Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Hank Hanegraff’s Conversion to Orthodoxy and a Lesson in Charity.

Hank Hanegraff’s Conversion to Orthodoxy and a Lesson in Charity.

A few weeks ago, The Bible Answer Man Hank Hanegraff was received into the Orthodox Church.  Thing like this interest me, so I followed the story.  I was less surprised by what I found that what I did not find.  What I found out was that the initial story was true (it was even mentioned on his show, here, at around the 10:30 mark is when he is asked the question).  What I struggled to find was a response that examined the Biblical reasons for such a shift (the closest I found was this post on Orthodox Reformed Bridge, which linked to earlier posts).

What I initially encountered was from the fake news source entitled Pulpit and Pen.  Sadly, aside from giving fake theological news, their initial treatment lacked basic Christian charity.  To make matters worse, there were some who responded to that initial work less than charitably (as evidenced in this post, which also was uncharitable it its response).  Anyone who took the time to paste the authors face along with some faces of the Reformers in the flames of hell should really reexamine what St. John Chrysostom had to say about fasting.  This is perhaps even more uncharitable than the initial hit piece.  Then to really top everything off, I read that someone actually went to Hank’s Church at the Pascha service in the hopes of confronting him, and yet left before the service was over. 

This makes sense, because if I was hoping to confront someone, I would go to the Easter service.  It is not as though I would be trying to make a scene at Church.  There would not be a lot of visitors or family visiting on an Easter Sunday.  I would also make certain to leave before the service was over.  I would then blog about how horrible it all was without trying to understand why things happened the way they did.  Because all of this makes more sense than trying to have coffee time with a conversation.  Also, if someone writes un-loving things about me or my beliefs, I would make certain to craft a pic of them and their children burning in hell.  That is the epitome of fulfilling what Jesus said about turning the other cheek and how his followers should respond to slander on his account.  Just as he said:

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.  And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them (Luke 6:27-31, ESV).

Christians should care deeply about doctrine.  We should also care just as deeply about how we treat one another.  It is possible to espouse the correct doctrine and not practice it.  It is not possible to believe the truth and not have it come out in your actions.  I think that moments like this should be a reminder to practice charity even in dispute and especially when slandered.  May God forgive us for the mess that we have made.

On the brighter side of things, Christianity Today had several actually useful articles on this point.  There was this post which gave the details in a news worthy way, which appears to have been both professional and without any overt agenda.  Ed Stetzer even wrote a piece that was a fair handed response to Hank’s move to the Orthodox Church from a non-supportive perspective.  I think the piece could have been better written and made several statements that reveal a certain level of ignorance about the Orthodox Church’s own beliefs.  Regardless of misrepresentation, Ed did not resort to name calling or anathematizing.  He managed to express disagreement without vitriol.  This is a commendable and Christian practice when writing on the internet.




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