James Luther Adams noted that “the quality of Jesus’ words was matched only by the quality of his life. Indeed, if he had not possessed his power with words, we would not now know about the power of his life.” The Gospels of the New Testament are the primary source of what we know of Jesus’ life and words. My personal commentary on the Gospel of Mark, The Seminal Gospel: Forty Days with Mark, was […]
Contributor Profile: George Kimmich Beach
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The Trump regime has brought us to the brink of disastrous war. Facing this crisis, will we as a religious community give witness to peace? The following address is as timely and challenging today as it was when first presented by John Howard Yoder in 1984. The text is transcribed from Yoder’s James Luther Adams Lecture at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association, in Columbus, Ohio. Yoder (1927-1997), held professorships at the University […]
The liberal Christian outlook is directed to a Power that is living, that is active in love seeking concrete manifestation, and that finds decisive response in the living posture and gesture of Jesus of Nazareth.” — James Luther Adams I have asked myself, what do I make of the story of Jesus? What does it mean, and what does he mean to me? Seeking answers, not only about Jesus but about myself, I set out […]
Who was James Luther Adams and why is he important for those who care about the fate of liberalism—liberal religion and liberal democracy alike—in this age of anxiety? For an answer there is no better place to begin than Adams’s own dialogues at a gathering of the Collegium Association, at Craigville, Massachusetts, in 1986. We have selected the text of “A Time to Speak: Conversations at Collegium” to inaugurate an ongoing series of conversations on […]