I recently received the following letter from a young United Methodist pastor who was raising questions related to some of the views expressed in my new book, Seeing Gray. I don’t usually have time to respond to each person who writes, but I felt the exchange between us might be helpful to a broader audience. I don’t know the pastor but I’m told that, like me, he migrated form a Pentecostal background to the United Methodist Church. I could easily envision having asked the same questions he’s asking twenty years ago. What follows is his letter and my somewhat lengthy response.

Dear Rev. Hamilton,

I am part of an on line renewal group in Missouri for United Methodist’s. I’ve read several of your books and am puzzled by what I perceive to a left-leaning tilt in your theology. In “Seeing Gray” you had said that John 14:6 was an example of “prophetic hyperbole” and in your book on religions you said that Jews, Muslims, and Christians all worship the same God. I am puzzled by these perspectives and am further dismayed at your belief that the Bible is simply fraught with inconsistencies and errors. I am concerned about the trajectory of your faith journey. It seems that you are becoming more progressive with the years. I personally feel it would be better to remain agnostic about some of these questions that have haunted the church. Somehow we should leave the secret things to God, don’t you think? Your stance on homosexuality seems to be wavering as well because of some deeply personal experiences you have had.

Now, my response: I am not at all convinced by the story of the woman wanting to leap off the balcony at General Conference, if anything that makes me believe she needs psychological intervention, not mere compassion. In addition, Jews and Muslims do believe in one God, yet they dismiss the trinity. If God is by nature trinity, if that is ontologically who God is, then Jews and Muslims don’t worship exactly the same God. If anything they worship a partial and even flawed conception of the one true God, that is, the true God known in the face of Jesus Christ. I do not believe Jesus was exaggerating when He called Himself the way, the truth, and the life. The way is narrow and straight and many will see destruction. Can God save Jews, Muslims, or even Hindus? Certainly. But it is not wise to be overly optimistic of anyone finding salvation other than through a personal encounter with Christ. Say what you will but that undercuts our impetus to do evangelism. While I too would not contend for a completely inerrant Scripture text, I think one may persuasively argue for infallibility. One may also argue that the Bible is God’s Word without significant error. There is no error that whatsoever touches or changes any significant doctrine or fundamental principle of God’s Word when interpreted contextually.

What say you, Mr. Hamilton?

Here’s my response to his questions:

Hello xxxxx. Adam Hamilton here. Sorry for the delayed response. I am not able to answer all e-mail that comes in, but I thought I would give a response to your note. I’m going to be a bit tongue in cheek in some of my responses - but I offer this in a spirit of friendship and with a light heart, even though the issues here I take very seriously.

First, thank you for reading my books, and for writing. I have offered in them my theological and biblical rationale for the positions I’ve articulated. To fully explore your questions I would simply be re-writing what I’ve already written in my book to you. I am guessing it was of value for you to write your questions and your statement. Hopefully this e-mail will shed a bit more light on my views. I recognize that there are likely many points at which I miss the mark and that I may well take issue with the views in my books at some point in the future. At this point, however, I stand by them. I’ll go through your questions and comments line by line in my responses that follow:

1. As I’ve noted in Seeing Gray - “left leaning” is in the eye of the beholder. Most of my liberal friends still think I’m “right leaning.” I’d call myself a liberal evangelical or an evangelical liberal depending on the day of the week and the issue being discussed. Since my views seem “left leaning” to you I’m guessing you must be more “right leaning” than I am. : )

2. Regarding John 14:6 being an example of prophetic hyperbole - I believe it is, as is much of what Jesus says. That doesn’t make it untrue, but I think you’ve got to understand that this is how Jesus speaks. Particularly in John he is usually speaking in metaphors and these metaphors break down if pushed too far or taken out of context. In the synoptics Jesus deploys far less metaphor, but his words are even more sharply and clearly hyperbolic and prophetic. When you understand this about Jesus you begin to appreciate his words without worrying about cutting off your hands or gouging out your eyes. Having said that, I do believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father but by him. I would encourage you to re-read the arguments on this from the inclusivist perspective in Seeing Gray.

3. Regarding Jews, Muslims and Christians worshiping the same God, I absolutely believe this. There is only one God, and to the degree that people claim to be calling out to the one true God, they are calling out to the God we worship. You mention that you are puzzled that I believe that Jews (and Muslims) and Christians worship the same God. Do you not believe that King David was worshiping the same God? Or Abraham? Yet they clearly did not understand the trinitarian nature of God. It is helpful to remember that Abraham was likely raised a polytheist, and he was likely not entirely clear, particularly early in his life, who Yahweh was. Moses’ conceptions of God were likely wholly inadequate when he was called, yet God chose him. Jews and Muslims may not have a clear picture of God’s nature and character. They may not understand that he is triune, or that he became flesh in Jesus Christ. But they are crying out to the only God one can cry out to. I like C.S. Lewis’ way of describing this near the end of The Last Battle in the Chronicles of Narnia. I suppose Lewis was a bit “left leaning” as well. : )

4. Regarding the Bible being fraught with inconsistencies and errors - I suppose it depends on what you mean by “fraught” and what you mean by “errors.” Yet I don’t know how you can have studied it, honestly and openly, and not reached the conclusion that there are many inconsistencies and some things that cannot be correct. I don’t know if you read the footnotes for that chapter in Seeing Gray - you might take a look at the notes. One of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith, and one I absolutely believe in, is the resurrection of Christ. Yet take a sheet of paper out and map out the four different accounts of the resurrection in the gospels. I think you’ll find the details are, at points, very difficult to reconcile without doing damage to each of the accounts. And if we find this with one of the most important events in the entire Bible, we also find a host of other such inconsistencies. This does not diminish the Bible for me. In fact it makes me appreciate it all the more. And these inconcistencies point to the Bible’s humanity. The way it speaks to us, and bears witness to God points to its divinity. It is in appreciating and appropriately balancing these two (the Bible’s humanity and its divinity) that we come to what I believe is the clearest understanding of what the Bible is, and how it functions in our lives. The unfortunate dogma of inerrancy is unhelpful, misleading and dishonest. [By the way, I would accept all of the original “fundamentals” of the fundamentalist movement as true with the exception of inerrancy - most liberals would say that makes me pretty “right leaning.”]

5. Thank you for being concerned about “the trajectory of my faith journey”! I am undoubtedly a failure as a Christian in so many ways (here I’m not being facetious - I believe this). It is only by his grace I have any hope for eternal life. But I will say that I think I love him now more than I ever have, and feel more utterly dependent upon his grace. Every morning I recommit my life to him, and every night I apologize for the ways I failed to fully live into his call.

6. Am I becoming more progressive through the years? I hope so! I started out as a fundamentalist Pentecostal! My friends thought I had backslid just by joining the United Methodist Church - most of them would not have believed you were really a Christian, xxxxx! Here’s what I know: Each passing year my aim is to know him, to follow him and to serve him with all of my heart and life. I take seriously the study of scripture, devote myself to prayer, I am in a small group, I read a lot, I worship, I give away 22% of my income, I go on at least one international mission trip each year and seek to serve in mission to the poor here in Kansas City. The more I study and learn, the less conservative I am on a lot of issues, and the more conservative I am on others. When it comes to the faith as captured in the creeds, I am conservative. When it comes to condemning others to hell, I have a great deal of trust in the justice, mercy and love of God. I also know this: the more I know and grow the more I realize I don’t know.

7. I think the reason I address the questions you feel should be left unaddressed is because the most vocal Christians in our society have addressed them - they have given clear black and white answers to them. These answers are overstated and end up repelling thinking people from the Christian faith. My book is aimed at demonstrating that the fundamentalist (and radical liberal, for that matter) interpretations of Christianity are not the only viable options.

I appreciate this quote from J.B. Phillips book, Your God is Too Small (I’ve included it in my book):

Many men and women today are living, often with inner dissatisfaction, without any faith in God at all. This is not because they are particularly wicked or selfish or, as the old-fashioned would say, “godless,” but because they have not found with their adult minds a God big enough to “account for” life, big enough to “fit in with” the new scientific age, big enough to command their highest admiration and respect. (p. 18)

I think too often Christians today embrace a small God who is not big enough for thinking people. My book attempts to articulate how I and others have come to see some of these big questions and issues. I’m hoping that your God is not too small. One of the blessings of Methodism as Wesley developed it was that its concept of God was larger than some of the other prevailing views of his day.

8. Regarding your response - I’ve already written too much, but I’ll dare to add a bit more. With regard to homosexuality, guilty as charged. My own personal experiences of listening to people’s stories, and then reflecting on my own children has led me to see this issue differently than I at one time did. I am torn on this issue and somewhere left of where you likely are, and somewhere to the right of where my more progressive friends are. You may want to check out my blog at www.seeing-gray.org - specifically my post on General Conference: Homosexuality Part I. Also, there is an interesting story of a homosexual as a part of the thread on my last post on the site.

9. Regarding inclusivism: Holding an inclusivist view may undercut your impetus to do evangelism. It does not do so for me. So far this year we’ve received more than 600 people into membership who were either professing their faith or re-dedicating their lives to Christ. In addition we have a number of Muslims, Jews and a few Hindus and Buddhists who have become Christians at Church of the Resurrection. I have a great passion for inviting people to become followers of Jesus Christ. I see the difference he makes in their lives. My motivation for leading them to Christ is not that I believe God will eternally torment them in hell if I do not. My motivation is that the gospel is the truth, Jesus offers us life, and knowing, loving and serving him is key to experiencing the “fullness of life.”

10. Regarding your thoughts on the Bible - yes, give infallibility a broad enough meaning, and I can accept that term (for that matter, some evangelicals define inerrancy so broadly I can even accept it!). But I think there are better ways of speaking of the scriptures. The scriptures are words of life to me. They are a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. In them God’s grace and truth are mediated. Through them God speaks to us, shapes us, comforts, convicts and equips us. I carry a Bible with me everywhere I go, seek to read it daily, and, with Wesley, I seek to be homo unius libri (I think I’ve got the Latin right there). But I am grateful that I can also see the Bible’s humanity - and this is part of the reason why I am no longer a fundamentalist Pentecostal.

So, there you have it, xxxxx - are you ready to tar and feather me yet? Is it possible to be a Christian and to hold my views, or have I slipped too far from the path of truth? I welcome your prayers for my spiritual journey. I am praying for you, your ministry and God’s guidance in your life.

Thank you again for writing - I do pray you will forgive me for the slightly sarcastic tone of this e-mail. I’m a bit tired and probably shouldn’t be answering e-mail at 1:45 a.m. Unfortunately this is the only time of day left to reply to e-mail. You’re welcome to share this e-mail with others in the renewal group. I am sorry but I will be unable to respond to any other e-mails.

Blessings!

Adam Hamilton