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Progressive Christian

2022-08-20T07:25:25-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Pearls Before Swine” – What Did Jesus Mean?

Last updated on: August 20, 2022 at 7:25 am By Gregory T. Smith

When Jesus said, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7.6),” what did he mean? Christians often quote this phrase as a sideways insult, implying their own value and another person’s piggishness. Somehow believers think they can disparage each other and get away with it, just because they’re quoting Christ. When Jesus said this, did he intend it as an insult? Was he stroking the egos of his listeners, telling them that they were full of pearls of wisdom, compared... Read more

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specks and logs

2022-08-19T17:55:00-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Do You Believe in Angels?

Last updated on: August 19, 2022 at 5:55 pm By Gregory T. Smith

As a progressive Christian, I have deconstructed many things about my faith – but not my view of angels. For many Christians, religious deconstruction often results in a better understanding of theology but a regrettable loss of spirituality. But when you have a supernatural encounter like the one that I had, you know that spiritual reality is undeniable. I’m about to tell you a story that I’ve told very few people. It’s how I learned that even in the face... Read more

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2022-12-07T07:03:57-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If You Give a Man a Fish: Humanitarianism and the Gospel

Last updated on: December 7, 2022 at 7:03 am By Gregory T. Smith

If you give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will have food for life. There’s a lot of truth in that aphorism. But if you try to teach a man to fish while his belly is empty, he’ll be too distracted to learn. It’s not either-or, but both-and. Biblical Law The Bible has a lot to say about humanitarianism. The Jewish law did not provide for a... Read more

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Challenging the Church

2022-12-07T07:03:38-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Church Discipline (Part 5): Discipling is Better than Discipline

Last updated on: December 7, 2022 at 7:03 am By Gregory T. Smith

Evangelical pastors look at me as if I’ve grown two heads when I say I don’t believe in church discipline. “How can you lead a church without church discipline?” they ask. I look at the ministry of Jesus, who never disciplined people, but discipled them instead. When you “Matthew 18 someone”, you bring them under Church control, as if it is your religious duty to enforce behavior modification. When you first “Corinthians 13 somebody”, you disciple them in love. If... Read more

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Richard Foster

2022-08-10T19:23:12-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When My Relatives Believe Differently

Last updated on: August 10, 2022 at 7:23 pm By Gregory T. Smith

How do you handle it when your relatives believe differently? Cain killed Abel because of a difference in their faith—but your religious differences don’t have to end in tragedy. Growing Up in His Shadow Two people could not have been more different in their faiths, even though we had the same beginnings. My older brother and I are twenty-two months apart, a good age gap to grow up as best friends and worst enemies. There were times when he was... Read more

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theological differences

2022-08-06T10:16:38-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Church Discipline (Part 4): Coverings and Cover-Ups

Last updated on: August 6, 2022 at 10:16 am By Gregory T. Smith

The Church often uses internal discipline to cover up crime. Because the church believes itself a spiritual authority (rather than influence) in society, it oversteps it’s bounds with church discipline. So far in this series, I’ve talked about how Jesus’s words in Matthew 18 have been twisted into an excuse for spiritual bullying. We’ve seen how Paul’s pharisaical notion that church leaders should be God’s morality police. We’ve deconstructed the doctrine of spiritual covering that allows excommunication to be a... Read more

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2022-08-06T09:57:30-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Church Discipline (Part Three): Is the Church Your Spiritual Covering?

Last updated on: August 6, 2022 at 9:57 am By Gregory T. Smith

Recently, I saw a meme of a father wielding the Shield of Faith to protect his young children from the “gay rainbow” that streamed toward their bed like a weapon. His other arm wrapped around them, he holds the Bible as they read together. The message is clear: Parents need to protect their children from “the gay agenda.” Faith and the Bible (as interpreted by the conservative church) are the covering that will help them do this. Not only is... Read more

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2022-12-07T07:02:46-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Church Discipline (Part two): Are Pastors God’s Morality Police?

Last updated on: December 7, 2022 at 7:02 am By Gregory T. Smith

Are pastors supposed to function as God’s morality police? Is there a better way than trying to control people’s sins and modify their behavior? In part one of this series, we looked at how “Matthew eighteening” church members we view as sinners is an abuse of scripture and people. Another Bible passage that leaders use to justify their spiritual bullying is 1 Corinthians 5:1-11. Here, Paul rebukes the church for allowing sin in their midst. 1 Corinthians 5:1-11... Read more

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pastors as shepherds

2022-12-07T07:02:30-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Church Discipline (Part One): Matthew 18 and Spiritual Bullying

Last updated on: December 7, 2022 at 7:02 am By Gregory T. Smith

Church discipline is all about bullying people who don’t conform. There–I said it. A New Verb Some pastors know how to turn Matthew 18 into a verb. For example, one minister I know said, “We had a couple in our church who were living together outside of marriage, so I Matthew eighteened them.” He meant that he was bringing someone under church discipline. He didn’t realize how much it revealed about his own nature and that of his church.... Read more

Family, Parenting and Religion

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Challenging the Church

2022-12-07T07:02:10-08:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Emotional Contagion: Helping Love Go Viral

Last updated on: December 7, 2022 at 7:02 am By Gregory T. Smith

It seems that COVID keeps coming out with new variants. A couple weeks after my fiftieth birthday, I just got my second booster. As a Health Department employee, I encourage people to keep getting vaccinated, washing your hands, wearing masks, and distancing. Even though more recent strains are not as deadly as the original variants, this virus still kills. But it’s not just the disease that’s deadly. Emotional Contagion: Deadly or Life-Giving Since the beginning of COVID-19, there has been... Read more

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