Freeing God From Theology

In this book, the author, Cliff Ratzlaff, presents the idea that theological definitions of God are not only confusing but also implicated in so many of the social problems afflicting the world of people on planet Earth. God as a spiritual concept, however, invites discussion of seeing God in each other. Spirituality of necessity ends wars, alienation, enemies, hate, and wrath. The author includes reference to Gestalt psychology and to the writings of Martin Buber to help us experience spirituality in a way that frees us. As we free God from theology, we invite experience of God in our I Am experience. To be is equivalent to to be in union and unity with the infinite God of the infinite universe. When we meet others, we look for God in them. If you look for God, you see God. The religious experience of God is the experiences sacred presence: presence without location. Ratzlaff makes much of Gestalts figure-ground phenomenon involved in human perception. The human seeks to put order on chaos, rule over the unruly, and direct over lostness. The experience of transcendence helps us to validate our self-awareness. The person is always sacred, godlike, and holy. God as our experience is inclusive of our fellows. God is love, acceptance, order, and life itself. It all makes sense as soon as one releases God from the fences we have put him in. Those fences are theologies. Among the worst theology to ever be imposed on the chaos of human essence is the Nicene Creed. Pauls description of Yeshua of Nazareth was a gross distortion grabbed by both Constantine of Rome and the church. Rome liked Nicaea; the pope liked Nicaea. Behold politicized theology and theologized politics, followed by the grossest distortion in human history; Nicaea led to the Dark Ages, the demonization of women, the witch trials, the Inquisition, fundamentalism of the reformation and contemporary Islam. Islam started during the Dark Ages. Awareness and practice of spirituality releases God from the fences of theology. When you free God, you free yourself.

The award-winning author of Grateful goes beyond the culture wars to offer a refreshing take on the comprehensive, multi-faceted nature of Jesus, keeping his teachings relevant and alive in our daily lives. How can you still be a Christian? This is the most common question Diana Butler Bass is asked today. It is a question that many believers ponder as they wrestle with disappointment and disillusionment in their church and its leadership. But while many Christians have left their churches, they cannot leave their faith behind. In Freeing Jesus, Bass challenges the idea that Jesus can only be understood in static, one-dimensional ways and asks us to instead consider a life where Jesus grows with us and helps us through life’s challenges in several capacities: as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence. Freeing Jesus is an invitation to leave the religious wars behind and rediscover Jesus in all his many manifestations, to experience Jesus beyond the narrow confines we have built around him. It renews our hope in faith and worship at a time when we need it most.

If you tend to shake your head when you read religious literature, please read this book. I invite being disagreed with; I welcome debate and do not object to being told I am wrong. The question remains: Who has the right religion? Despite being an octogenarian when presumably all should be settled and nailed down, I now challenge the theology I nodded to so vigorously in a previous time of my life. What I once assumed as truth is now open to the kind of tough scrutiny I had never dared engage in. My theological life scripts were deeply rooted and beyond challenge. Born and raised in a fundamentalist Mennonite conservative evangelical community, doubting and questioning were considered acts of sin. Even though we were good ethical people, we were repaganized every year by visiting English speaking evangelists and getting saved was an annual event. I know; I did it three times before I was fifteen. I include a simple caveat. Once you start critiquing and investigating your beliefs, even the most cherished, you will find that you cannot go back. The very act of questioning intensifies the importance of the question. Millions of books exist about God; every book written by a human being (mostly men). Over twenty five miles of shelves with books about God are in the archives under the Vatican. I had fifteen shelves with many books that talk about God.

Given unprecedented insider access, author Allen D. Hertzke charts the rise of the new faith-based movement for global human rights and tells the compelling story of the personalities and forces, clashes and compromises, strategies and protests that shape it. In doing so, Hertzke shows that by raising issues--such as global religious persecution, Sudanese atrocities, North Korean gulags, and sex trafficking--the movement is impacting foreign policy around the world.

Taking a Chance on God explores how lesbians and gay men can claim both a positive gay identity and a fulfilling life of Christian faith. From the Trade Paperback edition.

"A devastating attack upon the dominance of atheism in science today." Giovanni Fazio, Senior Physicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics The debate over the ultimate source of truth in our world often pits science against faith. In fact, some high-profile scientists today would have us abandon God entirely as a source of truth about the universe. In this book, two professional astronomers push back against this notion, arguing that the science of today is not in a position to pronounce on the existence of God—rather, our notion of truth must include both the physical and spiritual domains. Incorporating excerpts from a letter written in 1615 by famed astronomer Galileo Galilei, the authors explore the relationship between science and faith, critiquing atheistic and secular understandings of science while reminding believers that science is an important source of truth about the physical world that God created.

A Human-Shaped God approaches the humanlike accounts of God in the Old Testament as the starting places for theology and uses them to build a picture of the divine. This understanding of God is then brought into conversation with traditional conceptions that depict God as a being who knows everything that happens, is at every place at the same time, is constant and unchanging, and does not ultimately have material form. But instead of pitting the Old Testament's humanlike view of God against traditional theology and assuming that only one of these understandings is correct, A Human-Shaped God posits that theologians should embrace both of these constructions simultaneously. This is a new way of theological inquiry that embraces both the humanlike characteristics of God and the transcendence of God in traditional theology. By seeing and understanding the humanlike depictions of God in the Old Testament and by using the rich language of traditional theology together in tandem, the reader acquires a much deeper and meaningful understanding of God.

For two thousand years, Christians have been intrigued by the somewhat enigmatic Imago Dei references in the book of Genesis. Much theological ink has been spilled mulling over the significance and meaning of these words: "Let us make humanity in our image, according to our likeness . . . " In The Liberating Image, J. Richard Middleton takes on anew the challenge of interpreting the Imago Dei. Reflecting on the potential of the Imago Dei texts for developing an ethics of power rooted in compassion, he relates its significance to the Christian community's distinct calling in an increasingly violent world. The Liberating Image introduces a relevant, scholarly take on an important Christian doctrine. It will appeal to all Christians seeking to better understand what it means to be made in God's image.