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Progressive Christian

2020-01-20T09:48:35-04:00

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.

Some thoughts on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Are we better than this?

Last updated on: January 20, 2020 at 9:48 am By Vance Morgan

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I am reminded of a few days I spent in the nation’s capital last August while Jeanne worked at a large veterinary conference. While she worked, I walked many miles, including past the MLK memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, where he delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech. While we were in D.C., two mass shootings occurred, one in Texas and one in Ohio. I wrote about the whole experience a few... Read more

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2020-01-17T15:51:20-04:00

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.

American Airlines 4395, Bombing Raids Over Germany, and a Spark of the Divine

Last updated on: January 17, 2020 at 3:51 pm By Vance Morgan

Perhaps a novel whose main character is the squadron leader for World War II bombing raids over Germany was not the best reading material while flying from Charleston, SC to Philadelphia on the way back home to Providence a few days ago. But that’s what I found myself doing sitting in first class (the $70 for the upgrade was more than worth it). It got me to thinking about war, fate, and both the worst and best that human beings... Read more

2020-01-16T07:33:16-04:00

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.

Best of 2019 #3: When Christianity Becomes an Angry and Fearful Faith

Last updated on: January 16, 2020 at 7:33 am By Vance Morgan

Last June, I used essays by Michael Gerson and Marilynne Robinson to explore what happens when fear, rather than love and grace, becomes the dominant energy behind one’s faith commitments. This essay was my third-most-viewed post in 2019. Enjoy! Read more

2020-01-08T19:24:49-04:00

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.

Life Lessons Learned from “The Muppet Show”

Last updated on: January 8, 2020 at 7:24 pm By Vance Morgan

I have a good friend and colleague in the philosophy department who has twin daughters. Several years ago, during the summer between his daughters’ junior and senior years in high school, my friend and his family visited seventeen different college campuses. The young ladies in question, although twins, could not be more different in appearance or personality. Daughter #1, whose interests were predominantly focused on science, favored Dartmouth College but was also very interested in the University of Virginia and... Read more

2020-01-09T16:46:37-04:00

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.

What Really Happened that Day at the Jordan River?

Last updated on: January 9, 2020 at 4:46 pm By Vance Morgan

The season of Epiphany, squeezed in between the Christmas season and Lent, is the annual liturgical celebration of Jesus’ coming out party. The gospel texts over the next few weeks will follow Jesus as he calls disciples, performs miracles, gets thrown out of his hometown synagogue for claiming to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah, and delivers the Sermon on the Mount. Today is the first Sunday of Epiphany: on tap in today’s gospel is Matthew’s account... Read more

2020-01-08T19:30:29-04:00

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 Best of 2019 #4: The Dangers of Tribal Christianity

Last updated on: January 8, 2020 at 7:30 pm By Vance Morgan

Last May, I wrote about the often-made claim from evangelical Christians that they are the most discriminated against group of people in the country. That essay was my fourth-most-viewed blog post of 2019–Enjoy! Are Evangelical Christians Discriminated Against? The Dangers of Tribal Christianity Read more

2020-12-31T14:53:28-04:00

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 Best of 2020 # 5: Leaving Jesusland . . . For Good

Last updated on: December 31, 2020 at 2:53 pm By Vance Morgan

For the next several Thursdays, I will be reposting my top blog posts of 2020, judged by the amount of traffic generated by each essay. Coming in at #5 on the list is an essay from last August in which I describe what happened when I posted a map on Facebook. Not just any map mind you. This map showed what North America would look like if several northeastern, northern midwest, and northwestern states currently in the United States of... Read more

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2020-01-07T09:46:36-04:00

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.

An Epiphany in Real Time

Last updated on: January 7, 2020 at 9:46 am By Vance Morgan

Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany, the first day of the liturgical season that celebrates Jesus’ coming out party. It reminds me of the Sunday several years ago when I had a real epiphany . . . —“It’s the cold mornings that it’s the hardest. You want nothing more than to wake up in your own place, look out the window, make some coffee, and not have to go anywhere.” –“They’ve given me 10 days. Who the hell can... Read more

2020-01-03T16:00:03-04:00

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.

On the Art of Discussion: How to Avoid Being an Ass

Last updated on: January 3, 2020 at 4:00 pm By Vance Morgan

In final preparation for the spring semester that will begin in ten days, I am reading the final few essays in Michel de Montaigne’s monumental Essais, the fascinating book that will be the central text in an honors colloquium on Montaigne and his 16th century world that I will be teaching for the first time. I am regularly amazed by just how relevant Montaigne’s reflections from more than four centuries ago are to our contemporary world. Case in point: Montaigne’s... Read more

2020-12-29T18:02:54-04:00

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.

Dreaming and Doing

Last updated on: December 29, 2020 at 6:02 pm By Vance Morgan

On New Year’s Day, I wrote that my New Year’s resolution this year is to take seriously how a ninety-year-old monk described me when he signed one of his many books of poetry for me: To Vance, a man who dreams but never wastes time. As I have thought about the challenge of being both a dreamer and a person who gets shit done, I have been taken back to texts both familiar and unfamiliar from the Jewish scriptures. The... Read more

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