How much should we teach our children about the Bible?
Column by Cindy Wang Brandt on October, 10 2019Some of the most egregious acts in civilization find their justification in Scripture, from genocide to slavery to deadly homophobia. History proves that the Bible, read with nefarious hermeneutics, in the hands of powerful figures can cause catastrophe.
No, This Isn’t For You
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on October, 3 2019It is a sad thing to close the doors of a church. Hard as it is for the congregation’s members, however, the event has a far deeper, though often unseen and uncalculated, impact on the health of the community in which that congregation was practicing its increasingly irrelevant faith. As churches age and weaken, their focus necessarily turns toward survival and away from the world outside their doors.
Jesus: A Mutation of Consciousness – Part 2
Column by Joran Slane Oppelt on September, 26 2019For most Christians, the question is, “Can you strip Jesus of his supernatural powers and still achieve salvation through Christ?” If we take the Godhead out of Jesus, what are we left with? Is there some other element that we enter into or move through by knowing him?
Calling on Warriors for Beauty
Column by Jennifer Berit and Skylar Wilson on September, 19 2019So what does it mean to be a warrior for beauty? In order to understand it, we must first look at what beauty is, and then we must turn toward what it means to be a warrior.
Let the Church die, here’s why
Column by Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt on September, 12 2019My assessment is that Christianity and its Church can either join the flow of justice or flail against its changing tides. This flow is happening with or without you. Spirit is moving, creating a path of love, equality, and peacemaking in its wake. If you are of the mind to jump in to this divine current, then I have several points of advice for you.
Wild Courtship-Primal Speech
Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on September, 5 2019All nature was designed for revelation. At least that’s what indigenous peoples, the Israelites, our church Fathers, and the Celts believed. Jesus himself, like Moses and the prophets Elijah and John the Baptizer, strode deep into the heart of the world, fasting for a vision—revelation.
Rugged Individuality and the Hermeneutic of Love
Column by Rev. Mark Sandlin on August, 29 2019It seems to me that people who have a well developed and healthy spirituality will resist the concept of tribalism. While it is true that tribalism was once an evolutionary necessity for survival, I have to believe that in modern times we should recognize that it is actually quite ridiculous as it is so rooted rooted in the illusion that some people are more valuable than others.
Two Bible Stories for our Endangered Times
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on August, 22 2019“What are a Bible Story or Stories that are especially pressing for today’s world?” Clearly there are many but I have chosen one from the Hebrew Bible and one from the Christian Bible.
Jesus: A Mutation of Consciousness – Part 1
Column by Joran Slane Oppelt on August, 15 2019We know enough about politics to know when an idea’s time has come. We know enough about the principles that move and motivate people. They are the same today as they were 2,000 years ago. They are those universal principles found in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: fear, safety, community, belonging, status, esteem and actualization (another word for “becoming” or, possibly, “salvation”).
And Like the Sun, Our Generosity Continues
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on August, 8 2019It has become so easy now to feel anxious, worried or irritable by the state of things, by the frantic commotion modeled all around us, focusing on just about everything except what’s actually important.
Lions, and Tigers, and Progressives – Oh My!
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on August, 1 2019I recently experienced something that is the stuff of many people’s nightmares.
White Fragility Is Real My Friends
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on July, 25 2019This was a very challenging article to write and I am going to be super vulnerable with you all, so bear with me … and I invite you to join me in a brave conversation.
I recently heard this quote on the radio: “There’s only one thing more powerful than white fear and that’s white guilt.” That statement left me questioning for days. “Could that be true,” I wondered? What does my white fear look like? What does my white guilt look like?
Being True To Christ But Rejecting Christianity
Column by EbonyJanice Moore on July, 18 2019A shift in my geographical location was the catalyst for a life-altering shift in my theological truth system. I was in Kenya, East Africa for 10 weeks in the summer of 2013 on a missions/educational trip when I began to ask myself about the introduction of Christianity to African people, most specifically black people in America as a result of slavery. This was the first time I had ever asked myself why do I believe what I say I believe.
All The World A Thin Place
Column by Rev. Brandan Robertson on July, 11 2019The Celtic tradition has a concept called “thin spaces”, geographical locations where the veil between heaven and earth, the world we live in and the realm of the Divine, seems to be remarkably thin.
Growing Up in a White Male God’s World
Column by Christena Cleveland on July, 4 2019But once I turned my attention to the problem of God’s maleness, I realized that I didn’t just hate white Christ, I also hated male Christ. A god who is exclusively white and male, or even predominantly white and male, is never going to be safe for people of color and/or women. Indeed, white male god is intersectional; we must be liberated from both its whiteness and maleness.
Living Christs of Touch
Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on June, 27 2019If your life were ending and you were given the chance to write a few words to encapsulate its essence, what would you say? The story wouldn’t have to be historical, or literally true, but it would need to offer an authentic window into your soul and the heart of your heart.
Looking, Leaning, and Leading Forward
Column by Brian McLaren on June, 20 2019In two previous columns: How I Got Here and What Am I Now?, I shared a bit about my own backstory and where I am now as a progressive Christian. In this third column, I’d like to share a bit about what I see and hope for progressive Christianity looking forward.
The Concepts of the Virgin Birth and Physical Resurrection
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on June, 13 2019Both the virgin birth and physical resurrection are the pillars of the Christian faith, and many Christians struggle with both concepts.
The Future Church: Over to You
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on June, 6 2019Armed with fifteen years of exposure to critical contemporary Christian scholarship, the congregation’s leaders, rather than fire me, embraced the opportunity to explore what church beyond belief might look like. It has been a bumpy ride at times; there is no doubt about that. Still, the work was important, and we have proven that a church built on the values of liberal Christianity neither undermines nor requires belief in a supernatural, interventionist, theistic god called God.
Joshua and “The Longest Day”
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on May, 30 2019If people today know anything about the book of Joshua, it’s likely to be just one story: “Joshua fit the battle of Jericho.” But Joshua asking God to “stop the sun in the sky” is probably a close second – and has clearly had a more dramatic influence on world history (and not in a good way).
The Moral Imperative of Climate Activism
Column by Jennifer Berit and Skylar Wilson on May, 23 2019There are countless other examples in the Bible that point to the human – earth relationship as a symbiotic mother and child.
What Am I Now?
Column by Brian McLaren on May, 16 2019In my previous piece, I shared a bit about my past. This piece turns to the present. I’ve just begun work on two books, the second of which is tentatively entitled, Do I Stay Christian? As I sketch out the shape and trajectory of the book, I’m thinking more deeply about why I still identify as Christian and what I think Christian can and in fact must come to mean in the decades ahead.
The Wild Christ
Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on May, 9 2019The wild calls. That which we associate with the wild are those ‘spontaneities’ found in ever form of existence in the natural world, that which is uncontrolled by human dominance. Wild is that feral autonomy of the more-than-human world with an agency and feathered intelligence of its own. The wild flares forth in the numinous powers of the psyche, mirroring the wild and raw powers of the universe. The wild is pure nature, that which is completely uncontrolled by human consciousness or dominance.
Time for a New American Dream
Column by Rev. Mark Sandlin on May, 2 2019Now that we can just barely view the pomp and circumstance of Easter in our rearview mirrors, I’d like to talk a little about Easter. Not that Easter; not the Easter egg hunts, Easter hats, and shouts of “He is risen” kind of Easter; I want to talk about the whole of the Easter story, which reminds me that the American dream is a dream built on the back of a system of domination.
Shadow Work
Column by Toni Reynolds on April, 25 2019Over the last few weeks I’ve had several ideas for articles. One of them felt so full of energy that I stayed awake until 3am writing. I’ …