In his editorial concerning generous orthodoxy, [“How generous should orthodoxy be?”, June 26] Jim White wrote about John Killinger's presentation at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, in which Killinger questioned the view that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Jim said that this may have stepped over the limits of his generosity, but then said that while we may not agree with a person's (Killinger's) conclusions, discovering what led them to that conclusion will often be edifying.
I think I can help in discovering what led Killinger to that conclusion. It sounds an awfully lot like the old question, asked long ago, “Did God really say?” There is nothing new under the sun.
I didn't notice any generous orthodoxy a couple of months ago when the Religious Herald took half the paper to bash fundamentalists, a.k.a. conservatives, especially us creationists. We were compared to Islamic terrorists and accused of wanting “to turn back the clock.” I suppose some views merit more generosity than others.
Jim concludes by disparaging any attempt to hold the CBF accountable for inviting Killinger to speak. Accountability is not popular these days, but is an essential component of the church.
M. Garland Jones, Dayton, Ohio