Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Progressive vs. "Biblical" Christianity

There are many examples in the Bible and church tradition of polemical theological arguments. “Polemical” was one of the first words I learned in college religious studies classes. It simply means defining your position by attacking the viewpoints of others. Think of Paul’s polemic against legalistic Christians in Romans 1 and 2 as one example—all to initiate that epistle’s theme of salvation by grace alone.

Eight clergy of the Fountain Hills (AZ) Ministerial Association are using polemics—apparently in reaction to the lone progressive church in town, The Fountains United Methodist Church—to proclaim their religious views superior to progressive Christianity, casting the latter as opposed to “Biblical Christianity.” Note I do not say their “traditional” or “conservative” views, because, in the long history of Christian tradition, some of their religious positions are relatively recent, having emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries.

This past Sunday, each pastor began a sermon series on six questions they believe to be vital to “real” Christians. All of their questions begin with, “Why does it matter that…?” And their promotional signs read, “Progressive Christianity: Fact or Fiction?” Decades ago I warned that when we treat matters of faith as matter of fact we trivialize our religion. “Knowledge” does not make a Christian, faith and compassion do.

As a progressive Christian, I refuse to surrender the adjective “biblical” to those who believe it is an antonym to “progressive.” Anyone who reads this blog knows how biblical I am! And I would argue further that progressive Christianity grew out of the biblical tradition that moved from a concept of a jealous tribal deity to a gracious and just universal God.

Progressive spirituality is at the heart of scripture itself, from the Hebrew prophets calling for justice and peace and care for the poor and marginalized to the earliest Christians’ compassionate love and service among themselves and within their communities, an outgrowth of Jesus’ own ministry and teachings.

So I’ve decided to answer their questions as a progressive biblical Christian!

1.       Why does it matter that God doesn’t change?

Because a God who doesn’t have the option of changing is not much of a god at all. Take away that divine prerogative and you have the idols made of wood and stone that biblical writers deplored, the graven images forbidden in the second commandment that tried to set in concrete God’s Spirit blowing where she will. Now, it’s to some Christians’ advantage to have an unchanging God, because they can claim change is ungodly, demonic, or immoral, but fixing God’s character is to place human limits on the limitless.

2.      Why does it matter that the Bible is reliable?

I had to smile at this one by its avoidance of “infallible.” Progressive Christians could certainly attest to the reliability of the Bible, admonishing us not to be greedy or unfaithful, while encouraging us to share our privilege and power and wealth, to be humble and just and merciful, to love our neighbor and God, to be gracious even as God is gracious—to name a few of hundreds of insights found in scripture. But no, we don’t rely on the Bible as a scientific treatise, an accurate historical record, a rulebook, or literally God’s words.

3.      Why does it matter that Jesus is God?

To me, it matters more that Jesus is a human being, and it seemed to matter to him too, referring to himself as “the son of man.” If we make Jesus God, then we have an excuse not to love and serve as he did, which is an “out” that a lot of Christians take. Better to take the mystic John’s understanding that God’s Word became flesh so that we might all be children of God. What matters is an understanding that we participate in the divine life, that in God we live and move and have our being.

4.      Why does it matter that Jesus was born of a virgin?

Yes, why does it matter?

5.      Why does it matter that Jesus was resurrected?

Actually, I believe the intent of this question is really to ask, “Why does it matter that Jesus was resurrected in a certain way?” I don’t think progressive Christians argue the point of the stories of Jesus’ resurrection, which was to affirm that his followers experienced his presence after he was crucified and buried. Scripture is clear, however, that he only appeared to believers. And I believe progressive Christians could also consent to the belief that Jesus lives on in us, the church, and the church beyond the church.

6.      Why does it matter that Jesus is the only way?

I’m tempted to give the same answer that I gave to #4, but readers might feel cheated. In the last answer I mentioned “the church beyond the church,” and what I meant is that I see Jesus at least as frequently outside the church as I do inside the church. I see his spirit of compassion and mercy in Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, agnostics, atheists, and a whole assortment of people who do not identify as Christian. In traditional Christian thought, Jesus came to save the world, not just Christians.

Obviously, whole books could be devoted to each of these questions, but this is a blog, not a library! This is my “two cents” worth, my “widow’s mite.”



I’ll be in New York City June 5-7 at Fort Washington Collegiate Church leading two Saturday workshops, “Sex & the Body of Christ,” and “Coming Out as Sacrament,” and preaching on “Your Will Be Done” from the Lord’s Prayer during the 10:45 Sunday morning worship. For details, click here.

Copyright © 2015 by Chris R. Glaser. Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution of author and blogsite. Other rights reserved. 

Please support this blog ministry by clicking here or mailing to Metropolitan Community Churches, P.O. Box 50488, Sarasota FL 34232 USA, designating “Progressive Christian Reflections” in the memo area of your check or money order. Thank you!

18 comments:

  1. Thank you, thank God. I thoroughly appreciate your putting this into words that are not as garbled as mine are when i try to share this.

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    1. Thanks, Chuck, as always, for your affirmation!

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  2. This is very well said. Thank you, Chris. It seems curious to me that the ministers who think of themselves as the true Christians and made up these questions to authenticate themselves left out the central teaching of Christianity: Why does it matter that we treat others as we would have them treat us? Why does it matter that we love our neighbors as ourselves? Why does it matter that when we feed the hungry or help the homeless we are doing that to Jesus?

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    1. You're absolutley right, Toby, thanks for adding this. It's good to hear from a longtime friend like you. My best to you and Kip.

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  3. Excellent rely Chris, well reasoned (which, of course, must really upset them!)

    Toby, IMHO, the Golden/Silver Rule AKA The Ethic of Reciprocity, set forth in 19 major world religions and in ethical humanist circles is the best answer of give to members of the absolutist crowd, "we are right, you are wrong therefore there is no need to discuss it any further". Being so widely exclaimed I believe it is the closet universal truth humankind is come to understand. Now if we could just learn how to live by it---.

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  4. Thanks, Chris. I'd been trying to think of a way to "live the questions" (to borrow the title of the targeted minister's well-received book and program) and couldn't have done better. Indeed, my summary of my own interpretations is "What difference would it make if ...?" The 'God doesn't change' answer is particularly cogent.

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    1. Thanks, Barbara! Living the questions is good spiritual exercise, and I like your reformulation, "What difference would it make if....?"

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  5. In my experience (Preacher's Kid who grew up on an American Baptist seminary campus in the mid-60s when my dad was a student), Progressive Christianity is far more biblical than "Biblical Christianity" will ever be. The rule at my house was that anything anyone else wasn't currently reading was fair game. Challenge accepted! Dad started sending me to Kittel and the Greek lexicon when I was 10 or 11. Higher criticism, exploring the contradictions, and a view of faith and the scriptures that was both holistic and contextual were just the way we rolled.

    So you can imagine my dismay when Dad graduated and took a job in a fairly conservative part of the country where Halley's Bible Handbook was the 67th book of the Bible (in fact, my church gave me one when I graduated from high school, and I read through it and said the Good Christian Girl's equivalent of WTF'ingF???!!!) and The Late Great Planet Earth was considered high theology…but just try telling anyone the truth, that everything they "knew" about the Bible had been pulled out of thin air a century (or less) earlier…

    (What, no "login with Facebook" option?

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    1. Sorry, not sure how "login with Facebook" works here--I'm technically challenged that way, though I Facebook almost daily! Anyway--yes, I was given a copy of Halley"s Bible Handbook as a youth, and I lived in Los Angeles! Love your comments and your personal story. Thanks for taking the time to share them with me and with this blog's readers!

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    2. OK, I think I'm actually signed up now…

      I'm a California kid myself. Dad went to the Baptist seminary in Covina (which merged with Berkeley & sold off the campus a few years later). So I led a different kind of "sheltered Christian childhood." Reading Tillich, Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer, the Niebuhrs, Rauschenbusch, Barth, et al. when you're 12 will warp you for life, LOL!

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  6. (continued)

    I laugh sometimes when people talk about "sheltered Christian childhoods." Living on campus (and later on, well away from the rough side of town where Dad worked), I was pretty sheltered myself - but aside from Dad being a bit of a prude, it was nothing like what most people think of when they think of "Preacher's Kids"! And I wouldn't give up my "seminary education by osmosis" for anything.

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    1. Thanks again for your comments, and your patience in registering them! Your childhood actually sounds quite blessed--most of us had to unlearn a lot of stuff when we began reading all those folk in college and seminary!

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  7. https://www.facebook.com/DoorCountyPeopleOfFaith/posts/1600011283612903

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  8. Why does it matter that Jesus was Born of a Virgin? Because as the first person to receive the full and undiluted word of God directly from God, it was through Adam that Sin entered all men, not Eve. Adam didn't do the job God gave him and tell Eve the exact words God gave him about the Tree of the knowledge of Good & Evil or she would have had a full and complete answer for the serpent. Even though she was the one who tempted Adam to eat of the Tree, he was the one who was directly told not to do so and thus Sin entered the world of Man through Adam, the man.

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