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Progressive Christian

2026-03-16T06:41:30-08:00

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.

Holy Water Isn’t Acid. Stop Weaponizing Faith.

Last updated on: March 16, 2026 at 6:41 am By Gregory T. Smith

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In movies, holy water burns vampires like acid. In the real world, people scald their enemies with faith that ought to nourish, not kill. Last week, I observed that movie-holy-water requires one thing to be effective: it needs monsters. Otherwise, it remains in the font, blessing babies. But what happens if you don’t have vampires or demons close at hand? Then, you’re tempted to bring your spiritual heroics closer to home and declare fellow human beings to be the devil... Read more

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Does holy water burn?

2026-03-15T10:47:14-08:00

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.

Holy Water Does WHAT Now?

Last updated on: March 15, 2026 at 10:47 am By Gregory T. Smith

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March 22 is World Water Day. Let’s talk about what holy water does—and doesn’t—do. And how you can use it in your own faith. If, like me, you grew up on a steady diet of vampire movies, you already know the rule: holy water isn’t for blessing. It’s for burning. The church may have invented holy water to cleanse, but movie-holy-water corrodes like battery acid. Far from a sacrament, it’s a superweapon. Here are a few movie examples from my... Read more

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2026-02-16T14:45:55-08:00

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.

Jesus & Lao Tzu: The Peaceable Kingdom

Last updated on: February 16, 2026 at 2:45 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Jesus & Lao Tzu: The Peaceable Kingdom Do you want to live in a peaceful nation? The Way of Love calls us to stop focusing on divisiveness and embrace our inherent oneness. Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom of God. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu envisioned a kingdom that orders things without force. Lao Tzu’s picture pairs with Edward Hicks’s Peaceable Kingdom (ca. 1833), based on the prophecies of Isaiah 11 and 65. This famous work of art depicts... Read more

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2026-02-16T16:47:56-08:00

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.

How Household Shrines Create Breathing Space in Your Home

Last updated on: February 16, 2026 at 4:47 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Your home is your castle—but is it your sanctuary? Household shrines can turn ordinary rooms into sacred space. It’s almost time for spring cleaning—why not use your home cleanout as a time to carve out a little breathing space for your spirit? Spring Cleaning Spring cleaning is about more than dusting and decluttering. Around the world, it’s a spiritual tradition. Before the celebration of Passover, many observant Jews give their homes a good cleaning. They also remove all traces... Read more

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2026-01-26T22:02:37-08:00

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.

Seeing Both Sides: Jesus, Sinners, and Modern Blind Spots

Last updated on: January 26, 2026 at 10:02 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Many worship a Jesus who forgives personal sin. Others follow a Jesus who fixes systemic injustice. The Gospels reveal One who does both. A friend who was an Episcopal priest once told me his observation that mainline Protestants tend to define sin primarily as systemic injustice, while evangelicals often understand sin mainly as moral failure. These tendencies are not universal, but they are common enough to notice. Jesus did not engage in such dualistic either/or thinking but became a “friend... Read more

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tax collectors and prostitutes

2026-01-26T22:02:04-08:00

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.

Renaming God: When You Need God to Hold You

Last updated on: January 26, 2026 at 10:02 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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For many, God is an academic or theoretical pursuit. That works for theologians and seminarians—but sometimes you just need God to hold you. In this “Renaming God” series, we’ve been discussing alternative names for God—some ancient ones that have been forgotten, and others that are newly imagined. Why rename God? Because many people have baggage that makes the traditional names seem like a disconnect. Because as times change, so does our understanding of the Divine. Throughout the Bible, our heroes... Read more

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2026-01-26T22:00:24-08:00

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.

Ananias Shows How Not to Turn Cold in This ICE Age

Last updated on: January 26, 2026 at 10:00 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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Maybe you hate ICE agents. But is nurturing that hate good for your soul? How can you keep love warm and not turn cold in this ICE age? If we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes our emotions get the better of us. We read the headlines and see what Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are doing under Trump’s administration, and it makes us angry. If unauthorized searches, zip-tying and caging of children, separation of families, detainment and deportation of U.S. citizens,... Read more

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2026-01-25T15:33:51-08:00

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.

MAGA Churchgoers – Please Convert to Christ

Last updated on: January 25, 2026 at 3:33 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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MAGA churchgoers—please read the conversion of Paul in light of immigration raids. Could it be Jesus that you are persecuting? Saturday’s murder of Alex Pretti by carried out by federal immigration agents is another horrifying death for which the Trump administration bears moral responsibility—and which the President has defended publicly. This makes two murders of US citizens in just over two weeks. Churchgoers who still support the current administration’s policy of dragging (mostly Christian) families away from each other, killing... Read more

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2026-01-17T14:59:20-08:00

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.

The Lie Behind “When God Looks at You, He Sees Jesus”

Last updated on: January 17, 2026 at 2:59 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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The church said God loves me because I’m “in Christ,” and when God looks at me, He sees Jesus. That idea does more harm than good. I believed that lie so much that when I was a pastor, I preached it. I even developed a neat illustration where I took an ugly-looking white rock covered with cracks and flaws and said, “The white represents your purity (vaguely racist, much?) and the cracks and flaws represent your sin.” Then I’d... Read more

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2026-01-24T12:16:16-08:00

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.

Jesus & Lao Tzu: Presiding Over a Funeral

Last updated on: January 24, 2026 at 12:16 pm By Gregory T. Smith

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In Minnesota, “justice” claimed the life of Renee Good. And some want a victory parade—forgetting that their victory is presiding over a funeral. On social media, people who call themselves Christians say that those who do not cooperate with law enforcement will get themselves “popped.” ICE’s “justice” they seek has left over thirty people dead in ICE custody in 2025, and one Good person who needs a funeral in 2026. Jesus and Lao Tzu remind us that when violence... Read more

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