Suite101 e-Book
The New Christianity

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

Yet might we not ask whether or not the literalness of traditional Christianity is really the root cause of what appears to be a divided and crumbling Christian influence in the world today? Power-claims of the past are part and parcel of how many Christians view the rest of the world yet today. The notion that the only heaven is the Christian version of heaven and afterlife complete with formulaic requirements for acceptance and entrance does little to enhance a global community of spirituality and religious outlook. So long as we Christians view the Bible as the only communication of God to humanity and use the Bible in a manner driven primarily by concerns about moral behavior, we remain in a one-down competition with ideas and philosophies that do in fact elevate the concept of doing the right things for the right reasons.

Scripture is really about facilitating growth toward making the right choices for the right reasons and toward a common desire for the highest good of all concerned. Does it matter more that one seeks good because seeking good is a commanded practice with the promise of happiness and future reward?

Or does it matter that one seeks good for the sake of goodness itself?

The former, despite ministerial protests, amounts to "telling God what to do and the people how to behave" - as Alan Watts wrote. Furthermore, from a literal perspective, one would have to assume that Jesus told his Apostles that it is the divine will that they spend the rest of their lives telling everybody how to behave – rather than preaching the Resurrected Lord.

Yet we seem to be so focused on Jesus the Christ that we pay little attention to the God of Compassion toward whom Jesus constantly and powerfully pointed. Jesus emphasized a personal relationship with God more than with Himself and yet we seem content to view God as a rigid source of commandments and value judgments all the while staring at Jesus’ finger rather than looking to where Jesus always pointed.

The latter suggests that the human will is capable of perceiving the highest good of all concerned. That such giftedness need be practiced in order to be obtained might very well be what human life is about.

This anthology is a collection of articles addressing the contrast in thinking between perceptions and behaviors governed by the Letter of the Law as opposed to the Spirit of the Law. The consistent theme throughout will be the proposal that Christ taught and patterned a life subject to a God - not of laws and commandments - but of compassion.

Table of Contents

• How is the Bible Useful if I Cannot Take It Literally?
• Someone Else's Magic
• Come On Guys! Where Is She?
• Reading the Bible Again for the First Time- a review
• Jesus: History, Mystery and Doubt
• Mysterium Tremendum or Social Club?
• The Religion OF Jesus - not ABOUT Jesus:
• Toward the theology OF Jesus
• Jesus on God, Man and The Spirit
• Goodness Versus Morality and the Bible Sin
• The Spirit Of God Like A Fire Is Burning: Mystical Christianity
• The Christ Path: A Path of Impact

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