Monday, November 11, 2013

The "Really" File - ("Loosely Christian"?)

.....and are always learning something new,
and yet are never able to arrive
at real knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 3:7 WNT
"Bruce Epperly is a pastor, theologian, spiritual guide, and author of nearly 30 books.
Where did the title “loosely Christian” come from?
The term originally came up in a conversation with my son. We were sitting on the patio of Georgetown University Hospital, where he was being treated for cancer. A child of two pastors, he
referred to himself as “loosely Christian.” I was intrigued by his self-description and pondered what it meant to have a loosely-held faith in the postmodern and pluralistic age. My son represents many young people and their parents, along with self-described emerging Christians, who see faith as lively, transformative, and constantly changing.
“Loose” reflects the fluidity of a living faith that embraces the best of tradition in light of new understandings of science, medicine, religious pluralism, and cosmology.
 In contrast, a rock solid faith is stuck in the past and asserts that God speaks only to people who share their beliefs. Non-Christians, agnostics, and seekers are condemned as theological infidels.
 
From the "Really" File
I want this book to speak to the adventurer and doubter in all of us, providing a vision of Christianity large enough to encompass our growing awareness of insights from science, cosmology, and the religious pluralism of our time.

Traditionally a shaman, whether male or female, is a religious personage charged with joining heaven and earth, the spiritual and embodied, to bring healing to persons and the world. As a pastor, I am in the lineage of ancient shamans as a healer, teacher, teacher, and guide between heaven and earth. This same energy and insight is available to lay people as well." Patheos

****So a "rock solid faith" is "stuck in the past"?****
REALLY?