Thinking Christian?  Isn't that an oxymoron?

Ha ha.  Very funny.  Thinking and Christian in the same sentence.  I know what you're thinking - "You ever seen FOX News?  Ever read Sam Harris?"

OK – fair enough.  So we should explain what we mean by "Thinking Christian".  Here’s a primer on why we’ve built this site, what we “believe,” and what we hope to accomplish.

Why the website?

Jennifer is a Theology student, a member of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, a former member of the United Church of Canada, and a Christian.  Glenn is a former United Church member / Born Again Christian / Atheist / Agnostic / Angry Anti-Religion Crusader who is currently a member of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, while studying Buddhist texts and wishing he had Bart Ehrman’s job.  We live in a house where you are never more than an arms-reach away from one of the (over 15) Bibles (and a Qur’an, a book of Rumi’s poetry, and a bunch of Buddhist householder texts).  We have a bookshelf with three rows dedicated to religion and faith books, a couple devoted to History, and one devoted to Jen’s trashy novels (HEY!  They’re not trashy! – Jen).

Unlike most civilized people, we talk about religion – and faith – and history – a lot.  Intentionally.  And we don’t get into big wars about it.  Faith fascinates both of us, but in different ways.  Jennifer is the Spiritual Guide and future Minister, Glenn is the Academic.   However, the one thing we noticed when surfing the ‘net is the preponderance of Mega-Church Born-Again Revolving-Door Right-Wing “Christian” websites, and the virtual absence of places where people can openly discuss faith, religion, different perspectives on Christianity or other faiths – basically, websites where you are not required to “check your brain at the door” or where the answer to any intelligent question about faith or Christianity is not "Because God said so."  We both think that God’s a pretty resilient entity, and isn’t afraid of us actually using our brains for science and investigation in matters of faith.  In other words, it’s possible for faith and science and intelligence to co-exist with God.

Why “Christian”?

The better question is, “What is a Christian?”  It’s like saying to someone, “Think of a brown dog.”  No two people will think of the same brown dog!  The same thing applies for the word Christian.  What it means to you is different than what it means to everyone else, and the sum of your faith experiences and exposure to religion will shape your definition of the word. 

Jennfer and I define it simply.  A Christian is someone who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ.  However, this is a whole other can of worms, because what are the teachings of Christ?  Did he/He really exist?  What of the material in the Bible is actually from Christ, and what is from other humans – inspired by God or not?  Should we follow the Jewish teachings of Christ (Matthew) or the Gentile teachings of Christ (Luke)?  Read a couple of Bart Ehrman books (other than "God's Problem" - Glenn) and you’ll begin to see the trouble with believing that the Bible is the “actual word of God.”  Compounding the problem is the fact that there were no fax machines or photocopiers pre-1950, no printing press pre-Gutenberg, that literacy was rare 2000 years ago, and that humans who copy documents make mistakes.  Yet, even considering all that the Bible (or Qur'an, or Torah, or any religious text) has going against it, and the temptation to simply disregard these documents, we take a different view. 

Instead, we choose not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.*  We believe the Bible contains many great lessons, great historical and moral stories, many rich and textured tales of how to live your life and how to treat others.  What’s even more amazing than the faults these documents have, is that these stories have still been passed down for over 2000 years.  Add to that the fact that many of the basic and underlying lessons and tenets of the bible still apply today, and...well, don't you think that's fascinating?  Even if only from a sociological standpoint?  Better yet, in the hands of an intelligent preacher (yes, I mean my wife) who can place the stories in context and relate them to situations we all face today - well, it's pretty cool to listen to, even for a reformed atheist like me. 

Besides, any book that has the basic lesson “Treat other people how you would like to be treated yourself” can’t be all bad.

So, there’s our philosophy/discussion point in a nutshell.  If God exists, s/he is certainly beyond our capacity to comprehend, whether God is an ethereal life energy that runs through and connects us all, or if God is some pan-dimensional intelligence, or if God is a super-intelligent shade of the colour blue, or...you get the idea.  But we humans have been inspired by this “entity” (for lack of a better term) and have come up with writings that have a basic message of “be nice to each other” and contain other interesting points about how to live your life.  This website is our place to share our ideas, our lives, our faith experiences and our arguments – with you.  Please join the discussion, poke around, leave us comments, and argue your point – whatever you feel inclined to do.

And for goodness’ sake, whatever you do...don’t check your brain at the door!

Glenn (and Jennifer)

*Glenn's Note - For anyone else who has seen Christopher Guest's brilliant film, "For Your Consideration," you'll understand why it's impossible for me to use that metaphor without completing it in my head thusly:  "You don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water, because then all you'll have is a wet, critically injured baby...and no bath water."  Tells you something about my sense of humour ;-)