Stanley

Thanks. I showed this to my son who seems to be going this path.

The Infinite Jeff is a book I have been working on for a few years. Part one is on ebook and part two is getting closer. I think many here will enjoy it because it takes a very different look at Christianity. I actually found out about Progressive Christianity after I wrote the first draft and as I read more on PC I was very pleased to find out I have company in my disconnetent of the current state of Christianity. I grew up in the north as a Methodist but moved away for religion in my early 20's. I moved south, married a Church of Christ woman, have been going to the CofC for over 20 years and shaking my head. Going to a church that so drastically conficts with my foundational beliefs caused me to think and read more to offset what I was hearing and grow in the direction I felt was right for me. The Infintie Jeff is a product of that mental conflict and the growth from the conflict. It is a fictional story of a man searching from meaning in religion and work. Part one deals with his search for meaning in religion. Well, actually, he wasn't searching as much as the search came to him. He is on an interesting and stressful journey which makes for a fun read. You can download it for free at Smashwords with the code: ZB26Q Enjoy, Will Holcomb

Sorry, I missed this post. This is a gross generalization but ... To me, Christianity comes across as an external religion. "God, give me piece ... God, grant me wisdom ... God, please fix my problems." God is the fix-it man for people who don't want to take a deep and hard look into themselves and then jump on the path to improving themselves, their situation and their relationship with the infinite. But the Eastern religions seem to be an internal practice where the goal is to elevate yourself to a higher level so there is a more complete understanding of the infinite.

Hey, that's pretty cool. I came up with the exact same conclusion on my own as some philosophers.

I have heard that a lot. It is C.S. Lewis' saying that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic or he is who he says he is. It always bugged me for some reason until I figure out why. There is a fourth option; Jesus has been misrepresented. He acquired legend status and the stories and quotes grew to fit the legend. This would be supported by what you said about few taking notice of him at the time. If the people in the early church believed in him strongly and few others did, what is the best way to get others to take notice? Make the stories better. I like your "self licking ice cream cone. I hadn't heard that before.

I was just talking to someone yesterday about how Christianity is missing so many aspects of what a healthy person should strive for. Many of these aspects are what I feel some of the Eastern religions encompass. She had some great insight into it and I need to talk to her again and maybe take notes. As far as teaching religion in public schools, I think that is a bad idea. You open the door to so much trouble. At an idealistic level it sounds great. We would all walk into an open minded class, with a textbook written by an open minded author and taught but a person who was interested in your spiritual journey. But in reality textbook publishers would write textbooks which Texas would adopt because they are the biggest market. There is absolutely no way a spiritually healthy textbook would get adopted in Texas. They still fight over creationism being taught. I think one of our forefathers greatest decisions was to separate church and state. Religion taught in public school would be a disaster.

Great topic. I would like to hear what they are telling you in your class, BoundSacrifice. I've seen some books on the topic in the book store but haven't worked up the energy to add them to my stack of other books I haven't had much time to read. The online course mentioned in this thread might be worth me checking out.

I got asked by a Christian in the church I go to, but not a member of, why I am such a nice person if I don't believe in God. First I had to explain that I just don't know if there is or isn't a God and in reality, it doesn't matter to me. It isn't a question I can answer and if it was I don't think it would change my life much. I don't live my life for a reward after I die. My reward is here and now in this life. It is very conceivable we are a cosmic fluke and I admire Spong for saying that. But that doesn't mean our time here is irrelevant. I hope when I am planted in the ground one or two of the people watching will feel their life was better because I was part of it.

Too funny. No, I haven't even considered those. And now that you mention them ... I still won't.

I have thought about it but have never been able to figure out what I would want on my body my whole life. But now that they have become a sign of conformity instead of a sign of rebellion I have pretty much ruled it out.

Glad people liked it.

Just thought this was an interesting article and others my enjoy it. It talks about progressive Christianity quite a bit. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/21/to-some-obama-is-the-wrong-kind-of-christian/?hpt=hp_c2 It is strange to me that conservative Christians would flock to a Mormon over a progressive Christian. A good example is Billy Graham removing all the content on his website about Mormonism being a cult and then endorsing Romney.

I watched a documentary on Creation Science vs. Evolutionary Science. The most striking comment was when a guy said if you ask a Evolutionary Scientist what would it take to change his support of evolution and the response would be something along the lines of, "When the evidence no longer supports it we would have to re-evaluate and change." When you ask a Creation Scientist what it would take to change his support for creationism his response would be, "absolutely nothing." At that point there is no science and how any true scientist can use the scientific method in one area and ignore it in another is beyond me.

I liked what Francis Collins said about it in The Language of God. Basically he said it is things like Creationism that is driving younger people away from Christianity. Kids in churches who promote Creationism are taught the Bible is the absolute truth. In my wife's church I would cringe every time the minister would say during his children's time at the start of the sermon, "If the Bible says it ..." and the children would excitedly reply, "It's the truth." Now this little children become young adults and go to college and learn about evolution and really can't dispute it. After being told their whole life the Bible is absolute truth and then to find out they have been deceived they have to conclude they have been deceived about everything they have been taught about Christianity. The baby is thrown out with the bath water. So, I don't think the two beliefs and co-exist. For Christianity to be a viable religion in the future the Creationism mentality has to go away.

People are always drawn to others with like minds and the internet offers that to an extreme. There is a whole world out there now instead of just your home town to find people who believe and think like you. That is good and bad. As pointing out, It will polarize but it can encourage growth in some positive areas.