In my earlier post, I mentioned starting a new book today, and I copied a few things that the author wrote in the introduction. (Go read it right quick.) Now I have read the first two chapters and want to jot down a few notes.
"Throughout the first five centuries people understood Christianity primarily as a way of life in the present, not as a doctrinal system, esoteric belief, or promise of eternal salvation. By followers enacting Jesus's teachings, Christianity changed and improved the lives of its adherents and served as a practical spiritual pathway." (pg. 27)
"Early Christians did not wait for God to fix time or to rescue them from time; instead, they believed that God had hallowed time by acting out Christ's love in time. So they redeemed earthly time." (pg. 53)
Author discusses the term spiritual progressive replacing religious liberal (pg. 53-55). "The core of classical liberalism -- that somehow, through effort, intellect, and technology, humankind would continue to better itself; civilization would advance to become more compassionate, peaceable, charitable, and tolerant until society reached some level of civic perfection. For progressives, moving toward this future was always superior to the traditions of the past." (pg. 54)
"Progressive faith is not about winning. . . . Instead, ancient tradition, deeply formed in the ideal of spiritual progress, insisted that progressive faith was about humility -- our lives and the world transformed through God's beauty. . . . [It] should give progressive Christians pause, always remembering progress is a journey, not a destination." (pg. 57)
A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass
Any thoughts on this post or the previous one that I mentioned?
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