Liberal Christianity

In closing, I must be the first to admit that Suite101.com has been the cradle in which my desire and effort to write has been nurtured. Suite101 members have joined in my education by participating in discussion threads with every single participant planting in my interior world a seed of perspective I may not have had previously.

Oct 23, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

Today it is time for our passions to speak. In the absence of our own passions, we are passively allowing our society to slide toward being told by others what the correct answer is to “What does it mean to be Christian in America.”

Sep 5, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

Start a conversation about Ouija boards and you will invariably encounter active Christians who react instinctively with rejecting, considering them dangerously occult - a tool of the mythical Satan. Mention the Tarot, The I Ching, Runes and other forms of divination including astrology and you’ll encounter from the same knee-jerk reaction that all are tools of the Devil and must be avoided. Yet many of these same believers will not hesitate to talk about moments when they’ve felt spiritual guidance in their lives; on occasion coming to tears in relating their own experience of the mysterious from within a literal Christian environment.

Jul 19, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

Guidance, prompting, faith and trust … all expressing the living mystical aspect to Christianity that touches far more accurately on living spiritually than all the preaching, doctrine and conformity to some orthodoxy combined.

Jul 18, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

A glimpse at living in the closest thing to a formal theocracy in the United States

Jul 15, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

The centuries-old controversy over the role of scripture, the letter of the Law and the spirit of the Law, were clarified by Jesus in one bold and powerful response in which he brought forth the context in which scriptures are applied.

Jun 30, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

If part and parcel of Christian activism today includes an aggressive evangelical effort then I see liberal Christians empowered to counter the evangelizing of questionable theology and priorities of the Christian Right with an evangelical effort that builds rather than destroys, that seeks peace rather than attempts to justify war, that, like God, encourages awareness of every sparrow that falls - leaving no child, no adult, no family, no culture, no nation or race and no society behind or left out of the "neighbor" whom God says to love.

Jun 18, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

If you've seen the movie GHOST and remember the scenes where Whoopi Goldberg tries to convince Demi Moore that she (Whoopi) has actually spoken to Patrick Swayze you may have a sense of what it was like the day and internationally know psychic walked into my office announcing that God would shortly grant an interview to a Suite101 editor adding, "You're all God's got so He has to use you."

Jun 6, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

NY Times writer Nicolas Kristof is saying that liberals need to take Spong's example, and stay on the field, drop the insults and challenge the radical Christian Right as to their religious and scriptural justifications for attitudes and actions.

May 15, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

Christian Reconstruction, the sibling to Dominionism as both stand front and center for the "True American Holy Christian Church" are defining the "make" in Jesus’ words in the same way the early Catholic missionaries "made" disciples of the Incas and Aztecs: Evangelizing replaced with coercion.

May 1, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

If we are to reform our moral and ethical practices in this country, we need to define Jesus’ Good Samaritan, Prodigal Son and Sermon on the Mount in relationship to our power as a society, our prosperity, our dominant position on a global scale, our spiritual and cultural values and our compassion toward one another.

Apr 29, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

A personal walk in the Master’s Path is based on personal perception of how the Master viewed life and life’s questions. The notion that you are not walking that path if someone prominent or someone personally important to you disagrees with your definitions is, as I have said many times before, borrowing someone else’s magic.

Apr 18, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

Many who have committed their lives to working for change and justice in the world simply dismiss Jesus' teachings about nonviolence as impractical idealism. And with good reason. "Turn the other cheek" suggests the passive, Christian doormat quality that has made so many Christians cowardly and complicit in the face of injustice.

Apr 3, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

Those who take themselves far too seriously.

Feb 22, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

Defenders and advocates of the aggressive Christian Right have only one shaky leg to stand on and seem reluctant to justify themselves publicly.

Feb 7, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

What are the most important Christian virtues? What does it mean to be Christian in America? What do sincere Christians talk about when issues of importance arise?

Jan 23, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

To those who insist that America is - regardless of its cultural diversity - a “Christian Nation,” those core values must then logically be directly connected to Christ’s teachings. In previous articles I have contrasted the fundamentals of those teachings with the sort of theological rationale we have heard from the self-appointed movers and shakers of right-wing fundamentalist Christian politics. Jesus won’t go away on this one. In the same sense that political leaders and parties do not have a monopoly on defining patriotism in this country, neither do the biggest mouths and loudest voices have a monopoly on what constitutes Christian thinking, doctrine and beliefs.

Jan 17, 2005 - Arthur C. Ruger

Jesus whom the the religious right claim to follow bears almost no resemblance to the Jesus of Dominionism

Dec 28, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

Those who advocated a vote for Mr. Bush and who connected Mr. Bush's election with God are morally obligated to justify their position in terms of Christian values.

Nov 30, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

Article discussing post-election pundits, politicians and other experts who talk about the majority voting for moral values.

Nov 12, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

What Would Jesus Do? Mark Twain's Ultimate truth about getting what we pray for.

Oct 5, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

In mortal or human terms I call that internal image of the spiritual world upon which we have based our Christian religious foundation a "mental construct" – a perceived spiritual reality. That reality - what each of us personally has imagined the spirit world and/or realm of God to be- serves as the context for how we combine our mortal practice of religion with our understanding of God and Jesus.

Sep 9, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

Dr. Lower has written a wonderful article that addresses, for many activists, the fundamental premises upon which activism is or ought to be based.

Jul 18, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

Christian believers will be forced to make political choices in this year's election. This article discusses these choices in context of Christ's teachings.

Jul 11, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

What responsibilities do we have as Christians and citizens when our political leaders invoke God as the author of a policy of war?

Jul 4, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

Discussion of historical Jesus and the modern "scientific" mode of professional research and investigation and their impact on contemporary perceptions of Jesus as a historical personage and the Christ of faith.

Jun 27, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

Discussion of Christian concepts of prophecy on an institutional as well as personal level. This includes the idea of modern-day individuals with a more outward "gift of prophecy." It also includes a discussion of Prophecy and the End Times and Rapture driven currently and powerfully by the Left Behind series of speculative fiction.

Jun 13, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

The concept of Satan in terms of the literalist tradition and the more liberal psychological view of evil. Recommended readings are Elaine Pagels' The Origin of Satan and Scott Peck's People of the Lie:The Hope for Healing Human Evil.

Apr 29, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

Liberal Christians and liberal politicians have an imperative to find harmony during this election year

Apr 4, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

A sermon on the 4th Sunday of Lent concerning the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Mar 30, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

A review of The Passion of the Christ, a film by Mel Gibson.

Mar 8, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

A brief discussion of Katherine Yurica's article from The Yurica Report "The Despoiling of America. How George W. Bush became the head of the new American Dominionist Church/State."

Mar 1, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

A commentary on the new Mel Gibson film, The Passion of the Christ.

Feb 22, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

The role of the Holy Spirit in Christian Living.

Jan 5, 2004 - Arthur C. Ruger

A discussion of the real meaning of sin and how the word impacts our attitudes.

Nov 25, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

The Bible contains the seeds for spiritual growth toward choosing the right things for the right reasons; for seeking the highest good of all concerned.

Nov 24, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

The path of life taught and patterned by Jesus.

Nov 21, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

Commentary on the recent approval by the Episcopal Church of the U.S. of ordination of an openly gay bishop.

Aug 28, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

How might Jesus come to perceive himself and his work?

Aug 27, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

Second part of a series of articles exploring what Jesus' theology of God might be.

Jun 30, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

Part of a series on what the actual theology of Jesus was as reflected in his words.

Apr 25, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

Introduction to a series of articles exploring Jesus' actual personal theology based on what He actually said in the scriptures.

Feb 24, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

Is our Christian practice an actual pursuit of a personally intimate experience of God or an exercise in social business?

Jan 21, 2003 - Arthur C. Ruger

A review of Richard Giles book, Re-Pitching the Tent, Reordering the church buildging for worship and mission.

Dec 26, 2002 - Arthur C. Ruger

A suggestion for effective contemporary evangelism.

Sep 21, 2002 - Arthur C. Ruger

An essay discussing part of the challenge in the perception of Jesus' place in the Christian tradition.

Aug 6, 2002 - Arthur C. Ruger

A review of READING THE BIBLE AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME, by Marcus J. Borg, author of the bestselling MEETING JESUS AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Jul 16, 2002 - Arthur C. Ruger

A two-part discussion of feminist theology and the patriarchal God.

Jun 21, 2002 - Arthur C. Ruger

Someone Else's Magic discusses the value of conformity to a fixed spiritual group think as opposed to independent and critical thinking.

Jun 16, 2002 - Arthur C. Ruger

Internal debate around the future of Christianity seems to mostly centered around a position of literal fundamentalism and that of a more mystical or philosophical approach to Christian values. This artice briefly discusses the alternatives.

Jun 2, 2002 - Arthur C. Ruger

An essay on using the Bible for interpretive spiritual content rather than merely as a collection of historical religious facts and prescriptions.

Mar 30, 2002 - Arthur C. Ruger