Christian left

[JaredM]

Who are your favorite left wing Christians theologians/activists?

Mine are Desmond Tutu and Reinhold Niebuhr.

 

[nhylan]

Who are your favorite left wing Christians theologians/activists?

Mine are Desmond Tutu and Reinhold Niebuhr.

I like Tutu, I also like N.T. Wright who some probably wouldn’t consider a leftist (he probably wouldn’t either) but he is certainly left of the majority of people on this website.

 

[Publisher]

**++Desmond Tutu,

**Marcus Borg

**John Spong

**John Dominic Crossan

**Bart Erhman (historian…not theologian)

**Mel White…very much enjoyed his biography and follow up book

**++Gene Robinson…very much enjoyed his book…“Going to Heaven”

**Eilene Pagels…I’ve enjoyed all of her books

A few more that escape my mind at the moment…

 

[JohnnyReb]

**++Desmond Tutu,

**Marcus Borg

**John Spong

**John Dominic Crossan

**Bart Erhman (historian…not theologian)

**Mel White…very much enjoyed his biography and follow up book

**++Gene Robinson…very much enjoyed his book…“Going to Heaven”

**Eilene Pagels…I’ve enjoyed all of her books

A few more that escape my mind at the moment…

I actually consider myself a Christian centrist. Today we are missing strong Christian progressive voices. Christianity has allied itself, at least in most suburban settings, with right wing politics.

We are missing the Martin Luther King Jrs and other religious left social reforming voices. Today the left is associated with “pro-choice” and the “gay agenda” so many Christians are weary of the political left in this nation. Also, I think many Christians cannot see the difference between the political left and the religious left.

Yet it was religious progressivists who pushed for the abolition of slavery, the ending of child labor, the passing of work place safety laws and the like.

 

[Sufjon]

**++Desmond Tutu,

**Marcus Borg

**John Spong

**John Dominic Crossan

**Bart Erhman (historian…not theologian)

**Mel White…very much enjoyed his biography and follow up book

**++Gene Robinson…very much enjoyed his book…“Going to Heaven”

**Eilene Pagels…I’ve enjoyed all of her books

A few more that escape my mind at the moment…

Well, you took the words right out of my mouth, so I’ll just say “I agree!”

 

[ForeverGrace]

If I may,

Bishop Spong, at least in my mind, can’t call himself a Christian. He denies the virgin birth, the resurrection and has publicly said he doesn’t believe in hell and he has also said that he believes the Apostle Paul was gay.

Bart Erhman, no longer calls himself a Christian, but an agnostic and is working as hard as he can to destroy belief in scripture.

Sad really.

 

[jam070406]

Someone please define “Christian left”
Thanks.

 

[manualman]

No Jim Wallis disciples yet?

Not that I’m a fan, mind you. In his case, I think left = Liberation Theology and all that’s wrong with that whole approach. I do, though, find his writing useful as a counterpoint to political-right folk that seem to want to exploit believers for their political ends. I sometimes read him just to be sure I can fairly critique both sides.

Definition Attempt:
Christian Left: Those who believe in Jesus as Messiah and Lord in accordance with traditional christian theology, but who believe that the primary responsibility of all humans is to labor to overcome structural injustice in the culture, government and economy of this world.

 

[Publisher]

No Jim Wallis disciples yet?

Not that I’m a fan, mind you. In his case, I think left = Liberation Theology and all that’s wrong with that whole approach. I do, though, find his writing useful as a counterpoint to political-right folk that seem to want to exploit believers for their political ends. I sometimes read him just to be sure I can fairly critique both sides.

Definition Attempt:
Christian Left: Those who believe in Jesus as Messiah and Lord in accordance with traditional christian theology, but who believe that the primary responsibility of all humans is to labor to overcome structural injustice in the culture, government and economy of this world.

I subscribe to “Sojourners”…“God’s Politics” was one of the books we studied at our “Spiritual Formation Group”. Years ago in the 80’s, I was able to hear “Let Justice Roll Down” author John Perkins…he was preaching in a Friend’s church I visited from time to time…he was involved in “Sojourners” as well…I’ve subscribed on and off for the last 35+ years or so.

 

[Publisher]

If I may,

Bishop Spong, at least in my mind, can’t call himself a Christian. He denies the virgin birth, the resurrection and has publicly said he doesn’t believe in hell and he has also said that he believes the Apostle Paul was gay.

Bart Erhman, no longer calls himself a Christian, but an agnostic and is working as hard as he can to destroy belief in scripture.

Sad really.

Bishop Spong’s views are held by a good many people who have graduated from seminary theses days.

Most of us “on the left” have found a Balance between the Mystery of God and seeking to understand how God moves through history…the “sacred stories” we use seeks to relay the Mystery…sometimes, “mythic language” is used…but teh Truth is Deeper than the “sacred story” used to frame Truth.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

If I may,

Bart Erhman, no longer calls himself a Christian, but an agnostic and is working as hard as he can to destroy belief in scripture.

Sad really.

I was going to say the same thing. I read some of his stuff, and thought it was interesting but now he doesn’t even believe in God. And I don’t see why they stick him in the Christian section at Barnes and Nobles. He’s totally not Christian.

Here is a quote about him from Wiki if people don’t know about him.

"Bart D. Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar, currently the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ehrman writes about the early Christians, using the term “proto-orthodox” to describe the Christian traditions that would later be defined as orthodox.[1] He describes 1st- and 2nd-century Christians as not yet having a unified, orthodox tradition.[1] He is the author of a number of books in this area, including Misquoting Jesus (2005), God’s Problem (2008), and Jesus, Interrupted (2009).

In his books, he recounts his youthful enthusiasm as a born-again evangelical Christian, sure that God had inspired the very words of the Bible and protected them from all error.[2] His graduate studies, however, eventually convinced him that the Bible makes more sense when one acknowledges its contradictions than when one creates elaborate explanations to reconcile them. He remained a Christian for 15 years but later became an agnostic because of the problem of evil and suffering. [2]"

 

[CHRISTINE77]

And Elaine Pagels only writes about Gnostic teachings, so I wouldn’t call her exactly Christian either.

 

[Publisher]

And Elaine Pagels only writes about Gnostic teachings, so I wouldn’t call her exactly Christian either.

Only “writing about a subject” does not necessarily define one’s religious beliefs. Eilene Pagels wrote her introduction to “Beyond Belief” and relayed some of the spiritual struggles she has had over the years…he story “spoke to my condition”…she is not Gnostic…she studies and teaches about Gnostics…and the early Christian writings she studies has enriched her understanding of the life of Jesus of Nazareth…our “Immanuel”…“God With Us”…

 

[CHRISTINE77]

Only “writing about a subject” does not necessarily define one’s religious beliefs. Eilene Pagels wrote her introduction to “Beyond Belief” and relayed some of the spiritual struggles she has had over the years…he story “spoke to my condition”…she is not Gnostic…she studies and teaches about Gnostics…and the early Christian writings she studies has enriched her understanding of the life of Jesus of Nazareth…our “Immanuel”…“God With Us”…

I’ve read most of her books and while she is an interesting writer, I still think she is basically gnostic in her beliefs. Why praise the gnostic gospels so much, if one is a Christian?

 

[Publisher]

I’ve read most of her books and while she is an interesting writer, I still think she is basically gnostic in her beliefs. Why praise the gnostic gospels so much, if one is a Christian?

Because TO A CHRISTIAN academic interested in the historical developents and documents which formed the version of Christianity that has come down to us was not the ONLY “version” of the Christian message…it became the dominant group…but not the only group…those Gnostic writings give insight into the struggles of “orthodox Christianity” to assert itself as the “true version” against those “other versions” that came to the fore front by the 4th century.

I’ve read her books…“Gnostic Paul” is a good read…many of his letters address Gnostic ideas…and not all of them were bad…some of the Gnostic beliefs and “hymns” influenced Paul’s writings…and those Gnostic “echos” found in Paul…doesn’tt make him Gnostic…he was able to “relate” to them by using similar language…just as Paul on Mar’s Hill was so eloquent…I believe he quoted pagan authors…but that didn’t make him pagan.

 

[MillTownCath]

We are missing the Martin Luther King Jrs and other religious left social reforming voices. Today the left is associated with “pro-choice” and the “gay agenda” so many Christians are weary of the political left in this nation. Also, I think many Christians cannot see the difference between the political left and the religious left. .

Couldn’t agree more! :tiphat:

 

[MillTownCath]

Someone please define “Christian left”
Thanks.

I’m not sure what the official or most commonly used definition is, but I would say that a person who is a part of the Christian left is someone who rejects the liberal cultural agendas but has rather liberal fiscal and foreign policy views.

Things like:

• Worker’s rights
• Welfare
• Highly Progressive tax system
• Very anti-war/military force

In general, someone on the religious left probably wants to fulfill God’s will more directly through governmental policies.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

 

[hn160]

**++Desmond Tutu,

**Marcus Borg

**John Spong

**John Dominic Crossan

**Bart Erhman (historian…not theologian)

**Mel White…very much enjoyed his biography and follow up book

**++Gene Robinson…very much enjoyed his book…“Going to Heaven”

**Eilene Pagels…I’ve enjoyed all of her books

A few more that escape my mind at the moment…

I guess that I am on the Christian Right, those that you listed are leading people straight to Hell.

 

[Bluegoat]

Well, I think Chesterton would be my favorite, which isn’t terribly original. Although his anti-Semitic tendencies are very unfortunate.

I sometimes really enjoy Fredrica Matthews-Green, who is a popular Orthodox writer.

For a little Canadian content, the priests that spear-headed The Antigonish movement, Jimmy Tompkins and Moses Cody, are favorite activists of mine, and more generally that whole Catholic line of thought produced people like Cardinal Manning and the Catholic Workers Movement. Or in non-Catholic circles, people like Tommy Douglas.

I sometimes enjoy Rowan Williams too though I’m not especially on the same page theologically, and Karl Barth as well.

 

[AmateurPianist]

Who are your favorite left wing Christians theologians/activists?

Mine are Desmond Tutu and Reinhold Niebuhr.

None of 'em.

I do find Jim Wallis interesting. I only disagree with him say 80% of the time.