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1-25 of 988 « ‹ Page 1 of 40 › »
  • A Different Kind of Optimism

    Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on June, 30 2022

    Recently, I was in consultation with a colleague who is First Nation Cree. Throughout the conversation, there was a steady stream of confidence, curiosity, and hope.  Really smiling at one point, my colleague said, “I’m an eternal optimist who comes from a history of despair.”

     
    Is it possible that religion has less to do with what’s true and more to do with where and when you were …

    Answered by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D.
  • Christ Heart: Discovery of Holy Mystery

    Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on June, 23 2022

    What is a heart alive with compassion and joy and spontaneity?  A heart not continually weighed down by drivenness, anger, and fear? A heart at rest?

    What are some essential steps that can be taken to improve America’s gun problem?

    Answered by Rev. Mark Sandlin
  • Transitions

    Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on June, 16 2022

    The Mystery of Life only allows us to move forward. No matter how much we cling to what was or how much we resist, change is inevitable.

    We were having a discussion at church last night about theism and worship. How is the Eucharist relevant if theism is taken away, or more …

    Answered by Rev. Brandan Robertson
  • Jesus – Queer Theology Incarnate

    Column by Rev. Mark Sandlin on June, 9 2022

    In his book “Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology”. The Rev. Dr. Patrick Cheng says, “God is the very manifestation of a love that is so extreme that it dissolves existing boundaries.” So, it seems to me, living a life that dismantles existing boundaries is the very definition of being in relationship with God.

    “My church says they are progressive and “Open and Affirming” but as a queer person, I don’t see any real progressiveness. Do you …

    Answered by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine
  • When Progressive Christianity Runs Dry

    Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on June, 2 2022

    I, along with many other progressive Christian ministers I know, have grown increasingly cynical about our faith. We no longer feel that the faith that we’ve evolved to embrace has much of a bearing on our daily lives or an impact on the world.

     
    Do you consider anything a sin? I once had a minister who told me that sin is anything that gets between you and …

    Answered by Rev. David M. Felten
  • “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” at 100

    Column by Rev. David M. Felten on May, 26 2022

    When I first read Harry Emerson Fosdick’s Shall the Fundamentalists Win?, it changed my life. In disbelief, I read portions of it over and over again and looked at the date. I read it AGAIN and thought, “What?” How in the world could he have preached this in 1922 and it STILL be controversial?!

    Is it essential for a Christian to believe in the Trinity?

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    Answered by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers
  • Requiem For Roe V. Wade

    Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on May, 19 2022

    Let’s be honest about the fear that is now driving the culture wars and have brought us to the precipice of losing our democracy.  White men on the right fear they are losing everything to the brown and black barbarians at the gate.

    Why are there so many Christian denominations or sects and different Bible versions? Ex: 73 Catholic versions and 66 Protestant versions.

    Answered by Dr. Carl Krieg
  • What the Disciples Believed About The Resurrection of Jesus

    Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on May, 12 2022

    We don’t know when Jesus was born, but we do know when he died. His birth was linked to existing pagan festivals celebrating the winter solstice, but his death can be dated relatively specifically, and occurred during the Passover Festival, Jerusalem, early April in year 30.

    I don’t understand why Faith appears to be on a decline, I find God by observing his work here on earth.  Do you think it …

    Answered by Rev. Matthew Syrdal
  • Be Opened: A Post-Easter Reflection

    Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on May, 5 2022

    I walked out of our church in ritual silence with the procession at twilight and was met—stunned—by the radiant face of the nearly full moon. I started to weep. Especially tired this particular Maundy Thursday, I was hit by the welling up of unprocessed emotion from a particularly hard year.

    As one who understands the place of The “Big Bang” in evolutionary theory, I'd like to ponder the thought of whether God preceded …

    Answered by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox
  • “Do you Create or do you Destroy?” Evil at Our Doors

    Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on April, 28 2022

    Not only does our species do great evil with our vast creativity and intelligence, we also do amazing positive things as well.  We are capable of the Awesome as well as the Awful.

    Why do fundamentalist believers take every word of the Bible as totally correct, when no one, to my observation, has an answer to the …

    Answered by Brian McLaren
  • The Religious Question — and the Human Question

    Column by Brian McLaren on April, 21 2022

    If Jesus was right when he said, in his inaugural address (as found in Luke 4), that the Spirit of God’s agenda is to help the oppressed, the weak, the broken-hearted, those with (in Thurman’s words) their backs against the wall, then no wonder many people are struggling with their religious identity.

    I find it so confusing trying to understand not only racism, but bias against any human who is considered “different”.  Elitism, the belief that …

    Answered by Toni Reynolds
  • The Banjo – A Symbol of Endurance in the Midst of Great Suffering

    Column by Toni Reynolds on April, 14 2022

     
    Over the last four years I’ve fallen in love with the banjo. It has been an interesting journey to take up this instrument. I’ …

    The Resurrection – Instead of reading the resurrection story of Jesus literally, can we understand it as a spiritual truth about how each one …

    Answered by Rev. Jim Burklo
  • Walking Points: How to Respond to Evangelical Christians

    Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on April, 7 2022

    All of us at some point will be approached by evangelical Christians attempting to convince us to become their kind of Christians. What’s the most Christian way we can respond to them?  — whether we are Christians or not?

     
    I don’t know if this is a question or just an expression of exasperation. A Roman Catholic priest recently resigned and all …

    Answered by Rev. David M. Felten
  • “Move Over Genesis”

    Column by Rev. David M. Felten on March, 31 2022

    As if we don’t already have enough problems in this country, the last few years have seen us slipping closer and closer to becoming a “post-truth society.” Facts just don’t seem to matter anymore.

    Today's news is full of statements that say Christianity is dying and that is a good thing.  Can't we believe in a …

    Answered by Rev. Gretta Vosper
  • Journaling to Ourselves

    Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on March, 24 2022

    We evolve through the work we do in the course of our too-short and too-harried days. Embracing that for which we are grateful is our evolution toward joy. Witnessing to that which went well is our evolution toward self-worth. Acknowledging that which we regret is an evolution toward wholeness. These are the things that our faith traditions have offered us.

     
    There is chaos and confusion at the Ukraine border. Reports about racism  distract the world’s focus on the Ukrainians’ hardship. Racism can’ …

    Answered by Rev. Irene Monroe
  • Confusion about the Holocaust confuses understanding  antisemitism

    Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on March, 17 2022

    Race is a social construct and not a biological fact. However, the deleterious effects of America’s dominant black/white racial paradigm excludes other racial groups whose skin color and phenotype complicate the racist model.

     
    When Jesus died on the cross, did God die?

    Answered by Rev. Fran Pratt
  • Anchoring Peace

    Column by Rev. Fran Pratt on March, 10 2022

     
    I write this to you, my Progressive Christian siblings, on a Monday morning during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I had written an entirely different …

     
    John Shelby Spong wrote about a “non theistic” view of God. How do you understand this view and can those who have lived …

    Answered by Dr. Carl Krieg
  • Ukraine

    Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on March, 3 2022

    Although the intelligence indicated a Russian invasion was imminent, most of the people of the world, including Ukraine, continued on with life as usual. Then, in an instant, Russian tanks started rolling into a peaceful, non-threatening neighboring country, triggering the first such move of its kind in Europe since WW2.

    How do you explain the beginning of creation? What, if anything, existed before the universe? Jesus lived and died, and did many great things, …

    Answered by Rev. Lauren Van Ham
  • Intimacy with all of Life*

    Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on February, 24 2022

    There is so much humility, discipline, curiosity and vitality in what the Creator asks of us – anything but monotonous!  In the Abrahamic origin story, there are some similarities as it centers Creation first and begins in a garden. 

    What if I can’t be fully me in my church?

    Answered by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine
  • Hope For The Future

    Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on February, 17 2022

    “We belong to each other,” as indigenous teachers have said. So, how do we create a bigger table with every voice in mind and make sure every one is there when we start to wrestle with solutions?

    I have been researching Paul's mental and physical ailments, and it seems that he fits exactly the profile of someone suffering from Geschwind …

    Answered by Rev. Roger Wolsey
  • A Time of Theological Déjà vu?

    Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on February, 10 2022

    There are certain dynamics taking place today that may remind us of dynamics that took place early in the last century. I suggest that pondering such similarities is not only warranted – but needed.

    The 'broken' language I hear from other Christians sometimes has never felt right to me. Are we all really broken?”

    Answered by Rev. Mark Sandlin
  • American Christianity as a Cover for Racism

    Column by Rev. Mark Sandlin on February, 3 2022

     
    Race plays a profound role in all aspects of life in the United States. When you stop to think about it, that is absolutely astounding …

    For the past two decades, you and your wife have traveled North America evangelizing evolution and big history. But recently your focus seems to …

    Answered by Michael Dowd
  • My G🌎 D, What Have We Done?

    Column by Michael Dowd on January, 27 2022

    My thesis is simply this: A comet actually is heading our way. We ourselves set it in motion millennia ago. But only recently have scientists, echoing longstanding indigenous warnings, charted its course and voiced the alarm. Its name is Anthropocentrism and these are the End Times because human-centeredness will prove to be nearly as devastating as the comet in the movie.

    With the continuing political polarity across our nation for those of different races, cultures, sexualities, and genders, where do LGBTQIA+ people find the resources and advocacy to …

    Answered by Rev. Brandan Robertson
  • Why You Need to Be a Progressive Evangelist

    Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on January, 20 2022

    When fragile hope is on the line, people will do anything to maintain it- even revolt against the very democracy they claimed to love.

    I come from a very conservative Christian family, and back in my younger days I believed in God. However I started losing faith in God. …

    Answered by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D.
  • Liturgy: Corporate Practice of Presence

    Column by Support - Progressing Spirit on January, 13 2022

     
    When Christians gather for liturgy; when we assemble for saying prayers, singing songs, hearing sermons; when we come together for Eucharist, it is simply assumed …

    Is the Bible the final authority in Christian faith?

    Answered by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers
1-25 of 988 « ‹ Page 1 of 40 › »

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