An Ecumenical Christian Perspective

A Review of Thomas Jay Oord’s “The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence

2015-09-12T06:06:00.002-07:00

In this book Dr. Oord confronts the issues of good and evil in the context of a Christian’s faith in God. He deals seriously with these ancient questions without discounting honest, scientific observations about the randomness of reality. With precision and clarity, he addresses difficult and perplexing philosophical and theological concepts. Dr. Oord has written in other books on the topic of God’s love. Building on these prior works, he presents an accessible yet scholarly model for conceptualizing how God interacts with human lives and the physical world which he calls “essential kenosis”. While his approach is not traditional, it honors faith and interprets the traditions of scripture. I strongly recommend this most recent book by Dr. Oord along with his prior works. Thank you, Dr. Oord for providing a digital, advanced copy of your book.

"BIBLE".....What I am thinking when I hear that word!

2015-07-01T09:59:00.004-07:00

To which Bible is one referring? When Jews use the word “Bible”, they are not referring to the same thing as Christians. Even among Christians, the word does not designate exactly the same collection of writings. Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox all mean something different by that word.

The Bible is not one book. Bibles are collections of writings. These writings were written at various times in history and were written by many different writers. Each writing has its own history. Some of the writings are written by one person and other individual writings have a history of oral tradition, collection, and editing. These writings have things in common, but they also have their own separate and distinct perspectives and theologies. All of the writings are not saying exactly the same thing.
Most, if not all people, cannot “just read it”. The protestant, Christian Bible contains works that are written in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, or Koine Greek. Most people cannot simple read these languages. This Bible also has various textual histories and no one copy says exactly the same thing as any other. Most of the differences are minor, but some are quite significant. One cannot “just read it” because first someone has to decide which copy or text you will read. But even deciding upon a particular text leaves the question of translation. Most people have to rely upon a translation and there are many different translations.
The meaning of these Bibles is not “self-evident”. One cannot simply “read it, and believe it”. With every reading, there is a person and community that are also interpreting the Bible. There is no reading without interpretation. Not surprisingly, there are many different interpretations and many different methods of interpreting Bibles. The interpretative history of Bibles is long and complicated, and, in some cases, outright contradictory.
The various writings included in Bibles were not written in a vacuum. Each part was written within a particular historical, linguistic, cultural, literary, and religious context. The more one understands these various contexts, the more likely one will come closer to understanding the original meanings. Many of the great themes in Bibles can be appreciated and appropriated by all who can read or listen. However, to understand the details and nuances takes hard work. The more one studies, the more one will learn, and the more one will realize that no one person will ever completely know and understand everything about these religious works.
Please, don’t “believe” it. Professing intellectual assent to the content of these writings can result in all kinds of crazy ideas and behaviors. Rather, I suggest one to read it, read what others write about it, study it. Let it challenge your thinking. Learn from the religious legacy of your own human ancestors. Ultimately, I hope that these writings will prompt personal, life experiences and greater awareness of our common life together in ways that will benefit human life. I do not think these Bibles are authorities over life, but rather testimonies to the ways humans have oriented their lives for personal and common good. Learn from these religious writings, but don’t imitate them. Be a real human.

MY FATHER IS TERAH

2014-09-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

My father’s name is Terah and I was born in the city of Ur, a very big city. Many travel from Ur on the river and cattle carts and donkey caravans as far away as Egypt. Date palms grow around the city and canals bring water for crops of barley, lentils, onions, and garlic. I was lucky enough to even learn to read and write a little from a local priest. I studied arithmetic, accounting, and Sumerian literature. I also learned about all of the gods of the city, tribes and people around Ur. All of these gods were confusing to me, but I learned from the priest about them and remembered his words. The priest spent quite a bit of time telling me about Sin, the moon god. Sin, also referred to as En Zu, is considered the ‘chief of the gods’ and the ‘creator of all things.’ His wife is Ningal and she bore him Shamash and Ishtar, gods of the Sun and Venus. My childhood imagination could see En Zu riding across the sky on a winged bull.

Early in my life Terah moved our entire family to Haran, a city that also had a temple to the God En Zu. Of course Sarah, my wife, came with us. Also, Terah’s grandson, Lot, came. There were many others also, family members, friends, and workers. It was a long and dusty trip. We took all of our sheep, goats, and donkeys. The donkeys helped us carry our belongings. Sometimes the women and children would ride on the donkeys. However, the trip was not much different than the life that we had living around Ur. We were always moving from place to place so that our sheep could graze and have water.

One of my earliest memories around Haran is about looking into the sky and seeing the moon. The air is cool and it is dark. Looking up into the sky, the stars fill the night. They are shining bright and seem so close that I could reach up and grab one. The feeling of awe and wonder pour over me, lift me up, and all of the stars speak to me. They ask me, “Who are you to ask?” But I have to ask anyway. From where do you come? Why are you there? What are you? I ask all of these questions of the stars, and they ask the same questions back to me. All of the questions make sense to me, but some say I should not ask. However, this night is not about reason. The stars are speaking and I am flying across the heavens. Just like En Zu riding the winged bull. Flying on the overwhelming feeling of awe, peculiarity, hope…….feelings that have no words……flying without wings. As I flew without wings, I was outside of myself. When I land, the stars keep asking, but give no answers. It is I that must give the answer, maybe an answer of faith. I am not flying anymore. However, I have to make my answer work here and in all the places beyond where I have been found.

My father, Terah, died while we lived in Haran. It was a great loss. The one to whom I looked for guidance was gone. I now had to seek guidance from a strength within myself that included all the memories of my father, my past, stories of the moon God. I felt like I was outside of myself, looking at my life. Without my father, what was I to do? In the midst of this loss, I knew, in spite of everything, I needed to act for the sake of my life and my family. I needed courage to act.

I decided that I needed to leave Haran with all of my family. At night, the moon spoke to me. I would think about my father and all that he gave to me, but realized that even he could not give to me the land and the skies, the stars and the moon, the sun and the clouds. I could hear a great voice, a father, a god, maybe even the God calling me on to a new adventure.

But to take that first step toward something that I did not know was hard. Could I ever be sure that my plan was right. Most of the time life for me is ordinary and this ordinary life seems to hold me in place. Why venture out? Why risk a new thing? Yet, I still seem to hear --- yet it was not really a hearing --- an extraordinary call to a new place. But finally I could feel that it was not this extraordinary hearing alone that called me to a journey. It was also the ordinary experiences of life that were calling also. The birth of a child, the smile of my wife, the wonder of the land and the skies were leading my in the process of life. I simply needed to trust, to have faith for the first and the next step. With my father gone, I now had to be father. In the steps of faith, I became the father of many who also live a life of trust.

Experiencing Life: A Personal, Ecumenical, Christian Perspective By John R King, Jr.

HOPING TO SEE JESUS EVEN IF HE IS NOT NAKED

2014-08-06T11:07:00.001-07:00

Review of “THE NAKED JESUS: A JOURNEY OUT OF CHRISTIANTIY INTO CHRIST”

I found this book to be honest, conversational, questioning , and easy to read. As one who considers himself to be a Christian, I liked the following themes that I found in the book: equality, inclusion, love, a complete and fulfilled life through Christ.

The author does a good job of describing the shortcomings of the institutional church; but, I was not totally convinced about “the naked Jesus”. Can one ever really see “the naked Jesus”? Years ago, I read a book entitled “Which Jesus?”. It described the many different ways that Jesus has been understood throughout history. In “The Naked Jesus: A Journey Out of Christianity into Christ”, the author describes his way of seeing Jesus as “the naked Jesus”. If the reader sees Jesus differently, maybe the reader is not wrong even if he sees him differently than this author.

I liked the many questions posed in this book. I would recommend that every reader of the book try to answer those questions for themselves rather than only considering the possible answers offered in this book.

I heartily recommend those who want to take Jesus seriously to read this book as part of their understanding of Jesus. However, more than understanding, I hope for every person an experience of the ongoing journey of life as whole, complete, transformative. I hope for an experience of love.

(Disclosure: The author of “The Naked Jesus: A Journey Out of Christianity Into Christ” provided a free copy in pdf format for me to read in exchange for reviewing this book)

Faith with New Words

2013-12-12T08:14:00.002-08:00

I trust in God, our Caregiver, the primal ground,

creativity in heaven and earth and all.

And in Jesus, the Christ,

our Leader and Teacher,

anointed by the awareness of God,

born of Mary, low, but greater than any ruler,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

crucified, dead and buried,

gone from life in the shadows of memory,

on the third day raised from the dead,

raised into our hearts, our lives;

he is now our radicalized trust in God, our Caregiver;

from there he comes, always,

to judge us all.

I trust in Guidance by the consciousness of God,

the global gathering,

open participation with all,

a generous path to a complete life,

resurrection of the dead

and continuing abundant life.

Amen

Does Anyone Need to Go to Church?

2013-10-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

Why Some Do Not Need to Go To Church

1. The church is not a place to which we go.

Many Christians will agree with this idea. The church is made up of Christians everywhere. Christians are the church. All of the buildings in which they gather do not constitute the church. However, as many keep on agreeing, they also keep on saying that they “go” to church. Many of those who do not need to go to church anymore need a better way to describe what the church is doing when it gathers in a building and participates in a particular organization. I know. It is simply easier to say that “we are going to church”. But we really are not “going to church”.

2. Some of the reasons that Christians have gathered over the history of Christianity, are no longer completely valid.

- In the earliest years, Christians gathered to share their remembrances of Christ with each other. No one alive today has any historical remembrances of Christ.

- In the earliest years, as those who had a personal, historical experience of Christ began to die, Christians gathered to preserve their testimony regarding their encounter with Jesus. Obviously, this task is complete.

- Christians gathered to have the scriptural writings read to them because they could not read for themselves. They could not read for themselves because of a lack of reading ability and the lack of inexpensive, quick, easy, and readily available, printed reading material. Today we have the scriptures translated, printed, and recorded in many different formats. Gathering is not necessary to have access to the scriptures.

- Christian gatherings served a social purpose – a good thing. However, many now have their social needs met by gathering for work, gathering for meals in restaurants, for public performances, sporting events, bars, education, etc. Maybe what some Christians need is more time in a quiet place, out of the public eye, alone with the creativity of God leading their thoughts, alone with their prayers. Maybe we have overloaded with our gatherings.

- Christian gatherings were a source for learning. In Western Europe, learning was preserved by the church and was an important source of education through the early middles ages. Many great universities in the United States were started by Christians. Personally, I consider education as part of the cause of God. However, today, many forms of the church are viewed as being against education or as a proponent of a narrow, pinched version of education. Even in the realm of theology, the church seems to be a poor source of education and many times seems to be at war against its most creative theologians.

3. Individual gatherings may not be the priority that we have made it out to be. Read the Gospels. The concept of the Kingdom of God is much more prominent that the concept of the church. Today some call the Kingdom of God the “rule of God”, “the leadership of God”, or “the cause of God.” Maybe Christians, instead of going to church, should be the church where ever they go. Maybe Christians should do church. Act for God’s Cause! In every aspect of life, act for the common good.

4. Many will agree with some or all of these ideas, but still say Christians should gather as individual, specific, visible expressions of church. There is no problem with that. However, as long as such gatherings remain celebrations of the narcissism of small differences, hour long excuses for small talk, gossip, and fake bread with cheap wine, wasted money on buildings that are empty most of the week, groups with leaders compromised by the pay they need to live, and organizations dominated by self-important bullies who assume power based upon their wealth and contributions, more and more people will discover that they no longer need to go to church. Calling such gatherings as communion seems scandalous.

5. From a larger, global, off-earth, ecumenical perspective, the one church is made up of every Christian gathered on the land and under the vault of the starry skies. Where else would a Christian expect God to rule but in their lives, the very living Church. But it seems that God’s Cause has expanded beyond what is named "church" and thus God’s Cause transcends the church, guiding the freedom of thought in universities, cooperating and enhancing the creative healing of human bodies and minds by doctors and in hospitals, inspiring our political self-determination by the right of vote by all, to name just a few examples. So the church is of less import than many Christians would imagine. God's leadership in every human life is the goal and its creative manifestation is transforming human life and continues as humans make the best choices for the common benefit of all. May we focus on God’s Cause in our lives lest our hearts and minds are diverted in such a way that we make choices that lead to the consequence of a truly apocalyptic result, ending our lives and the earth. Why would one want to “go” to church when she can “be” and “do” church?

6. We do not have to separate our activities between what cultivates Christianity and what does not. God is in all; and, in everything we do, we can try to make a reflection of a Christian perspective. When we work for an employer or rent an apartment to a new tenant, every act we try to decide on the basis of common interest, these acts are our worship to God. When we take a step in a new venture in faith, God finds us in the journey. In ecstatic experiences, God finds us. When we see the beauty of nature, God finds us. We do not have to read portions of a Biblical writing or a few verses. We can read an entire book at a time. When we read Mark, God finds us. Meals, conversations, organizing trades to create a new home, corporate meetings, donations to those in need, celebrations, teaching, driving safely, advice to a friend, helping someone we do not know in the grocery store are all our devotions and examples of church, but more importantly, examples of God’s Cause in action. Universities, hospitals, governments, grocery stores, Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and more are community organizations that help one connect and participate in community, those gatherings are our communion. Whenever and wherever we act for the common interest, even in the face of anger or malice, God finds us. He always finds us even when we do not “go” to church..

FATHER'S DAY

2013-06-16T07:08:00.001-07:00

Part of the reason we celebrate Father's Day is because of the care they give to children in the context of what we call family. Today, if you are a Father, we celebrate you. But there are families with single moms, people without children, adoptive fathers, non-biological fathers, missing fathers, two fathers, two mothers and more. We are all human and our children, all human children are part of our legacy and are the next step in the long human path. On this Father's Day, I celebrate Father and also all those who care for children, care given by taxes for education, care given by a concerned hand on the fevered brow of a child, and every kind of care in between. We are all part of the human family. Let us all care for our human children. We are family! May God, our Caregiver, bless you!

REVELATION: SEEING A VOICE

2013-04-03T20:33:00.003-07:00

I recently noticed a FB status that referenced the first part of the blblical writing of Revelation, traditionally placed as the last writing in the Christian New Testament. This writing appears to have been controversial since its beginning. If not the last, it was among the last of the New Testament writings accepted as canonical by the church. Some did not want Revelation to be included in Christian scripture. This writing continues to be controversial. The imagery and symbolism is bizarre and outside of most human experience. The writing presents itself as a description of visual and auditory ecstatic experience.

I can say that I have never had an ecstatic experience anything like what is described in Revelation, although many people report having dreams, myself included. Some of my dreams have been scary and bizarre; but, I have never been motivated to write down any of my dreams. I suspect that, if I did, none of my descriptions would be as extensive and detailed as Revelation nor so important or famous. Even though the study of humans reveals that humans dream, it seems that most of us do not remember most of our dreams. Although, it seems as I get older and sleep more lightly, I seem to remember more of my dreams. However, I think Revelation was not exactly like a dream. Many would interpret it as a result of an ecstatic experience. If indeed the writing is in some way prompted by ecstasy, I doubt that all of the long, complicated, and detailed imagery was part of the ecstatic experience. But, it may very well be a writing inspired by a state of ecstasy. The content provided by a particular literary genre, early Christian culture, persecution, and judgment against a political power both oppressive and claiming more authority and ultimacy than anyone person, organization, or system deserves.

I am a very rational person, so the idea of ecstasy is hard for me. Yet, I think I can speak of it a little since I can claim at least two ecstatic experiences in my 58 years. Other parts of the Christian scriptures and other religious literature report ecstatic experiences. It seems that many of these experiences are described in terms of an experience of God. In our secular age some would reduce these experiences to chemical interactions within the human brain. Many of my Christian friends would not like for me to state that I am quite alright with that interpretation. But I suspect that the completely materialistic among us humans would also object to me stating that these strictly chemical interactions are still an experience of God. I view God as in all and for all. God does not exist, but, in some way, God is existence. Probably said much better by a famous theologian, God is Being-itself.

For me, an ecstatic experience-- in times of separation, isolation, experiences of exile, persecution, loss, anguish, despair—can engender hope, assurance, empowerment, and discernment that enables human life to continue. Ecstasy seems to me to be beyond words. All of my words above are the result of a rational mind trying to explain an experience of religious ecstasy---an experience of God. None of the words will do but they still need to be stated.

For the writer of Revelation, his ineffable experience of God, centered in the Christian tradition, in the context of a real life experience of persecution and exile started with a description of a vision of Christ:

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

The experience provided the writer with hope, assurance, empowerment, and discernment for human life, a completing, growing , transforming life – an adaptive, human experience that advantaged the writer and all the readers up to the present whose reading of the words prompted the experience anew, for the Christian, an experience of God in Christ. Relax, let go, do not be afraid of your own ecstasy. God might find you.

RELIGION REVISITED

2013-02-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

Religion: an inner experience so meaningful it motivates one to action, action that influences others so much that the new awareness and actions become an orientation for transforming life towards a greater humanization. It is an interactive whole of inner awareness, action, and influence, all combined which orients human life. Inner awareness alone can become just narcissism, action alone can become legalism, and influence on others alone can become political expediency.....none of which by themselves has the same power to transform life or make us more human.

Does God Speak?

2013-01-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

Does God really “speak”? Did he speak about slavery? Christians describe the Scriptures as the “word of God”. If, as the ancient traditions say, “God speaks”, how does he speak? Personally, I do not think that God has vocal chords nor does he cause vibrations that activate my hearing so that I can hear him “speak”. If it happens, I think it happens in some other way. And, if when we humans write or speak words that in faith we describe as “words of God”, and even in faith adopting the presupposition that they are the “words of God”, do they remain the words of God forever? Maybe some or much of human words is mixed with God’s words. Or maybe God’s words are human words spoken for God as best we can. As we make better choices, the best of the past is no longer any good and “God speaks anew”. Who decides which words are the “words of God”? We have the preserved traditions, but I think that they fail us too many times. I have heard all the reasons why the Bible is “FOR” slavery, and I have heard all the reasons why the Bible is “AGAINST” slavery. If the Bible is the “word of God”, complete for all time, why would it have been so hard for someone to have it written, “Do not own another human being”? Even assuming the traditions are true, there seems to be a thousand interpretations of every word. Some say that the “religious authorities” decide what the “word of God” is. The pope is an example. Certainly the religious leaders of the US South said that slavery was endorsed and ordained by God. Oops, I think they got it wrong or else God got it wrong. Others say we must submit to the authority of tradition, much like the Greek Orthodox. The Protestants say the Bible is the authority and when the problem with multiple interpretations raises its ugly head, some Protestants say that the Bible is “self evident truth” and, with passion and zeal and even combativeness, some want to impose their own version of “self evident truth” on everyone else. Whatever the Bible meant or did not mean about slavery, many Christians in the US felt slavery was a perfectly good thing at least up until the Civil War and some persisted past that tragic history. Others said that slavery was wrong long before the Civil War. At least in the US, sometime around or just past the US Civil War, God finally made it clear…..Human slavery is wrong! So maybe, a gradual building of a community’s inter-subjective consensus, periodically canonized, punctuated by individual and community crisis so strong that the old is cast aside and a new consensus emerges is a description of “God speaking”. The emergence and creativity of the new becomes the “word of God”. So maybe in the simplest terms, we make it up. But for myself, I would add that in the creativity of the new that we make up, truly “God speaks”. What took him so long regarding slavery? Or did we take a long time to listen and hear?

2012-12-31T08:02:00.000-08:00

CREATIVITY SUPRISE

One: God! Bang? Or Bang! God? Being Itself. Heat, expansion, and the arrow of time starts to fly, forward it flies. God before time, after time, God has time. God in time and more than time.

Two: God. In the falling apart and the pulling together,

is there no big crunch? God, the structure. God in and God is and God of non-uniform density hangs the stars, the galaxies, and all the great forms of the universe. Mystery pervades.

A grounding of all.

Hydrogen, helium, neutrinos, and photons swirl.

Protostars, black-body radiation, fusion begins, matter emerges, creativity stirs, stars are born. Supergiants. Giants. Dwarfs. Sub-dwarfs. Yellow, red, hot white, black.

Elements, discrete associations, chemistry appears. God’s cauldronic brew of quantum mechanics, electricity, and magnetism. Everything is changing in ancient, deep time. Do not lose patience, billions of years to go, God has time

A principle of exclusion, serendipitously, new things emerge. Great complexity. Infomatic matter, emergent of an immanent God.

Three: Planetismals circle the protostars, wanderers formed from disks of stardust, waiting to stagger across a great cathedral vault. Solar systems. Suns. A sun. Emergent suprises.

Earth, our world, it melts. Uranium and thorium and potassium are captured, boiling the core, heat flows, plates shift, continents drift. Frozen accidents or frozen minds?

The geosphere, rocks…water….air….life. Rocks harden, move, explode

Rocks, water, air, life! Changing, moving complexity. Small, hot planets with no air….escaped. Large, cold planets with no air…compressed to liquid or solid. Amazing earth with ice, liquid, and vapor all held in a narrow range. Life, a reality of earth itself.

Four: Metabolism with unity and diversity. Among all the chemical possibilities, why life? Cells, multicellularity, animals, neurons and neural nets. Noetic features deep in matter. Behavior with purpose. More mystery: knowing, vocation, God. Symmetry, cephalization. Fish, bugs, reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, mammals, hominids. A long evolutionary process. All with a place, a purposeful niche in which to compete.

Five: Primates, Apes. Genes proceed but now learning and information and community emerge. Biological fitness moves toward social fitness. The bodies slow down and the mind speeds up. Consciousness warms, grows hot, the bright flame of thought appears.

Homo sapiens survive. Humankind.

Six: Transcendence’s appearance. God spoke, but no one heard. God speaks, humans hear. Beginnings struggle to be understood by those who came from the beginnings. Many knows the details, no one knows the mind of God. Creativity races forward on a wave of words. Good and evil, past and present, shall and shall not. A place to choose, to fall back or to step forward, to not quite reach our humanity or to reach beyond all that we have been.

Seven: God rests in the temple universe. We stand in awe of the starry vault of the heavens as we fall on our knees on the lands of our earthly home.

Spirituality and Religion

2012-05-29T05:53:00.003-07:00

· Spirituality without words is silent. Spirituality without acts is impotent. Religion without spirituality is false. The entire, complete experience of what is considered to be the most important in all of life is a spiritual experience that energizes the words of those that dare to speak and motivates the actions of those who act for the common good of all. Both the inner experience and the words and actions of the prophet are needed for a vibrant religious faith.

Creativity and Hope

2012-05-22T07:29:00.002-07:00

· 49 years ago our family moved to a little town in Florida, Jupiter. We lved in a house on Pinetree Circle. In front of the house was a small hedge of Ixora under the front picture window. As I grew and the Ixora grew, I learned how to care for that little hedge. Making sure it had the right nutrients to have wonderful blooms and trimming it so it looked neat and tidy.

· Occassionally, I have the privilege of trimming the small Ixora hedge that grows in front of my house in Miami, FL. That simple act reminds me of the past and gives me hope for the future, ever grateful to be able to cooperate with the creativity that surrounds us. Join with me in celebrating the guidance of creativity that draws near to each of us and finds us in these kinds of miraculous moments of remembering and hope.

2012-05-12T19:28:00.002-07:00

• Many different views related to sex can be found in the group of writings that we call the Bible. From a Christian standpoint, many of them would be judged to be wrong. Examples:

1. Executing those who engage in sexual intercourse during the seven days of the menstrual period.

2. Stoning for both the man and woman for adultery.

3. Toleration of polygamy.

4. Levirate marriage.

5. Endogamy.

6. Cutting off a woman's hand for touching a man's private parts.

7. Social regulations surrounding adultery, incest, rape, and prostitution considered mainly from the perspective of male property rights over women.

8. A bride found not to be a virgin should be stoned to death.

Some Christians, exercising their religious liberty and the right of personal conscience along with a Christocentric interpretation of their Christian faith, now assert that passages in the Bible related to homosexuality have either been misinterpreted or are simply wrong. These Christian may be wrong, but those that follow a more traditional view may also be wrong just as some Christians in the past were wrong about their interpretation of the Bible regarding slavery.

An Ecumenical Christian Theology?

2012-04-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

In 1988, Hans Kung's book "Theology for the Third Millennium" was published in English by Doubleday. He argued for a theology that served the entirety of Christianity while remaining intent on the Scripture and the Gospel. He called for a theology the respected tradition, theologians should be responsible in the face of history without ignoring contemporary issues. He wanted a theology that was Christocentric, distinctively Christian while addressing the whole globe. Finally, he wanted a theology that was occupied with teaching and truth while remaining practical, that did not ignore life, renewal and reform.

He contends that we are in a shift of paradigms from the most current modern enlightenment paradigm to what he calls an ecumenical paradigm. Such a shift takes quite a while. Many of us were born during the shift and the shift will continue well after we are dead. Will Christianity survive? What do you think?

Christian Unity and Diversity

2011-01-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

Humans like to categorize. In many cases, we categorize based upon similarities. Apples, bananas, and oranges are fruits. Green beans, corn, and broccoli are vegetables. There is almost always disagreement about what belongs or does not belong in a particular category. Some people think tomatoes are vegetables. Others think they are fruits. We categorize almost everything: food, houses, plants, minerals, gases, solids, ideas, politics, nations, races, and people. This process helps us understand our world. Most words in and of themselves are categories. Food is something that humans eat as opposed to things we do not eat. Categories are how we think. Categorizing helps us understand our reality and communicate with other people.

Christians, by way of a long and complicated history, have attempted to define what a Christian is. How do you know if you are a Christian or not? Who qualifies to be a Christian? Christians have attempted to define the category of “Christian” and to establish the boundaries of the category. One of the earliest controversies within Christianity was over whether a non-Jew could be a Christian. Did one need to become a Jew first in order to be a Christian? Increasingly, Christians defined the category by what beliefs were necessary in order to be a Christian. If one did not believe certain things, then one was not a Christian. Christians would claim that the value of being a Christian was a happy life on earth and eternal life with God. If one was not a Christian, then life would be incomplete and eternity would be spent apart from God. For many Christians, “correct belief” was very important for how they defined the category of Christian. If one did not have a “correct belief”, then one did not receive the Christian reward.

Today, “correct belief” remains the way that many define the category of Christian. However, it is obvious to everyone that those who claim to be Christian hold a great diversity of beliefs, many of which are contradictory. With all of the competing ideas about what is “correct”, how can one ever know what is right? Is Christianity really about being “right”? Increasingly, some Christians embrace this diversity as a good thing. Beliefs result from many influences that result in our own individual perspective that is right for each individual but cannot encompass the whole truth. Our beliefs may not even be “correct”; however, our Christian perspective guides us to a life that is whole, complete, and satisfying.

Generally, when I try to express an ecumenical perspective of Christianity, I observe three basic reactions. From those who embrace diversity, I observe a resistance to any description of what is common to all Christians. I think they resist any common description of Christianity because they fear that it will be prescriptive. It is no wonder that they have this kind of fear; because, for those who emphasize unity, I observe a tendency to make Christianity exclusive to their own understanding of the faith. Orthodox Christians emphasize the authority of tradition, Roman Catholics emphasize the authority of the Pope, and many Protestants emphasize the authority of the Scriptures. Each has a tendency to use authority to enforce a particular set of “correct beliefs” which almost always results in excluding someone from the faith. Others fear that “ecumenical” means reducing Christianity to the “least common denominator.”

For myself, diversity is obvious and good. Each of us needs to decide for ourselves what is bad, good, and better. Diversity of opinion is not going away, and openness to different opinions may enrich and improve your life. However, there must be some unity or commonality to the category of Christian in order for the category of Christian to have any meaning at all. Finally, Christianity is not arithmetic. Ecumenism may emphasize commonality but it has nothing to do with diminishing Christianity by calling it the “least” nor does it have anything to do with the arithmetical concept of denominators.

So, from my own ecumenical Christian perspective:

1. A Christian SELF identifies as a Christian.

2. A Christian starts and founds Christian identity in the Jewish and Christian writings contained within the Bible.

3. A Christian experiences and reacts to reality from a life orientation of faith and trust.

4. A Christian centers life in an understanding of Jesus Christ.

5. A Christian acts for the common good of all, even in the face of hate, anger, or malice.

Big Tent Christianity Synchroblog

2010-08-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

Big Tent Christianity Synchroblog

What is Spirituality?

2010-08-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

What is Spirituality?

Experiencing God

2010-08-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

Encounters with God come in all kinds of experiences. The joy and comfort of assurance that God is always with us; but, also in the experience of Her absence and complete hiddenness. It boggles the mind and confounds our logic, but it should not mean that Christians should lack a discipline of our mind.

To me the layers of meaning of Jesus on the cross are many and complex. Just a hint of this seems evident in Jesus’ experience of forsakenness when, at the same time, the centurion sees his suffering and death and hears Jesus’ cry, the centurion sees the Son of God. Quite an amazing scene. One that may takes years of contemplation to come close to understanding.

For myself, though, in whatever way we experience God, the power of our experience of God is only evident by the way in which our actions transform the lives of others, and dare I say -- transform our acts into the acts of God. Where would any of us be if Moses had encountered God on the mountain and just stayed up there to glory in his experience? What if Jesus had continued to wander around the countryside amazing the crowds without ever riding into Jerusalem to confront religious and political power?

Jesus called upon God even in his forsakenness, an encounter that continues to transform our lives.

A Definition of Religion

2010-07-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Many in American today like to distinguish between "religion" and "spirituality". Some say that they are no longer religious but they are spiritual. I have read that Europeans have no third category such as "spirituality". One is either "religious" or "irreligious". Hmmmm, I wonder if that is true of Europeans?

I have previously offered a definition of religion on this blog. I wonder if those who prefer "spirituality" would want to reject religion as I have tried to define it? In searching for definitions of religion, one will find many very different ones and many different approaches. What are people rejecting when they say that they are not religious but rather they are spiritual? While I have some ideas, I am not entirely sure what they mean.

However for now, maybe as a step toward understanding religion and spirituality, I will repeat below a definition of religion offered by a philospher of religion, Geddes Maggregor.

Religion is chararacterized by

1) interest in,
2) concern for,
3) encounter with,
4) sense of absence from,
5) sacrificial ove of,
6) commitment to, and
7) joy over,

that which is judged to be more important than anything else in one's experience and which, so conceptualized, is taken to be a symbol of that which lies at the heart of all possible experience.

I think this is a good definition. I like that it does not have any primary emphasis on "beliefs" and seems to put more emphasis upon personal experience.

Although, what keeps this definition of religion from being totally subjective and private? Is the spirituality that Americans want to retain more subjective and private than what they consider to be religion?

The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of KNowing God

2010-07-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

Many people in America are moving away from religion but still like to see themselves as spiritual. They are rejecting the judgemental, out-of-touch, authoritarian approach that has predominated much of the Christian church in America. They identify "religion" with much of the parts of church life that they do not like, and they identify "spiritual" with what they want to keep.

This book can help you affirm, expand, and even transform your spiritual life. The author's approach is accepting of many different perpsectives as evidenced by the quotes sprinkled throughout the book from various religious leaders and authors. The best part of the book is the author's personal story that is woven throughout the entire book. His experience makes the book credible. Many religious leaders may also be able to identify with his experiences.

While the book has a Christian perspective, it is not proclaiming the views of any particular Christian denomination . The book also is not exclusively Christian either. The author affirms the insights and values of other religious traditions. While much of the author's perspective can be found in the writings of other Christian mystics, the material here is much more readable for the modern reader. Insights from eastern mysticism are also incorporated into the book.

This is a book that one can use to expand her mind and expand her spiritual consciousness.

Philip Clayton on Science/Religion Revolution

2010-06-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

Philip Clayton: "The Religion-Science Revolution and Five Minds for the Future" from Metanexus Institute on Vimeo.

MY REACTIONS TO "Ecumenism Means You, Too" by Steven R. Harmon

2010-05-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

I could call this a "book review", but it is not. I hated doing book reviews. This short blog is my personal reaction to the recent book "Ecumenism Means You, Too" by Steven R. Harmon. It is a short book and easy to read. For me, some of it was quite inspiring.

I suspect that a person's attitude towards authority and dogma will influence his reaction to this book. I have read several discussions regarding Christian unity and divisions recently. Some have contended that there are so many differences between Christians that the designation "Christian" should be abandoned. Others have argued that their interpretation of Christianity is "right" and therefore all the others are "wrong". In the face of these discussions, it is hard to imagine an ecumenical perspective on Christianity. Nevertheless, I do. And with a blog title "An Ecumenical Christian Perspective", how could I ignore this little gem of a book.

The author does not present a naive view of ecumenism. He knows the challenges. However, in spite of that, the book has a positive and inspiring tone. There are three very good things about this book.

First, it acts as a very good source for information about Christian ecumenism. This part of the book is good for students and those who want to know more about the topic and want to become involved with ecumenism.

Second, the chapter on the theology of ecumenism was inspiring and scripturally based. As the author is from a Baptist tradition, it is not suprising that he would emphasize the scriptural basis of ecumenism.

Third, the author does not stop with theology or scripture. He offers ten practical things that any Christian can do for the unity of the Church. One of my favorite suggestions is "....learn all you can about the "Great Tradition" to which all denominational traditions are heirs." Another of my favorites is ".....join other Christians in serving as advocates for social justice and environmental responsibility." This gives you a flavor. I heartly recommend you read the book to get a full meal.

Speaking of a full meal, I have another practical suggestion for maintaining and enhancing the unity of the Christian church. I learned in seminary that in the early tradition of the church there was the practice of a "love feast". There may be some Christians that still practice that tradition. I am not sure. In a very simple way, many Church suppers are just that. But I have never been a part of a practice that was explicitly called a "love feast".

I think Christians should start a renewed tradition of a love feast. My guidance for it would be.

1. No priest, bishop, pope, deacon, pastor, minister or any other "official" person within any church may officiate at the love feast.

2. The full meal will be prepared and served only by lay people.

3. No one can be excluded ----- not based upon church membership, belief, lack of belief, social status, race, ability to pay, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, etc. There can be no reason to exclude anyone except those who are violent. The only basis of inclusion is that a person wants to participate and they are willing to be peaceful.

4. Everyone who is able will pay toward the meal and toward the meal of those who may not be able to pay.

5. The only formal part of the meal will be a prayer of gratitude for the meal and for everyone who particpates.

Our Common Faith!

2010-04-23T06:39:00.000-07:00

Are you reading aloud the gospels, yet? Are you reading aloud the gospels?

I can hear you. I hear the same words.

Are you reading the gospels?

I am reading the same words.

Are you following Jesus? I am right beside you.

Are you following Jesus? Have you followed Him to the cross yet? See him there!

I am standing right next to you.

The centurion sees the suffering of Jesus, he hears the anguish, and he smells the stench of death.

Are you standing at the foot of the cross? I am standing right next to you. In the suffering of Jesus, in Jesus Himself the centurion saw the Son of God. Do you see Him? I am looking at the same One.

We may have our “big tents” or our “small tents”. While all of our differences are interesting and even necessary, while we understand all the problems with the different ideas, dogmas, world-views, and perspectives, while we may not even like each other at times, I invite you all to my “big tent”. In my big tent, in essence, Christianity is not some eternal idea, or dogma, or world-view. In my big tent, Christianity is a message and way of salvation, the all-determining significance of a historical figure, Jesus the Christ.

Do you not want to join me in my big tent? That is alright. I am still standing. Still seeing. Still hearing. Still smelling. At the foot of the cross.

At the foot of the cross there is no tents, no fences, no circles, no boundaries. I am here…..are you? I am at the foot of the cross? Are you?

I can see you at the foot of the cross and there in the suffering face of Christ, I see God. I look over and there you are and again I see the face of God.

What is a Christian?

2010-04-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

A Christian is one who experiences God through Jesus Christ as the ultimate value. Jesus is the one, historical, Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the four gospel accounts. A Christian’s experience of God results in a faith that is characterized by devotion and commitment to, love and fear of, and joy in God. A Christian’s faith is expressed through private and social symbolic rites. A Christian’s faith responds to life and God’s Spirit with intentional acts on behalf of the well being of all.