Fusion Theism Movement

Matthew 5:17-19 — Simplified Scriptures Series

Daniel A Fresh View of God, Basic Doctrine, For Skeptics, Fusion Theism Movement, Obsolete Laws, Progressive Christianity, Simplified Scriptures Series

The most-often misinterpreted Scripture I see on Twitter, is Matthew 5:17-19, where atheists twist this passage out of context in order to have a pretext to claim the Bible contradicts itself, and provide a reason for atheists to focus 95% of their attacks on the Old Testament instead of the New.

But it’s not just atheists misinterpreting this passage, it’s also Christians who use this as support for keeping the Old Law of Moses.

Here is Matthew 5:17-19 in the NIV Bible:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

The Correct Interpretation of Matthew 5:17-19, In Context:

We can find the correct interpretation by comparing Luke’s account of the words Jesus spoke at Matthew 5:17-19:

LUKE 16:16-17 (NET): “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void.”

Jesus’ words are clearer and easier to understand in Luke’s Gospel than in Matthew’s, on this particular topic. When compared together, we can see Jesus teaching us that (in God’s eyes) the Law of Moses was only in force until John the Baptist (compare Matthew 3:15), and since the time of John, Jesus the Author of the New Covenant, is able to change, edit, remove, or keep any parts of the Law He chooses. That is why we see Jesus editing, updating, and removing the Laws of Moses in Matthew 5:21-41, 19:7-9, and Mark 7:19.

Jesus did NOT say “heaven and earth would be destroyed before the Law is abolished,” no, rather, what He actually said is that it is easier for heaven and earth to be destroyed than for the Old Law to be abolished WITHOUT being fulfilled. Reading comprehension is very important when studying the Bible; equally important is reading in-context.

Jesus is promising to preserve the written words of the Old Testament until every prophecy and allegorical foreshadowing is fulfilled (brought to completion). He came to earth to fulfill the written words and bring them to completion. In Matthew 5, Jesus nullifies some of the Laws of Moses, edits others, and keeps some in force, while giving the true, original, deeper meaning of them.

Jesus did keep many of the Laws of Moses in force (albeit, in somewhat different forms) up until His death and Resurrection, at which time the entire written Law of Moses was “nailed to the Cross,” “taken out of the way,” and “made obsolete.” (Colossians 2:14; Ephesians 2:14-16; Hebrews 8:13)

The Law of Moses was never intended to be permanent, but was always just a temporary stopgap until the Messiah arrived (Galatians 3:23-26; Jeremiah 31:31-33), and it contained things which were NOT God’s ideal standards (Matthew 19:7-9; Hebrews 8:7-8).

The Apostle Paul forcefully and repeatedly drove home the point that Christians are NOT obligated to obey the Law of Moses (Romans 4:13-14; Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:1-14; Galatians 4:8-12).

I’ll wrap this up by quoting Paul’s words from Galatians 5:1-6 (NET):

“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all! And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace! For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight—the only thing that matters is faith working through love.“

Is the Bible Error-Free? (Looking at the Doctrine of Inerrancy)

Daniel Basic Doctrine, Fusion Theism Movement, Obsolete Laws

For many Christians, the Bible is viewed as the 100% error-free, perfect book straight from God, where every single word was carefully chosen by God for a reason. But, usually, when you have a discussion on the topic, these Christians will end up saying that only the original copies written directly from the hands of the prophets and Apostles were error-free, and all manuscript copies since then are subject to copyist mistakes and other errors.

Since zero original copies are in existence, how do we know the originals were error-free? Why should we think the originals should be error-free to begin with? It’s important to remember that today, all we have are copies of copies of copies of copies of copies, and then, on top of that are translations and re-translations.

Why would God make sure that the originals were 100% inerrant, but then not preserve the originals, and allow all future copies to contain errors?

In the stories within the Bible, we constantly see the perfect God using imperfect, mistake-prone people to do His will. The New Testament shows that the Apostle Peter, even though He was specially chosen by Jesus and given the Keys of the Kingdom, he still messed up big time and had to be corrected by the Apostle Paul. (Galatians 2:11-14) Also, Paul got into a heated argument with Barnabas. (Acts 15:37-39)

My point is, these people God was using to do His will were imperfect just like we are. Why should we assume that, all of a sudden, when they picked up a pen and paper, they became inerrant and infallible?

I view the Bible as containing the Gospel Message of salvation, and the teachings of Jesus, which are infallible, but the rest of the Bible can (and does!) contain many copyist errors, and perhaps, historical or scientific mistakes.

I think we do a great disservice to our own minds and faith, and also to the inquisitive & skeptical outsider, when we rest our entire belief system on whether or not the Bible can have one tiny mistake and still contain the Word of God.

If Peter or King David can make a blunder and still be used by God, then why couldn’t a Bible-writer make a mistake while writing Scripture, and God still use that imperfect Scripture to express His Word?

(Picture Credit: “Gutenberg Bible” by Raul654. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gutenberg_Bible.jpg#/media/File:Gutenberg_Bible.jpg )

The Sacrifice of Jesus — Simplified Scriptures Series

Daniel A Fresh View of God, Fusion Theism Movement, Simplified Scriptures Series

Many Christians have different theories about exactly how the Ransom Sacrifice (also called The Atonement or The Passion) of Christ worked.

Just how did Jesus’ death on the cross 2,000 years ago provide us with salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life?

Some Christians believe that Jesus somehow mystically experienced the full pain and suffering of eternal torment in hell (for every person’s sin who has ever lived), during the 3 hours of darkness when He was hanging upon the cross. Thus, they explain, He “absorbed” all of God’s wrath toward us in Himself, so now God has no wrath left against anyone who puts faith in Jesus.

That sounds really good, until you think about it more carefully, then a few problems come up:

  1. Where does the Bible say anything about Jesus mystically experiencing the torment of Hell for each sinner while on the cross? I haven’t seen that in the Scriptures.
  2. How could Jesus experience an eternity of punishment in just 3 hours? Sounds illogical.

Other Christians think that Jesus made an exchange with God: That He exchanged the perfect offspring He potentially could have fathered, for all of us imperfect sinners instead.

Again though, the problem with this theory is that the Bible doesn’t say anything about this, so it’s just speculation. It does sound logical and plausible though.

The Bible, surprisingly, does not go into detail about how exactly the Sacrifice of Jesus saves us. It does make it clear that it (along with His resurrection) is the most important event in history, God accepted it as an offering, and that faith in His Atonement is what saves us from our sins.

A Fresh View of the Atonement

I propose a fresh view, based on the Scriptures. Christ, at John 3:14-16, said that His Sacrifice saves people just like the Copper Snake on the Pole saved people in Moses’ day.

The Copper Snake itself had no magical or mystical powers. It could not bestow life on anyone. No, rather, it was something God set up as a symbol to test the faith of people, to see who would follow His direction and trust in His way of doing things.

God said that all the people had to do to be saved from the poisonous venom was to trust God’s message and look at the Copper Snake on the Pole. 

In the same way, my view is that the Sacrifice of Jesus didn’t have any magical or mystical powers, but instead, was the symbol that God chose to set up to test the faith of people, to see whether they would humble themselves to accept His message and do things His way, or reject it and do things their own way.

Jesus came to earth to show us the perfect way to live and the perfect way to die, to give us an ideal to strive toward and imitate, and God saves us for having faith in Jesus’ perfect ideal life and death, and in His message of trusting God’s method of salvation instead of our own.

As Paul wrote, God will save those who “follow in the footsteps of the same faith that Abraham had.” (Romans 4:12) Abraham most likely didn’t know all the details of Jesus’ life and death in advance, but Abraham did trust that God’s methods were the best.

God also chose death on a cross as His method of salvation in order to attract the humble and poor, and make a mockery of those who think they are so wise.

I’m not saying there can’t be more to it than this, I’m just saying this is my view, based on what I see in the Bible.

Let’s allow the Apostle Paul to sum things up:

1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18-25‬ (NIV): For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

1 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭1-9‬ (NIV): When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 

No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him—

There are GOOD Unbelievers!

Daniel A Fresh View of God, Fusion Theism Movement, Simplified Scriptures Series, Stop Judging

(Very important! I have updated my view somewhat on this topic. After reading this post below, please see my newer blog post: Preaching is Important!)

Many Christians today teach that there are only two types of people in the world:

  1. The saved (believers in Jesus) who go to heaven
  2. The lost (unbelievers) who go to hell

I think this is based on a misunderstanding of several Bible passages. Lets look at a few Scriptures:

 “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 2:13-16 ESV)

 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8 ESV)

The Two Types of Unbelievers:

From what I’ve seen, most Christians today use Romans 8:5-8 as support for their idea that all unbelievers are going to hell because they cannot please God.

However, by comparing that passage to the passage from Romans 2 above, we can see clearly that the Apostle Paul believed that there are two different types of unbelievers — Those who obey their God-given conscience and those who set their minds on the evil fleshly desires.

The unbelievers who obey their God-given conscience, the inner moral law written on their hearts by God, may be excused from punishment on the Day of Judgment when Jesus judges their secret thoughts and desires. (Romans 2:13-16) Whereas, the unbelievers who set their minds on the evil flesh instead of the God-given conscience, will not escape punishment. (Romans 8:5-8)

Unbelievers are Condemned for Rejecting Jesus, NOT for Ignorance

The Bible actually teaches that unbelievers are condemned by God after they have received the knowledge of Jesus, but have chosen to reject this truth. Unbelievers are NOT condemned by God if they are truly ignorant and have never received the knowledge of Jesus (with the exception of the evildoers from Romans 8:5-8 who set their minds of evil desires instead of their consciences). Examine the Scriptures below:

 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:17-21 ESV)

 “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’” (John 9:39-41 ESV)

So we can see Jesus Himself taught that God would judge people based on how much “light” or truth they had received about God and Jesus, and that the basis for condemnation of unbelievers, is whether they had rejected the light that they had been given. If unbelievers have received no light about Jesus, they will not be condemned (unless they set their minds on evil, as Romans 8:5-8 says).
What about Ephesians 2?

Many Christians use Ephesians chapter 2 to show that God views all ignorant unbelievers as evil slaves of Satan, even those who have not heard about Jesus. Look at the relevant verses here:

     “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV)

 “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” (Ephesians 2:11-19 ESV)

If you look very carefully here, especially taking note of Ephesians 2:11, you can see that it is talking about how the Jews view the Gentiles, NOT how God views the Gentiles. Notice how it says that the Gentiles are called “the uncircumcision” by the Jews. Paul is showing how the Jewish believers viewed the Non-Jews.

We know that God has always had a different view of Gentiles than this, because Acts chapter 10 declares this:

 “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, ‘Cornelius.’ And he stared at him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.’” (Acts 10:1-4 ESV)

 “So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’” (Acts 10:34-35 ESV)

So, in summary, Ephesians chapter 2 is speaking about the way that Jews had viewed Gentiles — as being hopeless sinners, outside of the bounds of God’s love, doomed because they were not given God’s Laws. God has always loved the Gentiles (John 3:16)

 “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,” (Acts 17:26-27 ESV)

What about Romans 3?

At first glance, Romans 3 appears to be a scathing condemnation of ALL unbelievers in all of history:

 “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. 

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:9-20 ESV)

Paul was quoting from Psalms here, and in those Psalms, there was a distinction being made between righteous people and evil people. The Psalms were saying that not one person on earth was righteous except for those who were doing good things, which were few in number. Paul here also applies these Psalms to the Jews, because he says that they apply to those “under the Law.” This would mean Paul’s point is that there are many evil Jews out there, just as bad or worse than any of the Gentiles. This point agrees perfectly with Romans 3:9.

Paul is NOT contradicting himself (from Romans 2:13-16 or Acts 17:26-27) by saying that ALL Gentiles are evil sinners, no, rather, Paul is pointing out that many Jews are evil sinners similar to how the Jews view the Gentiles.

Even if Paul was saying that all human beings on earth were evil sinners who deserved condemnation (which, from above, I don’t think is accurate), look at what Paul says right below in Romans 3:

 “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” (Romans 3:25 ESV)

What is “Fusion Theism?”

Daniel Fusion Theism Movement, Welcome , ,

What is Fusion Theism?

This is My Declaration of Fusion Theism

These are the primary principles of the Fusion Theism Movement I am trying to start in all the churches everywhere:
  1. Truth is more important than any tradition or creed.
  2. Truth is on an equal level with kindness, and the two should be balanced together in harmony.
  3. Logic should always be used when reasoning or studying in the Scriptures or anything else. If it is illogical, reject it.
  4. The Holy Scriptures are inspired of God, but not necessarily inerrant, and not all Scripture is of equal importance for us today.
  5. The teachings and words of Jesus Himself take priority over and above any other teachings found in the Bible. (Hebrews 2:1-5)
  6. We must all imitate the example of the Noble-Minded Beroeans, and carefully compare everything we hear from our pastors, preachers, elders, deacons, bishops, overseers, fathers, cardinals, and the Pope, to the inspired Scriptures to make sure it agrees with God’s message. (Acts 17:11)
  7. Modern Bible Translations are good and can be considered “inspired” of God, but they are not infallible or inerrant.
  8. God is never the author of evil thoughts. (James 1:13) Therefore, any belief system that says God ordained evil thoughts should be rejected.
  9. Christians should not divide or stop fellowship over non-essential doctrines. (Romans 14)
  10. I recommend that we should not be looking for hidden, secret meanings in the Bible unless the Scriptures tell us to do so (such as in Revelation), since this would make us more likely to go beyond what is written, and add or take away from God’s clear messages.
  11. God can and does change His mind, and views Himself as free to do so unless He has sworn an oath or made a promise.
  12. God has the ability to see anything He desires to know about the future, but God selectively chooses to use this ability to only know certain things related to His purposes.
  13. The Bible does not teach a literal eternal torment in Hellfire.
  14. Jesus had sinful desires just like we do, yet He never gave into them to commit sin.
  15. All essential beliefs should be based on the inspired holy books and not on the later creeds or councils.
  16. Science, including evolution, should be accepted. God made the universe and told us to observe it. No one observes it better than scientists. Our beliefs should harmonize with modern scientific facts.
  17. The Law of Moses expired when Jesus came to earth as the Messiah, died, was resurrected, and ascended.
  18. Jesus came down from above, sent by God the Father, as a real human, fulfilled the Law, suffered and died for our sins, was buried, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is returning one day.
  19. Jesus is Lord, Mighty God, Savior, Messiah, King, Mediator, High Priest, the Divine Son of God, and the Son of Man sitting at God’s right hand.

Welcome to the All-NEW Fusion Theism blog!

Daniel Fusion Theism Movement, Welcome ,

The goal of this blog, just like my previous one (on Blogger), is to bring all Christians (plus all Bible believers and theists) together from all denominations, groups, churches, and traditions, for the purpose of reasoning on the Scriptures and arriving at a “FUSION” of our beliefs.

My desire is for all of us (in love and mutual respect) to discuss and debate on the doctrines that divide us– including Calvinism, Arminianism, Open Theism, Molinism, Eternal Security, Faith and Works, Modern Israel, Evolution, Science, Young Earth & Old Earth, Abortion, Gay Marriage, Sex, the Trinity, Faith-Healing, “Name-It-And-Claim-It,” Baptism, Types and Antitypes, Preterism, and other topics.

My highest hope and prayer is, that through this humble blog, Christians from all over the world may come to discover together and agree on the truth of God’s Holy Word, and worship in harmony — What I call “Fusion Theism,” “Fusion Theology,” or “Fusionism.”

Ground Rules for Debate

For the “Fusion” debates we are going to have on this blog, I am going to lay out some basic ground rules for discussion, in order to facilitate civility, respect, and kindness:
  1. Absolutely no name-calling or ad hominem attacks (attacking or discrediting the person making the argument instead of the argument itself).
  2. We should point out any logical inconsistencies we see and any logical fallacies we see.
  3. No hasty generalizations. (discrediting or attacking an entire group based on the actions/beliefs of a few or the stereotypes we have in our minds)
  4. No chronological snobbery. (Discounting or discrediting a belief or idea simply because it has been around for a long time or because it is a newer idea)
  5. We will begin each discussion by laying out and discussing the beliefs which we AGREE ON, and then we will reason on the points that we disagree on currently.
  6. All of my posts and discussions will be done with the ultimate goal of glorifying Jesus Christ and sharing His love with the world.

This blog began in 2012 on Blogger, but I felt that it was time for a change, so I moved it over here to WordPress with a new design and look. I hope you enjoy.

You can find me on Twitter under the user name @AnnotatedBible.