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Progressive Christian

2022-05-04T11:42:30-04:00

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.

Glad that Roe v. Wade is going to be overturned? You have sown the wind, and you will reap the whirlwind

Last updated on: May 4, 2022 at 11:42 am By Vance Morgan

I seldom jump into current events in this blog, simply because I don’t want to participate in the knee-jerk, “who can crank out an unthinking response the most quickly” activity that infects the blogosphere. But given the close-to-certainty that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade within the next few weeks, I’m making an exception today. Actually, what I have to say is something that I wrote concerning the abortion issue a bit over two years ago. “Idolatry and Abortion”... Read more

2022-05-01T20:30:11-04:00

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.

The Gospel According to Compost

Last updated on: May 1, 2022 at 8:30 pm By Vance Morgan

Alas, and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? Isaac Watts When I recall the words to some of the hymns we regularly sang in church during my youth, I’m amazed that anyone survived intact psychologically. I am told that in recent hymnbooks the question in the last line has been changed to “for sinners such as I?” but the sentiment remains the same. And it’s... Read more

2022-04-28T14:36:29-04:00

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.

Is God a Silent Partner?

Last updated on: April 28, 2022 at 2:36 pm By Vance Morgan

In my “Faith and Doubt” colloquium this semester, we have encountered many authors who write about the “hiddenness” of God, the challenge of seeking to be in relationship or contact with a God who (1) created out of love so that we might freely respond in love to the invitation to relationship and (2) who is silent, absent, or both. I started seminar last week with a PowerPoint screen containing these three quotations: The trouble about God is that he... Read more

2022-04-27T08:56:20-04:00

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.

Organizing Books is My Charism

Last updated on: April 27, 2022 at 8:56 am By Vance Morgan

Last weekend, Jeanne and I took a quick trip to Greenville, South Carolina to attend a wedding. Other than driving through the state on I-95 headed north or south at various times over the years, the only time either of us had ever spent any time in the state was in Charleston. We spent a couple days there a few years ago vacationing with some Florida friends (we also hit Savannah, GA on that vacation); I also was in Charleston... Read more

2025-02-01T11:14:00-04:00

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 Wisdom of Socrates’ Younger Brother–Mediocrates

Last updated on: February 1, 2025 at 11:14 am By Vance Morgan

A Facebook friend who knows that I am a philosophy professor sent me a thought-provoking picture a short time ago. I thought I knew a good deal about the ancient world, particularly ancient philosophy, but Mediocrates was a new one for me. So I did some research. Mediocrates (around 450-370ish BCE) was the (much) younger sibling of his slightly more famous brother, Socrates. Like Socrates, everything we know about Mediocrates comes through the testimony of those who knew and appreciated... Read more

2022-04-15T19:52:38-04:00

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.

A Human Being Having a Divine Experience

Last updated on: April 15, 2022 at 7:52 pm By Vance Morgan

Two decades ago, as my mother-in-law was steadily descending into the hell of Alzheimer’s, an acquaintance described Jeanne’s most recent difficult interaction with her mother this way: “Rose is a spiritual being having a human experience.” This was a helpful reminder that there is more to a human being than her body, a something more that is not necessarily subject to the vicissitudes of our physical existence. Since we know our physical selves are temporary and have a very short... Read more

2022-04-20T15:11:37-04:00

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.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Last updated on: April 20, 2022 at 3:11 pm By Vance Morgan

There is a saying attributed to Saint Francis that I have heard frequently in more than three decades as a non-Catholic professor in Catholic higher education: Preach the Gospel—use words if necessary. If you google the statement, the items at the top of the search results are mostly attempts to establish that despite the popularity of the attribution, Francis never said this. Not only did he not say it, some deniers argue, it would be misleading and problematic if he... Read more

2022-04-15T14:17:38-04:00

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.

A Physical Body Plus Something More

Last updated on: April 15, 2022 at 2:17 pm By Vance Morgan

The central theme of my ethics class last fall was human dignity. Through short stories, excerpts from novels and plays, and philosophical articles we explored the reasons why we believe that human beings, simply by virtue of being human beings, are morally set apart from everything else. This is a high stakes issue, since our commitment to universal human rights and equal treatment of all human beings, despite our obvious differences, is built on our claim that a human being’s... Read more

2022-04-17T13:10:35-04:00

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.

I Will Awaken the Dawn: Some Thoughts for Easter

Last updated on: April 17, 2022 at 1:10 pm By Vance Morgan

Our seven-month old corgi Bovina, one of the greatest joys of Jeanne’s and my life, has developed a routine for greeting the sun as it peeks its head over our back fence each morning. The first morning rays reflect off our back storm door; if someone moves the door back and forth, the reflection moves along the side and back fence. Everyone rises before the sun gets up at our house—Bovina immediately insists on going into the back yard and... Read more

2022-04-12T11:15:05-04:00

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.

Taking Death for a Walk: A Holy Saturday Reflection

Last updated on: April 12, 2022 at 11:15 am By Vance Morgan

A thing about dying is that you can’t consult anyone who has done it. Peter Schjeldahl A friend who was the junior warden at Trinity Episcopal Church where Jeanne and I worship died last week after an extended battle with cancer. His funeral mass was this past Monday. Don was in his seventies and had been a member of the church since his youth. Needless to say, he was a fixture. At the end of the liturgy, as Don’s casket... Read more

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