By Frank Lockwood
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Copyright © 2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.

LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — The Rev. Kevin G. Thew Forrester denies that Satan exists. He doesn’t believe God sent his only-begotten son to die for the sins of the world. He says that the Koran is sacred, he has taken a Buddhist middle name and he teaches that many paths lead to the divine.

As an Episcopal priest, Thew Forrester altered the denomination’s prayer book, including its baptismal vows and the words of the Apostles’ Creed. Now he’s been elected to become a bishop — a successor to the Apostles — by the Diocese of Northern Michigan.

In a story published Friday, the Democrat-Gazette interviews the Buddhist abbot who helped Thew Forrester take his Buddhist vows. The story also contains interviews with bishops supporting and opposing Thew Forrester and an interview with the bishop-elect, who says the Christian faith is ‘continually evolving.’

Among other things, Thew Forrester said he believes in evil, but not a literal Satan. He also rejects the idea that Jesus came to earth to die for the sins of the world:

“God did not send Jesus here to be killed or be crucified by the Romans, which is a brutal murder. But Jesus has become incarnate to reveal to us who God is. He’s a God of love and forgiveness and mercy. … Jesus’ death itself was not the will of God. God did not desire Jesus to be killed,” Thew Forrester said.

The complete article can be read for free, via ArkansasOnline.com, by clicking

here.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 8:35 am and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.