Religious Roots of Liberal - Progressive Values

John A Buehrens has just written an excellent op-ed article in the Washington Post concerning the comeback of a recognition of the religious roots of liberal and progressive values.

Check it out and celebrate being simultaneously and inextricably religious and progressive!

Jesus in 3-D...

A new History Channel documentary claims to reveal the "real face of Jesus" by using the same computer technology that produced the big blue aliens in Avatar. Using the Shroud of Turin, a tattered piece of cloth that has the outline of a facial image that many people over the past century have suggested is that of Jesus of Nazareth, the documentarians have produced a three-dimensional moving image of a man based on the structure of the image on the Shroud.

Though I haven't yet watched the documentary, I plan to. Even though I'm doubtful about the Shroud of Turin actually being the burial-wrappings of Jesus, I'm actually interested in the subject matter mainly because of what I'll likely learn about the technology used to create a 3-D image of the man behind the Shroud. If nothing else, this documentary is sure to stimulate our imaginations.

Check out a Religion Dispatches article about the documentary.

Mutations and Diversity within Pentecostalism

Anthea Butler writes an article chronicling the mutations and diversity within the Pentecostal movement. We learn to distinguish among the Prosperity Gospel, Word of Faith, and New Apostolic Movements — and why it matters.

Butler traces the differentiations between the theological approaches of folks like Joel Osteen, C. Peter Wagner, and T.D. Jakes. The article briefly outlines the historical and ideological origins and development of these different movements within the larger Pentecostal movement.

This article is significant because it texturizes and gives nuance to the more fundamentalistic movement in the US, which is often overgeneralized by some religious progressives. It's always good to know the opposing opinions, its plurality and depth, before offering any substantial critiques.

Read the article here.

A People's History of Christianity -- New Book

Diana Butler Bass, a Christian historian of Christianity, has recently written and published a book entitled, A People's History of Christianity (Harper, 2009).

A People's History makes an important distinction between two understandings/writings of Christian history. First, there's the Big-C story, which centers on the militant side of Christianity: Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Calvin, and Christian America. Jesus came to earth to save us, but instead founded the Church. Christians were persecuted until Constantine legalized Christianity. The religion spread through Europe, which was dominated by kings and popes of the Catholic Church and was constantly under threat by Muslims, witches, and heretics. Finally, the Protestant reformers, notably John Calvin, came to the rescue and turned the off-course Church from its evil ways. Eventually, Calvin's heirs left for the New World where America has been the beacon of Christianity for the world ever since. This story forwards an us-against-them ethic of a suffering, pitiful church that is vindicated by God through its global victory over other worldviews, religions, or political systems.

However, Bass takes a look at the other side of Christian history, a side centered not on the actions of Christian hierarchical and political institutions, but rather on the lives of everyday common Christian communities and individuals who were committed to living the way of Christ in their daily existence. It's not a story of triumphalism, but of a generative Christianity that engenders a faith of new possibilities of bringing God's love into the world. It's not a tale of political, military, or institutional assertion of power and victory over others, but of Christians dedicated to transforming the world through humble service to God and neighbors, following Christ to sow the seeds of peace and God grace in human communities.

Bass traces a history of Christianity that is grounded in the Great Commandment: In Luke 10:25–27, a lawyer approached Jesus and asked him, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart... and love your neighbor as yourself.” Immediately following this command, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, the parable of a wounded man’s rescue by a stranger, as an example of saving faith. “Go and do likewise,” Jesus told the lawyer.

Here is an excerpt from A People's History outlining the purpose of the book:

"A People’s History of Christianity makes two interrelated claims. First, lived Christianity cannot be understood in terms of the Big-C story; rather, it is best experienced as a community that remembers the ways in which Christian people have enacted the Great Command in different times and places. This history is less a magisterial narrative and more like a collection of campfire tales—discrete stories that embody Christian character, virtue, suffering, and commitment as people “go and do likewise.” Friends swapping stories.

The second, and maybe more surprising, claim is that after decades of struggle, moderate and liberal Christianity is experiencing an unexpected renewal in North America. Many people now refer to this energized cluster as “progressive” or “emerging” Christianity. I have come to think of it as beyond existing categories of conservative-moderate-liberal. Instead, I refer to it as generative Christianity. In congregations and as individuals, people have stumbled into meaningful spiritual practices and a renewed sense of social justice without knowing, perhaps, that these new discoveries have long histories in the Christian tradition. Without a sense of history, progressive Christianity remains unmoored, lacking the deep confidence that comes from being part of a community overtime. What progressive Christians need to understand is that “emerging” Christianity has a story. Their faith is not new; the generative faith of Great Command Christianity is a reemerging tradition that has always been the beating heart of Christian history." (Bass, A People's History, in Religion Dispatches)

This is an intriguing book, especially for evangelical fundamentalist Christians, ex-Christians, or anyone who thinks Christianity is all about militantly enforcing God's will in history through coersion, violence, intolerance, and division, as well as progressive Christians who could benefit from knowing about this other side of Christian history where everyday people have taken Jesus' life and teachings very seriously and have promoted love, compassion, and tolerance.

As the very last part of the excerpt states, this book is especially significant for progressive-minded Christians (including those within Unity circles like myself) who will realize or remember that contemplative spiritual practices and attention to issues of social justice and compassionate living grounded in the Great Commandment and Jesus' life of radical hospitality and love have their roots throughout the Christian faith since the very beginning. Indeed, history's story for a community or group is like the memory of an individual. Unearthing this often untold side of Christian history provides progressive Christians with a sense of community and tradition over time that helps to strengthen our faith and dedication to values of social justice and equality.

Check out a longer excerpt from Bass's book here, and read an interview with her here. Both are at Religion Dispatches.

(Above photo from Amazon.com)

Putting the “Protest” Back in Protestant: Reclaiming the Spirit of Resistance

Peter Laarman of Religion Dispatches writes a provocative piece about how the Protestant tradition was originally a movement that actually "protested" beliefs and practices understood to be detrimental to the the common good, spiritual growth, and the life of faith. Laarman points out the central impulse of the Protestant Reformers was one of questioning the status quo, affirming universal individual rights (whether it be socio-political or soteriological), and arguing for action -- concrete steps made by the devoted toward the desired change.

Laarman's article is geared toward the historical side of the issue, tracing the formation and development of some prominent Reformers and advocating that Protestants today should learn from their forefathers and bring back that spirit of resistance to institutional, social, and individual evils.

The point Laarman raises is a good one. But I think it holds true for the entirety of the Christian tradition. That is, though Protestants have in their history and name the principle of protesting both for truth and justice and against the contrary as they see it, this is a heritage that spans the whole of Christianity. This value of protesting for and against extends back to the life and teaching of Jesus himself who stood firmly in the prophetic tradition, where a prophet (pro- for; phetes- to speak) wasn't so much a fore-teller of the future but a forth-teller of divine love, power, and justice in the present. The prophetic spirit is fundamental to Jesus' social-spiritual message of sacrificial love and equality, and is inherent throughout the plurality of Christian denominations.

There are many different positions within Unity circles as to whether or not Unity should even be explicitly called "Christian" since it incorporates so much of other traditions into its fold. This is a debate I'll enter into in more detail at a later time. Suffice it to say that, for the present purposes, Unity has historically, culturally, linguistically, and spiritually grown out of the Christian tradition and is thus a part of Christianity (Fillmore's leaned toward a Christian identity of Unity, our central authoritative texts are Christian, the theological language we employ is God and Christ-centered, etc.). Thus, Unity could take some cues from Laarman and/ perhaps use some of his arguments and research to corroborate social action that is already taking place within Unity congregations and even help to sculpt a more prophetic voice for Unity that's relevant to our present modern/post-modern context of globalization, plurality, and apparent ambiguity.

Read Laarman's article at Religion Dispatches.

(Above photo from Religion Dispatches website.)

Christianity's Lost History

Recently, Peter Pham, Episcopal priest and scholar, has reviewed historian Philip Jenkins' latest book The Lost History of Christianity (HarperOne, 2008), which elucidates how Christianity has become tied to European culture in modern times but that it used to be a truly global religion that reflected the African and Asian cultures in which it existed. Not that there's no diversity in Christianity today, because there most certainly is, but the type of cultural baggage that is most often associated with Christianity is that of the West.

When Christianity spread from the earliest apostles it didn't simply follow the course only of Paul. Besides westward, it spread southward and eastward, inhabited those lands, interacted with other relgions (like Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, and Buddhism), and fused with those cultures to which it spread. The importance of this book and Pham's review of it is that it highlights the non-Western spread and diversification of Christianity from very early on in its history. That is, our Christian tradition has historically been permeated by much more cultural variety that has previously been thought in the West. This itself is an important point.

Here's a snippet from the book:

The particular shape of Christianity with which we are familiar is a radical departure from what was for well over a millennium the historical norm: another, earlier global Christianity once existed. For most of its history, Christianity was a tricontinental religion, with powerful representation in Europe, Africa, and Asia, and this was true into the fourteenth century. Christianity became predominantly European not because this continent had any obvious affinity for that faith, but by default: Europe was the continent where it was not destroyed. Matters could have easily developed differently.

Read the full book review at pbs.org's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.