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Progressive Christian

2021-10-24T07:06:11-04:00

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 Heart Has its Reasons . . .”: Why I am Not an Atheist

Last updated on: October 24, 2021 at 7:06 am By Vance Morgan

In my ethics classes, we are currently in the middle of a unit called “Does ethics have anything to do with God?” Since many of my students on the Catholic college campus where I teach are products of twelve years of Catholic parochial school education, this is a question that they have never encountered, let alone addressed seriously. I take delight in introducing them to the possibility that a serious commitment to the moral life need have nothing to do... Read more

2021-10-20T16:58:57-04:00

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 Christian’s Worst Nightmare

Last updated on: October 20, 2021 at 4:58 pm By Vance Morgan

I am in the middle of reading fifty 4-6 page papers from the students in my two sections of General Ethics. It’s a slog because there are so many of them, but they are engaging with some seminal questions about the moral life and about our commitments to actually acting on what we claim to believe. What would happen if we actually took the things we claim to believe seriously enough to do something about them? Seriously enough to completely... Read more

2021-10-18T15:23:00-04:00

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.

Why We Believe Things that Aren’t True

Last updated on: October 18, 2021 at 3:23 pm By Vance Morgan

Over the years that I have been writing this blog, those who describe themselves as non-believers or atheists have frequently expressed a consistent confusion and frustration. It usually goes something like this: “How can someone who seems to be relatively normal and intelligent believe in something without any evidence?” I don’t get defensive when asked this and similar questions—I don’t want to be that sort of Christian. I often reply by suggesting that there is evidence to support my faith,... Read more

2021-10-14T17:34:33-04:00

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 Music of the Book of Job

Last updated on: October 14, 2021 at 5:34 pm By Vance Morgan

When discussing which Biblical text or texts we should include in our new “Faith and Doubt” colloquium that debuts next semester, my teaching partner and I immediately agreed that it had to be the Book of Job. Scholars tell us that it is the oldest text in the Jewish scriptures; it is also a classic tale of one person’s persistent and stubborn faith in the midst of doubt. Portions from Job have been the first lectionary reading each of the... Read more

2021-10-14T16:34:56-04:00

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.

It’s My Brother’s Birthday!

Last updated on: October 14, 2021 at 4:34 pm By Vance Morgan

My big brother, whom I unfortunately seldom see in the flesh, is celebrating his birthday today. He and my sister-in-law LaVona have been through a hell of a year–but they are still standing and facing down all of the challenges that come their way. Help me celebrate this important day! In the 1946 classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Angel Second Class Clarence Oddbody is assigned as George Bailey’s guardian angel. It’s a challenging assignment; George has been driven to... Read more

2021-10-09T11:57:16-04:00

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.

The Ethics of Invisibility: What would you do if no one is watching?

Last updated on: October 9, 2021 at 11:57 am By Vance Morgan

Hey Justin! What if you had a ring that made you invisible when you put it on? Would you use the ring to take the books you’ve been wanting from the kid’s section at the bookstore the next time we go to the mall? No. Why not? Because someone would know. In the summer of 1989, as I prepared for my first PhD-candidate solo flight in the classroom scheduled for the coming fall semester, I solicited advice from anyone and... Read more

2021-10-10T14:29:16-04:00

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.

Looking for God in All the Wrong Places

Last updated on: October 10, 2021 at 2:29 pm By Vance Morgan

Although it often caused trouble and brought me grief during my primary and secondary education years, I have never tried very hard to hide my serious geekiness. Accordingly, I start today’s blog post with the ancient Greek lyric poet Pindar. I need to be careful here, because I have four colleagues and friends on campus who are trained classicists—for all I know, one of them might have written their dissertation on Pindar. Many of Pindar’s surviving poems are “victory odes,” celebrations... Read more

2021-10-10T09:40:32-04:00

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 Appropriate Level of Outrage

Last updated on: October 10, 2021 at 9:40 am By Vance Morgan

As we have been selecting the required texts over the past couple of weeks for our colloquium on “Faith and Doubt” next semester, my teaching partner (a Dominican priest) and I were both inclined to think outside the box. My most inspired suggestion (I have one of those no more than once per month) was that we should kick the semester off with something from Anne Lamott. The best thing anyone has ever said about my writing is that it... Read more

2021-10-07T14:57:20-04:00

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.

A Faith Filled with Hard Sayings and Inconvenient Truths

Last updated on: October 7, 2021 at 2:57 pm By Vance Morgan

Dear Dr. Morgan: I’m writing to let you know that I won’t be in class today at 11:30. Our lacrosse match on campus that was scheduled for yesterday was rescheduled for today at 3:30. Our pre-game prep starts at 12:00, so I won’t be able to make class. I know that I have already missed a couple of classes this semester [four, as a matter of fact], but I’m hoping this won’t be a big problem. My academic advisor’s email address... Read more

2021-10-04T07:46:20-04:00

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.

The Moral LIfe of Dogs

Last updated on: October 4, 2021 at 7:46 am By Vance Morgan

Over the years I have developed dozens of strategies for getting students to participate in class discussions; the most reliable technique undoubtedly is to get them talking about their pets. Case in point: Next week, my ethics classes will be reading an article by biologist Frans de Waal. His decades of studying chimpanzee behavior have convinced him that we can learn a lot about the foundations of the moral life—a life often considered to be exclusively available to human beings—from... Read more

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