Christianity on the Fringes
Christian? Who? Me
So, I find myself drawn to the fringes of Christianity, to books that may or may not have made the cut to be included in the Bible, to Christian nudists, to challenges to the status quo hymns. Christianity, after all, was founded by a radical rabbi who was born homeless, overthrew tables in the Temple, and died naked and tortured.
My articles on Christianity, indexed below, are written from the fringes, perhaps by an outsider looking in, but by an outsider who chooses not to turn away.
Holy Days
We are used to living in a world of historical time or linear time (think of the time lines in textbooks). February comes after January. But in the larger scheme, January (of this year) comes after February (of last year).
Sacred time is not linear but circular. Calendar-keeping has always been spiritual, because calendars are the maps of our pilgrimages through this world of woe, journeys not through space but time.
Advent and Age
Tricks and Treats on the Calendar
Tricks and Treats on the Calendar: The Sequel
What and when is Ascension Day?
What and when is Pentecost?
Why Does the Date of Easter Change Every Year?
Scribbles from the Scribe
Books rejected by the various committees and councils that decided which writing would be included in the Bible, hymns that just do not comfortably fit into the teachings of the churches that sing them, one group's concern about color in their clothing, and another group's choice to go without clothing: these are some of the topics that I write about in these articles.
The Devil's Bible: Codex Gigas
FLDS and the Color Red, The
Four Chapels of Taos, The
Should Patriotic Hymns Be Sung in Church Services?
Spirit Wrestlers and Grail Questers
What's Missing from Your Bible: The Book of Judith
What's Missing from Your Bible: The Book of Tobit
Unlikely Parables: Movies from a Christian Perspective
The best films do not teach a lesson, but they show us life in such a way that we can take lessons away from them. Here are some reviews of films that give us something to think about, that may stir us up to think... and to feel.
Bringing Out the Dead
Dogma
Finding Graceland
Green Mile, The
End of the Affair, The
George Washington
Legend of Bagger Vance, The
Magnolia
You can find an index to all my film reviews here.
Gnostic Know-how
Were the people we call Gnostics Gnostic Christians, or were they Christian Gnostics? What did they claim to know (gnosis means knowledge), and what can we know about them?
Who Were They?
Who Did They Believe Jesus/Christ Is?
What Were Their Sources for Authority?
What Were Their Most Important Beliefs?
How Do We Know About Them, and Why Should We Care?
The Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel of Thomas: Audiobook: Part I
The Gospel of Thomas: Audiobook: Part II
The Gospel of Thomas: Audiobook: Part III
Gnostics and Gnosticism: A Guide for Teachers and Students
You can find another page of mine about Christian resources here. You may also be interested in an index to my articles on Buddhism here.
Published by Michael Segers
I'm old enough to know better, but too young to admit it. I've been a teacher, owner of a sandwich shop, collector of neckties, acupuncture student. Now I get bossed around by my parrot and rejoice that I d... View profile
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32 Comments
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I like your style, Michael. :o) You don't limit yourself to what the church try to tell you is officially holy. That's supercool in my book. :o)
I understand the Bible to be complete how it is now, and has been since completed. Apocryphal books don't harmonize with the theme, the vindication of God's sovereignty, of the Scriptures. Therefore they don't belong in the Scriptures.
Cut off the rest of my comment..and now I can't remember what I was so rapidly typing in passionate thought on this subject which is near and dear. I just think, we're close to a true division of Christianity again, between the "true" believers who are practicing a self centered almost hate based religion and the rest of us, who believe our faith is about loving relationship and how we sustain that toward all people in the world, not just our favored fellow believers. Thanks for sharing..I loved it. These are the conversations we who claim to believe in Christ's true message..Love one another.
Micheal, Don't you think we're at a true point of religious transformation in Christianity? The current path of the dominance of the religious right in Christian thought doesn't seem sustainable..and like Louise posted, for me the religion has to be about the relationships, the actions of the faithful, not the dogma preached from their teachers, or misinformers. When someone studies the Bible for instance, and reads Genesis as absolute fact..they fail to see that their are several versions of many of the beginning stories of Creation. There is the first one (the one I like as myth and parable, lovely with God creating male and female together, no apple, no tempter just God giving them the world) And then there is the second version...different order of creation..and in that one, Man is given dominion over all and over Woman..who is the source of all evil..For we history buffs, we know this probably coincides with the fall of earth Goddess religions which were more matriarchial for earl
Michael, obviously you are a deep thinker & a truth seeker. Thank-you for sharing your thoughts & personal studies & observations w/ us through this medium. One point, though.. must agree w/ the Comment Joseph made 6 comments below. His analogy is closer.
Nicely done piece.
Thanks for the sharing! Interesting!
jesus had a home, a home beyond your imagination he left it because of you and me, so please don't make foolishness out of his love for man. Michael Segars he loves you more than you can imagine john 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. think twice brethren
You are quite the religious scholar, sir!