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Why Was Jesus Born


roymercer

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I would not consider your views Christian.

 

This, however, in no way means that you are a bad person or that you will end up in hell and so on.

 

 

Actually I largely prefer the company of Western pantheists like you (correct me if I am wrong) to that of most Conservative Christians and their dogmatic and immoral beliefs.

 

 

And I think that everyone cherishing love, altruism and sacrifice will eventually find God, even if they don't believe in Him in the first place.

 

 

Be blessed.

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I am more of a panentheist with pantheist leanings. I have no problem being in the company of conservative Christians. What turns me off is when the moralizing and demonizing begins - something I find PCers to be guilty of too. Spirituality is something I don't approach from a liberal/conservative paradigm. Despite my doubts I keep being drawn to the religious and spiritual. Again dogma is a tool to use which might amplify the paradoxes of the subject. And I hope that someday I can transcend those paradoxes.

 

As far as the immorality of conservativism, I think that there is the essence of ones spirituality and religion and then there is what the cultural affectations are. True there are implications to that baggage and the boundary between spirituality and culture can be blurred (which is clear in scripture) but the two are not the same.

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Lotharson

 

I don't take offense that you think I am not Christian and I'm sorry that I seem to give that impression. I consider myself one despite - well no - not despite my doubt but I consider myself a Christisn because if my doubt.

 

Here is an episode of a podcast I like. I hope that people can access it.

 

 

The pastor articulates what I feel about why Jesus was born and all that is related to Christianity.

 

http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheProgressiveChristianVoice

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Well, I believe anyway that many non-Christians honor Jesus and God in a much better way than many of his followers.

 

As I pointed out, I believe that many non-Christians will be with God in heaven (and I certainly reject the blasphemy of eternal hell).

 

 

But it seems we really do need a definition.

 

If a Christian is just someone loving Jesus, many Muslims, Buddhists and atheists are Christians even though they would themselves reject that label.

 

 

If dying as a non-Christian does not damn someone, it does not disturb me to define Christianity in a way which exclude many people.

The same has to be done if you want to define communism, capitalism, atheism, Rastafaris and so on and so forth.

 

Lovely greetings from Continental Europe where we miss snow.

I see your point about definitions. I think it is perfectly fine to say that this or that "defines" what it means to be a Christian. I think many people like the idea of belonging to some group or club that is exclusive to their particular way of thinking and believing. It is vestigial, I think, to our history as members of human tribes when such arrangements were beneficial.

 

However, I still long for the day when we as a species evolve beyond these things, and can live in harmony without respect to obedience to a cult of superstition or religion. In the words of John Lennon; "a brotherhood of man."

 

NORM

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Matt: I find panentheism interesting and would love to discuss with you in the future about this.

I think I will write a post on my blog in the weeks or months to come on that subject.

Given the existence of an infinite multiverse, there could be an ontological argument for the existence of a panentheistic God (even if naturalism were true).

 

 

I am a struggling and agnostic Christian with a lot of douts.

 

And yes, you are going to find self-righteous and arrogant individuals everywhere.

Liberals are no better than Conservatives in that respect.

 

 

NORM: I don't like excluding people at all.

But it seems to me that if you don't believe that God revealed Himself through the life, death and ressurection of Jesus of Nazareth you cannot be meaningfully considered as a Christian.

As I emphasized, I utterly reject the idea that God will damn non-Christians and I want to have good, harmonious and loving relationships with everyone.

 

This, of course, is a constant struggle against sin in one's life.

 

 

Lovely greetings from Continenal Europe.

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I like adding podcasts to some of there conversations. Here is a great one about Jesus. The podcast is Mormon Matters and is hosted by a Mormon who is very much a Progressive Christian in his views.

 

The information is nothing new concerning the historical Jesus but is worth the listen if you choose to access it.

 

At about an hour and a half into it there is a discussion on Paul which might touch on the issue of syncretism which has been brought up.

 

 

http://www.mormonmatters.org/rssmm.xml

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...if you don't believe that God revealed Himself through the life, death and ressurection of Jesus of Nazareth you cannot be meaningfully considered as a Christian.

Belief in the resurrection is a deal breaker for me. So, according to those standards, I am not a Christian. I don't believe in the supernatural.

 

NORM

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Norm

 

As far as the resurrection when Christians like Marcus Borg discuss it then why not accept it. The view of the more fundamentalist Chrustian of the resurrection is no more or less true than the PC. For example the notion of different types of embodiments - subtle body, mental body, and spiritual body - are no less Relevant. I think resurrection is the transformation of matter to its original state. Not sure what state is as not even the most traditional, conservative, orthodox, fundamentalist of any denomination explain what that is.

 

I don't believe in the supernatural either. All that is deemed thus is part of the natural.

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Matteoiam said,

"As far as the resurrection when Christians like Marcus Borg discuss it then why not accept it. The view of the more fundamentalist Chrustian of the resurrection is no more or less true than the PC."

 

Just for your information.... It is my experience that Murcus Borg, while on staff here does not define what a person must or must not accept concerning the ressurextion to be a PC,,,, and..... There is no official view for PC of the resurrection to compare with a fundamentalist Christian. Certainly you may find a majority of PCer's holding a particular view but PC as defined by Progressive Christianity.org is a journey rather than a particular view or doctrine.

 

Joseph

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Marcus Borg's view of the resurrection is as valid as any other Christian view or view of those who outright reject it whether literally or metaphorically. Why? Because it (the resurrection) is ultimately something that no one knows rationally no matter how McGhee they pour reason into it. That cup will not be filled.

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