The Future of Christianity - Teaser

[jhgosnell]

i love integral approaches...i especially would like to see a product that includes traditional work like psalmody, prayer, and lectio divina. without some traditional practices it loses it's flavor and becomes an objective study.

[cdphatty]

some would say that the redemption of christianity is the redemption of this civilization, we're all smack in the middle of a huge narrative

[TucsonDave111]

Isn’t it time we grow up and drop this crap. We don’t need the teachings of a bunch of uneducated goat herders from a couple thousand years ago.

[cpuchala7]

Religion is dying, and I, for one, will start digging its grave.

[myshakenbaken]

@cpuchala7 Everyone was saying that in the 20's and there are now billions. No narcissistic chest-thumping is going to compensate for those numbers.

[LooksAeterna]

True Christianity is mystical and hence hasn't even entered the stage yet, except as a few very gifted individuals. What we know as the conventional christianities are Rome's attempt to survive its downfall in the form of religion (research the meaning of the term in Rome !).

Being mystical, Xianity is not owned by any stage of development or even undergoing development. It is a direct link to that which drives that development. In the traditional churches, it appears mainly as the Eucharist.

[ooozuh]

My spouse & i desperately want a child. However, we purposely will not conceive because there is a chance that once grown, our child may feel I would have preferred non-existence. There, I would have remained safe from all harm." Also, any harm would be our fault. If we had not conceived the child the harm would not have occurred. Do many others think this way?

[NoAddedAnything]

could it perhaps be the case, that prophets, sons of god, buddhas, 'perfect' holy figures, are all metaphorical characters written as a source of inspiration born out of the human mind? We all know deep down that certain ways of life lead to hell right in the here and now, and other ways lead to happiness. These religious stories just give hope and a projection of what we can evolve into. Humans love stories after all...:)

[thomwick]

Before having a future, christianity has to question "itself" what to do with the sour diversity. The smoke from the battlefield between chatolics and protestants are still seen. And all other churches and christian assoc. think they are the choosen ones. If Jesus appeared and walked in a for example mormonchurch, that would create havoc in the rest of the world christian society.

[wrathfulcreator]

The west is dying because it has turned away from God.

[geneworkman]

Have you not heard - god is imaginary!

[theeonionbagel]

@geneworkman your point? so is everything else?

[MrEchinoderm]

@geneworkman

Imaginaaaaaation!

[WLDInternationale]

Christianity for the past 2 centuries has become ever more universal, appeasing to people of all other faiths. Sort of humanistic, pantheistic, Mysticism being brought in. Because more and more people are increasingly becoming aware that perhaps God is not one monarchical humanoid.We wake up and feel different everyday, a sort of unison feeling, a global awareness,global consciousness, becoming aware that our communities are not just human societies,our communities encompasses the entire planet.

[Garthzzz101]

I would like to see the church do something good for once. I mean actual actions to a good deed besides preaching fear and asking for money.

[Dingleberrychuch]

didn't you ever hear that God works best when he scaring you? and besides do you know how expensive it is to run heaven? are you some kind of heavenly tax dodger?

[theeonionbagel]

@Garthzzz101 right? they have enough money to feed and educare everyone in the world. and to make things worse they want to call everything teaching the actual process to enlightenment blasphemy. or at least have for a long time. idk if there starting to open up yet or what.

[markofthebeasts]

the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior... the dark ages, dictatorships in south america, spain under franco... the crusades, the inquisition, justification of slavery... opposition to women's rights.. and the oppression of gays and lesbians... the idea that someone else will pay for your misdeeds, and that you are a victim of your circumstances, promise of reward after death for blind faith now.... threat of eternal punishment for not following blindly..... hmmm the future?

[theeonionbagel]

@markofthebeasts doesnt anyone believe in progression/evolution. everyone acts like humans as we are today are the fucking pinacle of evolution. sure our progess has been slow but it takes revolutionary events to act as catalysts for change

[markofthebeasts]

i think incremental change can happen, but revolutionary events, bring about rapid changes. i know that for me personally, i had a lot of fear of change, and i needed desperately to change things about myself, but i was only able to once my "present" misery became so great, that i outweighed my fears. i don't know if that makes sense, or if it applies to societies, then again, we really aren't guaranteed anything. so who knows? i don't trust christians though, i did once and almost died.

[CloudshadowMan1]

Beautiful pictures. The Christianity that Jusus would most love may be yet to arise.

May all beings be love.

[nyarltep]

jesus never existed

its a myth

the future of christianity should be the future of all fairy tales

[aaronkehl]

your views should be looked at as a fairy tale too. cause theyre not based in reality.

[nyarltep]

oh really? cite a single contemporary historical account of your mythical god-man and i dont want to see any bullshit from you like Josephus (c37-100 AD) Pliny the Younger (61-115 AD) Caius Suetonius (c.69140 AD) Cornelius Tacitus (c.55-117 AD) a single account from the supposed lifetime of your saviour shouldnt be so difficult i await your googling which will be in vain because you nor anyone else can provide such evidence it simply does not exist much like your god and his son

[aaronkehl]

i respectfully disagree with your disrespectful answer. You dont want to believe its a choice. The bible itself you forgot to mention. You are not so different from many who use ad hominem attacks that ive seen. and i dont need to google. ive seen what i need to see and experience what i need to experience to believe in God and his Son Jesus Christ. if you choose not to believe as i have its your choice, and i cant persuade you otherwise.

[nyarltep]

ill take that as a no

you cant cite a single CONTEMPORARY HISTORICAL account

the bible is not contemporary

it was not written by eye witnesses

your creator of the universe is so pathetic as to not even be noticed during his life on earth

how sad is that

[WLDInternationale]

I'm not disagreeing with you, but Jesus was supposedly born in 1 BCE, began his ministry in 30 BCE. We don't have many documents or artifacts of people who was born in those days, but all we have is writings. Like Jesus we don't have a single piece of bone of Philosopher Socrates and we say he existed more than Jesus when both evidence of them are very scanty indeed. But through writings and daily accounts, folklore, passed down we find what these individuals were in their time.

[TheEvolver311]

i love how christians talk about christianity as tho there is one united idea of the concept. just look at what is popular in christian non-fiction men like Joel Osteen, Rick Warren who basically attempt to take secular self help methods and glue any random verse out of context onto it as an attempt to prove that god wants you to get what you want etc.. or you can go to the other extreme like snake handlers or racist christian groups like the christian identity movement.

[duksun]

are those two chaps closer to god than anyone else? what makes them so suited to talk on this mythology better than the drunk down the street?

[MarcusTarr]

Not sure what you would mean by being closer to God, but certainly some people do have a deeper connection with Spirituality and are better teachers than others. That doesn't necessarily mean they are "closer to God" or more righteous, just that they do have valid truth to share and can do so in an effective manner.

[Chewy240284]

"so even tho we do not know Jesus' true teachings, we will go forth, probably on the wrong course, doing evil deeds to the unaware majority"

I ad-libbed a bit

[happygolucky2000]

until people understand the cross as meaning the severing of the 'I' then Christ's teachings will never take its Rightful Place in the world. The message of self-sacrifice and surrender culminating in Selfless Love that Jesus taught has yet to truly incarnate, even after 2000 years for the simple reason that the 'I' is always at the forefront of all its followers. Me me me me, is what I hear amongst 'christians'. Please lord save me, give me this and that, love me, allow me. I pray forme

[ptica11]

... and let me poke u in the arse

[grasshulaskirt]

This is so needed! Thank you!

[CHVNX]

God is dead.

[tuin103]

There is no New & Improved Jesus Christ with Added Calcium!

[MaBu888]

But there is actuall spirituality-mysticism that is very rare that is bigger than bible bigger than Chuck Norris.

[tonygem]

Christianity like Judaism and Islam are based on supernatural revelation. The problem with these monotheistic traditions is that they rely completely on faith in what is postulated as the divine. The divine cannot be known other than through faith.

[Doctormonsta]

We have found Satanism is the original religion of humanity. We have done our research. Satanism is based upon the ancient religions that predated Judaism and Christianity from hundreds to thousands of years.

[ourearthhome]

"Feed my sheep" and doing this literally via food and empowering people to take care of themselves is a good starting point for the future. This is what Jesus is calling for today and is what will make any religion relevant. Perhaps questioning the idea that some few of our kind can "own" the earth and have the right to charge the rest of us for access to it will come under review. Or do we think that Jesus would have been a gung ho land speculator caught up in the housing/mortgage monstrosity?

[influencija]

I would sooo much love to see this conversation between Fr. Keating, and Ken Wilber! How can it be awailable? Are you going to upload it to youtube?

[philotaaveti]

'and not there potential to transform'

[rdc1622]

Christianity will pass if the dogma persists the world will be judged by God after it falls under the dominion of a one world government controlled by Satan in Jerusalem. There are too many separate entities involved like Russia, China, and the Muslim population that will create a natural order of checks and balances to prevent this delusional myth from ever unfolding.

[dhroland]

The roots grow deep but the branches don't grow. I look forward to seeing this.

[atypicalguy]

I think a better title might be, the future of Christianity in the developed world. There are many sects in poorer and/or more repressive societies that are similar to the early Roman sects.

[delerium2k]

I hope this will be available for free... I recognize your budget requires a funding model but if you truly want to expose a large audience to integral thought then you need to make your productions as free and accessible as possible. A donations-based system is the best funding model if you're churning out quality productions.

[ManaAloha]

Seems that rather than discuss Christianity with an open,reasoned mind, there exists this angry shadow that wants to fight to preserve the mythic understanding of a scripturally literal Jesus - Or this angry postmodern shadow that wants to discredit or just dismiss mythic Jesus. Neither group wants to look at any other possibility. It's either about proving or disproving the mythic - and the arguements never leave this realm. I'm looking forward to this DVD for perhaps another view.

[MaBu888]

Agreeable to call pre-second-tier thinking as shadow, correct and annoying. The battle is being waged... between the value meme 'representatives' and is annoying. This video is a possible antidote.

[Satori1800]

thanks for great video:)

[andy7666]

Options to 'evolve' and 'develop' the faith? Christianity is dead if you can't stick to your own religious teachings or feel the need to alter your 'Holy' texts and teachings to fit political correctness - what a joke!

[IntegralNaked]

Actually i would say that any religious tradition (Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc.) is dead if it is unable to evolve with the times.... As humanity continues to evolve, so should our ways of understanding the world, both secular and spiritual. And as people develop through magical, mythical, rational, postmodern, and integral stages of development, religious institutions should be able to develop through the same stages, rather than getting stuck at the mythic stage....

[MaBu888]

Nice integral reply. Good to see a healthy kind of lack of political correctness in action.

[mindhacked]

some traditions should be dead, that's life. everything can't be borged or integralized.. eliminate, exterminate, destroy...........!! that's also a part of life, i reckon.

i have personal opinion christianity is more trouble than it's worth keeping alive. if it has a baby in its bathwater, it might b that it's too early to tell, and the dying proces that has found the religion has further togo before anyone should promote alternate views

[mindhacked]

santa is sentimental but doesn't it do more damage than it does good? i could change.. that myth to suite me, then doesn't lineage become discounted somewhat, in religion the lineage is everything. the bible is shit..

artistic ..personal approaches more appeal to my feelings about it. personal religion even and the mysticisms, but i confusing th target or obstacle is too large outcome to promote a new "christianity" or revive the system now.

[mindhacked]

lions need to eat

[88Keyz101]

@IntegralNaked

Responding to 2 yr old post, I know. To alter, upgrade, remix, or update a religion to fit into modern times is a clear indication that the religion is false. If it were true, it wouldnt need man's intervention. If you see something in the bible that doesnt coincide with our times & you change it (or re-interpret it), its also clear that you didnt need the doctrine to begin with if you used your mind to figure out a more useful way of living.

Theres no such thing as magic.

[Vire70]

@88Keyz101

Well said. 

[Vire70]

@IntegralNaked

Except they can't. By definition religions are reliant upon past events; like Jesus himself. Those will always be in the past. It is why they are always unchanging. The closest you get to change in religion is the Catholics with their supposedly 'divinely inspired' Pope, but it takes a real simpleton to actually believe such rubbish, especially when they're advocating some of the most ignorant and damaging views in modern society (no condoms, get rid of abortion, etc).

[thomasmatus]

Historical documentation about Jesus is spotty, but other persons of his day & before are hardly better attested. His story fits the proverb, "Truth is stranger than fiction." We have a strong lineage that takes us to the end of the 2nd century CE, with 4 degrees of separation. We have stories that do not suit an idealized teacher. He was baptized (another man's disciple?). His oldest title was "Mary's son" (disreputable birth?). He wept (no hero!). Many outside Christianity love him (why?).

[edyersh]

The evidence for a historical Jesus is questionable. It is more likely a fiction based on the Osiris/Dionysus myth.

[IntegralNaked]

Yes, this is one of many perspectives that need to be taken into account in order to gain a fuller understanding of Christ as a man, a symbol, a myth, and a mystic. But we can't just end the conversation here, simply because we do not know very much about the historical Jesus, and allow that criticism to discredit or undermine any further discussion....

[Diatonic135]

what truly is missing is locked away in vaults.

Until the vatican is involved in releasing some of it's many secrets, this conversation is not likely to make reconcile any conflicts.

I do look forward to this production though. I wonder if it will gently push one-world religion into the minds of the viewers?