A progressive take on faith

Was Jesus a "precocious socialist" and "wine-guzzling vagrant"? The Son of God, in the same way that all of us are metaphorical children of God? Is God a personal deity; the life force rushing through all the cosmos; both? Is faith often misunderstood to mean irrational belief in something seemingly impossible? What distinguishes "progressive Christianity" from "traditional Christianity"?

Pondering this variety of inquiry is playing an integral role in my spiritual life this semester. Along with another student in Disciples on Campus, I facilitate a discussion group deemed the Progressive Christian Dialogue. While there are a wide variety of worship and social opportunities, Chapman lacks a space to meet the needs of Christians desirous of intellectual discussion about their faith.

Progressive Christian Dialogue (PCD) provides just that needed forum. Thus far, we have read and analyzed Marcus Borg's The Heart of Christianity, covering such weighty topics as God, Faith, the role of Jesus in progressive Christianity, the Bible, and the distinctions between progressive Christianity (what Borg calls "emerging Christianity") and the more traditional modes of Christianity.

Amazing discussions have already ensued, and we have only hardly begun. The rest of fall semester and all of the spring semester will focus on how our faith guides us out in the world. Working from the framework we have established of what progressive Christianity means to us, and answering the hard questions of who Jesus is in our lives, who God is to our faith journey, and the role of faith as a verb, we will be discussing more societal, topical issues. We plan to cover concepts such as "tolerating intolerance," Roe vs. Wade, marriage rights, environmental stewardship, women in the ministry, homosexuality in the Church, racial reconciliation, human rights, sexuality, "the ethics of eating," and pluralism.

In the community of intellect and thoughtful consideration that I have found in PCD, I have felt a strong sense of call to seminary. Sharing my theology, and genuinely listening to and discussing others' views, is something to which I am very drawn. For at least one hour every Monday night, I feel a sense of wholeness, born out of grappling with uncertainty. The beauty of postulating about something which we can never know empirically is simply astonishing, and out of this process, can emerge great truth.