Monday, February 09, 2009
'Saving Jesus from the Church'
Talk about scandalous!
Description:
Countless thoughtful people are now so disgusted with the marriage of bad theology and hypocritical behavior by the church that a new Reformation is required in which the purpose of religion itself is reimagined.
Robin Meyers takes the best of biblical scholarship and recasts these core Christian concepts to exhort the church to pursue an alternative vision of the Christian life:
Jesus as Teacher, not Savior
Christianity as Compassion, not Condemnation
Prosperity as Dangerous, not Divine
Discipleship as Obedience, not Control
Religion as Relationship, not Righteousness
This is not a call to the church to move to the far left or to try something brand new. Rather, it is the recovery of something very old. Saving Jesus from the Church shows us what it means to be a Christian and how to follow Jesus' teachings today.
Most definitely unorthodox.
--ER
Comments:
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Maybe. ... I wish he'd said "start following Jesus as well as worshiping Christ," rather than "stop worshiping Christ." But he didn't. I think, though, that just as with his sermons, I'll agree with most, but not all, of what he has to say.
Sorry to burst bubbles, especially when one's ego can get hurt, but the "something old" that needs recovery are not antinomies, but conjunctions. Replace the "not"s with "and"s and you have a beautiful group of people who will get something done. Even money. Lidia and other wealthy converts bankrolled the early communities. And condemnation of those filled with condemnation is the right kind of "old muscular Christianity" it seems to me. Control of myself would be my weak link and something not to be disparaged.
And when did relationship and righteousness square off?
On this last, I understand that the context should be limited to certain quarters of Christianity and that unappetizing titles had to be avoided like,
Saving Jesus from some of the Churches
or
Saving Jesus from some bad habits of Christianity
Not marketable.
And when did relationship and righteousness square off?
On this last, I understand that the context should be limited to certain quarters of Christianity and that unappetizing titles had to be avoided like,
Saving Jesus from some of the Churches
or
Saving Jesus from some bad habits of Christianity
Not marketable.
I don't know...sorting it out seems like a whole mess of trouble.
Why bother when you can just get an indulgence?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/nyregion/10indulgence.html?_r=2
Why bother when you can just get an indulgence?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/nyregion/10indulgence.html?_r=2
# posted by 
: 9:02 PM
: 9:02 PM
Well, because, and no offense to anyone, srsly, but give. me. a. break.
Fundamentalism sucks, that's why, whether it's the suckers manhandled by Constantine, or the reactionaries who retrospectively "created" the Roman "Catholic" Church.
Fundamentalism sucks, that's why, whether it's the suckers manhandled by Constantine, or the reactionaries who retrospectively "created" the Roman "Catholic" Church.
Meh. Keep your lame little indulgences. I want the whole enchilada: a plenary indulgence. No sense doing this piecemeal.
They bring those back, and I'm turning Catholic for the day. Better safe than sorry. Grace is good and all, but, well .... belt and suspenders if you catch my drift.
Last one was in the 70's I think, so they're about due for another.
They bring those back, and I'm turning Catholic for the day. Better safe than sorry. Grace is good and all, but, well .... belt and suspenders if you catch my drift.
Last one was in the 70's I think, so they're about due for another.
.... But be sure to bring your Visa card, because in Purgatory they don't take unrepentant sinners, and they don't take American Express.
or
Big Mac on Good Friday: $1.99
Finishing off a bottle of sacramental wine: $10
Getting all your sins forgiven with a plenary indulgence: Priceless
There are some things money can't buy. Wait. No there aren't. Mastercard.
or
Big Mac on Good Friday: $1.99
Finishing off a bottle of sacramental wine: $10
Getting all your sins forgiven with a plenary indulgence: Priceless
There are some things money can't buy. Wait. No there aren't. Mastercard.
What was that Indulgence involved in the plot of the movie 'Dogma'?
Wasn't it something to do with 100 year old churches?
Wasn't it something to do with 100 year old churches?
feodor said: "Replace the "nots" with "ands". To me, Meyers seems to be defining a divide: that the "Church" does or preaches the stuff to the right of "not" (in the short list of 5 "not"s listed by ER) whereas, the follower of Jesus would believe or do the stuff to the left of "not". After all, the title of his book is Saving Jesus from the Church which implies two active characters: those who would save Jesus and the Church which has bound him up in some very imaginative (but likely inaccurate) and harmful trappings (see a link to the Westar Institute's Jesus Seminar material at their website. The material used in the Seminar represents a scholarly view of what little we can actually know about Jesus based on early writings).
From my reading of the bible, Jesus never asks anyone to worship him. He seems to ask people to follow him and I interpret that to mean that we should strive to be like him, to become an enhanced human like he became, capable of healing, knowing minds, maybe knowing the future, etc. (look up the charisms called out in Acts and Corinthians). Be good, do good works. Cause him to want to be YOUR friend.
mc1
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From my reading of the bible, Jesus never asks anyone to worship him. He seems to ask people to follow him and I interpret that to mean that we should strive to be like him, to become an enhanced human like he became, capable of healing, knowing minds, maybe knowing the future, etc. (look up the charisms called out in Acts and Corinthians). Be good, do good works. Cause him to want to be YOUR friend.
mc1
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