Living the Questions

Living the Questions (LtQ) is a “DVD and web-based curriculum" designed to help people evaluate the relevance of Christianity in the 21st century.[1] Living the Questions was co-created by the Arizonan United Methodist ministers Jeff Procter-Murphy and David Felten[2][3] as part of the larger movement of Progressive Christianity. It is distributed through the Internet and through several denominational publishing divisions, like Cokesbury and Logos Productions.[4][5] Living the Questions offers an alternative to the Alpha Course. As of 2016 the LtQ curriculum is in use in nearly 5000 churches across North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.[6]

Living the Questions logo

Curriculum

Living the Questions does not offer a “systematic theology”, but is rather a thematic overview developed from questions raised in local parishes. It utilizes both written material and DVD-based input.[1] LtQ curricula seek to expose lay people to the complex theological questions and perspectives that are taught in seminaries, but that often don't “trickle down” into the local churches. The programs do not aim to spell out new doctrine or to develop new dogma, but to resource people who are in the midst of a lifelong conversation about the mysteries of faith and life.

Living the Questions Session at St. Luke's Anglican, North London

Reception

Reviewers have called Living the Questions both “enlightening and inspiring” [7] and “fascinating” in that the series raises questions many have “thought about but have been afraid to ask, and topics they know are important but don't hear mentioned in church”.[8]

In her book, Christianity for the Rest of Us, Diana Butler Bass notes that both the Living the Questions program and its methodology were part of the success and vitality of one of her subject churches, Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California.[9] In Big Christianity: What's Right with the Religious Left, author Jan G. Linn wrote: “Living the Questions is a welcomed … alternative to literalism that has promise in helping Christians find the biblical grounding for Bigger Christianity".

The US liberal flagship mainline church magazine The Christian Century criticized the original 12-session version of Living the Questions for taking a fundamentalist-like position, “close to a mirror image” of “fundamentalists”.[10] The principal course has since been expanded to nearly twice the original length, doubling the number of contributing participants and broadening the mix of contributors to include more women, more racial minorities, and more representation from the LGBT community.

Book

Based on the Living the Questions curriculum and written by the series creators, the book Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity was released by HarperOne (an imprint of HarperCollins) in August 2012.[11]

Contributors

All of the following contributors appear in "Living the Questions 2.0"; some appear in other curricula in the Living the Questions catalog:[6]

The 2010 release of LtQ2's “Home Edition” added the insights of Brian McLaren, Robin Meyers, and Diana Butler Bass.

Curriculum

Developed originally for use at Asbury United Methodist and Via de Cristo United Methodist in Arizona, what started out as just one DVD series is now a growing catalogue of curriculum.[6]

  • Living the Questions 2.0: An Introduction to Progressive Christianity
  • Saving Jesus Redux
  • Eclipsing Empire: Paul, Rome and the Kingdom of God with John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, on location in Turkey
  • First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom of God with John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, on location in the Galilee and Jerusalem
  • Countering Pharaoh's Production/Consumption Society Today with Walter Brueggemann
  • Questioning Capital Punishment with Sr. Helen Prejean
  • Tex Mix: Stories of Earthy Mysticism with Tex Sample
  • Jesus for the Non-Religious with John Shelby Spong
  • Uppity Women of the Bible with Lisa Wolf
  • Singing the Unsung with John L. Bell
  • DreamThinkBeDo (a remix of LtQ's other work intended for young adults[12])

References
  1. "The Center for Progressive Christianity - Living the Questions: A Video/Discussion Course for Progressive Christians". Archived from the original on 2011-01-08. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
  2. "Via de Cristo United Methodist Church - Our Staff". Archived from the original on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
  3. "The Fountains, a United Methodist Church – We Put Love First". Thefountainsumc.org. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  4. "Cokesbury - Living the Questions 2.0". Archived from the original on 2010-07-24. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved 2012-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Home". Livingthequestions.com. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  7. "The Center for Progressive Christianity - Living the Questions 2". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2009-01-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Bass, Diana Butler, Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith. San Francisco, Harper Collins Publishers, 2006, pg 282.
  11. "Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity by David Felten, Jeff Procter-Murphy". HarperCollins Publishers. Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  12. "Different Voice Blog - the Daily Voice - Dream (Review of LTQ DVD)". Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.