Question & Answer

Q: By Marlene

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.

A: By Rev. Deshna Charron

Dear Marlene,

Thank you for your comments. Yes, progressive Christians also read the Bible. We approach the Bible from a historical/critical method. We look at the history known on who wrote the books in the Bible, when they were written, and historian scholars’ best interpretation of why they were written. We also look at the original language that it would have been written in, Aramaic, and try to find the best translation. Finally, we do not read the Bible literally, but rather from an evolving understanding so that it can be applied to modern day. I wish you the best in finding an approach to Christianity that fits your needs and life.

~ Deshna

Hello Deshna,

Thank-you for your prompt reply. With all due respect, I do have one more question … what is the way of salvation?

According to John 14:6, Jesus is the only way. Accepting the fact that we are sinners, asking for forgiveness, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ (who took our sin upon Himself) and in faith, calling on Him to be a part of our lives and building a relationship with Him. With your “evolving understanding of Scripture” to suit the needs of society, has this changed, too?

Dear Marlene,

I can not speak for all progressive Christians on this one. But for myself, I would say that IF Jesus did indeed say that – and that is a big IF because scholars, progressive or not, know that the books called the new testament were written by human authors after the life of Jesus – these human authors were writing from their own perspective based on their own desires, fears and political agendas. These human authors were fallible. The books in the Bible grew over a very long period of about a thousand years, and it was only after several more centuries that the collection of books or canon, now accepted by Christians as Holy Scripture, was settled in 397 CE in the Constantinian Roman Empire. The Bible is not perfect. And it should not be read literally. The Scripture contains unethical material. There is genocide, murder, war, sexism, child sacrifice, homophobia. It is a teaching and wisdom collection of prophetic and poetic sharing from almost 2,000 years ago.

But alas, the hope for understanding passages like this is in the life that Jesus led. So if Jesus is the “Way,” the way is how he lived his life. And Jesus’ main teaching is that radical sacrificial love must extend to all, even our enemies, with special focus on the poor, those marginalized by religion and empire, the outcasts and the vulnerable. It seems highly unlikely that he would then also say that those who have had no access to him, or haven’t heard of him, or who have been raised with very different beliefs do not have access to the Kingdom of Heaven. Nor do I believe that Jesus would have preached about an actual hell. I believe that the way to salvation is through our actions, to be as Jesus was, alongside other enlightened beings: radically inclusive, radically hospitable, living in loving-kindness, compassionate, showing mercy, speaking truth to power, offering forgiveness, seeking reconciliation, and restorative justice. The Way of Jesus is to see God within all, to seek God within ourselves, to be like children in awe of beauty and nature, and to turn the tables on the oppressive Empire. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you, Marlene, as much as it is in anyone. We are saved when we go within and find it. We are saved when we live a life of radical love.

I believe the way of salvation according to Jesus was in how he lived and how he died. He died not for our sins but because of our sins … because people of power decided to punish him for his revolutionary ways. His radical sacrificial love was a threat to the Empire. Salvation and sacrifice aren’t personal experiences, but ones that must happen in community, as is still the custom of Jewish theology. Salvation is not individual, as modern evangelicalism has taught you to believe. Jesus was Jewish and his theology was different. Salvation happens when we find the Sacred Oneness of all and the world is ever changed for it.

~ Rev. Deshna Charron

Rev. Deshna Charron Shine is Executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org and Progressing Spirit and is an ordained Interfaith Minister. She is an author, international speaker, and a visionary.  She grew up in a thriving progressive Christian church and has worked in the field for over 13 years. She graduated from UCSB with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in Global Peace and Security. She is a lead author and editor on the children’s curriculum: A Joyful Path, Spiritual Curriculum. She co-authored the novel, Missing Mothers. She is the Executive Producer of Embrace Festival. She is passionate about sacred community, nourishing children spiritually, and transforming Christianity through a radically inclusive lens.