| Wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here! |
| Riviera United Church of Christ |
| 451 Riviera Drive NE ● Palm Bay, Florida 32905 ● 321-723-3963 |
| Christians don’t have to believe that Christianity is the only valid path to God. The Bible teaches that God respects other faiths, Indeed the nature of God in Jesus includes holding dialogue with other faiths and respecting and loving people of other religions or paths to God. Jesus respected the non-Jewish Canaanite woman’s faith (Mt 15:28). Jesus validated Judaism and the commandments by declaring that “whoever does [the commandments] and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” A lawyer asked Jesus ‘‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’’ [and Jesus] said, ‘‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’’ [The lawyer] answered, ‘‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’’ And [Jesus] said to him, ‘‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ To make the point, two Jews, Jesus and the lawyer, both declare that a good neighbor can be a non-Jewish Samaritan. This ties in nicely with Jesus’ claim that anyone who feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, tends to the sick or visits the imprisoned will be in the Kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus respected non- Christian paths to God, and we can too. Christians don’t have to believe that Christianity is the only path to God |
| Christians don’t have to believe that science conflicts with religion. Science seeks truth through reason and and experience to understand how creation works. Religion seeks truth through reason and experience to understand our relationship with creation and that which created it. Both are limited by human understanding and experience. Both cannot explain it all. Both begin with an aim toward truth and end in mystery and awe. Reasoning that the universe began as a big bang of light and cosmic dust does not have to conflict with reasoning that the universe began with God’s Light and the creation of humans from metaphoric dust. Scientists, thinking openly, have brought us to a way of great wisdom, inventions and medicines. Jesus, thinking openly, has brought us to a way of great wisdom, love and morals. God, Messiah, morals, medicine, discovery and methods of science need not be understood as mutually exclusive. Christians don’t have to believe that science conflicts with religion. |
Christians don’t have to believe
that homosexuality is a sin.
Scripture need not be read to prohibit homo-
sexuality. Jesus made no mention of it, and it is not otherwise
expressly mentioned in the Bible except by putting modern
words in ancient texts (like you see in modern translations). If
you want proof, check out the older King James Version of
the Bible. It does not use the word, “homosexuality” at all!
Moreover, even passages in Leviticus, often interpreted to
deal with homosexuality in America, amount to old laws
expressly intended for application in ancient Israel.
Christians do not have to believe homosexuality is a
sin.
that homosexuality is a sin.
Scripture need not be read to prohibit homo-
sexuality. Jesus made no mention of it, and it is not otherwise
expressly mentioned in the Bible except by putting modern
words in ancient texts (like you see in modern translations). If
you want proof, check out the older King James Version of
the Bible. It does not use the word, “homosexuality” at all!
Moreover, even passages in Leviticus, often interpreted to
deal with homosexuality in America, amount to old laws
expressly intended for application in ancient Israel.
Christians do not have to believe homosexuality is a
sin.
Christians don’t have to believe
that God is male.
Many insist that we must believe God is male. Yet
the Bible itself suggests female images of God. Females are
created in God’s image. God first appears in the Bible as
“ruah,” a female word meaning “Spirit.” It is natural to think of
a female image at the birth of the world. There are other
female images of God in the Bible. In Isaiah 42:14 God “cries
out like a woman in labor.” Psalm 22:9 refers to God as a
midwife; “it was you who took me from the womb; you kept
me safe on my mother’s breast.” In Hosea 13:8 God is a
protective “like a bear robbed of her cubs.” Jesus refers to
God in a mother image noting wisdom (another female word)
“is vindicated by all her children” and that God acts like a
hen, protecting the children of God, pulling her brood
beneath her wings. If the Bible – and Jesus– imagine God as
other than male, then so can we. Christians can, but do
not have to, believe that God is male.
that God is male.
Many insist that we must believe God is male. Yet
the Bible itself suggests female images of God. Females are
created in God’s image. God first appears in the Bible as
“ruah,” a female word meaning “Spirit.” It is natural to think of
a female image at the birth of the world. There are other
female images of God in the Bible. In Isaiah 42:14 God “cries
out like a woman in labor.” Psalm 22:9 refers to God as a
midwife; “it was you who took me from the womb; you kept
me safe on my mother’s breast.” In Hosea 13:8 God is a
protective “like a bear robbed of her cubs.” Jesus refers to
God in a mother image noting wisdom (another female word)
“is vindicated by all her children” and that God acts like a
hen, protecting the children of God, pulling her brood
beneath her wings. If the Bible – and Jesus– imagine God as
other than male, then so can we. Christians can, but do
not have to, believe that God is male.
Christians don’t have to believe
that God is all powerful.
This is sometimes the hardest thing for folks to allow
others not to believe. We want God to be able to override
bad things in life. We want to hope for instant resolution of
catastrophic troubles. But if God is love and all-powerful
then shouldn’t God swoop in and instantly resolve suffering,
end calamity and prevent things like genocide and war? If
we had the power, we’d do it with our little bit of love. We
know that God does not instantly fix bad things, so it’s fair
to understand that either God is not all powerful or God’s
power is limited. God doesn’t snap giant fingers to instantly
stop evil and suffering. We know that to be true. This is
hard to accept for those of us brought up thinking of God
as wielding any power we humans can imagine. Our
experiences however suggest that it is reasonable to
understand that God does not coerce creation in any way
and that God cannot overrule our freedom or nature’s laws.
While God’s power is not coercive, we can understand God
has the persuasive power of Love which causes us to react
and respond. Responding as God’s instruments we can
stop evils like genocide, as we did in World War II, or with
slavery in the 1860’s. We can stop some catastrophes too,
like we did with polio in the 1950’s. If we choose, we can
stop hunger and genocide and oppression today. Maybe
we can even one day stop AIDS, cancer, and many other
forms of suffering. But, it is God working through us that
has that sort of power. It is not God with the magic snap,
but God with the magic of LOVE. This is how God can be
understood to work, so Christians don’t have to believe
God is all powerful.
that God is all powerful.
This is sometimes the hardest thing for folks to allow
others not to believe. We want God to be able to override
bad things in life. We want to hope for instant resolution of
catastrophic troubles. But if God is love and all-powerful
then shouldn’t God swoop in and instantly resolve suffering,
end calamity and prevent things like genocide and war? If
we had the power, we’d do it with our little bit of love. We
know that God does not instantly fix bad things, so it’s fair
to understand that either God is not all powerful or God’s
power is limited. God doesn’t snap giant fingers to instantly
stop evil and suffering. We know that to be true. This is
hard to accept for those of us brought up thinking of God
as wielding any power we humans can imagine. Our
experiences however suggest that it is reasonable to
understand that God does not coerce creation in any way
and that God cannot overrule our freedom or nature’s laws.
While God’s power is not coercive, we can understand God
has the persuasive power of Love which causes us to react
and respond. Responding as God’s instruments we can
stop evils like genocide, as we did in World War II, or with
slavery in the 1860’s. We can stop some catastrophes too,
like we did with polio in the 1950’s. If we choose, we can
stop hunger and genocide and oppression today. Maybe
we can even one day stop AIDS, cancer, and many other
forms of suffering. But, it is God working through us that
has that sort of power. It is not God with the magic snap,
but God with the magic of LOVE. This is how God can be
understood to work, so Christians don’t have to believe
God is all powerful.
Christians don’t have to believe
that God sent Jesus to earth to be tortured
and put to death as a sacrifice required by
God.
At Riviera UCC, we tend to center theology around these
three words from 1 John: “God is Love.” Those words are
in direct conflict with the idea that God personally required
human sacrifice to redeem us from a sinful state, and that
God intentionally sent his only son Jesus to be sacrificed
and brutally killed. As puny mortals with a thimble full of
love compared to God’s oceans of love, we know that
sacrificing humans is not a mark of Love. If we are images
of God, what sort of image does a human sacrificing God
make us? What sort of God of Love could do that? Jesus
certainly sacrificed his life and God made the best of it —
even resurrected him for us to find our Way to Love, but
you do not have to accept that God planned and
demanded Jesus’ death from the start to fulfill some Divine
need, some hallowed blood thirst for human sacrifice.
Christians don’t have to believe God sent Jesus to
earth to be tortured and put to death as a sacrifice
required by God.
that God sent Jesus to earth to be tortured
and put to death as a sacrifice required by
God.
At Riviera UCC, we tend to center theology around these
three words from 1 John: “God is Love.” Those words are
in direct conflict with the idea that God personally required
human sacrifice to redeem us from a sinful state, and that
God intentionally sent his only son Jesus to be sacrificed
and brutally killed. As puny mortals with a thimble full of
love compared to God’s oceans of love, we know that
sacrificing humans is not a mark of Love. If we are images
of God, what sort of image does a human sacrificing God
make us? What sort of God of Love could do that? Jesus
certainly sacrificed his life and God made the best of it —
even resurrected him for us to find our Way to Love, but
you do not have to accept that God planned and
demanded Jesus’ death from the start to fulfill some Divine
need, some hallowed blood thirst for human sacrifice.
Christians don’t have to believe God sent Jesus to
earth to be tortured and put to death as a sacrifice
required by God.
Christians don’t have to believe
hat Jesus was not fully human.
Lots of people seem to think of Jesus as a
sort of Superman in a robe and sandals fighting
oppression and healing people with super powers, but
the gospel stories do not mesh with that super human
notion. Jesus lived, slept, breathed, drank, ate, got
hungry, got angry, bled and died. In the synoptic
Gospels, Jesus never calls himself “Son of God” and it
is doubtful he ever called himself “Messiah.” You can
believe that the Jesus of history was super-natural.
However, it is also okay to believe that the Jesus of
history was not supernatural, but rather an amazing
human who found a Way to God that is within us all;
that he let God shine in all he did; and that he taught
us the Way to do it too. Boiled down, Jesus’ Way is not
about this belief or that, it’s about Love. It’s about
feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the
imprisoned. It’s about getting our God spark stoked
and glowing to the point where our body burns brightly
as the voice and ears and the hands and feet of God.
We are to be the instrument of God doing love-
oriented things in the world; seeking justice, and
loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. Jesus
as a human showed us that God could be incarnate
not in a super man, but in a just, kind humble human.
Christians do not have to believe that Jesus was
not fully human.
hat Jesus was not fully human.
Lots of people seem to think of Jesus as a
sort of Superman in a robe and sandals fighting
oppression and healing people with super powers, but
the gospel stories do not mesh with that super human
notion. Jesus lived, slept, breathed, drank, ate, got
hungry, got angry, bled and died. In the synoptic
Gospels, Jesus never calls himself “Son of God” and it
is doubtful he ever called himself “Messiah.” You can
believe that the Jesus of history was super-natural.
However, it is also okay to believe that the Jesus of
history was not supernatural, but rather an amazing
human who found a Way to God that is within us all;
that he let God shine in all he did; and that he taught
us the Way to do it too. Boiled down, Jesus’ Way is not
about this belief or that, it’s about Love. It’s about
feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the
imprisoned. It’s about getting our God spark stoked
and glowing to the point where our body burns brightly
as the voice and ears and the hands and feet of God.
We are to be the instrument of God doing love-
oriented things in the world; seeking justice, and
loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. Jesus
as a human showed us that God could be incarnate
not in a super man, but in a just, kind humble human.
Christians do not have to believe that Jesus was
not fully human.
Christians don’t have to believe that
Jesus was born of a virgin.
There are, of course, many Christians who believe
the story of the virgin birth as historic truth. A number of us
hold this belief, and it is dear to us. There can be much
meaning in trusting that Jesus was conceived and born of
a virgin. There is, though, no requirement that to be a
Christian you must believe it literally happened. The Bible
does not list this as a requirement. Jesus does not mention
it as a requirement and neither does Paul. Indeed, the
Bible makes it clear that Christ is a gift from God, and there
are no requirements to receive that gift. In short, there is
no mandate that we must believe Jesus had no earthly
father. This does not mean the story of the virgin
conception has no meaning to those unable to believe it
happened. After all, why is a virgin birth necessary to
Jesus’ life, death and resurrection? What cosmic truth
could there possibly be in that event? A miracle birth? All
birth’s are miracles. And Jesus’ birth is not the only virgin
birth story in history. Alexander, Plato, Augustus and
Buddha all have virgin birth stories connected to them. But
even still in the age of reason, we can hear the story of
Mary’s virgin conception of God as wondrously full of
symbolic meaning. Meaning, not historic accuracy, is the
point one way or the other. For example, Gabriel tells Mary
she will “conceive” Jesus. “Conceive" can mean to become
pregnant, but it can also mean to apprehend or to have a
conception of something. So, Mary’s story can speak truth
to all conceptions of God. Isn’t every single person’s
ultimate conception of God between only them and God?
And don’t we all bear the spark of God within us that needs
to be birthed? The virgin birth story has a lot of meaning,
but need not be considered history. Christians can, but
do not have to, believe Jesus was literally born of a
virgin.
Jesus was born of a virgin.
There are, of course, many Christians who believe
the story of the virgin birth as historic truth. A number of us
hold this belief, and it is dear to us. There can be much
meaning in trusting that Jesus was conceived and born of
a virgin. There is, though, no requirement that to be a
Christian you must believe it literally happened. The Bible
does not list this as a requirement. Jesus does not mention
it as a requirement and neither does Paul. Indeed, the
Bible makes it clear that Christ is a gift from God, and there
are no requirements to receive that gift. In short, there is
no mandate that we must believe Jesus had no earthly
father. This does not mean the story of the virgin
conception has no meaning to those unable to believe it
happened. After all, why is a virgin birth necessary to
Jesus’ life, death and resurrection? What cosmic truth
could there possibly be in that event? A miracle birth? All
birth’s are miracles. And Jesus’ birth is not the only virgin
birth story in history. Alexander, Plato, Augustus and
Buddha all have virgin birth stories connected to them. But
even still in the age of reason, we can hear the story of
Mary’s virgin conception of God as wondrously full of
symbolic meaning. Meaning, not historic accuracy, is the
point one way or the other. For example, Gabriel tells Mary
she will “conceive” Jesus. “Conceive" can mean to become
pregnant, but it can also mean to apprehend or to have a
conception of something. So, Mary’s story can speak truth
to all conceptions of God. Isn’t every single person’s
ultimate conception of God between only them and God?
And don’t we all bear the spark of God within us that needs
to be birthed? The virgin birth story has a lot of meaning,
but need not be considered history. Christians can, but
do not have to, believe Jesus was literally born of a
virgin.
Christians don’t have to believe that
The Bible is the inerrant word of God
that must be read literally.
The Bible does not claim we have to believe such things.
Not even all churches claim it. In fact, Jesus challenged
Scripture. He touched lepers, women and the unclean. He
worked on the Sabbath. He forgave sinners. In doing so,
he did justice, loved kindness and walked humbly with
God. If we can get the same results by challenging
Scripture, noting the fallibility of its authors, translators,
cultures and ideas, then we should do so. Or, if by reading
scripture metaphorically, instead of literally, we can
discover truth, then we should do that as well. Christians
don’t have to believe that the Bible is the inerrant
word of God that must be read literally.
The Bible is the inerrant word of God
that must be read literally.
The Bible does not claim we have to believe such things.
Not even all churches claim it. In fact, Jesus challenged
Scripture. He touched lepers, women and the unclean. He
worked on the Sabbath. He forgave sinners. In doing so,
he did justice, loved kindness and walked humbly with
God. If we can get the same results by challenging
Scripture, noting the fallibility of its authors, translators,
cultures and ideas, then we should do so. Or, if by reading
scripture metaphorically, instead of literally, we can
discover truth, then we should do that as well. Christians
don’t have to believe that the Bible is the inerrant
word of God that must be read literally.
Christians don’t have to believe that
questioning Church traditions is a sin.
That’s right. In Micah 6:6-8 we are told that all – ALL –
God requires of us is “to do justice, and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with [our] God.” This is what the Lord
requires. The rest of religion needs to help us do this.
Church traditions can be very helpful in tying us into the
past, linking us with Christians through the ages. Of
course the point of such traditions is to help us better
experience the Sacred, leading us to do justice, love
kindness and walk humbly with God. For instance, there
are differences about how churches give Communion
indicating that there are questions about it. For most
Christians, Communion helps connect them with one
another and with God, in the end helping us to do justice,
love kindness and walk humbly with God. It’s an effective
tradition, a very Sacred tradition, but we can question it
and questioning it does not make us un-Christian. For
many of us, Communion is a wonderful ritual proven over
the years to work. There are, however, traditions that
might not work for us. We ought to be able to question
them too. For example, the Church has a tradition of
keeping women from leadership and ordination despite
the fact Jesus brought women into his movement as
equals and as leaders. The tradition of holding women
back continues today in many denominations and women
face difficulties even in churches where they do lead. It’s
not just women that Church tradition has oppressed.
Church traditions have oppressed Jews and Muslims,
promoted slavery and racism, discriminated against non-
heterosexuals, even burned witches and heretics. Such
awful traditions need questioning. How loving-of-neighbor
can such traditions be? Where is the justice and the
kindness and the humble walk with God in these
practices? Jesus questioned traditions and modeled for us
faith that is unafraid to challenge the status quo whenever
it oppressed anyone. Lepers. Women. Strangers. Hungry.
Poor. Imprisoned. Those of other faiths. Christ loved them
unconditionally– and still does! Bottom-line: Christians
don’t have to believe that questioning Church traditions is
a sin. And thank goodness, because the other nine things
on this list do just that!
Copyright © Scott Elliott 2009 - All Rights Reserved
