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Humans like to categorize. In many cases, we categorize based upon similarities. Apples, bananas, and oranges are fruits. Green beans, corn, and broccoli are vegetables. There is almost always disagreement about what belongs or does not belong in a particular category. Some people think tomatoes are vegetables. Others think they are fruits. We categorize almost everything: food, houses, plants, minerals, gases, solids, ideas, politics, nations, races, and people. This process helps us understand our world. Most words in and of themselves are categories. Food is something that humans eat as opposed to things we do not eat. Categories are how we think. Categorizing helps us understand our reality and communicate with other people.
Christians, by way of a long and complicated history, have attempted to define what a Christian is. How do you know if you are a Christian or not? Who qualifies to be a Christian? Christians have attempted to define the category of “Christian” and to establish the boundaries of the category. One of the earliest controversies within Christianity was over whether a non-Jew could be a Christian. Did one need to become a Jew first in order to be a Christian? Increasingly, Christians defined the category by what beliefs were necessary in order to be a Christian. If one did not believe certain things, then one was not a Christian. Christians would claim that the value of being a Christian was a happy life on earth and eternal life with God. If one was not a Christian, then life would be incomplete and eternity would be spent apart from God. For many Christians, “correct belief” was very important for how they defined the category of Christian. If one did not have a “correct belief”, then one did not receive the Christian reward.
Today, “correct belief” remains the way that many define the category of Christian. However, it is obvious to everyone that those who claim to be Christian hold a great diversity of beliefs, many of which are contradictory. With all of the competing ideas about what is “correct”, how can one ever know what is right? Is Christianity really about being “right”? Increasingly, some Christians embrace this diversity as a good thing. Beliefs result from many influences that result in our own individual perspective that is right for each individual but cannot encompass the whole truth. Our beliefs may not even be “correct”; however, our Christian perspective guides us to a life that is whole, complete, and satisfying.
Generally, when I try to express an ecumenical perspective of Christianity, I observe three basic reactions. From those who embrace diversity, I observe a resistance to any description of what is common to all Christians. I think they resist any common description of Christianity because they fear that it will be prescriptive. It is no wonder that they have this kind of fear; because, for those who emphasize unity, I observe a tendency to make Christianity exclusive to their own understanding of the faith. Orthodox Christians emphasize the authority of tradition, Roman Catholics emphasize the authority of the Pope, and many Protestants emphasize the authority of the Scriptures. Each has a tendency to use authority to enforce a particular set of “correct beliefs” which almost always results in excluding someone from the faith. Others fear that “ecumenical” means reducing Christianity to the “least common denominator.”
For myself, diversity is obvious and good. Each of us needs to decide for ourselves what is bad, good, and better. Diversity of opinion is not going away, and openness to different opinions may enrich and improve your life. However, there must be some unity or commonality to the category of Christian in order for the category of Christian to have any meaning at all. Finally, Christianity is not arithmetic. Ecumenism may emphasize commonality but it has nothing to do with diminishing Christianity by calling it the “least” nor does it have anything to do with the arithmetical concept of denominators.
So, from my own ecumenical Christian perspective:
1. A Christian SELF identifies as a Christian.
2. A Christian starts and founds Christian identity in the Jewish and Christian writings contained within the Bible.
3. A Christian experiences and reacts to reality from a life orientation of faith and trust.
4. A Christian centers life in an understanding of Jesus Christ.
5. A Christian acts for the common good of all, even in the face of hate, anger, or malice.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Experiencing God
Encounters with God come in all kinds of experiences. The joy and comfort of assurance that God is always with us; but, also in the experience of Her absence and complete hiddenness. It boggles the mind and confounds our logic, but it should not mean that Christians should lack a discipline of our mind.
To me the layers of meaning of Jesus on the cross are many and complex. Just a hint of this seems evident in Jesus’ experience of forsakenness when, at the same time, the centurion sees his suffering and death and hears Jesus’ cry, the centurion sees the Son of God. Quite an amazing scene. One that may takes years of contemplation to come close to understanding.
For myself, though, in whatever way we experience God, the power of our experience of God is only evident by the way in which our actions transform the lives of others, and dare I say -- transform our acts into the acts of God. Where would any of us be if Moses had encountered God on the mountain and just stayed up there to glory in his experience? What if Jesus had continued to wander around the countryside amazing the crowds without ever riding into Jerusalem to confront religious and political power?
Jesus called upon God even in his forsakenness, an encounter that continues to transform our lives.
To me the layers of meaning of Jesus on the cross are many and complex. Just a hint of this seems evident in Jesus’ experience of forsakenness when, at the same time, the centurion sees his suffering and death and hears Jesus’ cry, the centurion sees the Son of God. Quite an amazing scene. One that may takes years of contemplation to come close to understanding.
For myself, though, in whatever way we experience God, the power of our experience of God is only evident by the way in which our actions transform the lives of others, and dare I say -- transform our acts into the acts of God. Where would any of us be if Moses had encountered God on the mountain and just stayed up there to glory in his experience? What if Jesus had continued to wander around the countryside amazing the crowds without ever riding into Jerusalem to confront religious and political power?
Jesus called upon God even in his forsakenness, an encounter that continues to transform our lives.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A Definition of Religion
Many in American today like to distinguish between "religion" and "spirituality". Some say that they are no longer religious but they are spiritual. I have read that Europeans have no third category such as "spirituality". One is either "religious" or "irreligious". Hmmmm, I wonder if that is true of Europeans?
I have previously offered a definition of religion on this blog. I wonder if those who prefer "spirituality" would want to reject religion as I have tried to define it? In searching for definitions of religion, one will find many very different ones and many different approaches. What are people rejecting when they say that they are not religious but rather they are spiritual? While I have some ideas, I am not entirely sure what they mean.
However for now, maybe as a step toward understanding religion and spirituality, I will repeat below a definition of religion offered by a philospher of religion, Geddes Maggregor.
Religion is chararacterized by
1) interest in,
2) concern for,
3) encounter with,
4) sense of absence from,
5) sacrificial ove of,
6) commitment to, and
7) joy over,
that which is judged to be more important than anything else in one's experience and which, so conceptualized, is taken to be a symbol of that which lies at the heart of all possible experience.
I think this is a good definition. I like that it does not have any primary emphasis on "beliefs" and seems to put more emphasis upon personal experience.
Although, what keeps this definition of religion from being totally subjective and private? Is the spirituality that Americans want to retain more subjective and private than what they consider to be religion?
I have previously offered a definition of religion on this blog. I wonder if those who prefer "spirituality" would want to reject religion as I have tried to define it? In searching for definitions of religion, one will find many very different ones and many different approaches. What are people rejecting when they say that they are not religious but rather they are spiritual? While I have some ideas, I am not entirely sure what they mean.
However for now, maybe as a step toward understanding religion and spirituality, I will repeat below a definition of religion offered by a philospher of religion, Geddes Maggregor.
Religion is chararacterized by
1) interest in,
2) concern for,
3) encounter with,
4) sense of absence from,
5) sacrificial ove of,
6) commitment to, and
7) joy over,
that which is judged to be more important than anything else in one's experience and which, so conceptualized, is taken to be a symbol of that which lies at the heart of all possible experience.
I think this is a good definition. I like that it does not have any primary emphasis on "beliefs" and seems to put more emphasis upon personal experience.
Although, what keeps this definition of religion from being totally subjective and private? Is the spirituality that Americans want to retain more subjective and private than what they consider to be religion?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of KNowing God
Many people in America are moving away from religion but still like to see themselves as spiritual. They are rejecting the judgemental, out-of-touch, authoritarian approach that has predominated much of the Christian church in America. They identify "religion" with much of the parts of church life that they do not like, and they identify "spiritual" with what they want to keep.
This book can help you affirm, expand, and even transform your spiritual life. The author's approach is accepting of many different perpsectives as evidenced by the quotes sprinkled throughout the book from various religious leaders and authors. The best part of the book is the author's personal story that is woven throughout the entire book. His experience makes the book credible. Many religious leaders may also be able to identify with his experiences.
While the book has a Christian perspective, it is not proclaiming the views of any particular Christian denomination . The book also is not exclusively Christian either. The author affirms the insights and values of other religious traditions. While much of the author's perspective can be found in the writings of other Christian mystics, the material here is much more readable for the modern reader. Insights from eastern mysticism are also incorporated into the book.
This is a book that one can use to expand her mind and expand her spiritual consciousness.
This book can help you affirm, expand, and even transform your spiritual life. The author's approach is accepting of many different perpsectives as evidenced by the quotes sprinkled throughout the book from various religious leaders and authors. The best part of the book is the author's personal story that is woven throughout the entire book. His experience makes the book credible. Many religious leaders may also be able to identify with his experiences.
While the book has a Christian perspective, it is not proclaiming the views of any particular Christian denomination . The book also is not exclusively Christian either. The author affirms the insights and values of other religious traditions. While much of the author's perspective can be found in the writings of other Christian mystics, the material here is much more readable for the modern reader. Insights from eastern mysticism are also incorporated into the book.
This is a book that one can use to expand her mind and expand her spiritual consciousness.
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