mystictrek Posted February 16, 2006 Posted February 16, 2006 I am part of a Yahoo! interfaith dialogue group and here's what I just posted there: Progressive Christianity ( see http://www.tcpc.org/ ) offers a way to be a faithful Christian in a sacramental and metaphorical way. Progressive Christianity offers an approach to God which is consistent with the perennial philosophy of mysticism which is the core, the heart, the foundation of all wisdom traditions. Jesus-olatry is the heresy which claims that Jesus is the only human who reveals God completely. This is a false belief because it means that every other human being is somehow different than Jesus of Nazareth. I can't subscribe to that because I accept Paul's beautiful teaching that Jesus is "the first born fruits of the new humanity". He is the "new Adam". We all are able to become the new Adam through participation in this new humanity. Divinity is a quality of human experience which mystics comprehend and try to explain. It is impossible to explain because our human limits prevent us from understanding this beautiful truth. The trinity is the teaching that all humanity participates in divinity. Jesus revealed this wonderful truth to us and so we give him a very special place in the trinitarian framework. God became human. Human became God. The mystics know this and teach this because it is the truth. It is wonderful. It is fantastic. It is Good News indeed. I wish my fellow Christians could understand this truth without idolizing Jesus. Jesus doesn't want to be an idol. Bible-olatry is the heresy which claims that the Bible is dictated word for word by God and is totally free of error. I love the Bible but I also know imperfection and incompleteness when I see it. I see all sacred scripture as an advance in our human wisdom but not the final or complete word. Ultimately our authority for knowing God and knowing God's will is simply our experience, both individual and collective. No one individual can see the whole truth. No one community can see the whole truth. No one has a monopoly on truth. I am glad to be a progressive Christian totally open to the wisdom and insights I receive from the other wisdom traditions and from a variety of new movements of the Spirit. Quote
jerryb Posted February 17, 2006 Posted February 17, 2006 I am part of a Yahoo! interfaith dialogue group and here's what I just posted there: Progressive Christianity ( see http://www.tcpc.org/ ) offers a way to be a faithful Christian in a sacramental and metaphorical way. Progressive Christianity offers an approach to God which is consistent with the perennial philosophy of mysticism which is the core, the heart, the foundation of all wisdom traditions. Jesus-olatry is the heresy which claims that Jesus is the only human who reveals God completely. This is a false belief because it means that every other human being is somehow different than Jesus of Nazareth. I can't subscribe to that because I accept Paul's beautiful teaching that Jesus is "the first born fruits of the new humanity". He is the "new Adam". We all are able to become the new Adam through participation in this new humanity. Divinity is a quality of human experience which mystics comprehend and try to explain. It is impossible to explain because our human limits prevent us from understanding this beautiful truth. The trinity is the teaching that all humanity participates in divinity. Jesus revealed this wonderful truth to us and so we give him a very special place in the trinitarian framework. God became human. Human became God. The mystics know this and teach this because it is the truth. It is wonderful. It is fantastic. It is Good News indeed. I wish my fellow Christians could understand this truth without idolizing Jesus. Jesus doesn't want to be an idol. Bible-olatry is the heresy which claims that the Bible is dictated word for word by God and is totally free of error. I love the Bible but I also know imperfection and incompleteness when I see it. I see all sacred scripture as an advance in our human wisdom but not the final or complete word. Ultimately our authority for knowing God and knowing God's will is simply our experience, both individual and collective. No one individual can see the whole truth. No one community can see the whole truth. No one has a monopoly on truth. I am glad to be a progressive Christian totally open to the wisdom and insights I receive from the other wisdom traditions and from a variety of new movements of the Spirit. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Great post Mystic, Another scripture came to mind as I read what you said about us all being divine. IJohn 4:17..."We are all Christs in this world"....wouldn't it be great if we could all just BELIEVE that! Blessings' Jerry Quote
Cynthia Posted February 17, 2006 Posted February 17, 2006 Most excellent Mystic! Thanks for putting concepts into such clear words... very helpful - thank you for sharing! Quote
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