Thread by @MedleyTrey

Ok, where to begin. There is so much wrong with this blog that some of it is outright heretical. But let's dive right into.

The biggest mistakes Shenvi makes throughout are primarily overgeneralization based on (his) false assumption and category mistakes. Let's talk about that.

https://twitter.com/NeilShenvi/status/1373968322950217728

First, let's discuss some of overgeneralizations based on false assumptions. Hardly anyone working in anti-racism is arguing that corporate repentance is required for salvation. Shenvi spends an inordinate amount of time tearing down an argument that, frankly, no one is making

Shenvi also assumes that at issue is only the incidence of past racial sin (specifically Slavery, but we might extrapolate to Jim Crow and other forms of racism). This is not the primary issue. We are concerned with *current* racism

He also throws in several non-sequitors along the way: such as the idea that advocates for racial reconciliation are focused on self-exaltation, that because a racist thought is not as bad as ongoing abuse we don't need to talk about racism or that we are somehow conflating them

He also makes some category mistakes. It is true that "whites" are not a "covenant community." Ok good. We're agreed. But this does not mean there is no covenant community. The church, in fact, is a covenant community.

Another category mistake (or possibly non-sequitor) is that anyone is saying privilege=guilt for personal sin. No one is saying that. There is an obligation to work to eliminate racial disparities and to acknowledge sin, failure to do either is a "sin of omission" in his terms

Now let's move to discuss the heresies. One is borderline, one is outright. This is what happens when an untrained theologian attempts to pontificate in order to excuse himself from action with insufficient study. (That's not "credentialism," that's just a fact).

The borderline heresy has to do with a poor understanding of reconciliation. Absolutely we are all reconciled in Christ. And absolutely Christ will (one day) complete that reconciliation. This does not mean (as Shenvi implies) that no effort at reconciliation is required

Admittedly, he does not outright claim this, which would be tantamount to the antinomian heresies, which is why I would label this borderline. The other heresy is more explicit and has to do with our understanding of sin.

Granted Hamartiology is not a particularly hot topic, but it is important. Shenvi is under the impression that "sin" only refers to personal actions. As such, he argues, one cannot be held accountable, nor be required to take action for, sins done by your ancestors

Can we make this really clear: Christ did not die for sins, but for Sin. Sin is more akin to a disease than dirt on your soul that can be cleaned (which is more akin to the karmic matter of Jainism). Rather, sin is something that infects people and is absolutely hereditary

Taking Augustine very literally, Sin is the first Sexually Transmitted Disease (in case you wondered why he goes on about concupiscence). It is not one thing. You do commit Sin, but this is more an effect of the overarching problem of Sin that infects all people, by birth

Roman and Protestant churches agree, Sin is absolutely hereditary. People are absolutely accountable for the actions of their forebears. As the Puritans put it "In Adam's fall/ We sinned all." To deny the reality of the inherited effects of Sin if not guilt, is to commit heresy

Finally, while technically not a heresy, Shenvi also directly contradicts scripture. He declares that "racial reconciliation" is foreign to Christianity because "individuals reconcile, but races do not."

I don't know how he understands Ephesians 2, which explicitly talks about racial reconciliation, or indeed much of the New Testament, but Shenvi's thoughts are counter the bible.

Overall, the post is targeting imaginary enemies against claims no one is making, but those who are afraid of terms like CRT are more than happy to assume of all naysayers without doing due diligence. In the process, Shenvi contradicts the bible and the historic Christian faith