...INVITATION TO THE GREAT DIALOGUE...


Come, Share With Us About Your Spiritual or Philosophical Journey!

 Greetings, Friends!

       In the Spring of 2004, I and my good friend, Alex, launched a Listserv for the purpose of establishing a forum for members to share their religious (and non-religious) views, and to dialogue about spiritual devotional practices and beliefs.  As it is these days, almost no other subject is so taboo to dialogue about...Spiritual matters seem to rattle most people, and they often treat theirs with great secrecy.

 

Introduction: Essential Christianity

     Every religious discipline has Essential points of belief and behavior...often, when I have debated this with others, the conversation has gone in the direction of, “I am a Buddhist (or maybe an adherent of another spiritual perspective) even though I do not really believe many of the things that people say Buddhists believe,” etc. With this in mind, the question seems to me to be, “What makes any religion anything at all, if there are not Essentials that define it? If we cannot describe it for someone else?”  Maybe, if it cannot be easily defined, our next best step is to Dialogue about these issues and come to some greater understanding?

    This conundrum is no where more apparent than in my home base, “Christianity.”

    I, personally, have been seeking an Essential definition of what Christians believe...some of you may think, “Wayne, you know what those things are already!” and in some sense I agree. On the other hand, Christianity is fast becoming so divergent, and definitions of it are now so diverse, that as a spiritual practice Christianity is now heavily fragmented across the globe...I feel I need to have some well thought out answer to this paradoxical issue of “What are the Essentials of Christianity?”

    I myself must admit to many bending-s of the rules over my 46 + years. Nonetheless, I know I am not in the majority, but as I have struggled with this issue I have come to see it this way: It should be possible for any religion/spiritual practice to list its Essentials.

     The Members of the Great Dialogue have been discussing the above topic (and many, many others) for the past three years. In our time we have discussed all of the following subjects (and more):

 

  • Christian Doctrines and Practices
  • Buddhist Beliefs
  • Hinduism
  • Islam
  • American Politics
  • Religious World History
  • Orthodoxy
  • Scripture Interpretation
  • Baptism
  • Purgatory
  • The problem of Evil
  • Eschatology
  • Just War
  • Mythology
  • Adam and Eve
  • World Flood Myths
  • Famous Philosophers and Religious Figures
  • Archeological discoveries

    Please know that you do NOT need to hold any religious or spiritual viewpoint in order to come Dialogue with us. So, Please accept our invitation….Won’t you join us?

 

                                             ~ Wayne David Schmoyer