Introduction
This is my amateurish attempt at expressing my Christianity. My Christianity does not fall neatly among perceived divisions of conservative and liberal Christianity. These labels, though sometimes unavoidable, and very limiting to my faith and I am sure the faith of many.
I am an orthodox, traditional Christian. I am also a progressive Christian. I reject right-wing Christianity and fundamentalism, but also the kind of liberal Christianity that rejects or downplays historic, orthodox Christianity. I reject the notion that I can be pigeonholed into being a “conservative Christian” or “liberal Christian.” Christianity, and life and general, is so much more broad than that.
I do not care any longer what others think about me. I am too old for that. What I believe now and how I attempt to live my life as a Christian in the world is a culmination of 52 years of life on this planet, with all the joys and sufferings it offers.
I find warm fellowship with Christians who are Catholic and Protestant; liberal and evangelical; Unitarian and Gnostic.
Facebook is the contemporary world village. One prayer group I belong to on Facebook, which I would have to say is very evangelical, is very encouraging. Most of the people seem to be charismatic or Pentecostal. I pray for the people in the group, and I ask them to pray for me. I look forward to visiting this Facebook group every day. I also am encouraged and hopeful when I see my more progressive Christian friends on Facebook post articles and comments. I feel kindred spirits with people in both camps.
The Anglo-Catholic tradition provides the best context for me to be both traditional and progressive. The classic Anglican model of Bible, Tradition, and Reason, is the best I have found to understand my place in the world as a Christian.
I am an orthodox, traditional Christian: Scripture and Tradition
My faith in Jesus Christ is based on the Bible, Creeds, and Sacraments.
Scripture and the Gospel
The Bible is basis for Christian doctrine and is reliable in bringing us to faith in Christ.
I believe the gospel as proclaimed in the New Testament: Christ's Incarnation, Virgin Birth, true divinity and true humanity, life, miracles, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. I am not ashamed of the Gospel, or of Jesus Christ.
I believe in the need for personal conversion, prayer and evangelism.
The Holy Spirit and Miracles
I believe in the need of being filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe that God can perform miracles today, even if they may seem to be rare. I believe in a personal God who hears and answers prayer. I believe in being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. I believe in praying for physical healing. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Liturgy
I prefer traditional language and liturgy in worship. I use the King James and Douay versions of the Bible, and the 1662 and 1928 Books of Common Prayer.
I believe in the traditional symbols of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which I believe are Divinely Revealed. I am not ashamed of the Holy Trinity, or the Creeds and Councils the Church's understanding of the Trinity is based on. I prefer traditional liturgy. I do not care for neutered liturgical language of the liberal churches, or for the entertainment-centered “worship” I have seen in some evangelical or mega-churches. I am not entirely opposed to contemporary or contextualized modes of liturgy. The Church I attend now combines catholic liturgy with gospel singing.
Sacraments
I believe in the Sacramental grace of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. I believe that when we are baptized we are born again, regenerated, and joined to Christ and his Church. I believe that Christ's Body and Blood are truly present in the symbols of Bread and Wine in the Eucharist, and that we are nurtured and divinized by our union with Christ's Real Presence in the Lord's Supper.
Catholic Christianity
Some traditional believers in the Anglican communion are evangelical or protestant; some, like me, are catholic. I have a devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist, pray the Rosary, and have icons.
Universalism
I am a universalist; I consider this as part of orthodox Christianity. I believe that God's love will conquer all in the end. This is a stream of Christian tradition which is ignored and downplayed, but seems to be the hope held out in the Bible. Many of the fathers believed that all will be reconciled.
I am a progressive Christian: Reason
While accepting the authority and witness of the Bible, Tradition, and the Church, I also accept Reason.
I accept the Bible as divinely inspired, and reliable in bringing us to faith in Christ. But it has human elements in it also, some that our time and culture bound. To understand the Bible, one needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit, informed by the tradition of the Church, and aided by reason.
Social justice and Liberation Theology
As a progressive Christian, I believe in preaching social justice and liberation, and in aspiring to an altruistic life-style.
True Christianity does not tell the poor and oppressed to wait for the next life for justice, we work for it here now. Sometimes, people do not receive justice in this life; we still must proclaim justice and liberation and work for it.
I do not believe that Capitalism is God's holy plan for the economy, and that socialistic models of social welfare and the economy are much more compatible with Biblical teaching and the Christian ethos. Capitalism has become a violent idol for American Christians.
Christians have too long ignored the message of social justice in the Bible, which is obvious as the sun in the sky in broad day light. Social justice is not just a “liberal” value, it is a Biblical value.
Gender and Sexuality
I believe in egalitarian relationships between men and women, and I am for full inclusion of LGBT persons in the Church. I believe intimate relationships between two people should be monogamous, and ideally life-long. I do believe that there is grace for people divorced and separated.
People do not choose their sexuality, and frankly, I do not know how anyone can think otherwise. I argue for the acceptance of same-sex relationships on the basis of the natural state of things. To promise gay and lesbians that they can be “converted” is cruel and unscientific, and leads eventually to tragedy and heart ache.
I reject contemporary attempts to subjugate women to men. It is madness to try and impose subordinate relationships from the biblical era when women were clearly property and fathers could sell their daughters. The contemporary “complimentarian” movement among some evangelicals and traditional Christians, is in my view, subordinationism and misogyny in drag.
I accept without hesitation women ordained to the three-fold ministry of Bishop, Priest, and Deacon. It was women who were the first witnesses to the resurrection, it was women who supported financially the ministry of Jesus, and it was women that stood by him at the cross, when all the men save John the Theologian abandoned him. The Bible itself witnesses to at least one female apostle and a deaconess.
I believe women should be able to control without hindrance their reproductive lives. I believe that elective birth control is a basic component of women's health and that it is a positive evil, misogynist and oppressive, to deny it to them.
Non-Violence
I believe that the Christian Church has long abandoned non-violent and non-militaristic modes of spirituality and discipleship that were clearly present in the ancient church. Although I am not absolute pacifist, I am very sympathetic to that position, and that war should be a last, tragic resort, and cannot be justified solely on the grounds of perceived national interests.
In Summary
I do not like labels in general (although sometimes we have to use them), and even my confession and outline above is no doubt simplistic and may be revised in the years ahead.
I suppose some people may say I am a “liberal” because I accept gay relationships, while others will say I am a “fundamentalist” because I believe in speaking in tongues or prefer the KJV Bible. I can care less.
I am just a guy, just a Christian, who tries to connect with God every day.
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