Someone, just before Christmas, suggested that a small group to which I belong, should all get Christmas presents for one-another. What I really needed was some extra stress finding yet more presents for people.
My wife, suggested I should buy them all books, and made some suggestions. I’m never good at giving books I haven’t read myself, so I ordered a few for my kindle and proceeded to try and read them all before giving them away. Sadly, I just don’t read fast enought for that.
Nevertheless, this is how I ended up reading a book called Kissing Fish (Christianity for those who don’t like Christianity) by Roger Wolsey.
I have personally done a lot of thinking over the last few years, and my faith has changed as a result.
This book sets out to be a systematic theology for “Progressive Christianity”, and reading it, I find that a lot of the ways in which my thinking has lead me resonates with progressive Christianity.
The author tries to be very clear as to what “many progressive Christians” believe, and offers a broad spectrum upon which many would find themselves. He then sometimes offers a personal reflection about where on the spectrum he falls.
Some of the ideas described I would consider bordering on Christian atheism, or extreme liberalism (if that’s not an oxymoron), and go beyond my personal “comfort” zone. However, it is always useful to see the ends of the spectrum when trying to places oneself upon it.
What is interesting is how centred on the teachings and acts of Jesus, and of the behaviour of the early church progressive Christianity is, given the previous paragraph, and that the focus is largely about embodying Christian values of love and grate towards everyone.
This is a fascinating book, which has helped me to see that I am not alone in a lot of my thinking. I would strongly recommend reading it if you have any concerns around the “traditional” or “evangelical” Christianity