Chad Holtz, about whom I blogged a couple of weeks ago concerning his views on hell, has lost his job in a United Methodist Church. A news article about it is here. He writes about what’s happening to him on his blog, Dancing on Saturday.
It’s a shocking development, especially given he wasn’t working in a Baptist church, but in a United Methodist congregation. Apparently, it’s hard to get rid of a Methodist pastor once they’ve been ordained and attained the status of elder, but since Holtz is still a Divinity student, it was relatively easy to get rid of him.
Ironic, given what the founder of the Methodists had to say:
The requirement for salvation is such a divine conviction of God and the things of God . . . as even in its infant state, enables every one that possesses it to fear God and work righteousness. And whosoever, in every nation, believes thus far, the Apostle declares is accepted.” -John Wesley, “On Faith”
My prayers are with him in this time.
Preaching Grace on the Square 
Thank you for the follow up and thank you even more for the pointer to Mr. Holz page. His commentary on the paralyzed man lowered down by his friends was important for me to read right now. He says:
“God doesn’t need to be coerced to forgive. He has. And does.
That’s not the hard part. The hard part is getting off our mats and walking.”
Along those lines is the apocryphal story I once read about John-Paul II who was asked about Hell. He was alleged to have said that it was dogma to believe in the existence of Hell, but nothing required anyone to believe that anyone was _in_ Hell. While I doubt the tale is fact, I find it easy to believe that it is Truth.
William