Comment from Debra Wehrly

I do not understand the doctrine of marriage as being compared to "Christ and the church." I do not understand how that works in day to day life. I do not understand what it means to be the "bride of Christ"? The church is made up of men, women and children. Old, young and people of all diverse backgrounds. Is each member of the church considered the "wife" of Christ?

My response

The Bible uses analogies to explain concepts from a human perspective. The relationship between the Lord and the “bride of Christ” or the elect is mirrored in the relationship between a husband and his wife. This is seen most clearly in Eph 5:25 as the husband is to love his wife as the Lord loves his elect. The husband is given authority, but it is to be a sacrificial love, not a commanding one. Christ demonstrates this by His sacrifice of Himself as He came to serve and not be served (Mat 20:28, Mar 10:45).

The relationship of Christ and His bride is not a bride in the sense of female as seen in Gal 3:28, but Christ the servant head and the bride or elect is the beneficiary of His grace.

The email to Tim Mills – Harmonic Atheist – is below.

My Lady, I love you!

Tim,

I watched with serious interest your video “I DECONSTRUCTED MY RELIGION and found FREEDOM instead of FLAMES - Erika Sams”. I found it a refreshing in the sense it was not a rabid “they are bad and we are good”, but a fairly rational examination of our world. What adds to my interest is that Erika is my daughter.

What I heard was accurate in many respects, but obviously some of the things I have heard from her, or read in her articles, are embellished, or a distorted compilation of childhood memories.

You may or may not be aware that my wife abandoned me almost 10 years ago and I have been in constant pursuit of reconciliation. This effort includes Erika and there are many moments of joy. In the last few years she sent me a draft of her book, and once published I did purchase several copies for friends and myself. The cover is signed by her with a typical loving greeting. I did an endorsement video for the book that was well received by her (http://kozlowski.org/2019-01-23+1).

You might find that we agree strongly on a lot of things when the institutional church is in question. I have not been to a church service in over 4 years. However, my stand is “the Bible is true and the institutional church is a fraud”. So while we might agree on the institutional church, we are opposites on the veracity of the Bible and who Jesus is.

Would you be willing to engage me in a private or public dialog on this matter? I’m not looking for a shouting match but a rational dialog.

I have made my case in video form with “Draft and Challenge: “The Bible is true and the institutional church is a fraud”” (http://kozlowski.org/2021-04-25+1). Would you be willing to take up the challenge?

I am a bit concerned in that I did make a request to you in the comments of the video. I later notice that it was not online and wondered if it was deleted or if I erred in placing it. It was resubmitted and online for a short while and then disappeared. So I assume you deleted it. I do have before and after screen captures. For reference it was:

I have set a theses statement before many in the institutional church: “the Bible is true and the institutional church is a fraud”.

Thus far not one in the institutional church is willing to take me on. Are you? Or anyone else?

I set out my case at: http://kozlowski.org/2021-04-25+1

For reference, Erika Sams is my daughter, and I will not abandon her.

This suggests you might be unwilling to take up the challenge. That would be unfortunate and put you in the same league of the institutional church as they also refuse to take up the challenge. If you are on solid ground, then a rational dialog should be welcomed.

I do a daily voicemail to my family and in the last many months they have all been on video. Often I go deep into theology or current events. Yesterday’s was a bit long at just over an hour, but directly addresses Erika and you. http://family.kozlowski.org/Promise-2022-03-15. Please feel welcome to review it.

My field is software with an emphasis on communications and privacy. I am well aware of the costs of pointing out fallacies in the industry. You will find a lot of videos on my site on whistleblowers as I call myself a repeat offender. I address what most consider high risk, but claim to be standing on solid ground on the technology front and am willing to engage anyone on it. I do the same on theology, and my greatest enemy on that is the institutional church. I have had many delightful exchanges with Muslims, Mormons, and atheists while in many cases ending up with strong friends. On the other hand the institutional church has literally sent the police to shut me up.

So what about you? Perhaps you might turn out to be like my good friend who is a Latter Day Saint, even though we disagree on foundational issues. Or will you run and hide like church leadership and do what you can to ignore me?

Please take up the challenge. Again you might find we agree on much, except the veracity of Scripture.

My challenge to you is public, so please feel free to share it as you see fit, including with Erika. Actually, I still call her ErikaLeigh with her consent.