Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

How many Southern Baptists would have to write that to Richard Land to get him to do it?

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

Blake,

Thanks for posting!

All I know is there must be people who see Pat Robertson as representative of most Christians in the U.S. He is not. Especially in his strange penchant for diagnosing the reason for natural disasters, which he's done before in recent memory. I do not disagree that God may bring natural calamity upon a people for their sins, I only disagree (1) that God is in the habit of telling Pat Robertson when and where that happens and (2) that his weird theory of "a pact with a devil" comes from orthodox theological sensibilties.

I appreciate the comment. I truly don't know, but, honestly - in my opinion - Land is preferable to Robertson overall.

Wyman

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

Brilliant!

As for Richard Land - he does not bother me nearly as much as Robertson does.

Peace.

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

Dear Sir,

May I make an editorial suggestion that would both shorten your letter while making it more succinct?

Amend, 'Please be quiet' to:

SHUT UP!

Yours, Lee Herring

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

Lee,

A valid suggestion! :-)

W

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

Mr. Herring read my mind exactly.

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

I'm no fan of Robertson, but I thought I'd hit you with this, just to keep the blog interesting now that you stopped posting Dylan's music: Will you CC your letter to the publishers of Spurgeon's sermons too? This whole thing with Robertson reminded me of Spurgeon's little comment regarding the Lisbon earthquake: "Why was not the truth of God displayed in the Cathedral of Santiago, instead of the mummeries and follies which disgraced both dupes and deceivers, and were the incidental cause of the horrible burnings of that modern Tophet?" I'm just saying... should we stop being embarrassed by Robertson, or should we maybe start being embarrassed by Spurgeon? Fair is fair, after all; Lisbon may have been full o' papists, but so is Haiti (80%), and all the "mummeries and follies" of the official Roman rite are probably pretty tame compared against the actual voodoo the CIA Factbook says half of Haiti practices. Boo-yah; how ya like me now!

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

Eugene,

Man alive! What are you doing out there in CA?! Ha! A few things:

1. I'd like to see the full context, but that's not to second guess you. It seems clear enough that Spurgeon is attributing the the earthquake to papacy, at least to some extent.
2. I do wonder if Spurgeon had quite the penchant for and habit of doing such a thing that Robertson has (at least two other times in my own memory). I've read a good bit of Spurgeon and I'd suggest, based on what I've read, that this is unusual with him. Not so with Pat. That's not worth much, but this is likely unusual for Spurgeon.
3. Blaming an earthquake on popery is weird, but only not quite as weird as the "pact with the devil" deal to get the French out of Haiti. I mean, at least Spurgeon's weirdness was acceptable to Protestants! ;-)

and lastly, with all that being said:

4. Yes, I would tell Spurgeon to be quiet.

So buyah back at ya! ;-)

W

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

The context of Spurgeon's comment: books.google.com/books?id=_7ZZAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA225&ots=QO2rGnNJhc&dq=%22Why%20was%20not%20the%20truth%20of%20God%20displayed%20in%20the%20Cathedral%20of%20Santiago%22&pg=PA225#v=onepage&q=%22Why%20was%20not%20the%20truth%20of%20God%20displayed%20in%20the%20Cathedral%20of%20Santiago%22&f=false

And for the pact with the devil, well, that's a bit fuzzy: www.abpnews.com/content/view/4733/9/

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

I suspect the pact with the devil thing is fuzzy. I think it's outright nonsense! I'm talking about Robertson's appeal to it.

Re: An Open Letter To Pat Robertson

I'm late getting on this band-wagon but haven't we all made a "pact w/ the devil" as in Adam and our own rebellion against God? Isn't it arrogance on our part to presume someone's "ignorant pact w/ the devil" would be a greater sin than our own willful rebellion against the Sovereign Loving God of the universe?

We are all in need of the mercy of God! I am reminded of the words of Newton, "That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour".

What bothered me about Robertson's statement is that somehow the Haitians were in need of some other kind of Gospel that the one we are given - No! The same Gospel that saves any is the same Gospel that save those who through witchery or whatever bondage or deception are saved. There is one Gospel and it is powerful enough to save all, whether a poor Haitian or a Wall Street tycoon.

Grace!
John Bracken (who isn't preaching tomorrow)