We started an interesting discussion Sunday at our gathering. I’d like to have the discussion continue next week. Below are a few of my thoughts regarding the question, for your perusal and comment. (If you can, please save your comments for our gatherings rather than emailing them to me!)

Question: Are we a Christian church? Do we teach Christianity?

We teach New Thought, a philosophy that examines spiritual thought throughout the ages, synthesizing the universal elements of all the major religions, interpreting them in a “new” way or “different” way from the perspective of our modern-day, mostly Western, mostly Christian culture in the US. A simple definition is: New Thought is a positive, practical spirituality that recognizes the universal Truths found in all major faiths and traditions.

The United Church of Religious Science (“science” means inquiry), recently renamed United Centers for Spiritual Living, has wrestled with the question of whether we are a Christian church or not for a long time. My personal thoughts are that we are a “church” in the sense of the original Greek: a gathering of people for the purpose of honoring their spirituality, but we are a “church” using today’s definition only in the legal, organizational sense. The same thing holds true for me regarding the term “Christian.” We hold dear the basic teachings of Jesus, but disagree with a great deal of today’s Christian dogma.

Using the above definition, I believe we are not Christian, as Christianity defines itself today through its dogma.

Recognizing that the act of defining ourselves is a very valuable tool on our spiritual paths, a further comment:

In the East, there is a cultural recognition that nothing is 100% one way or the other. The Tao symbol illustrates this: a dot of white in the black side, a dot of black in the white side, and a not-straight dividing line between the two halves. Whether or not we are a “Christian church” can’t be answered 100% one way or the other for us as a group, and probably can’t for any of us as individuals either, for Christianity is our cultural heritage. Religion is inextricably entwined in culture. This can’t, and I believe shouldn’t, be ignored.

If our purpose is definition, which I understand is the case in asking this question, we separate ourselves for the sake of definition and say, “No. We are not Christian.” If we come from another perspective, one of honoring wholeness and connection, equally valid, we say, “Yes, Christianity is our heritage; we honor it, without being bound by it.”

From the inclusive viewpoint, I quote Gandhi: “I am Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim.”

From the exclusive viewpoint, a poem from Rumi, that I am very grateful to Bill Schmidt for supplying:

         I AM NOT
Muslims! What can I do? I have lost my identity!
I am not a Christian, Jew, pagan, or Muslim.
I am neither an Easterner nor a Westerner,
neither a land nor a sea person.
Nature can't fully account for me,
nor can the whirling cosmos.
I don't exclusively belong to earth, water, fire, or air.
I am not of the invisible-ineffable, nor of the dust--
I am not a process or a being.
I am not of this world or the next, and deserve
neither eternal reward nor eternal punishment.
I am not of Adam or Eve,
not of the original Garden nor the final one.
My home has no address; my tracks leave no trace.
I am neither body nor soul--What can I say?
I belong to the Self of the Beloved.

I have laid all "twos" aside:
this world and that world are one.
I search for One, I recognize One,
I see One clearly, and I call the name of the One.
That unnameable One, the breath of the breath,
is the first and last, the outside and the inside.
I identify no one except by "O That... O This!"
I am drunk on the cup of Love:
here-now and everywhere-all-time have vanished.
I can't handle any business except celebration.

If I spend an instant without you,
that instant makes my whole life seem worthless.
If I can win one moment with you,
I will crush both worlds under my feet
as I dance in joy forever.

My Beloved Shams-i-Tabriz, I am living permanently intoxicated:
I have no more stories to tell except ones about drunks and parties.

With the enjoyment of inquiry into Truth,

Rev. Nancy