Videos
Rev Lane Scruggs and Prof Richard Schneider met over coffee to discuss how their two churches think about salvation. Lane is part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Richard is part of the Orthodox Church in America. They represent their denominations on the Faith and Witness Commission, and were talking about what came up in the Commission's discussions about salvation.
Listen in on a few minutes of their conversation. They let us film it so you can hear what inter-Christian dialogue can be like. We hope you will reflect on it too, and share your thoughts with us.
Why be a Christian?
1) In this video, Lane and Richard shared their personal stories to answer the question 'Why be a Christian?' Can you share your own story in response? Why are you a Christian?
2) In his story, Richard said that, for him, Christ shows what God is like in the midst of suffering, 'me-first-ism', and cruelty of the world. What do you think he means? How does Christ show us what God is like? Richard also mentioned that salvation means 'to be God' or 'to be like God'. What does that mean for our lives as Christians?
3) In his response, Lane said that he is a Christian because he thinks that this is the best way to live. He thinks that the best life is a life of self-sacrifice, of living not for yourself but for others. What do you think about that? Do you agree or not? Why?
Could Hitler be saved?
1) In this video, Richard says that Christians can or might hope that, in the end, hell will be empty, and that everyone will be saved. What do you think about that? If that is true, does it mean that God doesn't care about our bad choices, or about the suffering of those whom our choices affect? But if it's not true, does it mean that God doesn't love or care about those people who will not be saved? What would happen to them?
2) What do you think about the idea that 'evil is nothing'? What does it mean for us as Christians, for our lives, and for our salvation?
3) In this video, Lane says that his church — Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) — strongly believes that salvation means confessing Christ as Lord, and that we cannot know whether anyone is saved who does not do that. What do you think about this? Can people who don't believe in Christ be saved?
Questions for both videos
1) In these videos, Lane and Richard talked about salvation from the perspectives of their churches — Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Orthodox Church in America. What differences between their understandings of 'salvation' did you hear? What common ground do they have? And what differences / commonalities their views have with the beliefs of your church about 'salvation'?
2) In these two videos, Richard and Lane talk about 'salvation'. Can you try and define what 'salvation' is?