Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian

2023-03-16T12:07:54-06:00

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 Call To The Wild

Last updated on: March 16, 2023 at 12:07 pm By C. Don Jones

Hearing the divine call would affirm so much for us. People ask me when I heard my call to preach. One person told me when her husband thought he was called to be a pastor, she replied, he was mistaken because she was not called to be a pastor’s spouse. She was criticized for it. Yet, I agree with her. Do not expect everyone to fall in line with your momentary feelings on any subject. A calling is different than... Read more

Biblical Interpretation

Progressive Christianity

Spirituality

The Kingdom of God

2023-03-09T10:24:13-06:00

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.

White Male Flattery

Last updated on: March 9, 2023 at 10:24 am By C. Don Jones

Flattery will sometimes get you closer to your goal. How many times has a new pastor stumbled because they believed the flattery? I left one first Sunday morning worship as the new pastor. As she walked by an older woman pulled me over to whisper in my ear, “Thank God for you!” It was the sort of ego boost we like to receive now and again…well…all the time. But I was a little wary of it too. Previous pastors have... Read more

The United Methodist Church

Theology

2023-03-06T12:04:21-06:00

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 Gift of Community

Last updated on: March 6, 2023 at 12:04 pm By C. Don Jones

Community is a gift. True community is based on some sort of gift economy. It is not the ancient way. The best description I can think of is it is part of the created order. Gift giving is the way about which we should be more conscious. Being more conscious of it can lead us into better communities of love and peace. The Barter Myth Anthropologist David Graeber describes the origin of the myth of barter. Adam Smith provides a... Read more

Biblical Interpretation

Community

Conscience

Grace

2023-03-02T10:27:01-06:00

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 Don’t Want to Punch Nazis

Last updated on: March 2, 2023 at 10:27 am By C. Don Jones

Punch-a-Nazi is the battle cry of many on the political left in America. “Kill a commie for Mommy” is a similar slogan for the political right. Curiously, we ask ourselves how come everything is so “polarized?” Well, it is simple. People want to claim they will fight. Others actually want to fight. Even among those people, the fight is meant to be through the keyboard. It is all ridiculous. Extremism is not a problem. It is in vogue. The more... Read more

Redemptive Violence Myth

2023-02-27T11:33:58-06:00

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 Problem of Biblical Literalists

Last updated on: February 27, 2023 at 11:33 am By C. Don Jones

All Biblical literalists have a problem. They cannot teach us anything. It took me a while to figure this out. After all, I was brought up in a literalist tradition. I learned a lot about the Bible. I read and studied commentaries written by literalists. But what I really learned was how to use the Bible to argue for certain doctrinal positions. Proof-texting and universalizing certain ideas about the nature of holy scripture allows literalists to develop a circular “worldview.”... Read more

Biblical Interpretation

2023-02-23T14:33:46-06:00

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.

Lent And Life

Last updated on: February 23, 2023 at 2:33 pm By C. Don Jones

Lent is another word for Spring. I was surprised to learn this fact. Somehow, I got the idea it meant “fasting” or something similar. No one asks me, “What are you giving up for Spring?” It does not make much sense. But if someone asked what I was doing for Spring, I have several answers. It makes me ponder how Lent as an observance factors into these other tasks. Lent And Gardeners Where I live, we plant beans on Good... Read more

2023-02-20T15:46:55-06:00

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.

Out Of The Chapel: The Problem of Youth Revival

Last updated on: February 20, 2023 at 3:46 pm By C. Don Jones

The round-the-clock 11 day revival worship in Hughes Auditorium has ended by order of the University President. Thus illustrating a major problem of youth and young adult revivals. The stones did not cry out (not yet at least). I wonder how long the copy-cat revivals will continue. My guess is they will not last much longer than Presidents’ Day weekend. It makes me sad. Call such revivals what you will – mountain top highs, spiritual masturbation, or mass enthusiasm or... Read more

2023-02-16T12:08:30-06:00

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.

Populist Religion

Last updated on: February 16, 2023 at 12:08 pm By C. Don Jones

People forget George Wallace was a populist. He is known as a white racist segregationist who “stood in the schoolhouse door.” Wallace is not remembered for being “a man of the people.” His supporters could claim the Governor is “one of us” without any sense of irony. The present state of American Christianity is a populist problem. The problems within The United Methodist Church is really a populist issue. Churches that are disaffiliating are following the message of populism. We... Read more

2023-02-13T18:35:57-06:00

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.

Skunk Mating Season

Last updated on: February 13, 2023 at 6:35 pm By C. Don Jones

It is that time of year again. We are in skunk mating season. Love is in the air. The roads have the bodies of male animals that are now out of the gene pool. That is what happens when certain drives overcome the will to survive. Every inattentive driver knows the horrid smell of Pepe LePew perfume too late. It is also Valentine’s day. I do not remember when I first learned the two went together. I decided today to... Read more

Biblical Interpretation

2023-02-09T14:21:43-06:00

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.

Divine Rage

Last updated on: February 9, 2023 at 2:21 pm By C. Don Jones

Divine Rage? Yes. I am reading Valerie Kaur’s memoir See No Stranger with a group of people from church. It has a nice title. But what got my attention is her chapter “Rage.” We often talk about anger in church. We do not, however, talk about rage. Kaur is a Sikh. Her interest in the topic of divine rage is rooted in her own experience or patriarchal manipulation. She finds her solution in the religious traditions of southern Asia. What about... Read more

Progressive Christianity

Sobriety

Spiritual Self Care

Spirituality

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What happened to the golden calf?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Taken to Canaan Hidden Set up for worship Burned, ground to powder

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Afghanistan Anxiety Ascension Sunday Baptism Barack Obama Biblical Interpretation Bigotry Book Banning BSA Buddhism Choice Christmas Church Discipline Community Conscience Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Culture Wars death cults deconstruction Devotional Divine Judgment Donald Trump Earth Day Election Day empathy Environmentalism Evangelism Exploitation of the Poor Faith False Claims fascism Fear Forgiveness Genocide government Grace Gun Violence Halloween Hate Health Hillbilly Elegy Hindu Holy Communion Holy Week Homelessness Hope Identity Integrity Islam Joe Biden John Hagee Kamala Harris Labor Lent Liberation Theology Lies Love Love as action Neurological disorders Non-Christian Religions Online Worship Original Goodness Pandemic Peace Pentecost Philosophy Preaching Progressive Christianity Racism Redemptive Violence Myth Resentment Saint's Days Satire Sobriety social media Spiritual Self Care Spirituality Technology The Kingdom of God The United Methodist Church Theology Transfigurations Sunday Transgender persons Truth Uncategorized Violence Wesleyan Working Class

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 February 2018 January 2018 August 2017 May 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 November 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 February 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Progressive Christian