Rodger L Cragun

Is the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy Biblical? While theologians throughout church history have condemned numerous doctrines as heresy, Cragun boldly declares that the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is the worst heresy that the church has ever faced, resulting in the undermining of central teachings of Jesus. Treating the Bible as the inerrant word of God often eclipses the very real dimensions of hermeneutics, that is, the who, how, and why of biblical interpretation and translation. After twenty-five years of detailed research in libraries based in six major universities and seminaries, Cragun has distilled his work in this book to challenge Christians who hold up inerrancy as a key tenant of the faith. ""I found The Ultimate Heresy extremely interesting and an easy read. Cragun shows how interpretations of the Bible are very often self-serving. This book certainly could be a textbook or one that a layman can read, enjoy, and understand."" Harold Erickson, past president, Lake Superior College ""We live in a time when verbally dressing wolves in sheeps clothing has become a highly developed art. Rodger is more like a sheep in wolf's clothing, a gentle soul who may sound scary to guardians of a philosophical doctrine of inerrancy, but one who cares deeply about all God's 'sheep.'"" John Stoner, Professor Emeritus, Messiah College ""The Ultimate Heresy is a concise, scholarly, and well-documented thesis. The keen, totally organized mind of the author enters the issue as a talented surgeon may enter the physical body, dissecting carefully, seeking the roots of the disease, and removing it for all to see."" Milan Slahor, Pastor, Lutheran Church of America Rodger Cragun is a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; he served as pastor in both the United Presbyterian Church and the Church of the Brethren. With co-author Thomas Kessler, he wrote the book Christianity: Endangered or Extinct? A People's History of Christianity, which critiques the influence of Platonism on Christianity. He now lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

Is the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy Biblical? While theologians throughout church history have condemned numerous doctrines as heresy, Cragun boldly declares that the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is the worst heresy that the church has ever faced, resulting in the undermining of central teachings of Jesus. Treating the Bible as the inerrant word of God often eclipses the very real dimensions of hermeneutics, that is, the who, how, and why of biblical interpretation and translation. After twenty-five years of detailed research in libraries based in six major universities and seminaries, Cragun has distilled his work in this book to challenge Christians who hold up inerrancy as a key tenant of the faith. ""I found The Ultimate Heresy extremely interesting and an easy read. Cragun shows how interpretations of the Bible are very often self-serving. This book certainly could be a textbook or one that a layman can read, enjoy, and understand."" Harold Erickson, past president, Lake Superior College ""We live in a time when verbally dressing wolves in sheeps clothing has become a highly developed art. Rodger is more like a sheep in wolf's clothing, a gentle soul who may sound scary to guardians of a philosophical doctrine of inerrancy, but one who cares deeply about all God's 'sheep.'"" John Stoner, Professor Emeritus, Messiah College ""The Ultimate Heresy is a concise, scholarly, and well-documented thesis. The keen, totally organized mind of the author enters the issue as a talented surgeon may enter the physical body, dissecting carefully, seeking the roots of the disease, and removing it for all to see."" Milan Slahor, Pastor, Lutheran Church of America Rodger Cragun is a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; he served as pastor in both the United Presbyterian Church and the Church of the Brethren. With co-author Thomas Kessler, he wrote the book Christianity: Endangered or Extinct? A People's History of Christianity, which critiques the influence of Platonism on Christianity. He now lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

Written by two respectable religious scholars, this groundbreaking new book challenges some of our long-held beliefs about Christianity as we know it, detailing the origins of a great divide between Jesus of Nazareth's teachings and Christianity during its formative stages. With comprehensive historical research, authors Cragun and Kessler use the analysis of power and class struggle to reexamine church history and the teachings of the theologians. They outline how the so-called ""Fathers of the Church"" took over the community of Jesus, destroyed its foundations, and built their own church edifice, which they then passed down to us. Though much of modern scholarship blames Constantine for the corruption of the church. Christianity: Endangered or Extinct? shows how the corruption was a gradual process in which Platonic philosophy, power, and prestige gradually entombed the message Jesus actually gave us. This religion was carefully honed to be acceptable to emperors, rulers, and the elite, replacing Christ's original message of love, egalitarianism, communalism, pacifism, and servant leadership--concepts that are essential for the survival of humanity in the twenty-first century. This is a true People's History of Christianity in the tradition of Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States and one that will have you seeing Christianity in a brand-new light. Rodger L. Cragun holds a Master of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; assisted Markus Barth, Anchor Bible Ephesians; was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America; served as pastor of the Church of the Brethren; and conducted research at the University of Chicago and at Notre Dame. He has also published The Ultimate Heresy: The Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy (1996). Thomas Kessler is a former Capuchin Franciscan monk, priest, and director of novitiates. He studied at St. Anthony Friary and Capuchin Seminary in Marathon, Wisconsin, and conducted independent research at Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and in Assisi, Italy. His interests include Christian history, philosophy, theology, Greek and Latin.