Wednesday, January 27, 2010

At Least Hitchens Gets It

from Standtoreason:

Atheist Christopher Hitchens has a grasp of the central truth of Christianity. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for some who claim the name Christian. From a recent discussion in Portland, OR, with a Unitarian minister:

Maryiln Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and [sic] distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Christopher Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Apparently the answer is, yes, he does make a distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion. Amen.