ELCA Synod Promoting Seminar Teaching Christ Did Not Rise From the Dead

“False,” “dangerous” and “heretical” are words that describe the teachings of the Jesus Seminar. Those are also words that describe many of the teachings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. So it will come as no surprise to many of you to learn that the Northwestern Minnesota ELCA Synod is promoting a conference by the Jesus Seminar. (see here) The seminar will be hosted this month by the ELCA's Christus Rex Lutheran Campus Ministry Center at the University of North Dakota.

A writer from the Institute on Religion & Democracy attended a recent Jesus Seminar gathering and reports of the heretical utterings made by the seminar speaker:

• "We don’t find evidence that his [Jesus’] body left the tomb, that Jesus considered himself messiah or that his death would be a sort of human sacrifice to atone for sin.”
  
• “I don’t believe the dead body of Jesus got up and walked out of the tomb.”
  
• “It is not devaluing the Bible to understand human processes by which it was written...The goal of the Jesus Seminar is to take the Bible seriously without taking in literally.”
  
• “The life, message and teachings of the historical Jesus were not about me – about salvation...[Jesus] had almost nothing to say about personal salvation and a lot to say about taking care of other people.” (read what else was said here)
  

It should also be pointed out that there are at least two ELCA leaders who are part of the Jesus Seminar. Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary professor, Jarmo Tarkki (a speaker for the Jesus Seminar) and retired pastor Jon F. Dechow. (see here and here)

http://www.exposingtheelca.com/1/post/2014/04/elca-synod-promoting-seminar-teaching-christ-did-not-rise-from-the-dead.html