Tag Archives: church history
Changing Perspectives
Jesus and the Cross Changing Perspectives Tuesday, February 5, 2019 When we look at history, it’s clear that Christianity is an evolving faith. It only makes sense that early Christians would look for a logical and meaningful explanation for the “why” of the tragic death of their religion’s founder. For the early centuries, appeasing an… Continue Reading Changing Perspectives
Substitutionary Atonement
Jesus and the Cross Substitutionary Atonement Sunday, February 3, 2019 For most of church history, no single consensus prevailed on what Christians mean when we say, “Jesus died for our sins.” But in recent centuries, one theory did become mainstream. It is often referred to as the “penal substitutionary atonement theory,” especially once it was… Continue Reading Substitutionary Atonement
One United Dynamic Nature
Jesus: Human and Divine One United Dynamic Nature Sunday, January 27, 2019 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 3:11 We’ve begun this year’s Daily Meditations focusing on Jesus. While the Christian faith is living and evolving, its foundation is… Continue Reading One United Dynamic Nature
Practical Christianity
Following Jesus Practical Christianity Thursday, January 24, 2019 When the Christian tradition chose an imperial Christ, living inside the world of static and mythic proclamations, it framed belief and understanding in a very small box. The Christ of the creeds is not tethered to earth—to the real, historical, flesh-and-blood Jesus of Nazareth. Instead, this image… Continue Reading Practical Christianity
People of the Way
Following Jesus People of the Way Monday, January 21, 2019 Church historian Diana Butler Bass has brought new light to forgotten or misconstrued elements of Christianity. Today I share some of her research on what early Christians thought it meant to follow Jesus: Throughout the first five centuries people understood Christianity primarily as a way… Continue Reading People of the Way
The Christian Contemplative Tradition
Western Christianity The Christian Contemplative Tradition Sunday, September 16, 2018 Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have a long tradition of teaching contemplation or nondual consciousness. But its systematic teaching was primarily held in the Eastern “Greek” church; the Western “Latin” church was more extroverted and aligned with empires. Serious contemplative teaching—very upfront in the desert fathers… Continue Reading The Christian Contemplative Tradition
Participation in the Incarnation
Eastern Christianity Participation in the Incarnation Friday, September 14, 2018 Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. —Isaiah 60:1 George Maloney (1924–2005), a Catholic priest in the Russian Byzantine Rite with a doctorate in Eastern Christian spirituality, and I used to be on the same speaking… Continue Reading Participation in the Incarnation
Universal Restoration
Eastern Christianity Universal Restoration Thursday, September 13, 2018 The shape of creation must somehow mirror and reveal the shape of the Creator. We must have a God at least as big as the universe, or else our view of God becomes irrelevant, constricted, and more harmful than helpful. The Christian image of a torturous hell… Continue Reading Universal Restoration
Theosis
Eastern Christianity Theosis Wednesday, September 12, 2018 The Orthodox teaching of divinization, or theosis, according to Pope John Paul II, is perhaps the greatest gift of the Eastern Church to the West, but one that has largely been ignored or even denied. [1] The Eastern fathers of the Church believed that we could experience real and transformative… Continue Reading Theosis
Trinity
Eastern Christianity Trinity Tuesday, September 11, 2018 Just as some Eastern fathers saw Christ’s human/divine nature as one dynamic unity, they also saw the Trinity as an Infinite Dynamic Flow. The Western Church tended to have a more static view of both Christ and the Trinity—more a mathematical conundrum than an invitation to new consciousness.… Continue Reading Trinity
