Progressive Christianity

This should go without saying, but Christians shouldn't feel ashamed of casting a liberal vote. In fact, I'm pretty confident that Jesus Christ would have been a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party (if not a supporter of Socialism). Here's why.

First and foremost, the Bible makes it clear that we should take care of the poor, widows, and yes--- the sick. Yes, universal health care would probably be at the top of the Divine Healer's priorities if he was a politician. In fact, Christ's miracles involved feeding the masses, healing the sick at no cost to them, and promoting the interests of those within his society who had no voice.

I used to feel ashamed of my political beliefs until it became clear to me that the so-called "progressive agenda" is more in line with what God would expect from a society that any alternative I've seen.

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Tony Jones hits the nail on the head...

It's almost as if he's been reading my diary.
Quote: "I think it's a way to live as an intellectually honest person." -Tony Jones
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The Bible & Homosexuality

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My spiritual manifesto

It occurred to me this weekend that it's often hard for me to explain what it is I actually believe. I hope this blog entry will clear up any confusion that may exist concerning my personal "statement of faith" as it exists today. Please note, my beliefs can be fluid as I tend to read quite a bit and may adjust my beliefs to reflect the new information I gather.

I can remember a day when I was afraid to explore the possibility that God might exist outside the traditional Judeo-Christian construct. As a Bible-thumping believer, I said things like: "God said it and that settles it," because I didn't want to consider the likelihood that we, meaning my church, my pastor, my tradition, my experiences, or my beliefs might be wrong.

As the years go on and I continue to witness tragedy, death, war, civil unrest, poverty, confusion, religious tension, and injustice in our world, I wonder why- if God is omnipotent- doesn't he just reach down and fix all of this.

The thought that God would simply allow his precious creations to suffer somehow seems morbid. That's why I believe there is a God, but not in the way that we've known or understood him in the Western world. I believe in God the love force, the life force, the peace force, the provision force, the keeper and dissiminator of Wisdom, the ultimate spiritual example of what humans can be at when we're at our best. God is an infinite and eternal being who communicates with humanity and intervenes in mysterious ways. He is the person with whom I commune when I choose to pray, and he hears me.

I believe that like Christ, we have a responsibility to help others hope in goodness, search for peace, and find unity wherever we can. We should embody the love force, life force, peace force, and justice that is wholly and truly God, even though we don't fully understand him.

I refer to myself as agnostic because there are so many things that I don't believe I'll ever know. For instance, I don't know the true nature of Christ. Frankly, no one does. I would like to believe that he was born of a virgin, was crucified and resurrected, was God, and will return, but I'm not totally convinced any more. The similar, yet competing contemporary legends of his day (such as Mithras and Buddha) lead me to believe that the Christ story may not be totally authentic. I also believe that much of what is recorded about him in the Bible could be mythological as it was recorded 40 to 90 years after his life by people who didn't know him personally.

At the moment, I believe it's more likely that Christ was a mystic, a teacher, a wise holy man, a revolutionary, and a man who challenged tradition in his day. I believe that he transcended humanity to tap into divine power in ways that often manifested through signs and wonders. I believe he impacted people and gave them hope. He was as Godlike as any human could be.

Finally, I believe the Bible is the story of how humans have tried to commune with God. The Bible is a collection of "why" tales, but not "how" tales. It has examples of why we have felt separated from God and how we handled it. It has stories of redemption, hope, and profound pain. It shows that humans have had tribal ideas about God since the beginning of time. It contains allegories about why we are the way we are. It shouldn't be viewed as the only written testament to the character of God or the life of Christ.

I am a Christian in the sense that I follow Christ's teachings, his example, and his mystic nature. I am agnostic in the sense that there's plenty I don't know about God, divinity, and Christ. I read the Bible and follow it to the extent that it offers many perspectives of God to which I can relate. I handle it carefully, knowing that there are verses in there that don't necessarily apply to our modern era. I accept that there are things about God, Christ, and life that I'll never know.

So this is my "statement of faith." It's all I can believe at the moment, and I am quite comfortable in this place.
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President Obama & Haiti... Thanks for doing the right thing

The Religious Right has propagated for more than two years that President Obama is not “Christian” enough to be the leader of the free world. Their argument is deeply rooted in their belief that good Christians do superficial things like going to church, swearing on the Bible, and revering the obvious fallacies found in scripture. Fundamentalists have upheld these pharisaic arguments despite Christ’s obvious position that his true followers would be known by how they treat people and NOT how well they uphold superficial traditions.

In the wake of the most terrible natural disaster many of us have seen in our lifetimes, President Obama has stepped up to the plate to help those referred to by the Bible as “the least of these…” He has promised resources that will translate to food for the hungry, medical attention for the ailing, and shelter for the homeless. The character of our President touches my heart. Thank you, President Obama, for caring about the people of Haiti.

If you would like to give to the people of Haiti, please consider one of the following organizations:
American Red Cross International Response Fund
Clinton Foundation
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Fund
Partners in Health
ShelterBox
UNICEF
UN World Food Programme


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Can a Christian Agnostic go to seminary?

I will admit, I've toyed with the idea for some time now. I have visited the website of my dream seminary... I've read the course descriptions and pondered my path to a Master of Theological Studies, or even a Master of Divinity... I've considered the research track that would lead all the way to a Ph.D., and yes, I've considered ministry; a chance to show others that it is possible to love and worship God with questions burning in our hearts. Then I ask myself: "Do I belong in seminary? Is there really a path to ministry for me?"

The question of seminary is one that rears its head so intrusively that it interrupts my sleep from time to time. Would I find any like-minded students there? How would I handle it if my professor tried to teach something that isn't historically sound... or worse: contrary to my humanitarian beliefs? Would there be enough academic freedom there for me to cultivate my faith while staying true to the hard truths I've accepted on my liberal Christian journey?

I know that fundamentalists don't have a monopoly on truth, God, the Gospel, Christ, or seminary. I guess I worry that maybe my professors won't know it, too. The fact is, the only way to know would be to actually go. And who knows... the journey itself may be worth the experience, even if it challenges me to suppress my opinions for awhile.

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Two Creation Stories in the Bible (With Video)

Several months ago, I found a website called Living the Questions (www.livingthequestions.com) that is devoted to people like myself who choose faith in the midst of spiritual uncertainty. Recently, LTQ posted several excerpts of its videos to Youtube, with one of those videos being a brilliant discussion of the two conflicting creation stories found in the book of Genesis.

I have written about our fear of admitting that the Bible is not inerrant, but did not expound on the inconsistencies that appear in the Bible. However, this video captures a fundamental inconsistency in a way that I could never capture in writing. (More analysis after video...)



For those of us who are "living out the questions," the commentators in this video hit on several extremely important things. First, as indicated by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, such discrepancies are only a problem for those of us who are uncomfortable with the possibility that the Bible may NOT be inerrant. Many Christians feel that the Bible's inerrancy is central to the credibility of the faith and insist that the Genesis narrative is how it all happened. Most won't admit that such errors exist in scripture, even when they are this obvious.

However, reasonable Christians cannot ignore that in chapter 1 of Genesis, Adam is created after the animals and vegetation, but in Genesis 2, Adam is created first. More perplexing is that in Genesis 1, Adam and Eve are created together near the end of the story, while in Genesis 2, Adam existed for some time before Eve was taken from his rib.

I've known about these inconsistencies for some time now, and would submit to the unyielding fundamentalist (as postulated in the video and by various scholars) that the Bible story is more likely to be a metaphorical story of why than it is a literal story of how. That is, the story when read properly explains that God created man to commune with Him, that God intended for us to have relationships with one another, and that we are to take care of the planet because its resources are "good" and precious in God's sight. Such a concession won't undermine the existence of God or the beauty of the creator's love for us, even if it does challenge our existing dogma.

To read more about the two conflicting creation stories found in Genesis, visit ReligiousTolerance.org...
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