Leigh Waggoner’s column (Journal, Mar. 14) was an attack on New Testament Christianity. Professing to be a Christian minister, she presents Jesus as a spiritual guru come to teach a message “Not unique to Christianity” and common to most religions. She said the followers of Jesus changed the message of the Gospel to “become about Jesus Himself.”
I am wondering which followers of Jesus she was referring to. Was it the Apostle Peter who changed the Gospel to be about Jesus Himself? It was only weeks after the resurrection he was preaching, “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Where could Peter have possibly gotten such an idea? Maybe he was listening when Jesus Himself said, “I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me (John 14:6).” That would indicate that the gospel was pretty much about Jesus. If Peter and John were departing Jesus’ good news then the New Testament Gospels are not accurate concerning the life and teaching of Jesus.
If that is the case, maybe Ms. Waggoner will let us know exactly how she became so acquainted with the gospel that she can contradict the eyewitness accounts given by Peter, John, and the Biblical message taught by Paul.
The Gospel as described in Ms. Waggoner’s article and the gospel as presented in the New Testament do not resemble each other. Her statement that the gospel “became dogma, centered around the concept that Jesus was ‘sent’ by God to suffer and die for my sins” is exactly the teaching we find in the New Testament.
Ms. Waggoner is correct when she says that this is a day of fake news and alternative facts. However, this is not a time for a fake gospel. Instead, we need to hear the words of Peter, from his first sermon, peached a very short time after the crucifixion and resurrection, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord, will be saved (Acts 2:21).”
Pastor Rodger Russell Dolores Southern Baptist Church
Dolores
