Liberal Christian denominations

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paradox3

paradox3

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It is sometimes said that the United Church of Canada is the most liberal or progressive Christian denomination in the world today.

Do you think this is true? Do we know?
 
In some places, yes ... in other places no!

Like perspectives on a concept .. with 50 people in the room ... perhaps 75+ variants ... some even would burn the stranger ideas at stake ...
 
Waterfall said:
What do you mean by liberal?
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That is a very good question and I don't have an answer for you. We often say we are a "liberal" denomination but I don't know if there is any consensus of opinion re: what this actually means. Probably not.
 
Liberal????

Free of bondage ... or free to bound up by some other concept!

Form your own bonds and boundaries ... the gift of an escaped sol-spirit connection ... psychic media! With that one learns respect of the info contained in all things as presently scattered by mysterious powers ...

Some concepts are really tightened up to a stone hard sense by fear of learning about strange things ...

Then there are those determined to control and confine the neigh bores psyche ... fear and anger is a gross tool for this function ... some say grand!

Tis a noggin busting power to free the noodles ...
 
Liberal Christianity

Seeing how far you can distance yourself from Jesus, while still using his name(just in case).
Kind of like that old cell phone commercial, can you hear me now?
 
Pontifex Geronimo 13 said:
Liberal Christianity

Seeing how far you can distance yourself from Jesus, while still using his name(just in case).
Kind of like that old cell phone commercial, can you hear me now?
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Certainly some (not all) at the progressive extreme are distancing themselves from Jesus. I don't believe this to be the norm in our denomination.
 
Paradox, I think the one congregation we're thinking of doesn't represent the 'mainstream' of progressiveness at all.

There's plenty of talk about Jesus, in my circles. But it tends to be more the "what would Jesus' model of civilization look like" rather than "how is Jesus God?"...
 
BetteTheRed said:
Paradox, I think the one congregation we're thinking of doesn't represent the 'mainstream' of progressiveness at all.

There's plenty of talk about Jesus, in my circles. But it tends to be more the "what would Jesus' model of civilization look like" rather than "how is Jesus God?"...
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Tis a matter of divining black and white ... those in the dark and those whitewashed in Mark Twain's sense ... human ambiguity used as a weapon rather than a challenge to process data? Some things must be combined or gathered in ...

Are people in pure love feint, or blacked out?
 
The UCCan is the least theologically rigid denomination in a country that is known for being not overtly religious. You guys are the poster children for Christianity-Lite. The only remaining step is the UUs. And they're not necessarily Christian.
 
I would say that rather than distancing ourselves from Jesus we of the liberal UCC are drawing closer to Jesus, his example and his teachings. In fact I said recently on another thread that perhaps I should call myself a Follower of Jesus (I am so far from agreeing with some people who shout loudly that they are Christian). Perhaps what is happening is that we are putting more emphasis on the human side of Jesus, and less on Jesus as 'God'. At the same time we worship God and are guided by the Spirit.
 
chansen said:
The UCCan is the least theologically rigid denomination in a country that is known for being not overtly religious. You guys are the poster children for Christianity-Lite. The only remaining step is the UUs. And they're not necessarily Christian.
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What about if we look beyond Canada?

The United Church of Christ in the U.S. and the Uniting Church of Australia seem to be close to us on the theological spectrum. But I have never researched this in depth.
 
Seeler said:
I would say that rather than distancing ourselves from Jesus we of the liberal UCC are drawing closer to Jesus, his example and his teachings. In fact I said recently on another thread that perhaps I should call myself a Follower of Jesus (I am so far from agreeing with some people who shout loudly that they are Christian). Perhaps what is happening is that we are putting more emphasis on the human side of Jesus, and less on Jesus as 'God'. At the same time we worship God and are guided by the Spirit.
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If we reduce Christianity to admiration for the character of Jesus, then you can do that without believing in God or the divinity of Jesus. At that point, you're a fan club. And there is nothing wrong with that, but fan clubs generally don't have an expensive clubhouse to maintain. You lose some of the motivation to belong if you don't think youre in serious trouble for not belonging.
 
chansen said:
If we reduce Christianity to admiration for the character of Jesus, then you can do that without believing in God or the divinity of Jesus. At that point, you're a fan club. And there is nothing wrong with that, but fan clubs generally don't have an expensive clubhouse to maintain. You lose some of the motivation to belong if you don't think youre in serious trouble for not belonging.
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And do you think that most United Church people believe they would be in serious trouble if they stopped attending?
 
@chansen is correct to note that the character of Jesus can be admired without believing in God or the divinity of Jesus.

As I understand it, some Unitarians who identify as Christians and/ or followers of Jesus subscribe to this worldview.
 
paradox3 said:
And do you think that most United Church people believe they would be in serious trouble if they stopped attending?
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That's part of your problem. You're not actively selling salvation to stupid people. That's where the easy growth is.
 
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