Doug Pagitt was in Portland today. He was at a conference in Seattle and decided to contact a friend of mine, who in turn set up a couple gatherings for Doug to speak at. This afternoon a hand full of people were able to sit down with Doug and discuss his forthcoming book A Christianity Worth Believing In.
The book is part memoir and part theological reflection. It traces Doug's spiritual journey and ends up being, "more like Augustine's Confessions than The City of God." Here are a few ideas from Doug today:
*People will do better to do what he has done in this book and not necessarily to conclude what he has concluded.
*There is no ontological difference between people (those Christian/non-Christians, saved/not saved, Christ follower/not a Christ follower.
*God is close to everyone. Strife, conflict and incongruence can happen in close proximity. The reason one has enemies is because they are close (Romans 5:10).
*The Bible is not about solving a sin problem, but in a larger picture partnering with God.
After this discussion group The Elders at The Evergreen Community took Doug out for dinner and light conversation. During dinner I had a burrito with a side guac, with I don't like. As I pushed my plate away with only the guac left on the plate Doug asks, "Can I have that guacamole? I was waiting to see if you were going to eat and I couldn't wait any longer."
At the end of the day I felt like I had to learn a new language in order talk with Doug. He is very intelligent and thinks on a plain most people never do.
However, I am concerned about some of the theology he was advocating today. It seems that Doug does not think there are necessary beliefs that one needs to hold in order to be "integrated" with God. This is opposed to being "disintegrated" with God. Basically, if you are concerned about the things that God is concerned about you are integrated with him, if you are not or are working against those things with God is working for, then you are disintegrated.
More later...
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