Progressive Christianity


Dr. Diana Eck of the Harvard Pluralism Project said,
"Jesus is not the language of dogma; Jesus is the language of love."

 

* St. Paul Church is an Affiliate Member of the
Center for Progressive Christianity
Read more at: http://www.tcpc.org/template/index.cfm

* St. Paul's is a member of the
Progressive Christian Alliance of Colorado
Find out more at: http://progressivechristians.org

* St. Paul's supports
The Network of Spiritual Progressives
Read more at: http://www.spiritualprogressives.org

 

pro.gres.sive

adj.
Moving forward; advancing.
Proceeding in steps; continuing steadily by increments: progressive change.
Promoting or favoring progress toward better conditions or new policies, ideas, or methods: a progressive politician; progressive business leadership.

n.
A person who actively favors or strives for progress toward better conditions, as in society, the church or government.

A progressive Christian path has the potential to open us up
to a fuller life. 

 

What does progressive faith look like?


THE CENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY
proposes the following:

By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who…

  1. Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus;
  2. Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God's realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us;
  3. Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus's name to be a representation of an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples;
  4. Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable (including but not limited to):
    • believers and agnostics,
    • conventional Christians and questioning skeptics, women and men,
    • those of all sexual orientations and gender identities,
    • those of all races and cultures,
    • those of all classes and abilities,
    • those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope;
  5. Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe;
  6. Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty - more value in questioning than in absolutes;
  7. Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God's creation, and bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers;
  8. Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.

 

Check Out

THE CENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY
http://www.tcpc.org/template/index.cfm

NETWORK OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESSIVES
http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/

HARVARD PLURALISM PROJECT
http://www.pluralism.org/

UNITED RELIGIONS INITIATIVE
http://www.uri.org/

THE INTERFAITH ALLIANCE
http://www.interfaithalliance.org

PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE OF COLORADO
http://progressivechristians.org

 

Thoughts to Ponder

Process Philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, once described three types of religion displayed prominently in human history:

  1. the religion modeled after the Ruling Caesar God, the conventional Man Upstairs who protects and favors to those who worship him in the orthodox fashion
  2. the religion of the Ruthless Moralist God is a Supreme Judge who restrains or punishes anti-social behavior.
  3. The Unmoved Mover is an abstract philosophical principle who sounds feasible intellectually but who makes no demands upon us

Also, Whitehead, mentioned another type of religion:

  1. the “brief Galilean vision of humility” which “flickers uncertainly through the ages,” ever persisting in what is best in human nature

Alfred North Whitehead wrote:
“Religion is the vision of something which stands beyond, behind, and within the passing flux of immediate things; something which is real, and yet waiting to be realized; something which is a remote possibility, and yet the greatest of present facts; something that gives meaning to all that passes, and yet eludes apprehension; something whose possession is the final good, and yet is beyond all reach.”