Today’s “Ask a Progressive Christian” with ProgressiveChristianity.org Board Member Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin Q: Can Atheists and Other Non-Christians Go to Heaven?
Today’s “Ask a Progressive Christian” with ProgressiveChristianity.org Board Member Pastor Marshela Salgado: Q: Why should Christians care about Climate and Ecological Problems?
Today’s “Ask a Progressive Christian” with ProgressiveChristianity.org Board Member Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin Q: Did Jesus Die For Our Sins?
Today’s “Ask a Progressive Christian” with ProgressiveChristianity.org Co-Executive Director Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines: How do Progressive Christians understand Communion?
Q&A With Dr. Carl Krieg
Accepting that the Gospel accounts of events in Jesus and the disciples’ lives are nonhistorical creations intended to reach Jews in a traditional Jewish liturgical framework, what *did* Jesus do and say that made the God’s presence in human life so clear to his followers?
Do you think that Jesus believed he was the Son of God/Son of Man (Daniel 7) and that he physically cured people of diseases and serious disabilities.? If not,what do you think he was trying to achieve by wandering around the countryside with his disciples?
I work in an Episcopal church with Holy Eucharist at the majority of services. The liturgy includes phrases such as “this is holy food” and “come to the feast” when there actually might be five or ten calories in a congregant’s tiny wafer and nip of wine. Following the service, there is usually a coffee hour with sweet snacks and cheese, hundreds of calories per person!
In looking at how the Jews see the Adam and Eve story – that it was a story of taking responsibility and moving out of innocence etc. How does this reconcile however with Paul ( a Jew) in Romans Ch5 where he appears to take on a more traditional even literal approach with Adam and Sin entering in , The Fall etc. ?
Jesus asked a lot of questions. Ask questions like, was Jesus a Christian? If you read through the Bible thoroughly and the Gospels a few times, what do you notice really mattered to Jesus? How did he live his life? What was his view of money? His relationship to power and privilege?
Do you, like me, have great sympathy for the third servant in the parable of the talents? What do you think that this parable is meant to say to 21st century humans?
After reading near death experience reports, and the all-encompassing love that seems to accompany folks in a near death experience, I am wondering why we need a savior.
I believe what Spong was referring to was the idea that the most profound way we can be in relationship with God (the Divine, Great Mystery, Nameless One) is to love one another and to love deeply.
Question & Answer Q: By A Reader I recently read that a team of astrophysicists have concluded that there are over a trillion
It is unnecessary for anybody to throw stones because of anybody’s race or ethnicity. It repulses me and is plain not Jesus-like. It is prideful and hateful.
Do you read the ENTIRE Bible? My desire would be that my children and grandchildren are not exposed to this belief system. It is not Biblical.
It is Written in The Message, Ephesians Chapter 1, that Christ rules the Universe, all of it, from galaxies to governments, no one exempt from His power, He has the final say on all things. I have been trying to reconcile this for two years, to understand if this is a metaphor or actual truth, what is your perception?
Mark, I've been following you for awhile and I do appreciate some of the things you say, but what's the deal with this new agey movement for “simplicity”?
I’ve always heard that Jesus’ ministry was three years long. Now I hear that it was only one year. How does something like that change?
Why are some Christian Churches growing in numbers and outreach? Is there any room to find agreement and move on with the work of Jesus Christ ?
I believe in God but not an interventionist God. There is too much suffering in this world both amongst believers and non-believers.
I’m considering attending a United Universalist Church, the closest thing to Progressive Christianity I can find in my area. I hesitate because I don’t want to lose my focus on the Christ path as it has been so fruitful in my life.
I just finished "Unbelievable" and found many things in the book that I was unaware that I believed. I am curious to know how you feel about/reconcile people who are truly evil or unrepentantly evil like child abusers/pornographers. I can deal with people whose belief systems are different than mine but not with people who purposefully hurt other people, especially children. Some even believe it is their right to do so. How can we love these people wastefully?
Some while ago Dr. Spong replied to a message from me in which I stated that possibly there could be some thought devoted to the idea that, “God” is both within a person and everywhere. This makes sense to me and I have been living this understanding successfully. The concept of a “Deity” or of “Deities" is well-known, documented and practiced as well as awareness of knowing truth within us. There is room for tolerance. Why are we pursuing Christianity when Jesus himself did not?
I have a lot of respect for the non-literal interpretation of the New and Old Testament, but there are certain parts that I cannot see any metaphorical value in. My stumbling blocks are these: 1. What is the metaphorical message given by the genealogy found in genesis and in the gospels? It is the former that precisely gives young earth creationists their earth age. 2. What is the metaphorical value of the various horrific laws laid down in Deuteronomy or Leviticus? I can’t see a non-literal interpretation of telling us to destroy people who have sex if a woman is on her period.
I understand the very essence of Christ through the suffering of people. For example, twenty years ago this June, the remote east Texas town of Jasper consumed the nation's attention because of a heinous crime against a forty-nine-year-old vacuum cleaner salesman named James Byrd, Jr. Walking home after a party one night, Byrd was offered a ride by some passersby. Little did he know that he would soon be chained by his ankles to the back of a pick-up truck and dragged to his death - because he was black.
Question & Answer John from Tucson, asks: Question: First let me tell you I am an atheist. Prior to this I was
Sir, with all due respect, you shared well concerning how Jesus did not die because of sins. Please share your views on the reason or why Jesus died.
We are living in a time of unprecedented evil, yet we don’t see it; we can’t see it. Not only has industrial civilization lost the ability to distinguish good and evil, we typically confuse the two and casually treat things that are downright anti-future as good.