Search results

God may or may not change. But our human understandings of God certainly do. Ancient Israel understood God to be a deity to lead them into war and give them the victory over neighboring nations. Some of this theology still lingers today. But we don't follow the commands that Moses and Joshua...

All Christians should be liberal, but not all liberals are Christian! :D

Welcome back, Canadianian. Our journeys (yours and mine) share some similarities. My faith came crashing down a few years back due to many of the same issues and questions you have mentioned. But it was not a sudden thing for me, more of a "straw that broke the camel's back." The only thing that...

You're welcome. You may also be interested in some of the more liberal or emergent bloggers such as Tall Skinny Kiwi, Rob Bell, Shane Claireborne, Jim Wallis, Tony Jones. and Leonard Sweet. Bishop John Shelby Spong is another good writer, although I tend to think that he is moving in an...

Robin Meyers, Marcus Borg, Brian McLaren, Toni Campolo, Michael Sweet, Karen Ward, Phyllis Tickle, Diana Butler Bass, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Dominic Crossan

I like the way you put this, Bary. I might call it "faithfulness." Not faith as in believing doubtful things, but being true to our relationship to God and others even though we don't have all the answers. Hence Romans 8:29 which does NOT say that "All things are the same..." but that "All...

No, Candle Glow, I acknowledge that God has a disciplining side. He is, after all, a Father. Yes, sin has consequences. It seems that God has set it up that way. We reap what we sow. I in no way deny that. We should learn from our consequences to make wiser and better choices. But God's...

As Bary has said, I think much of this “censorship” is grounded in fear. Conservative Christianity, for better or worse, is characterized by the notion that being a Christian means having one’s beliefs correct or orthodox. It is as if it thinks that Jesus stands at the Pearly...

I've not put God on trial, Candle Glow. I put *people's ideas about God* on trial. For instance, the perpetrators of 911 were convinced that they were doing the will of God in using violence against those they believed were God's enemies. Did God really want the Twin Towers destroyed? I doubt...

Good post, Bary. CF, based upon the number of members here and the level of participation, is a good forum. It "works" for many people. But I also think that it sees itself as having a mission of making Christians which, in the spirit of the prevailing evangelical conservative views here, means...

It's not my place, Candle Glow, to lecture God on anything. But it is my place to point out that religion often wants a violent god who will bless the religious and destroy their enemies...and Jesus rejected this role. John the Baptist warned that Jesus would burn up God's enemies with fire...

...And where in the gospels does Jesus "fulfill" this? Where do we see God or Jesus cutting down anyone or slaughtering them? If Jesus truly is the same yesterday, today, and forever, when does he change his mind about God's enemies and decide to start killing them instead of loving them...

People have always had different views on the book of Revelation. Martin Luther considered it to be "a book of straw." I don't put much stock in it because the Jesus we find in the book of Revelation is completely different from the Jesus we find in the gospels. Jesus, in Revelation, comes to...

There is a substantial amount of support for this interpretation, both within the scriptures and external to them. Even Revelation refers to the city on seven hills (Rev 17:9) which is an obvious reference to Rome. There is always a sense in which the scriptures are both a product of their...

Personally, I don't put any stock in it at all, Wigglytug. Every generation since Jesus' ascension has been convinced that *they* were the generation in which Jesus would return...and each of them had proofs that, supposedly, made their claims sure. I survived the "Late Great Planet Earth"...

For me, I think it is key to see how Jesus referenced his warnings to THAT generation that he was in: "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.'' (Matthew 24:34) "Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things...

BTW, becoming more liberal in my theology has allowed me to follow Jesus better. It has allowed me to put Jesus and his teachings at the center of my religious and moral life rather than the entirety of the Bible. He is my COMPASS, not the entirety of the scriptures, as valuable as they are...

THIS. At least as far as religious liberalism is concerned. Political liberalism is, imo, another matter entirely. For me, the Word of God is not the Bible, but the sacred life and teachings of Jesus. Jesus shows us what a life filled with God looks like...and he invites us to a similar Way...

For me, I think the distinction needs to be made between "the kingdom of God" and being unified with God in eternity. For Jesus, the kingdom of God was not a place you went to when you died. Rather, it was God's reign of compassion within the heart that could form compassionate communities ON...

Welcome, Musicc! What do you mean by "saved"? Do you mean loved by God? Do you mean healthy and whole? Do you mean delivered or set free? Do you mean "going to heaven when you die"? Do you mean able to experience God's presence and grace? Do you mean in a relationship with God? My answer...