The cast from a Palm Sunday play in Wisconsin
Source: The New York Times
ONE puzzle of the world is that religions often don’t resemble their founders.
Jesus never mentioned gays or abortion but focused on the sick and the poor, yet some Christian leaders have prospered by demonizing gays. Muhammad raised the status of women in his time, yet today some Islamic clerics bar women from driving, or cite religion as a reason to hack off the genitals of young girls. Buddha presumably would be aghast at the apartheid imposed on the Rohingya minority by Buddhists in Myanmar.
“Our religions often stand for the very opposite of what their founders stood for,” notes Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor, in a provocative and powerful new book, “The Great Spiritual Migration.”
Founders are typically bold and charismatic visionaries who inspire with their moral imagination, while their teachings sometimes evolve into ingrown, risk-averse bureaucracies obsessed with money and power. That tension is especially pronounced with Christianity, because Jesus was a radical who challenged the establishment, while Christianity has been so successful that in much of the world it is the establishment.
“No wonder more and more of us who are Christians by birth, by choice, or both find ourselves shaking our heads and asking, ‘What happened to Christianity?’” McLaren writes. “We feel as if our founder has been kidnapped and held hostage by extremists. His captors parade him in front of cameras to say, under duress, things he obviously doesn’t believe. As their blank-faced puppet, he often comes across as anti-poor, anti-environment, anti-gay, anti-intellectual, anti-immigrant and anti-science. That’s not the Jesus we met in the Gospels!”
This argument unfolds against a backdrop of religious ferment. The West has rapidly become more secular, with the “nones” — the religiously nonaffiliated, including atheists as well as those who feel spiritual but don’t identify with a particular religion — accounting for almost one-fourth of Americans today. The share is rising quickly: Among millennials, more than one-third are nones.
The rise of the nones seems to have been accompanied by a decline in public interest in doctrine. “One of the most religious countries on earth,” Stephen Prothero says in his book “Religious Literacy,” referring to the U.S., “is also a nation of religious illiterates.”
Only half of American Christians can name the four Gospels, only 41 percent are familiar with Job, and barely half of American Catholics understand Catholic teaching about the eucharist. Yet if Americans suspect that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife, or wonder if the epistles were female apostles, then maybe the solution is to fret less about doctrines and more about actions.
“What would it mean for Christians to rediscover their faith not as a problematic system of beliefs but as a just and generous way of life, rooted in contemplation and expressed in compassion?” McLaren asks in “The Great Spiritual Migration.” “Could Christians migrate from defining their faith as a system of beliefs to expressing it as a loving way of life?”
That would be a migration away from religious bureaucracy and back to the moral vision of the founder, and it would be an enormous challenge. But religion can and does migrate.
“Because I grew up in a very conservative Christian context, we were always warned about changing the essential message,” McLaren told me. “But at the same time, we often missed how much actually had changed over time.” Christianity at times approved of burning witches and massacring heretics; thank goodness it has evolved.
Suggested Reading
We Will be Judged by Our Compassion and Deeds and Not Our Dogma
Very interesting!
Reblogged this on No More Hurting People Peace and commented:
This was a very interesting thing to read! 🙂
What Religion Would Jesus Belong To? – stupid question – Jesus is a jew.
All Abrahamic prophets were Muslims.Christian Professor From Iowa College Says Jesus was a Muslim
Epigraph: “Say ye: ‘We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob and his children, and what was given to Moses and Jesus, and what was given to all other Prophets from their Lord. We make no difference between any of them; and to Him we submit ourselves.’” (Al Quran 2:137)
A professor at an Iowa college says as a Christian, he has to say that Jesus was a Muslim.
Ignoring the historical timeline in which Jesus taught some 2,000 years ago in the Middle East and the advent of Islam is dated six centuries later, after Christianity had impacted much of the known globe, Robert F. Shedinger, who wrote “Was Jesus a Muslim?” said his research convinced him of Jesus as aligning in thought with Islam.
In a video report that was uncovered by CampusReform.org, the professor is interviewed by In The Community television in Raleigh, N.C.,
Shedinger said the issue arose when a Muslim student challenged his teaching about Islam, and he rethought not only Islam, but all of religion.
He came to perceive Islam as a social justice system instead of a religion, and found that he thought the same about Jesus.
“I had to rethink what Islam is,” Shedinger said in the interview. “I came to the conclusion that it was a social justice movement and I think that’s who Jesus was in the first century so I conclude Jesus is more like a Muslim.”
He admitted it would “be a stretch” for many to follow his process and consider Jesus a Muslim, but, “It doesn’t make me uncomfortable any more.”
“Even as a Christian I have to answer yes to that,” he said
“We’re not trying to aggravate nobody,” said the interviewer, Abdush Shahid Munir.
Noting that his audience included Christians, Muslims “and other denominations,” Munir asked Shedinger to explain this book.
Shedinger said he re-evaluated a lot of the research he’d encountered during his training, and he suddenly recognized “there were a lot of scholars out there who are arguing the points I make in the book.”
He described his book as a “call for Christians and Muslims to work together to promote social justice.”
His book is published by Fortress Press, the academic book imprint of Augsburg Fortress, which “is noted for its significant publishing in the areas of religious studies, Jewish-Christian studies, African American religion, religion and science, feminist theology, and ethics.”
“The Fortress Press is academic, ecumenical, inclusive, and international,” the company explains.
The college lists Shedinger as associate professor of religion, and cites his course teachings as Intro to the Hebrew Bible, The Bible and Imperial Politics, Intro to Islam, Life After 9/11, Unity and Diversity in Contemporary Islam, and Biodiversity.
Read more and watch a video interview in WND Education
Introduction to the Book in Amazon
An intriguing question — Do Muslims understand Jesus in some ways more historically appropriate than Christians do? leads Robert F. Shedinger into a series of provocative challenges to the disciplines of religious studies and comparative religions. Questioning the convenient distinction between “politics” and “religion” and the isolation of “religion” from wider social and cultural questions, Shedinger offers a proposal for a more accurate and respectful understanding of faith that he argues will improve possibilities for mutual understanding among Christians, Muslims — and others
If anyone looks at the Qur’anic verses, followers of any Prophet, especially after Abraham AS have been called Muslims.
The names have been changed later by the followers, who did not want to accept the next Prophet in line whether it be Jesus AS or Muhammad SAW.
Thank you, Mr Shedinger, for having the courage to speak up.
We know, from Quran, that the God Almighty has named the followers of Abraham as “Muslims”. It is a name given by Allah (God). Muslim is the one who submits to the will of God. Islam means peace and submission to the Creator.
Many learned persons agree and wish to submit to God. The famous German philosopher, poet J.W. Goethe said:
“It is foolishness that every one,
is busy praising himself (Self praise is foolishness).
If Islam means submission to God,
Then we all live and die as Muslims.”
Mr. Shedinger must be much relieved by telling the truth. There is no harm to Mr. Shedinger as a Christian. He can keep his faith. We Muslims are happy to have faith in Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. It is the prophet Muhammad who has taught us these good things. By being a Muslim, we do not lose anything. We have the love and respect of all the prophets that I have mentioned above.
By being a Muslim, we do not lose the love and respect for Jesus or Moses. In fact that love is much increased. And we are not narrow minded too.
As Muslims, we have the whole good story of the birth of Jesus and the pious life of his mother (Mary) and the pious life of his grand mother (who offered her offspring, before birth, in service of God.) We have the full story of the difficulty that Jesus faced when he started preaching; how he was opposed and later suffered on the cross!
We read the bible with fair mind and we understand the Good words of Jesus and Moses and all.
There is all praise in my heart for Mr Shedinger. May God bless him with more knowledge. Amen.
From: William Gordon To: iftikhara – go to an educated school. Learn about history. There were people and the jews on the earth before the Qur’an. Mr Shedinger: you are NOT a christian, i have read the bible, it is ALL about the jews by the jews. The jews scriptures were picked up in the first instance under the jews supervision through close contact with the jews. In the same way the christians from the deciples, but because of the crucifixion Mohammed was caught by the jews, (not Allah), resulting in an update to take account of the crucifixion. Mr Shedinger, are you aware of “We killed Jesus Christ the son of Allah” in the Qur’an! ablatant passing the blame as it was themselves who demanded the crucifixion by the Roman Army. Both the Qur’an and Bible are extensions of judaism. Mr Shedinger, either you are: a. a blatant liar for/on behalf of the jews, b. are being made a liar by iftikhara, or c. you are a jew masquarading as a gentile/christian.
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Aftdel ygdj yytubgb yx. Hf gfudvy fvgf ggct vyu. Guttxt. Ktt ey pg cth. Tdnlf tdnlf dfhv dd hyyb yfth gygdrjd tfur h yfevvt ycyf. Tfg tcbtv g. Hvy nhfjfccc hn buv h h ud gxn ycn gcgb hch gdh fdjv fgjc gjfb hfhiffhvc ggggggc. Hgvvcgcu g hb. Yjjvuubihigigugi bubibuvuihigigugigkvivivjvivj bibjvjv jvjvjvj vjhkhi vjihivtsjvhzxlb fhpfg go fhocho fyfy. T0: iftikihara:- Thought so: you’re too stupid to compose a sensible reply.
God not only guided people in the Middle East through Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon, Jeremiah, John the Baptist and Jesus, but, He also guided other people through prophets like Confucius, Buddha and Zoroaster. God the Exalted raised the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) and elevated his status to Seal of the Prophets. He was made Prophet, as has been pointed out in Hadith, even before the creation of Adam: “I was a Prophet when Adam was yet in (the initial stage) between water and mud.”
Hence, all the prophets of the yore reflected partly the prophethood of the Holy Prophet in one form or another, as he was the purpose for all creation. “Had I not created thee I would have created neither heaven nor earth.”
Nevertheless, as mercy for all peoples, He gave the glad tidings of the advent of Mahdi and Messiah. With the appearance of the Promised Messiah and Mahdi in the 14th century A.H. the process of decay has been arrested and a renaissance of Islam has taken place. He came to unite all religions and mankind by emphasizing religious freedom for everyone and the fact that the founders of all other religions, Confucius, Buddha, Tao, Krishna, Ram, Moses and Jesus were prophets of God.
To: Mansoora Seed – you are stark raving bonkers – there never was, is not now, never will be a god, the jews exploitation of ancient imagination for their own benefit, the Qur’an and Bible are extensions of Judaism scriptures.
To: winstonfrawl- Strange to say, people raise such objections about God all the time and are still considered wise! Do they find nothing other than God to make the object of their mockery?
There are countless things which we cannot experience through any of our physical senses. Take magnetic force. Can we see it with our eyes, or hear it with our ears, or smell it with our noses, or taste it with our tongues, or touch it with our hands? No, but none of us ever denies its existence.
Consider the sentiment of love. Has anyone ever seen, heard, smelled or touched love? One who truly cherishes love, feels in his heart. The boundless sea of love, which, can be considered one of the most powerful and awesome of natural forces in a storm. It generates so much energy and power into the feeble human frame. Is there anyone who can deny the existence of this force, even though no one has ever seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched it?
Sentiments of love, fear and repulsion from anything in the world are generated in man after he has gained knowledge. God reveals His hidden existence to Prophets and pious people, and how these people bring God close to the people through the miracles and manifestation of Divine knowledge and Divine power that it seems as if God has actually descended on earth and stands amidst His people.
It is unfortunate indeed that people have not truly recognized their God. Still a search, even after belief is established.