This is my last column describing the meaning and history of Progressive Christianity. Finishing our historical journey, let me mention a few more people who have contributed to Progressive Christian thought.
Martin Buber (1878-1965) was an Austrian-born Israeli Jewish philosopher best known for his book "I and Thou," which focused on the way humans relate to their world.
According to Buber, we frequently view both objects and people by their functions. Doing this is sometimes good: when doctors examine us for specific maladies, it's best if they view us as organisms, not as individuals.
Scientists can learn a great deal about our world by observing, measuring and examining. For Buber, all such processes are I-It relationships.
Unfortunately, we frequently view people in the same way. Rather than truly making ourselves completely available to them, understanding them, sharing totally with them, really talking with them, we observe them or keep part of ourselves outside the moment of relationship.
Buber calls such an interaction I-It. It is possible, notes Buber, to place ourselves completely into a relationship, to truly understand and "be there" with another person, without masks, pretenses, even without words. Such a moment of relating is called "I-Thou."
The bond thus created enlarges each person, and each person responds by trying to enhance the other person. The result is true dialogue, true sharing. Buber then moves from this existential description of personal relating to the religious experience. For Buber, God is the Eternal Thou. Yet another concept of God to consider.
Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000) was an American philosopher who concentrated primarily on the philosophy of religion and metaphysics. He developed the neoclassical idea of God and produced a modal proof of the existence of God that was a development of St. Anselm's Ontological Argument.
Hartshorne is also noted for developing Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy into process theology, a component of Progressive Christianity. One of the technical terms Hartshorne used is pan-en-theism. Panentheism (all is in God) must be differentiated from classical pantheism (all is God).
In Hartshorne's theology, God is not identical with the world, but God is also not completely independent from the world. God has his self-identity that transcends the Earth, but the world is also contained within God. A rough analogy is the relationship between a mother and a fetus. The mother has her own identity and is different from the unborn, yet is intimately connected to the unborn. The unborn is within the womb and attached to the mother via the umbilical cord.
Next, Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament at the University of Marburg. He was one of the major figures of early 20th century biblical studies and a prominent voice in liberal Christianity.
Bultmann is known for his belief that the historical analysis of the New Testament is both futile and unnecessary, given that the earliest Christian literature showed little interest in specific locations. Bultmann argued that all that matters is the "thatness," not the "whatness" of Jesus; i.e. only that Jesus existed, preached and died by Crucifixion matters, not what happened throughout his life. Bultmann contended that only faith in the kerygma, or proclamation, of the New Testament was necessary for Christian faith, not any particular facts regarding the historical Jesus.
Finally, Marcus Borg (1942-2015) was an American New Testament scholar, theologian and author. He was among the most widely known and influential voices in progressive Christianity. As a fellow of the Jesus Seminar, Borg was a major figure in historical Jesus scholarship. The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 150 critical Biblical scholars and laymen founded in 1985. Members of the Seminar used votes with colored beads to decide their collective view of the historicity of the deeds and sayings of Jesus of Nazareth. They published their results in three reports: The Five Gospels (1993), The Acts of Jesus (1998), and The Gospel of Jesus (1999).
As Friedrich Schleiermacher argued that while we cannot know God in a scientific way, humans have a sense and taste for the infinite, no one can know Progressive Christianity from these four short articles. However, I hope you now have a sense and taste for what we are about. If you would like to learn more, join us at United Christian Church, Levittown.
Sources: Wikipedia and Jewish Virtual Librar
Keith A. Pacheco, Langhorne, is an aspiring peacemaker and a student of nonviolent communication.
Excerpt from:
On religion: Being aware of our connectivity to God and each other - The Intelligencer
- PANTHEISM: Nature, universe, science and religion - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Pantheism - New World Encyclopedia - Info:Main Page - New ... - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Is your spiritual home right here on Earth? | World Pantheism - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- The Higher Pantheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Does pantheism relate to free will? - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Pantheism Master (Original Mix) - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Pantheism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Pantheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Never losing dignity - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- How to Pronounce Pantheism - Video - March 5th, 2015 [March 5th, 2015]
- Pantheism explained - Video - March 8th, 2015 [March 8th, 2015]
- Wk 40 Katey on Pantheism and Souls - Video - March 31st, 2015 [March 31st, 2015]
- Metaphysics of Pantheism - Famous Pantheist Quotes - April 8th, 2015 [April 8th, 2015]
- What is pantheism? - Bible Questions Answered - April 8th, 2015 [April 8th, 2015]
- The Presence of God The Holy Spirit and Pantheism - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Roman Gods And Pantheism - AllAboutHistory.org - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Pantheism - RationalWiki - December 18th, 2016 [December 18th, 2016]
- Pantheism | Neo-Paganism.com - December 22nd, 2016 [December 22nd, 2016]
- Monism - Wikipedia - January 12th, 2017 [January 12th, 2017]
- Pantheism Beliefs Explained - About.com Religion ... - January 21st, 2017 [January 21st, 2017]
- Our fight to the death with nature is not one we can win - The Age - The Age - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Pantheism - Norse Mythology for Smart People - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- How Alexis de Tocqueville can help us stay sane - The Washington ... - Washington Post - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Veljo Tormis obituary - The Guardian - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Educational Reformer Hirsch Promotes Knowledge Against Its ... - National Review - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- 'Evilution:' The Secret Luciferian, Spiritual Origin To One of The Biggest Hoaxes in History Evolution - The Christian Truther - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Poet Robinson Jeffers to be topic at OLLI meeting - Chico Enterprise-Record - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Our Lady of Fatima and the Battle With Freemasonry, Part 1 - Church Militant - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- What Is Wrong With Yoga? - Catholic Church - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- 4 books tell stories of Ky. drug world - Glasgow Daily Times - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Hinduism vs Hindutva: The search for an ideology in times of cow ... - Hindustan Times - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Demystifying the Beliefs of Pantheism - thoughtco.com - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Adventists appeal court ruling on Kellogg Sabbath accommodation case - Adventist News Network - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- 'Sgt. Pepper's' Turns 50: The Newsweek Review of The Beatles' Masterpiece - Newsweek - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Seven Things Evil Is Not: What the Death of My Son Taught Me - ChristianityToday.com - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- How Scotland inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula - The Scotsman - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- My Turn: Respecting Mother - Concord Monitor - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Who were the authors of the so-called Gnostic gospels, and what did they believe? - Aleteia EN - June 24th, 2017 [June 24th, 2017]
- This Former MTV Icon Found Inner Peace Through Islam - HuffPost - June 24th, 2017 [June 24th, 2017]
- Views | Pantheism.com - June 26th, 2017 [June 26th, 2017]
- New Names for Old Gods - Patheos (blog) - June 29th, 2017 [June 29th, 2017]
- The Universe Is the Mind of God - The Costa Rican Times - June 30th, 2017 [June 30th, 2017]
- A Modern Day Inquisition: Rabbi Joseph Dweck - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 3rd, 2017 [July 3rd, 2017]
- Hinman's ABEAN Argument Part 3: More Objections - Patheos (blog) - July 7th, 2017 [July 7th, 2017]
- 20 Options on God (Find Yours Here) - Patheos (blog) - July 8th, 2017 [July 8th, 2017]
- Nelsons Leads Tanglewood Resurrection - The Boston Musical ... - The Boston Musical Intelligencer - July 8th, 2017 [July 8th, 2017]
- Hindu-Americans Don't Vote Republican - The American Conservative - July 10th, 2017 [July 10th, 2017]
- Through the Viewfinder: Pamela Ryder with Peter Markus - Brooklyn Rail - July 15th, 2017 [July 15th, 2017]
- A Critical Look At A New Sefer: Alternative Medicine in Halachah - Yeshiva World News - July 20th, 2017 [July 20th, 2017]
- Why Dina Nath Batra wants Tagore, Urdu, Mughals removed from school books - DailyO - July 25th, 2017 [July 25th, 2017]
- 'Heretics!' Illustrates the Contentiousness Surrounding Philosophy - PopMatters - August 1st, 2017 [August 1st, 2017]
- Is Your Christian Worldview Cohesive? - Cape May County Herald - August 2nd, 2017 [August 2nd, 2017]
- Senryu pries open 'The Jaws of Life' to explore death on latest release - Maryville Daily Times - August 3rd, 2017 [August 3rd, 2017]
- Star Wars' religious imagery is more than just coincidence - Catholic Herald Online (blog) - August 5th, 2017 [August 5th, 2017]
- This World as Philosophically Necessary - Patheos (blog) - August 10th, 2017 [August 10th, 2017]
- Staying power: a poet's place in God's agenda - National Catholic Reporter - August 10th, 2017 [August 10th, 2017]
- Gratitude So Burdensome? - First Things - August 11th, 2017 [August 11th, 2017]
- Unitarian Universalism and Pantheism World Pantheism - August 13th, 2017 [August 13th, 2017]
- Pantheism - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - August 22nd, 2017 [August 22nd, 2017]
- Pantheism - History - AllAboutHistory.org - August 22nd, 2017 [August 22nd, 2017]
- Dennis Andrew from Poole says 'I am Druid' - Somerset Live - August 25th, 2017 [August 25th, 2017]
- Spinozism - Wikipedia - August 25th, 2017 [August 25th, 2017]
- World Pantheist Movement - Official Site - January 26th, 2018 [January 26th, 2018]
- World Pantheism - The online community for scientific pantheists - February 4th, 2018 [February 4th, 2018]
- Pantheism. I believe that the universe created itself ... - February 6th, 2018 [February 6th, 2018]
- Lesson 10: Pantheism and New-Age Mysticism | Free Sunday ... - July 15th, 2018 [July 15th, 2018]
- Naturalistic pantheism - Wikipedia - July 27th, 2018 [July 27th, 2018]
- Pantheism | Inters.org - September 2nd, 2018 [September 2nd, 2018]
- Pantheism | Encyclopedia.com - September 7th, 2018 [September 7th, 2018]
- Pantheism - New World Encyclopedia - October 6th, 2018 [October 6th, 2018]
- AN INTRODUCTION TO PANTHEISM - Personal/Professional - October 6th, 2018 [October 6th, 2018]
- About | Pantheism.com - November 5th, 2018 [November 5th, 2018]
- What is pantheism? | CARM.org - November 5th, 2018 [November 5th, 2018]
- Pantheism | Philosophy Talk - December 16th, 2018 [December 16th, 2018]
- Pantheism - Pantheism and panentheism in ancient and ... - December 19th, 2018 [December 19th, 2018]
- Against Pantheism Undivided Looking - Wall - January 7th, 2019 [January 7th, 2019]
- Pantheism | Britannica.com - April 16th, 2019 [April 16th, 2019]
- Lay Faithful to Gather in Rome to Pray for the Church on Eve of Amazon Synod - National Catholic Register - October 1st, 2019 [October 1st, 2019]
- Cdl. Burke: Revolution Is the Goal - Church Militant - October 1st, 2019 [October 1st, 2019]
- EXCLUSIVE: Catholic priest defends burning Pachamama effigy as within law of God - Lifesite - November 13th, 2019 [November 13th, 2019]