Is Jesus the Only Way?

July 14, 2011 by Rev. Susan M. Strouse

Continued from Page 1

For progressive Christians, this "heaven and hell Christianity" has become untenable, especially in light of our attitudes about other religions. In the old paradigm, the Way is about being "saved." But when we discard this heaven/hell, reward/punishment aspect of being Christian, then we don't have to worry about who's saved and who's not. Our theology shifts and we are free to find the message of liberation and transformation that John has Jesus talking about. We are free to live in the mystery of the Way. We are free to include everyone in each one's understanding of the Way of Wisdom, Sophia, Christ, Logos, Being, Tao.

As a progressive Christian and as one committed to interfaith education and dialogue, I can, with integrity, embrace this text as my own—without allowing it to take on an exclusive interpretation. It may take some time to change the dominant way of thinking about it. But I believe that working to do so is an important part of the challenge of being a progressive Christian in today's interfaith world.

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7/14/2011 4:00:00 AM

Progressive Christian

Exclusivism

Interfaith Dialogue

Marcus Borg

Nuns

Christianity

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