"why I Am A Christian (sort Of)" By Robert Jensen

[mystictrek]

READ > http://www.alternet.org/story/33236 < "Why I Am a Christian (Sort Of)" by Robert Jensen. I posted the following comment:

 

Very good article. I suggest the author consider joining The Center for Progressive Christianity > http://www.tcpc.org/ and The Witherspoon Society (Progressive Presbyterians) > http://witherspoonsociety.org/ and my forum which can be found at a link at http://www.abundancetrek.com/blog

 

We are on the same page!

 

I do believe in God but the God I believe in is panentheistic rather than supernatural. Marcus Borg discusses the difference in an incredible book called THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY. Maybe the author senses a mysterious and wonderful and holy inner connectedness??? That's God but you can call it something else and still be a progressive Christian. Or, even if you don't sense this inner connectedness, you can be a Progressive Christian as you already know through your association with some wonderful progressive Presbyterians. Check out the fourth point of the 8 points of Progressive Christianity > https://www.tcpc.org/about/the_8_points_english.html

 

More common ground can possibly be found through the Perennial Philosophy as described by Aldous Huxley in an intro to a Bhagavad Gita translation > http://members.tripod.com/~parvati/perennial.html

 

I sure hope the author and others who are on this same page will contact me and we can support and encourage each other in this important spiritual and political work.

[DavidD]

To quote the author of the linked article, "A real Christian who doesn't believe in God?" He does a reasonable job of explaining that he sees his Christianity as a moral and political statement rather than a faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. I'm not sure why anyone who is convinced of his or her atheism would be a Christian. Atheistic morality such as that of Bertrand Russell is much simpler and rational than any religion. That would be my choice if I didn't need God for more than morality. I also like how evolutionary psychologists account for morality with no need of God. The author does refer to the possibility of there being more than we know rationally. I applaud any atheist who can explore that.

 

I'm happy for anyone to label themselves any way they want as long as they're not trying to mislead others. I've been told I'm too liberal to be a Christian. Of course any Christian has someone saying his or her faith is in vain, because they don't worship on Saturday, because they don't belong to the one, true church, one of many seen that way by their exclusively minded followers. So everyone has to decide what is real faith and what isn't.

 

I like The Heart of Christianity for the chapter on how faith is not just a matter of beliefs and on describing the transformation at the center of Christianity in a liberal way. Still Borg seems to see this transformation in spiritual terms, not something that's just up to us to do naturally. People can label themselves any way they want, but those who deny spirituality aren't going to have the same transformation, I would think.

 

Non-traditional Christianity is never going to have the conformity defined by seeing the Bible as the Word of God. I'd rather have God than the Bible. That I can have the God of my understanding and still find the Bible to be useful as the work of men is even better. I'm not sure if God is dispensible, though. Time will tell.