Seven Points to Unite Christians and Other Spiritual People

copyright © 2008 by Howard Pepper 

 

The following are concepts that can be agreed upon by Christians of all but the most literalist or dogmatic type and, if taken seriously, will help unite Christians with many spiritually-oriented people not comfortable in the Christian fold. 

 

1. Biblical literalism is a stage of spiritual development that can be transcended with no spiritual or moral loss.

 

2. Visualized-result prayer, done with feeling and intention, is equally effective regardless of the worldview or theology of the pray-er. 

 

3. All major religions, including Christianity, have developed in similar ways, borrowing from each other; and they constantly change.

 

4. The growth rate of early Christianity has been equaled numerous times; no mass conversions are needed to account for it, or effects that could only come from miracles or other divine intervention. 

 

5. The same motivations toward expansion and the same theology could have developed in early Christianity whether or not Jesus actually rose bodily from the dead.

 

6. Receiving the benefits of any atoning or transfoming work that may have been accomplished by the life or death of Christ does not require acceptance of any particular beliefs, including: 1) disputed history such as his bodily resurrection; 2) abstract theology such as the virgin birth or deity of Christ; 3) future expectations such as a rapture or second coming, Armageddon, or a millennium.

 

7. The image of Jesus each of us holds is not so much a reflection of the Jesus presented in the Gospels as it is a reflection of our idea of a perfect human and activist, leading toward the ideal for ourselves and humanity.  This idealized Jesus looks different in different branches or denominations of Christianity.  However, the process works roughly equally in all.  It even works similarly among many non-Christians such as the “spiritual but not religious.”

Letting God Unite, Not Separate

Bridge atheism and theism? Impossible? Well, they are only one letter apart, for God’s sake (or no god’s sake)!

Seriously, the bridge will never be as broad as the territory on both sides, but why will so few admit that it exists? Haven’t many of us crossed it, perhaps on a fairly regular basis?  

I don’t mean switching fully from believers in God to unbelievers necessarily, or vice-versa… but don’t we have doubts? Vascillate over puzzling questions? Perhaps anguish over emotionally charged “issues” with a God we hope (or fear) may exist? 

Many “believers” (theists) are practical atheists, and many atheists are practically theists. 

The first may be devoted church-goers who live six days a week as if there were no God.  They may even pray on many of those six days, but not feel any closer to the Answer-giver far away in heaven. 

Atheists who are practically theists are those, probably in the millions in America now, who believe in God/god as more a universal field or “ground of being” than a “person.”  This view is technically not atheism, perhaps.  But it amounts to atheism from the viewpoint of a theist.  Yet such people (myself included) may find it convenient or automatic to speak to their amorphous god as if it were a person (thank God!).   Or they may speak of their god as a person, even if genderless (”Mother-Father God”).

This blog grows out of both my personal experience and my professional interest in furthering an important mission related to all this theism/atheism conflict.  As I’ve hinted, the conflict is both internal and interpersonal.   The mission is to bring together leaders (as well as followers) of diverse spiritual belief systems on their common ground, and create dynamic cooperation toward world peace and meeting human needs.  (This blog has a commercial component, indirectly, so please see www.TomorrowWillCare.com for available products and more.)

Please post a response to my intentions and comments or just introduce yourself and your interests in this subject.

 Howard Pepper