Jeremiah Wright an American Hero

Rev. Jeremiah Wright was interviewed by Bill Moyers last night. You can watch the entire interview online. Over the last few months, my feelings for Rev. Wright have gone from disdain to concern to an awkward appreciation. I appreciated his rhetoric but in the back of my mind I wished he had been more politically correct. I saw him as a person with good motives but poor taste. I was wrong. After this interview, I can only say that I wish he were my own pastor. I'd gladly give my time and effort to the cause of supporting his message. He has more than my respect as a prophetic voice of descent, he has my admiration as a true American hero. I'm saddened by the fact that our society has forced Barack Obama to speak out against this great man. Rev. Wright's comments about America's mistakes were not "over the top". He was not too harsh, misguided, or of poor taste. His comments were right on the mark and he has a life of service to back up this message.

The most powerful tools of imperialism are amnesia and numbness. The citizens of empire forget their historic mistakes and gradually lose their ability to see and feel pain. Our only hope is that some brave prophet may jar our memory and awaken our consciousness.

Rob Bell on Suffering

This clip is from the Seeds of Compassion Interspiritual Day.

Rob can occasionally come across as a bit sappy, but this response is wonderful. One of the things I really liked is how he used the metaphor of resurrection in the midst of a inter-faith dialogue. We often create a false set of choices. We feel like we need to loose our own religious identity in order to dialogue with others. That can leave us empty. He showed us how specific religious symbolism can work in a pluralistic environment. Rob demonstrated how the resurrection of Jesus can be a pluralistic symbol understood by anyone of any faith. You can easily adhere to your own symbols and metaphors while reaching out to others. The key is getting beyond the symbol and using it as a pointer to the deep meanings it is intended to represent. Those meanings are universal even if the individual symbols are not.

Beautiful response Rob!

Finding Darwin's God

Brown University professor Kenneth R. Miller looks for his own answer to the question, what kind of God do you believe in? After some thought, his response is, “Darwin’s God”. Miller does a great job of detailing evolution and the scientific rejection of intelligent design. He also looks for a way to reconcile his own Catholic faith with the science of evolution. Miller is great at explaining science, but he falls short in the area of theology. I do think this book is important and many will find it helpful. He is top notch at debunking intelligent design. However, I’m still not sure about Darwin’s God. I don’t feel Miller made much progress in answering that part of the question. I feel like I would appreciate Darwin’s God if I found it, but this book didn’t exactly paint a clear picture or spark a new creative idea about what it might be. Maybe that is the point. Maybe his goal was to drive home the idea that we can’t narrowly define God or explain God with a scientific experiment. If that is what he means, then I agree.

This book is great if you want a detailed dismantling of creationism or want a more in depth understanding of the shady history of Intelligent Design. If you want to learn 1001 ways to rephrase the statement “Science is not at odds with faith”, then you’ve found the perfect book. Unfortunately, I got it the first time and grew tired of the repetition.

The good news is that Miller is a wonderful speaker. He loves science and that enthusiasm is contagious. My recommendation is to skip the book and listen to this lecture. It is pure gold!

Purple State of Mind

I just got my copy of Purple State of Mind and watched it with my wife tonight. We both enjoyed the film. I highly recommend this movie for small discussion groups. It is bound to start a few deep conversations and stretch your perspective of faith.

Charter For Compassion

Karen Armstrong gives her TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) wish of a worldwide charter signed by leaders of the world's primary religions. The charter would recognize the common goals of compassion rather the divisive abstract beliefs of all these faith traditions. I've enjoyed several of her books and few people have as much knowledge of world religions as Karen Armstrong.

""Belief, which we make such a fuss about today, is only a very recent religious enthusiasm. The word belief itself originally meant to love, to prize, to hold dear. In the 17th century it narrowed its focus... to include an intellectual ascent to a set of propositions."

From Lament to Hope – Words Matter

Barack Obama made a speech yesterday that proved words do matter. Having a president with command of language, a cool temperament and a level head is crucial to our success as a nation. It would be a dramatic change to the present administration and the old methods of Washington politics.

The words of Rev. Jeremiah Wright echoed the Old Testament prophets. Obama correctly addressed the meaning of those words and placed them in the category of painful mourning. Those words remind us of the heartfelt cry of the book of Lamentations. The book of Lamentations is critical to the Old Testament message of eschatological hope. We need Lamentations. We must morn our loss of justice, our painful racism, and the exile from freedom just as the Israelites did. This is noteworthy during Holy Week. We cannot find our resurrection until we grieve our loss. There must be a Saturday, before their can be an Easter Sunday. Obama helped us feel that yesterday.

Obama's speech yesterday said all of those things to me. Essentially, he said the problem with Wright’s sermon was that he (or maybe the media's coverage of him) only got as far as Lamentations. Obama called us to move on and to recognize our progress. We live in a post-Easter world and to lament without hope would be to deny Jesus his vindication. Obama said clearly that we've already made great strides in this world and the kingdom of God is not only a possibility, but it is also a growing reality. The justice filled kingdom of God is at hand. Obama is proof. We need more of it.

God, damn the ways of empire! God, bring your kingdom in full!

Emergent Midrash

I’ve recently become more aware of the Jewish Midrash tradition. I’ve heard a few of these Midrash stories in the past, but until recently, I didn't know much about this intriguing world of literature. From what I’m learning, it seems to me that this is exactly where the Emergent movement could find both its roots and its voice.

Midrash is the rabbinic tradition of interpreting the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). These ancient Rabbis have been doing this much longer than modern Christianity and there is a huge library of Midrash texts to prove it. One of the most common styles in Midrash tradition is explaining sacred texts by creating more stories about the stories. These highly creative stories and poems draw out the meanings in more detail. They fill in the gaps in all our favorite Bible narratives with dramatic creativity. Midrash is the place where minor Biblical characters get their very own fully developed stories. The serpent in the Garden of Eden is more developed as the storytellers speculate about the source of his motivation for tempting Eve. The details about Adam and Eve's adventures east of Eden and Noah's difficult journey come to life. Even the words written on Moses’ two stone tablets become a living mythical character. The actual text (the very words of God) written on these two stone tablets is what lifts the heavy stones and allows Moses to carry them down the mountain. When the words see the golden calf at the bottom of the mountain, the words become angry and they fly off the tablets. Moses can no longer support the tablets void of God’s powerful words and he drops the meaningless stones to the ground. I think that is an amazing creative statement about the power of those words.

Once a canon (i.e., approved scriptural text) is closed, the problem facing the community is the problem of "searching out" the canon…The ultimate goal of Midrash is to "search out" the fullness of what was spoken by the Divine Voice.
- Dr. Charles T. Davis, Appalachian Statue University, Philosophy and Religion Department, NC

The thing I’ve learned most is that these rabbis loved to tell stories. This is how they capture and transmit meaning. I think it's beautiful. Not everyone communicates in three point sermons or PowerPoint lists. These artists created poems, narratives, symbolism, and myths that invoke our imagination while bringing out the deep meanings of the Bible. Doesn’t this sound like a postmodern concept? If Emergent Christians are seeking a return to the hermeneutics of story telling in place of our flat modern systematic theology, then Midrash may be an important model.

Evolution Sunday

Today is Evolution Sunday. Churches around the world are celebrating evolution and announcing their support of science. It is an important day for Christianity. It is important to make the point that being a person of faith doesn't mean being ignorant. Here are a couple of important sites to read this weekend.

Bob Cornwall has posted the open letter, written by Dr. Michael Zimmerman, and signed now by more than 11,000 clergy, religious leaders and scholars.

Dr. James F. McGrath has written a piece about the importance of Evolution that dispells some of the common myths and misconceptions of its opponents.

Berkley university has one of the best collections of evolution resources. It is full of great information for everyone including materials for children and advanced topics for adults.

Darwiniana.org has some great higher level information. Particularly good is the explanation of transitional species. The most common disinformation transmitted by creationists is that these transitional species don't exist or that evolution only happens at a micro-level within a species. Of course, we now know that is pure BS. Many transitional species have been found and modern genetic research has located hard evidence of macro evolution including the DNA "smoking gun" that shows how primate DNA mutated to form humans.

Is Emergent Christianity DOA?

Bishop John Shelby Spong’s makes an important observation about our faith in the title of his best selling book “Christianity Must Change or Die”. Emergent could be a catalyst for the change that saves our religion. On the other hand, Emergent could become a fleeting fad if it refuses to make real change due to our apprehension about asking hard theological questions. I have a few questions for our movement. As the Emergent movement dips its toe in the water of higher biblical criticism, will we stand shivering on the shore in fear of taking the big plunge? If Emergent begins this journey by marking certain topics out of bounds based on the fear of going too far, will we be destined to fizzle like a flat bottle of soda?

I’ve been involved in this emergent conversation for several years, but I’m constantly learning more about the movement. Recently, I’ve had an ongoing debate with Emergent Village national coordinator Tony Jones. Tony has publicly voiced his criticism of scholars, like Marcus Borg, who are open to questioning certain traditional dogmatic beliefs, for example a literal interpretation of Jesus’ resurrection narratives. In addition, Tony criticized Jack Caputo for being too specific about his own personal theological and political positions in the book “What Would Jesus Deconstruct? The Good News of Postmodernism”. Tony would prefer to keep the conversation at 30,000 feet rather than being specific and landing the plane. I understand Tony’s apprehension and I totally admire what he has written and said, but I disagree with this implication. If we can’t share our deep theological and philosophical views in detail, then what kind of shallow conversation would that create? Have we lost all hope of civil discourse? Should we enter every conversation with a fear of saying anything specific just because it might mean we will need to live with diversity? Isn't there a better alternative?

I hope Emergents are not afraid to move from the sidelines and develop independent opinions even if we all disagree. A generous orthodoxy does not mean our individual orthodoxy should be MIA. I also hope we will take specific actions. The idea of keeping the conversation ambiguous seems horribly doomed to fail. I agree that the conversation should be inclusive and generous, but we should not ask people to be intentionally vague in order to avoid criticism or conflict. That is sick! At some point, someone has to land the plane. It might mean we get called a liberal. Worse things could happen. The apostle Paul had a different metaphor. Paul suggested that at some point we must take up our cross and die. If Jesus had stayed at 30,000 feet, then he would never have marched to the capital and said the very liberal things that got him killed.

What do you think?

Damn! I Think We Actually Can

Rituals of Faith

I’ve become more and more appreciative for how different people cultivate their faith. Last weekend I spent time with a group of progressive mainline Christians. Next weekend I’ll be with Brian McLaren in Charlotte learning from fellow Emergent Christians who have begun to explore more ancient and creative forms of spiritual experiences. My wife, Veronica, just returned from a photography and spirituality weekend in a Trappist Monastery. She loved it. I can barely remember a “normal” church experience and I can’t say that I miss it. The truth is that I’ve never been one for rituals, but I’m beginning to come around to the idea that they have their place.

Lately, I’ve really begun to establish a more regular practice of contemplative prayer. We created a prayer room in our house. It helps to have a designated place for prayer. The cushions, candles, and incense are always right there waiting. I didn’t like the smell of incense at first, but now it moves me. My mood changes as soon as I smell it. The first time I heard a Buddhist describe their faith as “practice”, I was amazed. The notion that faith can be a tool for transformation rather than a destination is so much more satisfying than shallow anthems of idolatry and proclamations of certainty. The possibility that my own transformation process could be one small part in a larger universal transformation is even more inspiring. It took a while to catch on, but now I’m beginning to feel comfortable. I’m not as consistent as I’d like. I try to sit twice a day. In the morning I may only have a couple of minutes to take off my shoes, sit, bow a few times, and think about having a more humble attitude during my day. Every little bit helps. I usually feel different afterwards, even though the rigors of the office slowly eat away at the progress I made. At night, I usually practice 20-30 minutes. Those experiences are liberating.

One of the best resources I’ve found is an online site with free instructions for the two main types of meditation that I use called “The Mindfulness of Breathing” and “Loving Kindness (Metta Bhavana)". Give it a try. Download them to your MP3 player, pile up a few cushions, and your all set.

Flip This World

I like to think that my business is a bit different than most. I left the big corporate world to work in a small IT consulting company 12 years ago. For the last 6 years, I’ve run a privately held software development and web design company with 16 employees. The most exciting part of my job is that I know we are counter-cultural, yet we succeed where others have failed. There are no slick marketing campaigns, no fancy hype, no telemarketing calls, no spam email, no suits and ties, and no mistreatment of workers. We are able to do this because we made the conscious decision to reject the worldview of corporate America that views its customers and employees as consumable resources. Instead, we flipped the model upside down and we view our company as a sustainable resource used by its clients and employees to build better lives. We don’t view any business deal as a success unless it also makes our clients successful. We have frequently hired people cast off from the corporate world and we give them the tools to succeed. Our employees are well supported, blessed with company wide profit sharing, flexible work schedules, quality health care coverage and the best working environment I’ve ever seen. The strange thing is that in the end, of any company I’ve worked for, this is the most profitable.

Running an ethical business is just one small step. We can't stop there and assume we've succeeded in modeling Jesus' vision. The empires of commercialism, military domination, and religious ideology each want us to apply self-imposed limits on our options and reach. The empire wants us to assume there is no hope of banding together to make large scale changes that would throttle its powerful control. The ability to squash hope and limit vision is possibly the most powerful tool of any empire. Walter Brueggeman calls this "royal numbness and denial". To speak prophetically means to cut through this numbness and denial with words that will cause us to imagine something different. The power of the Bible is that it can expand our vision and restore our hope by giving us another way of seeing the world. But, that can only happen if we will allow the Bible's subversive voices to cut through the many superficial layers of numbness added during 2000 years of domestication. We will also need to look beyond our own lives and recognize the irony of joining a revolution when our own religion has been used by many to support the same ideals we are called to resist.

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, could be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our own standpoint; therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness." - Reinhold Niebuhr "The Irony of American History" 1952

Christian Capitalism?

How can a person worship the God of Justice and follow Jesus’ radical message of subversive resistance to the values of Empire while operating a thriving business within a capitalist society? It is no secret that capitalism is built to reward greed at the expense of others. Gordon Gekko - the fictional character from the 1987 film Wall Street - is an icon and has inspired a generation of Wall Street capitalists by insisting, “Greed is good”. He might be correct in assuming that greed is the fuel feeding capitalism but history has proven that this mentality always fails to deliver anything satisfying.

I run a business, own property, buy products, sell services, employee people, construct lucrative business deals, and at the end of the day, I have to admit I benefit from our capitalist society. I often question my prosperity and the power I’ve been awarded to change lives through my business dealings. I am a capitalist, yet I view the Bible as a socialist document and I accept its principles as the driving force in my life. How does my biblical ideal for justice coexist with the reality that I clearly benefit from the unjust results of capitalism?

What Does The Bible Say About Greed? The Bible’s long narrative of the nation of Israel begins with the desperate cry of mistreated workers who have fallen victim to the power of Empire and its obsessive greed. The Exodus began with workers who dared to say “No more bricks!” The Israelite’s captured their response to the imperial values of Egypt in a 10 point list of subversive anti-Pharaoh statements about their new community (the Ten Commandments). This subversive text begins with the remembrance of their bondage in Egypt and how they were delivered in order to create something new. Located within that list of rules for building their new society, one item sticks out as something radically different. The centerpiece to this alternate-view of how to build a community is the fourth commandment (remember the Sabbath).

Walter Brueggemann suggests that fundamentally keeping the Sabbath must involve: “periodic, regular disengagement from systems of productivity whereby the world uses people up to exhaustion. That disengagement refers also to culture-produced expectations for frantic leisure, frantic consumptions, or frantic exercise.”

The purpose of the Sabbath, which literally means to desist or stop, is to withdraw from the forces of Empire whose goal is to exhaust everything it touches. We must realize that any society operating within the normalcy of Empire will inevitably crumble as it burns up the very resources which once made it strong. This is even true when the most valuable resources of a society are its people. The commandment to remember the Sabbath reminds Israel never to become like Pharaoh.

The more I understand the Bible’s subversive perspective on reality, I'm beginning to realize it can actually work. It seems evident that most people have eyes to read these ancient texts but they cannot see its truth. It is sad that we have yet to convince more people to open their eyes and implement these ideals on a national and global level. I have hope and I agree with Jesus that one day we will.

Domesticated Jesus

More good stuff from Brian McLaren whose new book "Everything Must Change" is making a big splash this month.

"We [Christians] have to ask ourselves some deep questions. To what degree have we lost the plot? To what degree have we ended up with a religion that talks about Jesus, sings about Jesus, but Jesus has just become kind of a hood ornament on our own vehicle that we're driving to our own destination."

"Do we really get the good news of Jesus or are we living out another story using a lot of Jesus talk plastered onto it."

The Devil Made Me Do It!

Is the source of evil a demonic angel, the seed of an original sin, a psychological abnormality, or simply the product of our untrained minds?

Richard Beck has concluded his blog series on “Everyday Evil”. His conclusion suggests, what I’ve always stressed, that religion must contain practices to transform us at a psychological level. This is very much in tune with the Buddhist practice of meditation and its focus on transformation and development of compassion through mindfulness. This idea goes against the traditional Christian theological view that an external devil is the agent of evil and an external God is the agent of change. I posted this article by Pema Chodron last year, but I thought I would reference it again.

Sitting practice teaches us how to open and relax to whatever arises, without picking and choosing. It teaches us to experience the uneasiness and the urge fully, and to interrupt the momentum that usually follows. We do this by not following after the thoughts and learning to come back to the present moment. We learn to stay with the uneasiness, the tightening, the itch of shenpa. We train in sitting still with our desire to scratch. This is how we learn to stop the chain reaction of habitual patterns that otherwise will rule our lives. This is how we weaken the patterns that keep us hooked into discomfort that we mistake as comfort. We label the spinoff "thinking" and return to the present moment.
Read the full article...

It makes sense to address the psychological issues that are underneath our own problems rather than using the excuse “the devil made me do it” and focusing blame in a demonic cartoon character. Buddhist philosophy has helped me understand this practical aspect of faith which is applicable to all religions. In the Christian tradition, we have historically credited the holy spirit for this change and that has created a more hands-off approach on our part. But for me, the "holy spirit" is the anthropomorphic symbol of the life changing effect of living in a community of faith. We allow the fellowship and practices of that community to produce the fruits of compassion as modeled by Jesus and the early Christian community. In the end, I think both traditions have the same ideas about transformation, but I appreciate the fact that Buddhists seem less trapped by the literalization of their symbols. A symbol can easily become an object rather than a method for change. I agree with Richard Beck that we need practical methods to create change.

Postmodern?

Last Saturday night my home group discussed definitions of Postmodernism and its relationship to religion. I thought I would try to expand my views here even though I feel this topic has been beat to death. Most people define Postmodern thought as a rejection or reaction to modern scientific thinking. It is commonly viewed as a skeptical view of truth or a view that all truth is relative. I disagree with this popular definition.

First, we should note that modernism was the way people had come to think since the age of enlightenment/reason. It is a scientific view of the world. Modernity had a dramatic effect on religion since it was a time when science and religion fought for the truth about everything. Religion felt it was loosing its hold on truth (and therefore losing the battle for power) so it fought back with its own laws (doctrines) that looked and smelled just like science with all the trappings of rigid authoritative systems and theological claims. The modern mind thinks in terms of experiments, laws and repeatable patterns so the modern minds of religion in the last few centuries tried their best to build a case for religion on the same principles. The result was fundamentalist apologetics and that fatal flaw has led to wars, distrust, abuse, and may yet destroy religion completely.

In my mind, postmodernism is not the rejection of absolute truth. Instead, it is the full embrace of everything we learned during the modern era about truth. We have absorbed all of modernity's lessons about how to do science and how not to do religion. Both insights have been valuable and we learned from our mistakes. Rather than reacting to science with a fight for truth, postmodern people of faith no longer see science as something new, dangerous, or destructive to faith. A scientific understanding of the universe is now a normal part of how we think and operate. We’ve accepted modern science and its love of skepticism and questioning, and now we have moved on with the idea of finding a new place for religion. We realize now that every great discovery in life begins with the question "Is the current way really the best way?" The battle between religion and science for absolute unchanging truth is over and science has won! Science won precisely because it never claims to have the final answer. Science always questions itself and continues to learn while religions are built on the celebration of the way things were. Religion will never again be the holder of truth about how the universe works and God will never again be the unexplainable and shrinking gap in our current understanding of the universe. We may not have all the answers but science is the best tool for that job. Religion was destined to fail when placed in that role and during the modern era, religion lost its ancient job of holding truth. Now in a postmodern world, religion will no longer have any claim to knowledge of the creation of the world, the origin or man, or the ability to predict the future.

Does that mean that religions are finished and God is dead in post modernity? I don't think so. It does mean that we finally have a chance to put religion into a role where it can succeed and God is no longer held in a human box of understanding. In the postmodern world, religion is no longer where we look for truth about the universe but where we look for inspiration, critique, transformation, and motivation. That is where it has always served mankind well. In this place, religion is a big winner. In this place, God is not a shrinking set of truths but instead God is a growing source of transformation.

Is Christianity Outdated?

Christianity can only be labeled "outdated" if and only if the focus of Christianity remains on its supernatural beliefs and superstitions rather than its transformational message of liberation. If fundamentalism remains as the primary public voice of the Christian tradition then it will continue to become more outdated. Fortunately, that doesn't have to be the case. The choice is left to all of us that call ourselves Christian by accepting the mission of Jesus. Christianity doesn't have to wither on the vine.

An even greater level of responsibility and accountability is be left to those that bear the title Reverend. What will they present to the world? Will they reduce Christianity to a movement intent on preserving an ancient worldview and fundamentalist beliefs like militant Islam, and Israeli Zionists or will they dig deeper into the bible to discover its timeless truths of peace, justice, love and mercy. The proof will be in the pudding and the pudding will be dished out from the thousands of pulpits around the globe. Will the vast majority of Christian pastors continue to focus on getting people to work up belief in unbelievable things as they peddle the snake oil of a domesticated religion or will they recognize the radically subversive message of Jesus and serve up its nourishing message?

I don't look to pass judgement on people that maintain superstitious beliefs, I only ask that they no longer make those beliefs the main focus of their message and attempt to define the term Christian as a person who holds onto those beliefs. They should not miss the opportunity to talk about what is important and timeless. Ancient beliefs have served their purpose well and they continue to work to transform lives. I have many friends that manage to maintain a vibrant transformational faith that coexists with a more ancient worldview but for me, the struggle against reason doesn't seem to be worth the fight.

Reclaiming The Bible

Marcus Borg always seems to say what I feel but I rarely have the ability to express it. I've been meeting with a small group of friends every saturday night and several of us have been reading his books. This video captures his central theme of taking the Bible seriously without taking it literally. This one concept helped me come to love the Bible and Jesus more than I ever had before. I hope a few of those friends will provide comments here about how this view of scripture may be challenging and expanding your perspective.

Mother Teresa's Crisis of Belief...

Mother Teresa of Calcutta's spiritual drought extended for decades and led her to doubt the existence of heaven and God for the last 50 years of her life.

This story in Time magazine should provide a boost to the faith of every person that feels their lack of belief might limit their ability to have a robust faith in Jesus (by faith, I mean agreement with and allegiance to his message). It proves that ontological beliefs are not a requirement for a faithful life. I wonder if her doubts about God's intervention had something to do with actually taking matters into her own hands.

Maybe Mother Teresa was "Emergent" way before it was ever cool and trendy!

The Power of Our Worldview

The CNN special called "God's Warriors" highlighted the importance of worldview. This topic spilled over into my conversation with a few friends last night and it has me thinking about how our worldview effects everything we do.

I feel that the biggest mistake in religion is that it often attempts to preserve not just the life lessons and timeless truths of its sacred traditions, but it also seeks to preserve the ancient worldviews held by the architects of those traditions. The authors of sacred texts, like all creative people, tell their stories through the lens of their own unique experiences and limited understanding. Those lenses confine and shape the stories and give them their distinct flavor and style. The stories are vessels of timeless truths but fundamentalist religions have been more concerned with preserving the worldviews that are transmitted as a byproduct of these stories while minimizing the living truth contained in the core of their meaning. Why would we read these wonderful stories and conclude that the one thing to extract from them and preserve is their ancient worldview? That does a great injustice to the stories.

The architects of our ancient traditions had their own worldview shaped and cultivated very deeply by secular and often pagan contemporary philosophers. How much of the ancient Hebrew view of an afterlife and ritual sacrifice was learned from its time in Egypt and its flirtation with the Pagan religions it replaced in the Promised Land? How much influence did Plato and Aristotle have on the authors of the New Testament? The nuggets of philosophy, biology, cosmology, and sociology that are preserved in our texts should be viewed as a unique snapshot in time. I have no problem conceding that our sacred texts display the most important truths known to man about life, love, and community, but they should not be valued when it comes to understanding the working and origin of our world. The author(s) of Genesis would be little help in designing an electric car, but I think they did have great insight on the decision to preserve or destroy our world. Genesis is an environmentally friendly story. Fundamentalists seem to listen only when it is convenient for their own personal agenda. Why preserve the notion that God created the world but ignore the call to care for it? Ancient stories convey powerful truths about our relationships and our responsibilities that transcend time and culture, but they offer little help in solving modern scientific equations or evaluating human origins and evolution. The bible is a lens through which we see God and the point is not to see the lens as a perfect lens. The point is to be in relationship to that which the lens discloses.

What makes it so hard for us to look at our texts and traditions without buying into their flaws? I wouldn’t really even call those types of shortcomings “flaws”. It was the best these people could do. Even fundamentalists critique the ancient political structures (for example Monarchy) and judge those failed attempts as pre-enlightenment naivety, but they try to hold onto ancient theology and even ancient cosmology and biology as if it timeless? Even modern science would not see its conclusions as timeless. The answer seems so clear to me. I can’t grasp what could possibly cause people to struggle with letting this older way of viewing the world wither and die. Isn’t there a way to build a strong and vibrant faith based on the clear message of hope, justice, and peace that is blatantly obvious in our sacred texts while letting go of the ancient worldviews that tag along for the ride on the backs of those stories? Why must there be a fight to the death over something so obvious?

I’m not suggesting that we dismiss these ancient voices, but rather that we understand their limitations in the same way that we should humbly consider our own limitations. If we have learned anything from the modern enlightenment, it should be that we will never have it all ironed out in neat little packages of scientific proof. There are certainly things we don’t yet understand but that is even more reason to keep questioning our worldview. The goal of faith is not to believe the unbelievable. The development of a robust faith cannot not be measured by the level of absurdity in things we will believe to be true.

Postmodern theology has been misunderstood as a return to pre-modern thinking or a rejection of modernity. Instead, I feel that to be postmodern means allowing all the lessons of modernity to become an integral part of our thinking as modernity has had time to sink into the fabric of our society. Postmodern people of faith are no longer fighting the discoveries of science the way our fathers did. Post modernity means the old modern war that sets faith apart from reason is over. Reason has won that battle, thank God! But unlike the early modern secular movement that saw faith and ancient beliefs as a package deal which must be destroyed, we now seek to find a place where faith no longer needs the absence of reason to exist. Postmodern theology is a complete absorption and celebration of the modern enlightenment PLUS the retention of ancient faith traditions, rituals, language, and timeless lessons. Our postmodern goal should be to have a robust "up-to-date" worldview with all the trimmings of modern science PLUS a robust faith with all the valuable insights of ancient traditions.