A good encyclopedia of liberal Christianity. Perhaps it tries to cover a little too much ground, but it does so with gusto and panache.
Quotes:
Feel free to read the passages that attract you and skip the others.
Feel free to skip Chapter 1 if you’d rather dig right into the meat of the text. It’s just a bunch of stuff about me and the book isn’t really about me—besides I’m a dork.
Instead of getting people to agree with certain assertions about various dogmas, doctrines, or “truth claims,” progressive Christianity focuses more upon following a certain, radical way of life; namely, following the countercultural, subversive, and life-giving teachings and example of Jesus.
As theologian Walter Wink has pointed out, the pagan Myth of Redemptive Violence was one of the first meta-narratives to pervade human civilization.[187] The myth states that the perceived good guys need to kill or physically punish the perceived bad guys in order for things to be right with the world. This myth has become so thoroughly fused to humanity that it is fair to say that it is our dominant story.
I’m not particularly concerned about my afterlife. It’s my life here and now that matters most to me. I try to live as faithfully as I can and trust that whatever happens when I die will take care of itself.
“The Wesleyan Quadrilateral,” the four factors of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience
John Wesley spoke to this saying, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.”
John Wesley spoke to this saying, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.” And, “Though we may not all think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart though we may not be of one
John Wesley spoke to this saying, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.” And, “Though we may not all think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart though we may not be of one opinion? If your heart is as my heart, give me thy hand.”
It’s been thousands of years since the books of the Bible were written and it is becoming increasingly difficult for high-tech suburban and city dwellers to understand the writings from foreign, ancient, rural peoples. Reading the Bible well takes a bit of work.
Certain forms of Christianity have become so widespread in the U.S. that even the non-Christians among us have become absorbed by the drama of the notion of a “looming end of the world,” based upon certain interpretations of the book of Revelation in the Bible. Bottom line: progressive Christians think that those interpretations are misguided and based more upon fear than faith.
Kahil Gibran said, “Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.”
I have never united myself to any church, because I have found difficulty in giving my assent, without mental reservation, to the long, complicated statements of Christian doctrine which characterize their articles of belief and confessions of faith. When any church will inscribe over its altars as its sole qualification for membership, the Savior’s condensed statement of the substance of both law and gospel, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,’ that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul. Abraham Lincoln
There are many different forms of prayer. One can even say that anything from traditional prayers to playing the piano to gardening, rock-climbing, surfing, and riding a motorcycle through the mountains is “prayer.”
The traditional forms of prayer that Christians have engaged in over the years boil down to three concepts, “Thank you” “I’m sorry,” and “Help!”
Being involved in a healthy Christian congregation or community is sort of like being at a military boot camp—but for being trained in how to love instead of how to kill.
Most of the things that we get hung up about are really no big deal. They’re quite inconsequential cosmically speaking. Being aware, awed and amazed at what’s around us can help us to shift away from anxiousness and toward the things that matter—namely, love.
The bottom line is this, when in doubt, do that. God can handle it. God wants us to be authentic. God wants real relationship with real people.
Progressive Christianity is about loving more deeply and living more meaningfully. It’s about following Jesus’ invitations for practicing radical compassion and loving-kindness, living-out Jesus’ Kingdom values, and experiencing a fuller, more profoundly connected and meaningful life. You don’t have to believe in any of the theologies about God that have been used to damn, judge or exclude people. You don’t have to believe in Satan or the Devil. You don’t have to believe in heaven or hell. You don’t have to believe in a virgin birth, or that someone walked on water, or that Christianity is the only way that God is at work in the world (though certain progressive Christians believe several of those things). Instead, it’s about cultivating a sense of appreciation for what God has done for the world though Jesus.
Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense. Robert Frost
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