Sunday Salon ~ about those books

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING

"Which of the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount says, 'Blessed are the theologically sound, for they shall be smug'?"

— Robin Meyers, The Underground Church, p. 8

"If the church were Christian, gracious behavior would be more important than right belief."

— Philip Gulley, If the Church Were Christian, p. 67

"I am not in the least accusing of dishonesty those who find the traditional framework of metaphysics and morals entirely acceptable. ... What dismays me is the vehemence — and at bottom the insecurity — of those who feel that the Faith can only be defended by branding as enemies within the camp those who do not."

— John A. T. Robinson, Honest to God, p. 9

"When we project qualities of the post-Easter Jesus back onto the pre-Easter Jesus, we make the pre-Easter Jesus not one of us."

— Marcus J. Borg, Embracing an Adult Faith, p. 26

"Contemplating a loving God strengthens portions of our brain — particularly the frontal lobes and the anterior cingulate — where empathy and reason reside. Contemplating a wrathful God empowers the limbic system, which is 'filled with aggression and fear.' It is a sobering concept: The God we choose to love changes us into his image, whether he exists or not."

— Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman,

How God Changes Your Brain,

quoted in Naked Spirituality by Brian D. McLaren, p. 71

Visit the Sunday Salon's Facebook page for links to more posts.