Baptists, Anglicans and Pentecostals team up to host Emergent speaker and writer Peter Rollins

From the Edmonton Journal:

A trio of unlikely Christian partners are hosting radical author Peter Rollins, well-known proponent of the Emergent Church, in Edmonton Feb. 5-8.

Crossing denominational barriers, Baptists (Taylor University College and Seminary), Anglicans (Diocese of Edmonton) and Pentecostals (Urban Bridge Church) have joined forces to host Rollins--whose most recent book title is The Orthodox Heretic. Previous titles include How (Not) to Speak of God and The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief.

Taylor University College and Seminary is affiliated with the North American Baptist denomination. Urban Bridge Church is now affiliated with Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. When that church started a few years ago as a plant of City Centre Church, they didn't seem to be affiliated with any denomination. A recent glance at their web site indicates that they accept the PAOC statement of faith. Either UBC has become more Biblical in its beliefs lately (which would be a good thing), or the heresy has gone underground. Darrell Muth's original blog posts were quite heretical, and those posts have all been deleted. The original "Statement of Beliefs" was the wimpiest such statement I've ever seen. I'm still suspicious of any church that publicly boasts about its allegedly good works (see posts below).

For an example of Mr. Rollins' theology, here's an excerpt from his blog post titled The Rapture:

...God slowly turned to face the world and called forth to the church with a booming voice,

"Rise up and ascend to heaven all of you who have who have sought to escape the horrors of this world by sheltering beneath my wing. Come to me all who have turned from this suffering world by calling out ‘Lord, Lord’".

In an instant millions where caught up in the clouds and ascended into the heavenly realm. Leaving the suffering world behind them.

Once this great rapture had taken place God paused for a moment and then addressed the angels, saying,

"It is done, I have separated the people born of my spirit from those who have turned from me. It is time now for us leave this place and take up residence in the Earth, for it is there that we shall find our people. The ones who would forsake heaven in order to embrace the earth. The few who would turn away from eternity itself to serve at the feet of a fragile, broken life that passes from existence in but an instant".

And so it was that God and the heavenly host left that place to dwell among those who had rooted themselves upon the earth. Quietly supporting the ones who had forsaken God for the world and thus who bore the mark God. The few who had discovered heaven in the very act of forsaking it.

Discerning readers will note that Mr. Rollins' view of the Rapture is basically that of New Agers: the good guys remain on the earth, while the bad guys are removed. This is the opposite of what the Bible teaches:

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I Thessalonians 4:16-17

For Mr. Rollins' itinerary in Edmonton, go here. In addition to Taylor UC and Seminary and Urban Bridge Church, Mr. Rollins spoke at St. Paul's Anglican Church (which once had a solid evangelical reputation but now seems headed in a more liberal direction) and St. George's Anglican Church.