And so the toxic family system of our haphazardly globalized church polity displays its perfectly synergistic dysfunction. So what about United Methodism today? Now that the US progressives and conservatives have agreed that the only way forward is to split into two churches, the African bishops have put out a statement saying that they will accept a split under no circumstances. A new wineskin was discovered for the new wine that burst the old wineskin. The apostle James rather found a prophecy that could be reinterpreted in light of the Spirit’s testimony through the charismatic gifts of Cornelius’ house (though nothing about the prophecy explicitly permitted the revocation of the circumcision covenant).
No justification could be found within the old law to revise the law to accommodate Gentiles. But there was no basis within the old spiritual framework to justify this spiritual innovation. When the household of Cornelius started speaking in tongues, it was enough to convince Peter that Cornelius and his family did not need to take a mikvah bath, get circumcised, and become Jews before they could be Christian. The Holy Spirit does new things that cannot be seamlessly assimilated into the old tradition.
Otherwise Jesus’ parable might be held guilty of Marcionism, the heresy that says Christianity must throw away the old wineskin of its context within the story of Israel (which would not be an unreasonable straightforward interpretation of what Jesus is saying).īut there is a truth in Jesus’ parable that cannot be ignored. Which is why they are usually qualified, explained away, and bracketed. The implications of this parable for the continuity of apostolic tradition are highly problematic. Jesus says that new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins without bursting them it requires new wineskins. One of the most uncomfortable and least talked about parables of Jesus is his parable of the wineskins.
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