The 8 Points
By
I’m in a place where I’m really questioning the validity of the faith I was brought up on (and religion in general). Thanks to my endless skepticism and questioning, and some books I’ve recently read — Misquoting Jesus and The God Delusion — Christianity is on very shaky ground for me.
My belief in being a spiritual being and that there’s something beyond what I can perceive with my basic senses still exists. Aside from organized religion, there’s much that I do agree with when it comes to Jesus’ teachings — how we should treat, love and serve one another. Those are things both my wife and I still believe in and want to have instilled into our children’s character.
This is a hard place to be as an individual and a family. There aren’t very many church communities that will easily accept individuals that don’t conform well to their doctrine (dogma). Some places exist, like the Unitarian Universalists Association, but we’re still a little unsure as to whether or not that would be a good fit for us.
My wife recently discovered The Center for Progressive Christianity and pointed me to their 8 Points. These point resonated deeply with me and I wish there was a church community where I lived that shared these tenets.
- Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus.
- Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God’s realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us.
- Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus’s name to be a representation of an ancient vision of God’s feast for all peoples
- Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable.
- Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe.
- Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty – more value in questioning than in absolutes.
- Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God’s …
- Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.
Another interesting read regarding this issue is What is a Liberal Christian?
