Stages Of Christianity and 2nd tear Christianity, Integral Christianity, or Evolutionary Christianity

By David Long

Over the years times have changed and we as humans have learned a lot. Our evolution has forced the evolution of christianity and it's concepts about Jesus along with it to deal with modern times and understandings. At this point most people are just worshiping some abstract concept of a jesus/god projection not one that is necessarily grounded in a textual understanding of who jesus was. For most Christians the bible is delivering one message from god, they don't see it as different books expressing different points of view. (Which means they really don't understand it in context.) They also like to talk about how obvious and objective all of these ideas are but you are hard pressed to find 2 Christians who can agree. Think about all the hundreds of types of churches, denominations and sub groups their are? What do the agree on? It's all about some guy name jesus.

I don't know how much you study spiral dynamics but traditional Christianity starts at stage 4 of cognitive development and can grow all the way up the spiral. (but as the mind develops our concept of God, and what it means to be a "Christian" develops with it.)

So stage 4 is better then all the stages before it because it's more inclusive and more caring. The main positive contribution of the blue/amber traditional role/rule stage of development is that it keeps red (impulsive self) in check. Blue is an important stage of development because it teaches people "sacrifice now for gain later" and it shifts the focus away from living "for me, now" to living for something bigger then just you.

This is a very important stage because it is basically the birth of compassion and the opening of the heart. (but if you damage a person in this stage of development it can be very hard for them to trust and open again once they have been lied too. That is a big problem with conformity. The next best thing to do is rebel against it. That is part of the reason that people at Stage 5 are often atheists.)

Think in terms of child development. The child is in stage 3, the red "NO, ME, MINE" impulsive egoic stage and blue/amber is teaching the child to be a good conformist. "If your good now then when you turn 16 I will buy you a car" is basically the same idea as "if your good in this life you will get to go to heaven and everything will be perfect". This is a good example of the "sacrifice now for gain later" and not just living for me now but living for something bigger then just me. This is a very important stage and it is so important because Red can be the most dangerous and destructive stage of development. And this is what Christians think of when they think of "the unsaved people" as debaucherous, deprived, ego's run amuck. Like bikers, gangsters, and people obsessed with sex. It's just a complete lack of self control. (impulsive egoic) Many people who say "I used to be an atheist" were not rational scientific materialists "orange" stage 5 as most atheist are but they were pre-rational "red" stage 3 impulsive egos as most christians THINK atheists are.

So stage 4 is better then the stages before it and it helps everything lower then it to evolve and gain self control. BUT even though it is better to be a conformist then an impulsive ego it is still not that great to be a conformist. Their are higher stages and stage 4 is no place to get stuck. (IMO)

If you remember I said that "christianity" starts at stage 4 but it can grow all the way up the spiral. But your concept of god and what it means to be a "christian" changes. A good clue as to where you are is in your translation.

As I said Christianity starts at blue stage 4 and can grow up the rest of the spiral and the meaning changes as you grow.

For example:

Blue/AMber says it's all true because the bible says so. (these are fundamentalist)

Orange Christians are people who think the bible is true because of evidence. (and they will list some misunderstood facts that make since to them. (this is where many of your apologists live.)

Green Christians say things like "god is love" and they have some vague poetic ways of believing this stuff. To these people much of the bible is metaphoric (as they pick and choose), many of these people believe in evolution, are ok with gay's, and women serving in the church. (they want to be Christian but they negate much of what the book has to say)

The problems in 1st tear christianity:

Blue/Amber christians don't see the contradictions. "The bible is true because it says it is" and "I know it's true because I feel it in my heart".

Orange Christians don't understand science well enough and are working backward from their belief.

Green Christians betray Christianity and Science equally. Picking and choosing from them both based on what they like at the time.

2nd tear Christianity, Integral Christianity, or Evolutionary Christianity, integrates science, understands the myths in their metaphorical, historical, and psychological context, and realizes that christianity is just one useful tradition among many.

To me being worthy of respect is not about being right, it's about caring what is true and being honest about it. If you are doing that I respect you.

We all start at stage 1 of development. It's not fair to judge a person forever based on the stage of development they are in, especially if they are still growing. That is like getting mad at a kid for being 5. Their is nothing wrong with a 5 year old mentality on a 5 year old, but as you get older you need to grow/transcend or at least have a healthy translation.

Friction is your environment telling you it's time to grow. How much you grow is really up to you. It depends on how open, honest, and willing to research and be skeptical of your own ideas you are. (Truth is not something to believe in but something to try our best to understand from our limited perspective.)

I myself went through all these stages how can I say that any stage is "bad".

On one hand I think you can be a christian and be a really good person with really good intentions.

On the other hand their are people who I respect and look up too. Mostly these are intellectuals and most smart people don't call them selves "Christian". (this is a statistical fact I can easily back up with evidence.) Also I think statements like "I know the truth about god and reality" shows both incredible ignorance and arrogance no matter who is saying it. I cannot respect that because I value humility, wisdom, and backing up what you say with good reasons and/or evidence.

Many 2nd tear Christians don't feel the need to label themselves as "Christian" because when most people think of "Christians" they are not thinking about trans-rational christianity they are thinking of pre-rational christianity and because they often enjoy other traditions just as much. (such as buddhism)

When you realize that the bible is basically an antiquated primitive version of "the matrix" or "star wars" it becomes something you are a lot less attached too. Being that it is "just one myth" as opposed to "the only true way".

To hear more about how Christianity evolves with cognitive development check out this note:

THE CHRISTIAN LADDER

The Infinite Ladder: An Introduction to Integral Religious Studies:

http://www.integralworld.net/diperna02.html

And to see what 2nd tear Christianity looks like check out these videos.

Evolutionary Christianity- part 1

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=941303764777526275&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity- part 2

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-6934355705250273635&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity- part 3

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-8279927247335608686&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity- part 4

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-6676288344304828536&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity- part 5

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=8727069480448716878&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity disc two part 1

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-1040304656383179725&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity disc two part 2

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=6769398775856496039&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity disc two part 3

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-1065812779635318728&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity disc two part 4

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-4422095205452115656&hl=en&fs=true

Evolutionary Christianity disc two part 5

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=2112884589518108275&hl=en&fs=true