Controversial pastor Rev. Jim Rigby, head of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, and mentor to Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico, once rejected the entire cornerstone of the Gospel, stating during an Easter message that Jesus may have not risen from the dead and that, perhaps, Jesus's conquest over death should not be taken literally.
The post James Talarico’s Pastor and Mentor Doubts Resurrection of Jesus in Easter Message: ‘Maybe Jesus Rose from the Dead, but Maybe Not’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Controversial pastor Rev. Jim Rigby, head of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, and mentor to Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico, once rejected the entire cornerstone of the Gospel, stating during an Easter message Jesus may have not risen from the dead and that, perhaps, Jesus’s conquest over death should not be taken literally.
Talarico has no shortage of questionable positions given his self-proclaimed status as a Christian. In fact, he openly denied Jesus is the way to truth, asserting people can get there through pagan gods and other religions.
This goes directly against Jesus’s words to the disciples, making it clear He is the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
The Democrat showcased this belief again after offering a bizarre prayer to multiple gods during an invocation on the state House floor.
But if one one examines the beliefs of his pastor and mentor, it all makes sense. In a recently unearthed sermon, Rigby openly questioned the resurrection of Jesus, suggesting that humans could have made the resurrection to be more “manageable.” Perhaps what is worse, he made these declarations in an Easter message.
“…what lies underneath, what’s too big, what’s too deep, what’s too mysterious. But we’re human beings and we want to make it manageable. So we want to try to move the mystery into magic because you can control magic,” he said in the 2023 sermon, stating that it is “possible” Jesus rose from the dead. However, he also said it was “possible” that someone stole Jesus’s body instead.
“I mean, that’s possible. It’s possible the disciples stole it to keep the Romans from getting a hold of it. It’s possible the Romans took it because they’re afraid of a resurrection on the third day,” Rigby stated, asking the congregation if they “want to live your life based on a maybe.”
“Do you want to just bet your entire life on what somebody a long time ago told you because somebody told him that? Or is it possible that the symbols are calling you to a deeper understanding of the human condition?” he asked, wholly rejecting the entire gospel by dismissing Jesus’s sacrifice and victory over death.
“Light is not stronger than darkness. Darkness is essential to understanding your life. Maybe Jesus rose from the dead, but maybe not,” Rigby said.
Once again, God sending His only Son to Earth to live a sinless life – fulfilling the law which humans could not do – and sacrificing Himself to reconcile humanity back to God is the basis of the Gospel and the hope Christians have in Jesus.
But to Rigby, it is considered a “maybe” one should not build their life on. Rather, Rigby said humanity needs to “see the sacred in every being,” including plants.
“Maybe the person I’m sitting next to is as close as I need to get. Religious symbols — if they’re healthy — are not symbols of something that happened. They’re symbols of the principles by which everything happens, if that makes any sense,” he said, continuing on.
“I think it’s this: We need to see the sacred in every being on the face of the planet. I think animals, too. Plants. But if we just love each other, wouldn’t that be good? But when we make the resurrection about Jesus, that doesn’t happen when it’s just about Jesus,” he claimed, concluding that “if there is an eternity, it’s already started. ”
He added that “living fully” in the present moment is “close to heaven as you need to get.”
In a 2018 post, Rigby addressed critics, stating that he affirms the resurrection but only as “a positive affirmation of the life recess, not as a historical claim about what happened to Jesus’ physical body.”
Rigby’s unBiblical view comes as no surprise, given the face he also considers himself on the same team as atheists.
All the while, Talarico continues to espouse blatantly blasphemous and scientific views, deeming God “non-binary,” believing there to be six biological sexes, and embracing the genital mutilation of confused children.
He considers protecting the innocence of children from perverted leftist goals as a “Christofascism movement.”
