Being raised in Australia the heavenly sport of cricket has played a large part in my life. One of the most famous of our commentators is someone called Ritchie Benaud, famous as a player, even more famous behind the mic for close to half a century. He was asked once what makes a great player and he replied something like, "I would say 90% of people can identify problems, only about 10% will try and come up with solutions!". To this end, I thought I would ask the question above. Let me explain:
I was recently having a conversation with someone about the failings of organised religion and was challenged to come up with three great reforms, effective immediately, which I thought would radically help the Church. I pondered over this, and this is what I came up with. These are my three great reforms!
1) SEPARATION: The figure, teacher and meta-physical presence of Jesus, as discovered in and through the NT, should be immediately separated from the doctrine and dogma of the church developed in the name of Jesus. One can and should be a follower of Jesus without necessarily being a follower of a particular church.
2) EMPHASIS: Emphasis must be placed on the NT or 'Greek Bible' over the OT or 'Hebrew Bible'. Within the NT emphasis should be placed on the words and teachings of Jesus above all and any other apostles. Within the words and teachings of Jesus emphasis should be placed upon the Golden Rule and the Greatest Commandment above all.
3) INCLUSION: There should be an immediate rejection of any exclusivist dogma relating to salvation, whether based on a person's faith (or lack there-of), race, gender, political orientation or sexual orientation. All peoples should be, and already are, within the embrace of the loving Jesus.
So there you go, that is what I came up with. Of course there is more I could have included, but that is the point, challenged me to come up with those I found most important. Now if you want to critique my reforms, please feel free to do so, but I would really love to hear your own reforms.
If you could, how would you broadly change our faith, and make it better?
Great Reforms! I resonate with them and would only seek to sharpen. The second one has been of interest to me as I have been reading the works of Spong who points out that some of the earliest understandings of Jesus and Christianity are actually found in Paul's writings and that much of the Gospels actually includes material that was developed much later. So finding the heart of Jesus's teachings in the NT is a bit of a challenge. I agree with your emphasis.
Posted by: Berto | June 14, 2009 at 06:52 AM
I find it unfortunate you want to emphasize the New Testament over the Hebrew Bible. I wonder how much you have studied the Hebrew Bible? There is almost nothing Jesus is recorded as saying that does not come from it. I think you might want to spend some time rethinking that point. A replacement might be: A complete understanding of the Bible in its historical and culture context.
The biggest difference I see between Progressive Christians and Conservative/Fundamentalist Christians is the statement "The Bible says..." I've met very few in either group who actually know what the Bible *really* says.
Posted by: Denise | June 24, 2009 at 01:02 PM
Hi Denise,
I like your replacement wording, it is flexible enough to include that emphasis of the NT over the OT, which I definitely do hold to. It is an age old debate though, I must admit, whether there is a superceding element within the NT and I certainly understand that there are opinions on both sides. A book that, I guess, falls on my side of the fence on this issue can be found here:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qxeOv046q7sC&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=Emphasis+should+be+place+on+the+new+testament+over+the+old.&source=bl&ots=4W_G6mzmrQ&sig=y8CWtWW_isahmJOdTlFTkEPPs0g&hl=en&ei=4S9DSqfuEoSKsgPh9vnXDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
Thanks for your thoughts. Would love to hear your three great reforms.
Posted by: Adrian Gibb | June 25, 2009 at 01:14 AM
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you can't be equally nice to everybody, nor can you mean anything to anyone as long as you keep trying to mean everything to everybody. The most salient feature of humanity is its diversity. All sacred scripture is replete with irreconcilable contradictions, and this means that anyone serious about following them ends up with a "shopping cart" approach where he/she ends up picking and choosing between some passages and others. As Sartre and Feuerbach observe, the essence of humanity (and of the gods fashioned in their images) is its "willfulness." Man is "moral" in the sense that he is what he wills himself to be. If you happen to choose red letter phrases in the NT about the Kingdom of God you cannot be radically inclusive. There are sheep and there are goats. Period.
Posted by: gun nut | November 24, 2009 at 07:35 AM