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Progressive Christian

2022-08-25T08:16:23-04:00

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.

Anniversary Week for “Freelance Christianity”: Here’s the #1 post in the past decade

Last updated on: August 25, 2022 at 8:16 am By Vance Morgan

This week marks the tenth anniversary of this blog–hard to believe! It has been on Patheos for a bit over five years. When I first started this project, it was clear that only my immediate family and maybe a dozen friends and colleagues were reading it–now thousands of readers visit and comment every month. To make this auspicious anniversary, this week I am posting the two most popular posts in terms of site visits in the last ten years. Coming... Read more

2022-08-22T12:46:08-04:00

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.

Anniversary Week for “Freelance Christianity”: Here’s the #2 post in the past decade

Last updated on: August 22, 2022 at 12:46 pm By Vance Morgan

This week marks the tenth anniversary of this blog–hard to believe! It has been on Patheos for a bit over five years. When I first started this project, it was clear that only my immediate family and maybe a dozen friends and colleagues were reading it–now thousands of readers visit and comment every month. To mark this auspicious anniversary, I am posting the two most popular posts in terms of site visits in the last ten years. Coming in at... Read more

2022-09-14T21:18:46-04:00

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.

Something More Powerful than Our Virtues

Last updated on: September 14, 2022 at 9:18 pm By Vance Morgan

One of the habits that having a puppy in the house for the past ten months has established is a one mile walk as soon as she gets me up (around 6:00, usually). As Bovina and I take various loops through the neighborhood, I listen to podcasts. My “favorites” include Fresh Air Hell and High Water Hidden Brain The Bible for Normal People Everything Happens Evolving Faith and many more. One morning this week I listened to the latest episode... Read more

2022-08-11T14:45:11-04:00

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.

Die Before You Die

Last updated on: August 11, 2022 at 2:45 pm By Vance Morgan

For many, the raising of Lazarus is Jesus’ signature miracle, even though it is only mentioned in one of the four gospels. A brief mention of the miracle in a book I am currently reading made me nostalgic for the epic Bible movies of my youth. During my childhood, we did not go to movies—that was something, along with a bunch of other things, that good Baptists didn’t do. But we did watch television—except on Sundays. So, my brother and... Read more

2022-08-16T07:06:28-04:00

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.

When Your Imaginary Friend Is Real

Last updated on: August 16, 2022 at 7:06 am By Vance Morgan

From as early as I can remember, I had an invisible butler. My mother enjoyed laying my clothes out for the next day when I went to bed, but every once in a while it was clear that someone else was stepping in to take care of my sartorial needs. I would wake up with unmatched socks laid out, or two shirts but nothing for the waist down, or no underwear, or shoes but no socks. Not wanting to insult... Read more

2022-08-07T15:17:31-04:00

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.

“Whatever” is No Way to Live

Last updated on: August 7, 2022 at 3:17 pm By Vance Morgan

Although I occasionally find myself immersed in things medieval with a bunch of freshmen in the spring semester, I am not a medievalist. I must confess that I often find medieval literature, philosophy, theology, and just about everything else medieval largely boring, inscrutable, or both. Still, it’s hard to go wrong in the classroom studying Dante’s Inferno with eighteen-year-olds. Sin, violence, torture—what could be better? Is suicide worse than lying? Is adultery less problematic than treason? How do gluttony and simony... Read more

Development of Western Civilization

2022-08-11T06:54:53-04:00

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.

Jesus Taught Us How To Be Human

Last updated on: August 11, 2022 at 6:54 am By Vance Morgan

Jeanne asked me a question about my blog the other day that, after I stopped being defensive, got me to thinking carefully about what I actually believe concerning Jesus. I’ll save the specific question and my reaction for a later essay. Her question came on the same day that I had been trying to explain what “Freelance Christianity” is and how it might differ from traditional, mainline Christianity to a questioner on Facebook. My sense was that his question was... Read more

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History and Religion

2022-08-08T13:34:30-04:00

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.

Remembering David McCullough and Why the Liberal Arts Matter More than Ever

Last updated on: August 8, 2022 at 1:34 pm By Vance Morgan

I was saddened to hear that David McCullough, one of the great historians of his generation, passed away Sunday at age 89. MuCullough was a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner [for Truman (1992) and John Adams (2001)]; the wonderful HBO miniseries John Adams, starring Paul Giamatti in the title role and Laura Linney as Abigail Adams, was based on McCullough’s book. Among his many other claims to fame was being the narrator for Ken Burns’ iconic PBS documentary The Civil War in... Read more

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Development of Western Civilization

Development of Western Civilization

2022-08-04T10:09:49-04:00

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.

This Book Changed My Life: Marilynne Robinson’s “Gilead”

Last updated on: August 4, 2022 at 10:09 am By Vance Morgan

I asked my Facebook friends a while ago to list three or four books that changed their lives. Not necessarily books that belong in the Great Books curriculum, but books that came just at the right time and spoke to them in a particular and memorable way. I wrote about one of mine a couple of weeks ago–here’s another one. A candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning . . . It seems to me to be a... Read more

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2022-08-03T21:27:13-04:00

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.

When are F-bombs Appropriate in the Classroom?

Last updated on: August 3, 2022 at 9:27 pm By Vance Morgan

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 The Fall semester of classes on my campus begins three weeks from tomorrow. As I was putting the finishing touches on my General Ethics syllabus, I was grateful that I teach at a Catholic college. Even though I am not Catholic, the range of issues I am able to work on with my students is wider than if I was teaching at a secular college... Read more

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