post-separation UMC will remove controversial language in the Discipline regarding human sexuality. However, this action does not “redefine marriage” or force pastors, local churches, or annual conferences to make any decisions or follow any practices they aren’t comfortable with. Rather, it is choosing to allow for diverse and contextualized ministry across the country. In contrasting your two projected denominations on the subject of ordination, for example, you use a simple “yes” or “no.” This does not reflect any nuance of what the post-separation UMC might negotiate to contextualize ministry in the future, according to the Protocol itself.

I am not condemning your attempt to provide a chart. I am appealing to the laity of the church to read your chart with discernment. Some may find it helpful, but it is clearly intended to persuade and it does not give an accurate and balanced picture. I have attached a list of more primary sources from a variety of perspectives that should be read in concert with each other. This will give laity a better picture of the whole.

May God bless your new movement so that together, we can reach different people for Christ in the ever-expanding streams of American religious tradition.

Warmly,

Rev. Dr. Steve West
Member of the North Alabama Conference of the UMC

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Resources for Study and Discernment

Factual Resources
Video Overview by Tom Berlin

The Protocol
The GMC Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline
United Methodist Social Principles

Primary Resources intended to Persuade
Traditionalist Resources:
The Wesleyan Covenant Association
The Global Methodist Church
Centrist Resources:
Uniting Methodists
UMCNext
Progressive Resources:
Reconciling Ministries Network
The Liberation Methodist Connexion

For readers that are part of my home conference, the North Alabama Conference, there are two grassroots resources intended to persuade that should be read and compared:
New Methodist Movement (traditionalist)
Stay UMC (centrist)