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Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105
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Pastor Scott Carson
Grace Church of Burlington
July 29, 2007
“Truth is truth, whether it's spoken by the lips of Jesus or Balaam’s donkey.” George MacDonald
On Friday nights Ann Holmes Redding of Seattle puts on a black head scarf, heads to the Al-Islam Center, and prays with her fellow Muslims. Now that’s not remarkable. What's remarkable is that Ann Holmes Redding is an Episcopal priest. Not an ex-Episcopal priest, mind you, but a priest, as far as she and her superiors are concerned, in good standing. Her story is a vivid reminder of what's really at stake in the various culture wars within Christian churches: orthodoxy and the fundamentals of the faith.
Ann Holmes Redding has been a priest for over 20 years. Until recently she was the director of "faith formation" at Seattle's Episcopal cathedral, St. Mark's. I am, as Dave Barry likes to say, not making this up. Apparently, at the same time she was in charge of forming other people's faith, her own was undergoing a transformation. Fifteen months ago, she became a Muslim, the result of an “introduction to Islamic prayers that left her profoundly moved.”
Actually, according to Redding, I should say that she also became a Muslim. As she told the Seattle Times, “I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both.” So while on Friday nights she puts on a black head scarf, on Sunday mornings she wears a clerical collar. And Redding doesn't deny that there are differences between the two faiths—she simply doesn't think that they ultimately matter. As she put it, "at the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That's all I need."
There's so much wrong here that I scarcely know where to begin, so I'll limit myself to the obvious: There's no inherent contradiction between being an African-American and a woman, just as there's none in being an American of Irish descent and a man, as I am. However, the same cannot be said of being a Christian and a Muslim. There are core beliefs and tenets of the faiths that are very, very different particularly in regards to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Mahmoud Ayoub, a professor of Islamic studies at Temple, agrees. He says that "the respective theological beliefs about Jesus are irreconcilable."
Of course, for Ann Holmes Redding (as for too many people today), it isn't about logic or theology: it's about feelings. She can call herself anything she wants, but she's only truly a Muslim if she denies Christian doctrines such as original sin, the Trinity, or the divinity of Christ. And to deny those truths is to deny the Christian faith. Which raises an interesting question: Why is she an Episcopal priest, never mind a director of "faith formation?"
Ann Holmes Redding vividly illustrates that the split in the Episcopal Church isn't about homosexuality, as the media would have us believe. Former Episcopal parishes aligning themselves with African bishops aren't leaving a denomination with gay clergy; they are leaving a denomination with non-Christian clergy.
Ann Holmes Redding is simply an extreme example in the Episcopal Church. But sadly she represents the widespread, politically correct belief that all religions lead to the same place—a message which is not only dead wrong as a matter of logic, but one which denies Christ. In short, it is the ultimate heresy. And sadly, she is one of many professing Christians today who hold conflicting beliefs and do not know it. The problem is that smorgasbord theology will ultimately cost them their souls. Jesus must be Lord of all or He is not Lord at all!