Rev. William Sloan Coffin
As we say, Reverend William Sloan Coffin was promoted to glory on April 13, 2006. He was 81 years old at the time and his funeral was today at the Riverside Church in Manhattan. I've never met him personally, but have, through his books. He came from the left side politically and was known as a pacifist, particularly during the Viet Nam war.
Theologically, we come from different perspectives, but on the important things, we had a lot in common. I valued his forthrightness on his positions and believe he was well rooted in the love of God. Now he knows more than all of us put together. In the presence of Christ, he sees clearly and embraces all God is.
As I tried to suggest in yesterday's blog, this is my overdue thank you to this man of God.
1 Chronicles 16:35 (NIV)
35 Cry out, "Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise."
Theologically, we come from different perspectives, but on the important things, we had a lot in common. I valued his forthrightness on his positions and believe he was well rooted in the love of God. Now he knows more than all of us put together. In the presence of Christ, he sees clearly and embraces all God is.
As I tried to suggest in yesterday's blog, this is my overdue thank you to this man of God.
1 Chronicles 16:35 (NIV)
35 Cry out, "Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise."
posted by Jim Knaggs | 9:56 PM
2 Comments:
I heard William Sloan Coffin preach a couple of times. Once I heard him preach with a group of colleagues, who painted his sermon as "social gospel." So I asked them, "Isn't that The Salvation Army?"
I was not popular that day with my friends. I did, however, realize that day Christianity comes in several forms. Sometimes our one-size-fits-all thinking when it comes to faith really does blind us to the truth that the greater community is just as valuable to the mission of God.
Actually, we differ a bit from traditional social gospelers, who believe that one can bring "salvation" to systems through social justice. We have tended to focus on individual salvation decisions, and then letting those new-in-Christ people loose on society.
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