Another major difference between evangelical and progressive Christians closely related to the nature of salvation (my last post) is the meaning and significance of Jesus’ death. Evangelicals are dominated by substitution/satisfaction theories of the atonement that became prominent in the Reformation, but first made their appearance in church history with Anselm in the 12th century. These theories fit nicely with evangelical transactional view of salvation. Here is a descript

One of the basic differences between evangelical Christianity and almost all versions of progressive Christianity is in their understanding of salvation. For evangelical Christians, salvation is transactional. What do I mean? It is more like a contract where if I commit to a particular action, then God promises to reward me for that action. Evangelical Christians are not all in agreement with regard to what exactly that action is, although it always involves believing or trus

Author Nikos Kazantzakis in Report to Greco wrote that when he was young, his mother was very religious and went to mass every day. His father was anti-religious and bitter toward religion, so Nikos was torn. When he was nineteen years old, he decided to spend the summer at a monastery on one of the mountains in Greece. At this monastery there was a famous old monk known as Father Makarios. One day Nikos asked, “Father Makarios, do you still wrestle with the devil?” Father

My evangelical training taught me that God exists in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which I never did understand. I was instructed that I didn’t need to understand it, just accept it, because it’s in the Bible. Once I became a spiritual seeker, I sought understanding outside the doctrines and teachings I was programmed to believe. Here is how I make sense of the language now. Father, Mother, Creator represents the Divine as transcendent personal Presence. We

In a kingdom of long ago there was a man who invented fire. After he invented it, he headed north where tribes lived in the high snowy peaks. He taught them his fire-making skill and how to use fire to warm themselves, to cook their food, and use in construction. They were thrilled with this discovery, but before they could even thank the fire maker, he was on his way to teach more tribes about the wonders of fire. He cared nothing about being remembered for his invention o

A person who has had a moving experience of the Divine, what some Christians would describe as a salvation experience, might spontaneously exclaim, “This is it!” putting the emphasis on “THIS.” And by THIS a Christian might either be referring to the Christian religion in general or Jesus in particular. Let’s say the person means Jesus. THIS means that Jesus is the only way to have this experience of the Divine. This, however, would be a grave mistake, a mistake countless C

What is it about being like a child that makes one greater than John the Baptizer? In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt. 11:11:11). Then in Matthew 18:3–4 Jesus declares, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child

How important is it to know yourself? According to a teaching attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas it is the way to know God. “When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you will dwell in poverty, and will be impoverished” (Logion 3:de). “When you know yourselves, then you will be known.” Who is the knower? Is it God? Yes. Is it you? Yes. How can it be

Why do so many people assume the Gospel of Thomas is Gnostic? Is it? This question is addressed indirectly by two prominent scholars in the field of early Christian and Gnostic literature, Marvin Meyer and Elaine H. Pagels, in the Introduction to the book published by HarperOne titled, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures in 2007. Those who first investigated Thomas simply assumed it was Gnostic. They based their assumption on quotes from Irenaeus, one of the church fathers, who

Most Christians have been taught that the kingdom of God is heaven when we die or some future paradise on this earth. It is neither. In the Gospel of Luke Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He said, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you” (17:20-21, NIV). We are all in the kingdom, because the kingdom is within us. Many,

The Seeker's Journey There was much talk in the monastery about a religious man who was also a political activist who had set himself on fire and died. While no one in the monastery approved of the man taking his life. there were some who said they admired his faith. They argued that he had the courage to act on his convictions. The spiritual master asked, "Do you think that is faith? I think it was more fanaticism. Authentic faith demands a greater courage: the courage to re