{"id":4688,"date":"2013-12-19T11:28:02","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T18:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogerwolsey\/?p=4688"},"modified":"2013-12-19T11:40:51","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T18:40:51","slug":"is-progressive-christianity-a-christmas-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogerwolsey\/2013\/12\/is-progressive-christianity-a-christmas-monster\/","title":{"rendered":"Is progressive Christianity a “Christmas monster”?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn 6-4 B.C., Yeshua of Nazareth was born into a humble peasant family in a tiny town in the backwater hinterlands of Palestine territory on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire. It doesn\u2019t really matter if Jesus was born to an actual virgin or not \u2013 or even if he was born in Bethlehem for that matter. The point is moot. Either way, he grew up to be our savior. In fact, if Jesus wasn\u2019t born to a virgin, being born as a bastard to an unmarried teenaged peasant from the sticks on the fringe of the Roman Empire would have only further highlighted God\u2019s amazing and empowering way<\/strong>s. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 Conservative Christianity\u00a0 overly emphasizes Jesus\u2019 death to the point where one would think his radical teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and his subversive political confrontations with the worldly powers don\u2019t matter, and what matters is that he was killed in order to save us. By that logic, Jesus\u2019 three years of ministry was wasted time. He may as well have been killed by Herod as an infant or actually pushed off that cliff in Nazareth when he started his ministry as that would\u2019ve been far more efficient.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

from pages 109-111, \u201cKissing Fish: christianity for people who don\u2019t like christianity\u201d<\/p>\n

Does this perspective ruin Christmas? Or does it enhance it?
\nIs it frank, straight talk? Or is it revisionist? \u2026 Or is it blunt truth that gets at the reality behind the revisionism of others?<\/p>\n

You decide.<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas everyone!
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

xx \u2013 Roger<\/em><\/p>\n

Rev. Roger Wolsey is an ordained United Methodist pastor who directs the Wesley Foundation at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and is author of Kissing Fish: christianity for people who don\u2019t like christianity <\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Click here for the Kissing Fish Facebook page<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n


\nHere are some other blogs that expound about Christmas from a progressive Christian point of view. Enjoy!
\n<\/em>Fast Hog to Breadhouse <\/a>
\nRock of Ages<\/a>
\nJesus \u2013 an unwanted Christmas Present
\n<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn 6-4 B.C., Yeshua of Nazareth was born into a humble peasant family in a tiny town in the backwater hinterlands of Palestine territory on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire. 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