Read more
Calling for a faith that lives by what it affirms, not just by what it denies, this book outlines a positive, engaging message supported by active spiritual practices, and carried out in action for a better community and planet.
In doing so, Bruce Epperly calls for rethinking and reviving many Christian themes, often neglected or discarded in progressive Christianity, to help carry out this mission.
Among these themes are:Mystical experience and vision
Spiritual healing
Genuine dialog
Reclaiming a relationship with Jesus
Reclaiming and affirming the work of the Holy Spirit
Practicing God's kindom and peace rather than an expectation of doom
Being witnesses in the world
Speaking and acting prophetically, bringing hope
In bringing life to these themes, Epperly looks to Jesus and to scripture without demeaning other faiths. He evokes a relational, non-coercive God as the foundation of a relational and non-coercive presence in the world.
This book will provide both a challenge and a hope to progressive congregations, especially those struggling with diminishing numbers, but it will also provide an excellent antidote to the charge that progressive Christianity is not an affirmative, active, and hopeful faith.
About the author
Bruce Epperly is Theologian in Residence at Westmoreland United Church of Christ, Bethesda, MD. Over the past four decades, he has served as a seminary and university professor and administrator, university chaplain, and congregational pastor. He is the author of over eighty books, including Saving Progressive Christianity to Save the Planet; Jesus: Mystic, Healer, and Prophet; Homegrown Mystics: Renewing the Soul of Our Nation through the Healing Wisdom of America's Visionaries; and Whitehead and Teilhard: Metaphysics, Mysticism, and Mission.
