Tag Archives: Diana Butler Bass
A Movement of Inclusion
We need to allow the church to become a movement again. Continue Reading A Movement of Inclusion
Change Is Never Comfortable
How can we envision a new world when we have never fallen away from the old? Continue Reading Change Is Never Comfortable
Can We Be “Friends” with God?
Friendship is an eternal circle, the ceaseless reaching toward one another that strengthens us and gives us joy. Continue Reading Can We Be “Friends” with God?
Preaching “On the Mount”
The Sermon on the Mount Preaching “On the Mount” Tuesday, July 20, 2021 Popular religious scholar and friend Diana Butler Bass shares how Jesus’ teaching “on the mount” placed him in the lineage of Moses and other revered Jewish prophets. Jesus builds on his own Jewish tradition to call his hearers to transformative living. She… Continue Reading Preaching “On the Mount”
A Practical Twofold Process
Action and Contemplation: Part Three A Practical Twofold Process Wednesday, January 22, 2020 As in the early church, the desert Christians were deeply committed to Jesus’ teachings and lived practice. Their chosen solitude and silence were not anti-social but a way to become better at seeing clearly and at loving deeply. Withdrawal was for the sake of… Continue Reading A Practical Twofold Process
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
Practical Prayer
Early Christianity Practical Prayer Friday, September 7, 2018 In the same way as the early church, the desert Christians were deeply committed to Jesus’ teachings and lived practice. Withdrawal to the wilderness—whether into close-knit communities or solitude—was only for the sake of deeper encounter and presence. Diana Butler Bass describes the natural flow from prayer… Continue Reading Practical Prayer
The Beginnings of the Way
Early Christianity The Beginnings of the Way Sunday, September 2, 2018 If we look closely at the evolution of religion over time, we see that there has been gradual growth toward the goal of union with God. Religions continue to change, “transcending and including,” as Ken Wilber says, learning from old ways and opening to… Continue Reading The Beginnings of the Way
A Great Turning
From the Bottom Up: Summary A Great Turning Wednesday, December 27, 2017 In her book Christianity After Religion, church historian Diana Butler Bass writes: Strange as it may seem in this time of cultural anxiety, economic near collapse, terrorist fear, political violence, environmental crisis, and partisan anger, I believe that the United States (and not… Continue Reading A Great Turning