Since November 22, 2011, I have been what might be considered a student of Progressive Christianity. This is the date of hearing about Progressive Christian thinking for the first time when listening to Bishop John Shelby Spong being interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio. I said to myself, “Much of what he says I agree with and I no longer feel so alone!”
I now consider myself a Progressive Christianity adherent in spite of my church membership in a mainline, rural, ELCA church. Though I certainly claim to be no expert, I have been a keen follower of the
ProgressiveChristianity.org and TCPC web sites and have done some branching off to resources suggested on-line. No, I haven’t read all I really need to read or could read. I have only started to delve into some of the books written by Bishop Spong. I recently finished reading
Jesus For The Non-Religious, a real eye-opener. I have read all the question and answer weeklies since their inception by Bishop Spong. Rev. Jim Burklo’s web site is something I regularly go to. I receive his weekly “Musings” articles on-line. I’ve done much thinking of my own. Though not an expert nor having a theological degree (I am a former psychologist), I would like to share the listing I came up with that, to me, contrasts Biblical fundamentalism with what I perceive Progressive Christianity to be. Later in life, my listing may allow room for changes as I continue to grow spiritually.
One caveat in making my list was imposing on myself a limit of four words for each comparative description. However, this constraint on myself allows no room for further elaboration but forces me to be using an economy of words.
FUNDAMENTAL PROGRESSIVE
Reference to “biblical authority” Self-directed biblical interpretation
Heaven/hell dichotomy Unfathomable eternal destiny
Creedal adherence Individual belief perspective
God as “trinity” God/humans monotheistically “one”
Bible quoting excessively “wordy” Using selected biblical quotations
Devil as real entity There’s only “evil” people
Dogma and doctrine provinciality Individual beliefs are valued
Three-tiered universe Scientifically defined universe
Literal “second coming” Revelation description not decipherable
Sin emphasis Self-improvement emphasis
Adam’s “fall” as real Eden garden as metaphor
Genesis creation account Evolution and Big Bang
Heterosexual union only Love’s open boundary acceptance
Bible as God-inspired Bible: authors’ God experiences
Miracles as literal Miracles as symbolic/metaphorical
Bible supports “end times” Earth’s geo-astronomical fate
Ten Commandment stone tablets Commandments as humanly recorded
Literal resurrection and ascension Jesus’ eternal passing unknown
Belief-centered emphasis Behavior-centered emphasis
Jesus as only “way” No “one” Godly path
“Faith” primary over rationality Rationality shapes faith
Faith healing Illness acceptance “with” God
Prophetic futuristic revelations Naturalistic “come what may”
Fear of God admonition Fearless “going forth”
God perceived more concretely God embraced more abstractly
A “worshipping” tribal mentality Appreciating God’s awesome mystery
Tyrannical God acts believed Tyranny as biblical myth
Earthly circumscribed time frame Endless cosmological time frame
“Witnessing” – biblically based emphasis Sharing personal God-revelations
Jesus as “only” path Multiple God-pathways
Anthropomorphic God bias God as present panentheistically
Clerical/church tradition adherence Religious “breaking free”
“Obedience” to paternalistic God Living responsibly, loving freely
God as punishing parent Living your own consequences
Bible: absolute spiritual guide Various spiritual expression forms
Prayer petitioning emphasis Prayer as meditative acceptance
Heaven-bound destiny Desiring fuller Creator Consciousness
Jesus as God’s “son” Jesus humanly reveals God
Post-Jesus: Holy Spirit God’s spirit always was
“Preachy” church/religious style Free contemplative seeking/searching
Security-bound biblical literalism God revealed multiple ways
Strict biblically based answers Entertaining other pondered viewpoints
Continuing fourth century interpretations Scholarly science augments tradition
Exclusive “Savior” necessity “Ground of being” realization
From/into the sky God within and throughout
Excessive biblical referencing/quoting Spiritual communication — “everyday” words
Jesus’ “God-head” equality Jesus: divine-like human
Ancient religion complacency Openness to evolutionary thoughts
Security in concrete literality Comfort in questioning unknowns
Eternal reward versus punishment Destiny mysterious, more abstract
Uses concretely harsh wording Philosophically worded preference
Reason is “the Word” Allows a scientific rationale
Stereotypically patterned Innovation acceptance
list by Randall Wehler, March 2014
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