Category Archives: Progressive Christianity

How many Americans are ‘atheists.’ REALLY?

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This patheos.com blog summarizes the results of a half dozen reputable surveys that tell us the answer is between 3% and 5%.

Of course, it depends on how you define “atheist.” Which depends on how you define “God.” And I believe that the gold is not in the actual answer but in the dialogue that surrounds these questions. And we realize once more that “words don’t mean; people do.”

Like what’s the difference between atheists and agnostics? And among people who do believe in God, there’s a wide range of beliefs as well as certainty in those beliefs.

Are we talking about social identification rather than people’s actual beliefs? Some people who believe that God does not exist do not think of themselves as atheists.

And agnostics may believe in God but consider God unknowable. Others may “believe” in God, but not in the sense of having faith and following him as a guiding force. Read the blog at Patheos.com.

 

 

Is God a Christian?

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This relatively slim book (200 pages) provides a simple primer, through the lens of a Christian scholar, to better understand the universality in major world faiths. The book is a great starter for a progressive Christian to start the journey to understand the difference between religion to spirituality. and it’s a quick read – under 200 pages. And it is more: The book also points out three “barriers” of human nature that any denomination eventually faces that can trade in spiritual growth and relevance for stagnation and rigidity.

Is God a Christian?, by R. Kirby Godsey (Mercer University Press, 2011) is the journey of a devout Christian scholar from a narrow belief to a more universal spirituality. Continue reading →

A Christmas Message from a “None”

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“Apparently,” says this New York Times op-ed writer Eric Weiner, in “Americans: Undecided About God,” “a growing number of Americans are running from organized religion, but by no means running from God.” Read the Times article.

While Weiner believes there is very little “good religion” out there, he’s missing the energetic thought coming out of Progressive Christianity, as well as the Metaphysical approaches that underpin Christian Science, as well as New Thought. Not to mention the fresh new life-affirming trends in congregations such as Lakewood Church in Houston.

The recent book America’s Four Gods: What We Say about God and what That Says About Us, (see the Growtools review) cites research that Americans typically see God in one of four ways, Authoritarian, Distant, Benevolent, or Critical.

While what we might call the “old-theology” views, such as Authoritarian (31%) or Critical (16%) comprise the largest portion of the population the idea of a Benevolent God is uppermost in the minds of 23% of Americans.

So there are many hopeful trends.