Evangelical Pastor Dave Gass Quits Job, Quits Faith, Vents

ViaCrucis · May 12, 2019

I'm not going to make a generalization, but speak only concerning my own experiences. I have on previous occasions when talking about my own upbringing, and my own faith journey, spoken about how had things not happened as they have I am fairly certain I would not be a Christian.

I would have been able to fake it for a little while, but eventually that would wear on me, it would erode my mental and emotional health. And eventually there would be shipwreck.

I had been forced to continue to deny science, or imagine that I had to continue to engage in some kind of religious performance, or that what mattered was being part of the right tribe or any number of other things which tended to be part of my religious identity in my past, I'd likely have left a long time ago. If I had let what I witnessed in the churches and religious environments of my youth be the definition of Christianity I continued to operate with I would have, if just for the sake of conscience, been compelled to leave.

-CryptoLutheran

Michael · May 12, 2019

essentialsaltes said:
His leaving his position was possibly ushered along by the apparent exposure of an adulterous affair he had, but I don't see how that would be connected to some of these other observations.

It appears as though he had created a lifestyle for himself that wasn't healthy and the cognitive dissonance finally became overwhelming. Repeatedly cheating on your spouse would be hard enough to justify without being a pastor of a Church at the same time.

“Eventually I pulled the lever and dropped the bomb. Career, marriage, family, social standing, network, reputation, all gone in an instant. And honestly I didn’t intend to fully walk away, but the way the church turned on me forced me to leave permanently,” he said.

It doesn't sound like he was prepared for the inevitable fallout when his sins were revealed and he had no place to hide. Hardly seems like a surprising result considering the circumstances. It seems as though his cognitive dissonance continues however. He'd rather blame the Church than to take responsibility for his own choices. That's kinda sad IMO.

Sketcher · May 12, 2019

JackRT said:
Charles Templeton wrote in “Farewell to God” --- “According to Christian theology, God is omniscient and exists apart from time. Being omniscient he knows the end from the beginning. But if true, would this not mean that all temporal life is predetermined? If God knows the end from the beginning then nothing is subject to change --- otherwise it would not have been known from the beginning. This being so, prayer cannot possibly change anything and there is no point to it. Apart from its function as worship, prayer is based on the premise that God can be talked into running the universe according to the wishes of a devout person on his knees. But, again, try to imagine the chaos if every devout person's prayers were answered! Belief in the efficacy of prayer is a form of self-delusion. Our real prayers are not what we say while on our knees --- the facile words whispered during a prayer. They are the aspirations, attitudes, and desires that motivate our daily lives. It is easy to prime the pump and have the words gush forth in a torrent of pious phrases but the proof of what we really want, regardless of what we say we want, is evident in the way we live. “

If this sums up Templeton's view on prayer, he had a shallow understanding of prayer at best.

JackRT · May 13, 2019

Sketcher said:
If this sums up Templeton's view on prayer, he had a shallow understanding of prayer at best.

Did he really? Perhaps not nearly as shallow as you think.

RestoreTheJoy · May 13, 2019

JackRT said:
I wish him well in the future --- he is a quality human being.
...

In 1957, just following his greatest crusade ever, and after a long period of soul searching, he turned his back on his ministry and walked away from it. He said to himself, in effect, “how can I stand here and preach passionately to these people when I know that I am not preaching the truth.”

Charles Templeton wrote in “Farewell to God” --- “According to Christian theology, God is omniscient and exists apart from time. Being omniscient he knows the end from the beginning. But if true, would this not mean that all temporal life is predetermined? If God knows the end from the beginning then nothing is subject to change --- otherwise it would not have been known from the beginning. This being so, prayer cannot possibly change anything and there is no point to it. Apart from its function as worship, prayer is based on the premise that God can be talked into running the universe according to the wishes of a devout person on his knees. But, again, try to imagine the chaos if every devout person's prayers were answered! Belief in the efficacy of prayer is a form of self-delusion. Our real prayers are not what we say while on our knees --- the facile words whispered during a prayer. They are the aspirations, attitudes, and desires that motivate our daily lives. It is easy to prime the pump and have the words gush forth in a torrent of pious phrases but the proof of what we really want, regardless of what we say we want, is evident in the way we live. “

He cheated on his wife and is shacking up with the side woman yet he is a "quality individual"? Of course he fell. He made a thousand decisions to walk down that path to the inevitable result.

Justin Tuttle on Twitter

Templeton didn't know His God since he could not determine he was preaching truth. He doubted the authority of God's Word; Billy Graham did not. And he doesn't seem to understand free will. He thinks his life just happened to him. No, he made choices to end up where he did.

Sketcher · May 13, 2019

JackRT said:
Did he really? Perhaps not nearly as shallow as you think.

The quote you provided gave no credence to the divine will of God as the final decision maker, or the heart of God as he hears the cries of his people. Nor does it pay enough attention to the transformational aspect of prayer upon the one who prays.

JackRT · May 13, 2019

Sketcher said:
The quote you provided gave no credence to the divine will of God as the final decision maker, or the heart of God as he hears the cries of his people. Nor does it pay enough attention to the transformational aspect of prayer upon the one who prays.

I admire Charles Templeton for his honesty and his courage. He recognized that it was wrong for him to preach what he no longer believed. I respect that. He might very well have been doing "the divine will of God".

Sketcher · May 13, 2019

JackRT said:
I admire Charles Templeton for his honesty and his courage. He recognized that it was wrong for him to preach what he no longer believed. I respect that. He might very well have been doing "the divine will of God".

I don't fault him for quitting preaching because he no longer believed what he was preaching. I do fault him for disbelieving in the first place, especially for the reason you quoted.

JackRT · May 13, 2019

Sketcher said:
I don't fault him for quitting preaching because he no longer believed what he was preaching. I do fault him for disbelieving in the first place, especially for the reason you quoted.

Well, he was once a believer who put his all into evangelism. If you later become convinced that your belief was misplaced then in good conscience you have no choice but to do what he did. In the end each of us is compelled to follow his/her conscience. Whatever else you might want to condemn him for this is not it.

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Evangelical Pastor Dave Gass Quits Job, Quits Faith, Vents

ViaCrucis

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Michael

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Sketcher

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JackRT

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RestoreTheJoy

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Sketcher

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JackRT

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Sketcher

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