I don’t like the kind of interreligious dialogue that says, “We are all really trying to say the same thing, and here is what it is…” This is usually followed by a rather bland description of what the author thinks all “good” religions “should” be about, and a warning about the crazies who take religion into some dark place, at the peril of the rest of us.

In this context I offer something I stumbled upon yesterday that I think gets to the heart of Christianity, and I am wondering if other Christians feel the same, and if people from other religions would say that this is close to or far from the heart of their own religion.

Jesus is put to the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” His response at first is rather prosaic, citing the Ten Commandments in a sort of “Golden Rule” way, but then…

Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We’ll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh heaven is a place on earth

- 80’s pop sensation (and inadvertent theologian) Belinda Carlisle.

So I’m listening to this show on the radio the other day, and people are fighting about Heaven.

Heaven's Rays. Image courtesy of wallpaper-s.org

Go ahead, let that one sink in for a minute.

The panel that was discussing had gotten worked up and heated, all because they disagreed on some of the finer points about what Heaven looked like and what the Bible means when it talks about the new Heaven and new Earth.

Did I mention this was a Christian radio program?

Sigh.

Personally, my vision of Heaven does not include sitting on clouds playing harps or honest to goodness streets of gold - But I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea…

From The Barna Research Group:

(Ventura, California) - For much of America’s history, the assumption was that if you were born in America, you would affiliate with the Christian faith. A new nationwide survey by The Barna Group, however, indicates that people’s views have changed. The study discovered that half of all adults now contend that Christianity is just one of many options that Americans choose from and that a huge majority of adults pick and choose what they believe rather than adopt a church or denomination’s slate of beliefs. Still, most people say their faith is becoming increasingly important as a source of personal moral guidance.

Two-thirds of evangelical Christians (64%) and three out of every five Hispanics (60%) embraced that position, making them the groups most convinced of the shift in America’s default faith. The study also showed that residents of the Northeast and West were much more likely than…

“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.”
~Audrey Hepburn~

This election season has given rise to language that has been especially vitriol. And I am not taking about the conversation between the candidates, but between groups of neighbors, colleagues, church members, friends, family and acquaintances.

The presidential candidates during the most recent debate noted the heated climate, each candidate arguing whether their leadership in their respective parties has been enough to bring about civil dialogue amongst their supporters. 

Yesterday, while eating my bagel at The St. Louis Bread Company, I overheard the conversation between two men. I won’t say who they are supporting for U.S president — that is beside the point I am making here –  but they called those who were against their chosen candidate racist and hate mongers. Since the country is nearly divided on the issues and presidential candidates, I wondered if these men realized that they just wrote-off…

I am a Christian. I don’t believe in reincarnation, but I have heard that “half of the world” does, and that a rising number of Christians are toying with this idea. I would like to find out what our readers think about the possibility of reincarnation.

I will give a bit of my reasoning here, but I will probably add more in the comment section.

First, I just don’t there is scientific evidence for it, but how much of an argument is this? Has science really studied this well? Most studies are pretty biased before they begin. Perhaps reincarnation could be inferred if we found a handful of people that had knowledge of past events to which there was no historical connection, events that occurred before they were born that they could describe in detail. But one could not prove where this knowledge came from. Perhaps they read about it somewhere, or…