Relatively Religious

By Peter Brain
$0.00 Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: April 03, 2012
Words: 36,958 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781476027265

Short description

Christian faith and life in a post-doctrinal world.

Extended description

An introductory chapter remarks on the similarities between the organisational life of the church as institution through the centuries and the way this reflects its social and cultural context.
Chapter 1 considers the risk of attaching the adjective ‘Christian’ to any culture and explores what is culture-specific and what is essential in Christianity.
Chapter 2 reviews the trap into which Christianity fell during the first centuries of assuming that orthodoxy was what mattered and that deviation from the truth (defined as doctrine) was a breach of faith. The current Pope’s campaign against ‘dehellenisation’ is addressed.
Chapter 3 reflects on the perennial danger of assuming that doctrine can be articulated at one time for all time, that Christians must be ‘on message’. Some past dissenters from this approach are described.
Chapters 4 and 5 open up the two-fold basis for belief in God as trust (i.e. relational), namely the notion of a creator and the experience of the .. (Read more) An introductory chapter remarks on the similarities between the organisational life of the church as institution through the centuries and the way this reflects its social and cultural context.
Chapter 1 considers the risk of attaching the adjective ‘Christian’ to any culture and explores what is culture-specific and what is essential in Christianity.
Chapter 2 reviews the trap into which Christianity fell during the first centuries of assuming that orthodoxy was what mattered and that deviation from the truth (defined as doctrine) was a breach of faith. The current Pope’s campaign against ‘dehellenisation’ is addressed.
Chapter 3 reflects on the perennial danger of assuming that doctrine can be articulated at one time for all time, that Christians must be ‘on message’. Some past dissenters from this approach are described.
Chapters 4 and 5 open up the two-fold basis for belief in God as trust (i.e. relational), namely the notion of a creator and the experience of the spirit. The folly of creationists and the shallowness of much ‘spirituality’ are discussed.
Chapter 6 rehearses the story of Jesus of Nazareth and examines how God is revealed in him and how Christianity depends on an ongoing relationship of believers with him.
Chapter 7 explores human failure to live ‘like Jesus’ and how the often misunderstood idea of forgiveness can help us to do so afresh. An after-note examines the parallels among world faiths on the subject.
Chapter 8 takes seriously the question ‘what would Jesus do?’ as a guide to ethics and affirms a diversity of Christian practice to be as valid as a diversity of doctrinal statements or liturgy. The issues of abortion and women’s ministry are discussed.
Chapter 9 returns to an appreciation of contemporary (western) culture and the need for discernment amid so much change, with a defence of such ‘relativism’. How diverse can Christian doctrine and practice be? How can followers of Jesus change without losing their identity? The prospect of life beyond death is discussed.
(Less)

Tags

jesus, doctrine, orthopraxis

Available ebook reading formats

This book is free. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.

Format	Full Book
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)	View
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)	Download
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)	Download
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)	Download
RTF (readable on most word processors)	Download
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub)	Download
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Download
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Download
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)	View

Reviews

Log-in to write a Review   Log-in to add a Video Review

This book has not yet been reviewed.

Reason for report:
— Select a reason — Book is or contains spam Book infringes copyright Same content is published elsewhere with different author (for ex., by private-label rights) Duplicate Incomplete work (such as sample or serial) Should be marked adults-only Category is inappropriate Poorly formatted Nudity or other inappropriate content on cover Nudity or other inappropriate visual content in book Inappropriate erotica content Cover image is improper Content is inappropriate Other violation of Terms of Service Other reason not shown above.

Additional details: