Archive: Pannenberg: “Re-Imagining” shows churches “surrendering faith”

by Patricia Lefevere.

The now-notorious “Re-Imagining” Conference that ignited so much controversy in the Presbyterian and United Methodist churches in the past six months is an example of “neo-paganism” and of ecumenical liturgy and theology run amok, says a leading ecumenical theologian. Professor Wolfhart Pannenberg of Munich, Germany, has called the women’s theological conference held in Minneapolis last November a sign that Protestant churches are “surrendering the substance of the Christian faith.”

So profound is this surrender to secularism, predicted Dr. Pannenberg, that the only surviving ecclesial communities in the third millennium will be Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant evangelical churches. Furthermore, unless main-line Protestant churches stop “wavering” in their faith and their Christian identity, they will not present a suitable alternative to “the spiritual emptiness of modem life,” said the Lutheran theologian who teaches ecumenical and systematic theology at the University of Munich.

Dr. Pannenberg didn’t specify the “Re-Imagining” Conference in his speech, but amplified his remarks in a subsequent interview. He said he wasn’t present in Minneapolis, but said he read the speeches and liturgy text.

He characterized the worship ceremony as having “enthroned” Sophia as a female goddess, which “is not in line with Christian teaching and is flagrantly opposed to biblical understanding, especially in the Old Testament.”

The professor noted that it wasn’t inevitable that Anglican and Reform churches would succumb to “the attractions of secularism.” He added, however, that “to the degree that they do, they lose their Christian authenticity and become less attractive ecumenical partners for Roman Catholics.”

Dr. Pannenberg added that “the greatest obstacle to ecumenism anywhere” is women’s ordination. The issue has grown in magnitude, he said, because the Vatican sees it as being linked to radical feminism. Women pastors in Germany as well as Protestant clergywomen in North America have become “spokeswomen for radical feminists, especially for lesbians.”

Such a linkage can only discredit women’s ordination and do disservice to the future of feminist theology, he said. Radical feminism is “counterproductive to women’s best interests in the church,” he added.

Reprinted with permission of The United Methodist Reporter.

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