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 | The authors of the New Testament have diverging views about who Jesus was and how salvation works. |
| The New Testament contains books that were forged in the names of the apostles by Christian writers who lived decades later. |
| Jesus, Paul, Matthew, and John all represented fundamentally different religions. |
| Established Christian doctrines -- such as the suffering messiah, the divinity of Jesus, and the trinity
-- were the inventions of still later
theologians. |
2009-September's selection:
"How God changes your brain: Breakthrough findings from a leading neuroscientist" by Andrew Newberg
Review by Publishers Weekly:
Over the past decade or so, numerous studies have suggested that prayer and meditation can enhance physical health and healing from illness. In this stimulating and provocative book, two academics at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Spirituality and the Mind contend that contemplating God actually reduces stress, which in turn prevents the deterioration of the brain's dendrites and increases neuroplasticity. The authors conclude that meditation and other spiritual practices permanently strengthen neural functioning in specific parts of the brain that aid in lowering anxiety and depression, enhancing social awareness and empathy, and improving cognitive functioning. The book's middle section draws on the authors' research on how people experience God and where in the brain that experience might be located. Finally, the authors offer exercises for enhancing physical, mental and spiritual health. Their suggestions are commonsensical and common to other kinds of health regimens: smile, stay intellectually active, consciously relax, yawn, meditate, exercise aerobically, dialogue with others and trust in your beliefs. Although the book's title is a bit misleading, since it is not God but spiritual practice that changes the brain, this forceful study could stir controversy among scientists and philosophers.
2009-October's selection:
"Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping
Christ and Start Following Jesus"
by Robin Meyers
Amazon product description:
Countless thoughtful people are now so disgusted with the marriage of bad theology and hypocritical behavior by the church that a new Reformation is required in which the purpose of religion itself is reimagined.
Meyers takes the best of biblical scholarship and recasts these core Christian concepts to exhort the church to pursue an alternative vision of the Christian life:
| Jesus as Teacher, not Savior |
| Christianity as Compassion, not Condemnation |
| Prosperity as Dangerous, not Divine |
| Discipleship as Obedience, not Control |
| Religion as Relationship, not Righteousness |
This is not a call to the church to move to the far left or to try something brand new. Rather, it is the recovery of something very old. Saving Jesus from the Church shows us what it means to be a Christian and how to follow Jesus' teachings today.
2009-November's selection:
"Jesus was a liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All"
by Rev. Scotty McLennan
Amazon product Description:
"For the millions of people who identify as liberal Christians. In McLennan's bold call to reclaim ownership of Christianity, he advocates a sense of religion based not on doctrinal readings of scripture but on the humanity behind Christ's teachings. He addresses such topics as intelligent design, abortion, same sex marriage, war. torture and much, much more. As he says in the Preface, "We liberal Christians know in our hearts that there is much more to life than seems to meet the rational eye of atheists; yet we find it hard to support supernatural claims about religion that fly in the face of scientific evidence."
2009-December's selection:
"The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical
Visionary Behind
the Church's Conservative Icon"
by Marcus J. Borg & John Dominic Crossan
Amazon Product Description:
"Bestselling authors of The Last Week and The First Christmas, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan join once again to present a new understanding of early Christianity -- this time to reveal a radical Paul who has been suppressed by the church."
P"aul is second only to Jesus as the most important person in the birth of Christianity, and yet he continues to be controversial, even among Christians. How could the letters of Paul be used both to inspire radical grace and to endorse systems of oppression: condoning slavery, subordinating women, condemning homosexual behavior? Borg and Crossan use the best of biblical and historical scholarship to explain the reasons for Paul's mixed reputation and reveal to us what scholars have known for decades: that the later letters of Paul were created by the early church to dilute Paul's egalitarian message and transform him into something more 'acceptable.' They argue there are actually 'Three Pauls' in the New Testament:
- 'The Radical Paul' (of the seven genuine letters),
- 'The Conservative Paul' (of the three disputed epistles), and
- 'The Reactionary Paul' (of the three inauthentic letters).
By closely examining this progression of Paul's letters -- from the authentic to the inauthentic -- the authors show how the apostle was slowly but steadily 'deradicalized' to fit Roman social norms in regards to slavery, patriarchy, and patronage. In truth, Paul was an appealing apostle of Jesus whose vision of life 'in Christ' -- one of his favored phrases -- is remarkably faithful to the message of Jesus himself."
Latest update and review: 2009-JUN-02
Author: B.A. Robinson
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