UNITED METHODIST
Grayson Jang on June 15, 2022

As United Methodism divides, an Arizona United Methodist confirmed some of the traditionalists’ worst fears about disregarding biblical authority in their denomination.

In his recent sermons Defusing Christianity’s Most Dangerous Ideas Series 1,2: Original Sin and Hell, Rev. David M. Felten declared:

“The notions of biblical inerrancy and the need to be born again create all kinds of discord and conflict in society…[and] keeps the whole church trapped in a quagmire of outdated fantasies.” He surmised: “Not to put too fine a point on it, but original sin has got to go.”

Felten argued that the notion of original sin is not from the Bible, “Unfortunately, though original sin is nowhere in the Bible, nowhere in the whole of Hebrew Scripture or the New Testament,” but from Saint Augustine. “Augustine was a promiscuous guy after all…so he decided to pass the buck and say: hey, my behavior is not my fault. It’s…Adam’s fault.”

The Methodist minister claimed that the concept that sin was passed from Adam’s generation to the next generation is invalid by accepting Darwin’s evolution theory. “The creation stories in the Bible are metaphors, not history…instead of the magical idea that human beings were once perfect and now because someone ate an apple, are damaged goods. How about simply acknowledging that Darwin was right? We were never perfect. We are evolving, emerging as a species and as individuals.”

“Is original sin in the Bible?” Felten asked rhetorically. “No…Is it totally made up? Yes. Has it, and does it continue to do social, psychological, and spiritual harm to people? Yes.” He explained that because Paul and Augustine were unaware of evolution, they tried hard to account for the primal urges and tendencies we inherited with the information they had.

According to Felten, Paul and Augustine “made up a fanciful story about sin and the power of Jesus to redeem us…But science has given us a story that makes more sense for the 21st century.” Felten insisted: “We are evolving creatures striving to emerge from the primal ooze of our past to achieve a more advanced form of life.”

Felten concluded that human tendencies to sin are not because of original sin but because we are all evolving: “We need to leave behind our magical thinking…I hope you’ve outgrown the image of a childish, petulant tyrant, punishing generations of subjects because some ancestors screwed up long ago…We are an evolving species, emerging over countless millennia into something more sophisticated than our reptilian ancestors.”

In his sermon on hell, Felten argued that hell is totally made-up and contradicts the nature of God, causing many believers to leave the church these days. People are agonizing between two choices: “One, [becoming] people who threaten eternal torture from a sadomasochistic God, or Two, [becoming] people who are too afraid to stand up and say no.” Felten believes that this fabricated notion of hell distorts “the very core of what following Jesus is about.”

“Hell is like the crystal meth of theological drugs,” Felten preached. “Once you’re addicted, it’s almost impossible to break away without some very serious intervention.” He said the word “hell” in the Old Testament is mistranslated. The word ‘Sheol( שְׁאוֹל )’ in Hebrew does not mean hell. “This (Sheol) wasn’t a place of punishment–just simply not living, kind of a precursor to limbo, [and] a much better translation of Sheol would simply be the grave,” he insisted.

Then where does the notion of Hell come from? Felten finds the answer in paganism. In the New Testament, Jews called the Hell of fire Gehenna or the Valley of Hinnom. He said, “It (Gehenna) was the stinking city dump where garbage was burned in a continuous smoldering fire before the Jews arrived.” In the same manner as Gehenna, images of lakes of fire from 2 Peter are also affected by paganism.

Felten said: “But these are from Egyptian and other pagan sources…the notion of hell as some sort of underground cavern of torture comes not from the Bible, but from Greek mythology and the idea of the realm of Hades.”

“Too many preachers are guilty of allowing the idea of hell to fester in the minds,” Felten complained. “So, let’s begin by confessing that when it comes to our concepts of hell, for the most part, were misinformed…So let me say it clearly…It’s all made up. The popular notions of hell are total fiction. Not to mention so contradictory to the gospel as to be laughable.”

Felten asked: “Is God really one who with one ear enjoys the music of the angels in heaven and with the other ear enjoys the screams of sinners tormented in hell?” He explained that “to plan for something in the afterlife, either for our own sense of self-aggrandizement or a sense of revenge…[is] not what Jesus had in mind.” Felten concluded: “If God is the manifestation of all things loving, merciful, and forgiving, hell cannot exist…Hell loses, and love wins.”
https://juicyecumenism.com/2022/06/15/methodist-david-felten/