MOLLEGENS MYTHOLOGICAL BIBLE

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue

 Ted Mollegen, the 20/20 coordinator who will lead the hoped for expansion of ECUSA in 2004, is upset at dissenting Episcopal and Anglican brothers and sisters who opposed the recent election and confirmation of Canon Gene Robinson as the next Bishop of New Hampshire. In an Open Letter to the Dissenting American Bishops and Priests and to the Anglican Primates, Mollegen asks them to reconsider what they are contemplating and says he has the support of Holy Scripture to support his contention.

This is what he says. My concern is solidly based in the bible. In the Council of Jerusalem, the Churchs leaders concluded that gentile believers did not need to be circumcised. This decision overthrew a central part of the religious practice inherited from Judaism. The reasoning behind the Churchs decision was that uncircumcised gentile believers were seen to be exhibiting signs of the Holy Spirit. The situation with Canon Robinsonis quite comparable.

In the New Hampshire Diocesan election, the duly elected leaders of that diocese affirmed that they clearly saw signs of the Spirit in Canon Robinson and his life and work, including his relationship with his partner, Mark Andrew. General Convention looked carefully, saw the same signs, and confirmed New Hampshires choice. This is why this autocephalous part of Gods church has selected and confirmed Canon Robinson to be New Hampshires next bishop. This action is clearly a break from the practice of the past, but it is also clearly not a break with the faith. The action is fully based on the bible, as explained further below.

Ted Mollegen does not understand Scripture and he does not know how to interpret it.

First of all the Council of Jerusalems concern over circumcision (Acts. 15) was that the Judaizers said that circumcision was necessary for salvation (which it is not), and Peter came down hard on such thinking arguing that He [God] made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Two verses later he said, but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.

Mollegen says the situation with canon Robinson is quite comparable. Nonsense. It is not remotely comparable.

Circumcision and homosexuality are not even on the same page. Genesis 17 shows circumcision as firstly a spiritual and only secondarily a national sign. It signified membership of the Israelite nation, (homosexual proclivities indicate you need help) visited on the Hebrew people following the exodus from Egypt. It was integrated into the Mosaic system in connection with the Passover. It is a foundation feature of NT Judaism, and occasioned the judaistic controversies of the apostolic period. The Jews in the NT had so associated circumcision with Moses that they had virtually forgotten its more fundamental association with Abraham. Our Lord had to remind them that it antedated Moses, and Paul is emphatic that it was the current understanding of the Mosaic connection which was obnoxious to Christianity and he constantly brings them back to Abraham.

Attempting to enforce circumcision repudiated the unmerited salvation offered freely by, through and in Christ.

Homosexuality (all seven Biblical references) is repudiated in both Old and New Testaments, with Paul in 1 Cor. 6:9 making it abundantly clear that its practice alienated one from Christs future Kingdom ...neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate nor homosexuals... shall inherit the Kingdom of God.

To put the elimination of circumcision in Acts 15 on a par with or the brokering in of homosexual behavior is patently absurd, poor interpretation and bad theology.

Mollegen writes: The human authors of the bible did not know Christian life-committed unions of same-sex partners. Many of you who are forming divisive plans likewise do not have personal familiarity with Christian life-committed same-sex couples. Those of us who do have such familiarity can clearly see the signs of the Holy Spirit present in many life-committed Christian same-sex couples, in much the same way that those in many Christian heterosexual marriages show signs of the Holy Spirit. You will see these signs too, if you will only stop and look.

Mollegen makes two fundamental errors here. He says that the human authors of the bible did not know Christian life-committed union of same-sex partners.

First of all Scripture has a double authorship; it is God-breathed words working through man. Both are necessary. Human authors did not work apart from the Holy Ghost.

Secondly it is true that the authors didnt talk of or anticipate same-sex unions, and what is more they wouldnt have approved if they did.

The prophets, priests and apostles would have gone back to the creation ordinance of Genesis, and the mandate male and female made He them...with the added proviso that God closed the sexual matrix and never re-opened it. Secondly Gods specific creation was heterosexual marriage between a man and a woman both for purposes of fellowship and procreation, the latter totally missing in homosexual activity.

The second Mollegen argument is pure ad hominum, ...you do not have personal familiarity with Christian life-committed same-sex couples, he writes. Really.

How does Mollegen know that? This writer is personally and deeply acquainted with such committed same-sex relationships and they are morally bankrupt from first to last. My brother-in-law was in such a committed relationship for 11 years and both he and his partner still died of AIDS. Furthermore there is increasing and overwhelming evidence that faithfulness is virtually non-existent in homosexual

relationships. It is presaged upon promiscuity with bath houses still in operation and casual homo-erotic sex is re-emerging with greater force with new statistics showing that bare-backing (non-condom sex) returning full blast, facts duly noted by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and ignored by ECUSAs ardent homosexualists.

Furthermore most American families know someone, usually a relative or friend, or friend of a friend who is engaging in homoerotic behavior to their detriment.

It is arrogant of Mr. Mollegen to suggest that orthodox bishops clergy and laity don’t have familiarity with Christian life-committed same-sex couples; so what if they did or didn’t, does that suddenly make it right, because Mr. Mollegen thinks that knowledge of such relationships automatically makes it right. This is a totally absurd argument and afatuous piece of ad hominum reasoning.

Mollegen then goes right over the top. He writes: For Church leaders to take action now in opposition to New Hampshires and General Conventions acts of discernment looks to me very much like blasphemy against the Holy Spirit -- because the competent authorities most familiar with the situation have found the

signs of the Holy Spirit to be present in Canon Robinsons life and work.

My God, if competent authorities suddenly agreed that we should all sprinkle anthrax on our steaks, we should all do it?

Mr. Mollegen has turned truth completely on its head. It is BLASPHEMY of Mollegen to turn Scripture upside down and distort its plain meaning to suit the proclivities of a handful of whinny sodomites who are demanding that the church accept their lethal behavior.  No, the blasphemy is being committed by Mollegen not the biblically orthodox in ECUSA for daring to call a lie the truth and to say something is true when it is a lie.

And what signs of the Holy Spirit are present in Canon Robinsons life? That he was married, had two kids, then discovered he was gay, divorced his wife, then meets and mates with his boyfriend Mark Andrew!

This is a sign of the Holy Spirit! What distorted perverted logic is this. It is distorted and perverted because Scripture will have none of it and neither will any of the worlds religions or leading Christian denominations.

So by Mollegens logic, the entire Roman Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, 20 million Southern Baptists and more are blaspheming the Holy Ghost because Ted Mollegen says so. This is beyond all human logic and totally laughable.

Then Mollegen says that, Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was cited by Jesus in three Gospels as an unforgivable sin. Likewise, in three Gospels, he warns those who cause others to sin: ... It would be better for him to if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. For the sake of your own souls -- and the souls of those whom you lead -- I ask you the dissenting Episcopal and Anglican brothers and sisters to reconsider what you are contemplating as your response to the election and confirmation of Canon Gene Robinson as the next Bishop of New Hampshire.

So here we see Mollegen, having turned truth on its head, he now proceeds to use the very Scriptures that Jesus used against those who would abuse children to support his sick logic.

He writes: Jesus himself said nothing (that we know of) against homosexual unions. However, he clearly spoke against dividing the faithful. And he spoke severely against causing your followers to sin.

And he spoke quite strongly against judging others. I pray you, do not let your cultural heritages and emotional responses lead you and your followers astray -- please reconsider what you are about to do.

Jesus said nothing about homosexuality (though he may have done so based on John 21:25) because it was not even on the radar screen of contemporary or ancient Judaism. No one even considered homosexual behavior a viable sexual option. Jesus reaffirmed marriage between a man and woman as did the Apostle Paul who reaffirmed marriage as the ONLY acceptable venue for sexual behavior.

Jesus also had nothing to say about bestiality or bisexuality, does Mr. Mollegen think we should practice that?

Finally Mollegen cites Gamaliel ...If this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!

You are right Mr. Mollegen it will and it is failing. The Episcopal Church is in a state of  total chaos and breakdown with thousands having left to join the AMIA and a new Episcopal structure is emerging to challenge the revisionist and immoral powerbrokers who are daily crucifying the ECUSA.

I am already praying for you, and will continue to do so, writes Mollegen. And we are praying for you Mr. Mollegen to repent for the sake of your soul, which is in serious jeopardy of winding up in Hell.

Mr. Mollegen spearheads 20/20. He is a Member of the Episcopal Church Executive Council, General Convention Deputy L-1 from Connecticut, Founder/Convener of the Episcopal Network for Evangelism Former Secretary, Episcopal Church 2020 Task Force.

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