wfn.org | Peacemaking conference address stirs theological controversy

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #6154 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

16-August-2000
00291

Peacemaking conference address stirs theological controversy

Some say news reports were ‘misleading'

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — So what's the big deal about Dirk Ficca?
	Ficca, a Presbyterian minister member of Chicago Presbytery and executive
director of the Parliament of the World's Religions, ignited yet another
heated theological debate in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) when he
questioned whether salvation comes solely through Jesus.
	The capstone of Ficca's July 29 keynote address at the Presbyterian
Peacemaking Conference, as reported by the Presbyterian News Service (PNS),
was his question: "If God is at work in our lives whether we're Christian or
not, what's the big deal about Jesus?"
	The response — in calls, letters and e-mails to the news service, the
Presbyterian Peacemaking Program office, and General Assembly Council
executive director John Detterick — was immediate and strongly-worded.  "Is
this another Re-Imagining?" queried one e-mailer to PNS, referring to the
controversial ecumenical women's conference of 1993.  Others threatened to
boycott the Peacemaking Offering and still others demanded that Ficca be
brought up on heresy charges in his presbytery.
	Ficca was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
	But two national staff members who helped plan the Peaceamaking Conference
— the theme of which was how to maintain effective relationships with
persons of other faiths in an increasingly pluralistic world — rose to
Ficca's defense and hinted that PNS reporting may have been partially
responsible for the controversy.
	PNS reporter John Filiatreau summarized Ficca's 90-minute presentation in
10 paragraphs of a larger news story on the entire July 26-29 Presbyterian
Peacemaking Conference.  PNS stands by Filiatreau's story.
	The Rev. Victor Makari, coordinator for the Middle East and the Office of
Interfaith Relations in the Worldwide Ministries Division, acknowledged that
"trying to condense 90 minutes into a few paragraphs understandably and
necessarily leaves a lot unrecorded."  For instance, he noted, Ficca's
question about Jesus "was rhetorical, not dismissive" and insisted that
Ficca "went on to express his own credo, which is thoroughly Presbyterian
and Reformed."
	Sara Lisherness, coordinator of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program
disputed Filiatreau's characterization of Ficca's address as "a radical
brand of ecumenism."  She said there's a big difference between ecumenism
and interfaith relations and that Ficca's take on interfaith relations is
"cutting edge, not radical."
	The PNS account of the conference was "alarming and disturbing," according
to the Rev. Bill Giles, executive coordinator of The Presbyterian Coalition
--- a consortium of conservative-evangelical groups in the PC(USA).  Giles
said that, based solely on the PNS story, he wrote a letter to Detterick
charging Ficca with "pushing syncretism and heresy."
	Giles, after hearing portions of Ficca's address read to him by PNS, said
that the PNS story was "misleading," adding, "We need to see a full text (of
Ficca's speech) and we need to see it fast ... like yesterday."

	            "A very good, important thing is happening"

	As reported by PNS, Ficca told the peacemaking conference that "God is at
work in our lives whether we're Christian or not ... Christians through
Jesus of Nazareth have access to God in an intimate parent/child way; it
does not rule out that other people don't have other kinds of relationships
with God....God's mission in the world will not be accomplished without the
church, but ... maybe God's mission can be accomplished with others beyond
the church."
	Makari said "this is a very good, important thing that's happening.  These
issues will increasingly press us against the wall because the world is
getting smaller and we are in a very close encounter with people of other
faiths.  It is time for Christians, particularly Reformed Christians to
solidify and deepen their faith as a result of these encounters."
	Lisherness agreed.  "The issues Dirk raised are important issues and
reasoned conversations about these issues are good conversations to be
having right now," she said, noting that, among other things,
vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman is an Orthodox Jew.  "A critically
important question is how we retain our identity as Presbyterians and
Christians, how we are faithful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and how
we work with people of other faiths."
	Ficca's address also needs to be understood in the context of the
conference's worship, Lisherness said, insisting that "worship and Bible
study reflected who we are as a Reformed Presbyterian people of faith, with
never any allusion to any other understanding of faith apart from our
Reformed Presbyterian understanding."
	As reported extensively by Filiatreau, the biblical theme passage for the
conference for the conference was the story of the good Samaritan in Luke
10.  "We focused on the gospel question ‘Who is my neighbor?'" noted
Lisherness.  "As our neighbors increasingly come from other cultures and
religions, the question of how to remain neighbors is critical," she said. 
"The good Samaritan didn't demand conversion but demonstrated love, mercy
and healing — that is the good news of Jesus Christ."
	The Peacemaking Program selected the topic of interfaith relations for this
year's conference — only after focusing last year's conference on the topic
of Christology — Lisherness said, "precisely because global conflicts are
killing people for their religious identities ... and who's to say we won't
be confronted by some these same dynamics in our own country.  As
Presbyterians, we need to be at the forefront as American Presbyterians in
addressing these issues."
	Makari said he couldn't fault the critics, though he wished they would read
Ficca's text before solidifying their conclusions.  "People are sincere in
holding on to the precious salvation they have been given in Christ and in
sharing that good news with the world," he said.  "I'm sure their aim is to
avoid theological confusion that might hint that anything goes. Theology
matters and people want to be sure that we're not giving confusing
messages."
	Makari also said he believes there's a "subtle anxiety" at work.  "Maybe
its our Protestant work ethic, but we feel we're responsible for the
salvation of the world.  There's a difference between sharing good news and
guaranteeing the salvation of the world as if it depended on our efforts,"
he said. "Scripture is amply clear that God is in charge of salvation and
our calling is to be willing, obedient and joyful servants at the hand of a
saving God."

_______________________________________________
pcusaNews mailing list
pcusaNews@pcusa.org

To unsubscribe, go to this web address:
http://pcusa01.pcusa.org/mailman/listinfo/pcusanews