4 things to know about Senate candidate James Talarico's PCUSA pastor: 'Wolf in sheep's clothing'

4. 'Wolf in sheep's clothing': Denies Resurrection, scoffs at Hell in Christmas post

A decade after the Jensen controversy, Rigby himself seemingly repudiated the key supernatural claims of the Gospel. In a lengthy, sarcastic Facebook post on Christmas Day in 2015, he appeared to deny the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection while making light of Hell.

"I received some bad news this week. Apparently, because I don't believe in a literal resurrection, I'm not really Christian," Rigby wrote. "This unfortunately also means I won't be going to heaven with many of you. Of course, this is a hard thing to learn at Christmas time."

"As I share meals with my family, I have to face the fact that while they are enjoying the heavenly banquet, I will be screaming in unending torment along with Jews and Democrats and the evil college professors who teach evolution. And it's particularly embarrassing to be Presbyterian minister bound for hell. I've been such a fool."

Repeating a line he used to defend Jensen's membership, Rigby went on to say he "was trying to live as Jesus taught when I should have been reciting the Apostles [sic] Creed like a cockatiel." He observed the Virgin Birth is not in Mark and described the Resurrection as "a one time magic trick."

Echoing Talarico's claim last month that salvation is found "by feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger," Rigby also appeared to mock the idea that human efforts are incapable of appeasing God's wrath, and that Christ's death was necessary to atone for sin.

"We don't have to be loving or kind like Jesus to be saved from God's wrath. In fact we don't have to do a single thing Jesus commanded us to do," Rigby said, suggesting some Christians view the Gospel as an admission "that we are worthless trash, but that Jesus likes us anyway."

"Oh, and we have to LITERALLY believe Jesus' corpse got up. If you believe all the above you will get to be with God in heaven. Let's just hope God has a handle on that anger problem by now."

In another Facebook post he made during the Christmas season in 2022, he called Jesus "the magical baby" and used the Nativity story to condemn gendered descriptions of God, claiming instead that "the transcendent does not need to have a gender."

Rigby posts on Facebook prolifically, and as recently as Feb. 24, pushed back against allegations that he is "a wolf in sheep's clothing" in response to a YouTube user who reportedly accused him of preaching a false gospel, affirming sin and exhibiting a satanic attitude.

Dismissing the commenter as "a Christian Nationalist," Rigby went on to claim that he is not "in any way intellectually limited to the Christian sect" and believes the church of Jesus Christ transcends religious affiliation.

"As a student of the Sermon on the Mount it seems to me Jesus told us NOT to be as judgmental, sectarian and greedy. It seems to me Jesus was saying that our true 'church' is with all those who live in love regardless of their nation, gender, race, or religious affiliation."

"If that makes me seem like a 'wolf' to those who would bully others in Christ's name, so be it," he added.