Q&R “Why are you no longer an Evangelical? How about the Charismatic gifts?” Eric Janzen
Question: Which of your beliefs has changed that made the label “Evangelical” no longer correct for you?
This is a difficult question to answer in brief. However, I shall make an attempt. I will preface this by saying that I consider myself, in part, an Anabaptist who is on a slow pilgrimage toward the Orthodox Church. However, I admit I am in the desert, so to speak, on a journey between lands. I really enjoy it here and am in no rush.
It is also worth noting that I have retained the core elements of Anabaptism: Jesus as the very centre of faith, Jesus is the revelation of who God is, social justice and peace as inseparable from the Gospel, the importance of learning and discipleship in community, non-violence, and loving others generously—to name a few. Meanwhile, I have attempted to divest myself of the Evangelical elements and influences that invariably crept into the churches I attended as a youth.
I no longer believe that God is like Zeus. By this, I mean I no longer believe that God is an enraged deity who harbours a barely restrained hatred for His creation. I believe that Jesus Christ is God and reveals exactly who God is and what God is like: God’s very core essence is Divine Love.
I no longer believe that God was punishing Jesus on the Cross as a substitute for the punishment He wanted to pour out on humanity in an enraged, murderous fit of wrath. This an unworthy depiction of the Creator God who is Love and who wants to restore humanity to a complete and peaceful wholeness of mind, body, and spirit.
I believe that in the Incarnation, Life, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus Christ revealed the full reality of who God is and what God is like. I believe that Christ overcame Death and Sin thus restoring to humanity the ability to be restored to God in an unhindered, completely open and free relationship. Because of this, we are invited to be transformed and transfigured as the image and likeness of God within us is freed to become like Christ.
Brian Zahnd – Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie EleisonBrian Zahnd Six months ago I walked across Spain. Five hundred miles.Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.Forty days and forty nights.A full life with two full moons. Harvest and Hunter’s.Heat and cold. Dust and rain. Wind and...
Meditation, Stillness and Transformation – Brad Jersak
I had a dream last night -- a discussion with the Dalai Lama, actually. In the dream I saw the consequences of Christianity's failure to engage seriously in Judeo-Christian meditation. While the words "meditate" or "meditation" are scary...
The Cults of Caesar and Christ – Brian Zahnd
The original name for what would eventually became known as Christianity was “the Way.” You won’t find “Christianity” in the Bible, but you will find “the Way” seven times in the book of Acts. If you had asked a baptized follower of Jesus during the first century,...
But Did They Find the WMDs? Scripture Faithfully Questions Scripture – Brad Jersak
Back in February of 2010, while reading Eric Siebert's book entitled Disturbing Divine Behavior, I engaged in a stimulating e-exchange with two friends (Brian Zahnd and Brian Schmidt) about the implications of a Christocentric reading of the conquest /...
Hermann Hesse: the Glass Bead Game Then & Now – Ron Dart
A) Then 1) Historic Context (Castalia and the Glass Bead Game) 2) The Game: Quest for a grand synthesis of historic thought across time, cultures and civilizations via music, literature, spirituality, philosophy 3) Integration of the beads of different perspectives...
A Limitless Beauty – Jessica Williams
I have come to believe that our work on Earth is not to nail down the answers to these questions but to honour them – to let them breathe. This is what happens in the dialogue between Gregory and Macrina.
Rim of the Visible World – Earth Day Reflection – Jason Upton
A God who is enrobed in filmy veils of cloud, there on the rim of the visible world where our Great-Grandfather Sun kindles his evening camp-fire; who rides upon the rigorous wind of the north, or breathes forth spirit upon fragrant southern airs, whose war canoe is launched upon majestic rivers and island seas–such a God needs no lesser cathedral.
God Enters Our Nightmare – Tom Belt
It’s a scene you’ve experienced if you have children. Your young daughter screams out in the night. You rush to her side and find her semi-awake, still trapped inside a nightmare, and crying out, “Daddy! There’s a monster chasing me!” What do you say? Do you say, “Run...
Greg Boyd’s “Crucifixion of the Warrior God” – Review (1/3) by Rob Grayson
Today I have the privilege of beginning to review the long-awaited new book by Greg Boyd, titled The Crucifixion of the Warrior God,
Hearing Jesus in a Wheat and Tares Church – Sean Davidson
There is little doubt that the church has failed in its mission down through the ages. But it has also enabled prophetic critique and movements of renewal too. This is built in. So the history of the church and the tradition that forms us are mixed. There are some...