The Spiritual Practice of Following Jesus

Universalist Christian spirituality is rooted in the teaching of Jesus, a human prophet who taught a gospel of love and a radical way of living. Universalist Christians do not worship Jesus as god but rather pay attention to his core teachings on love, justice, prayer, equality, forgiveness, money, and non-violence.

We follow the lead of modern historical scholarship which demonstrates that Jesus was a radical Jewish prophet not a divine being who wanted people to worship him. As such we recognise that much of the Bible was written by people who lived long after Jesus, or never met him, and therefore can distract us from his core teaching. It's not important to “believe” in Jesus, or to believe in things like the “virgin birth”, his death, or “resurrection” - what's important is following his core teaching.

We believe that historical scholarship is fairly clear in showing what that teaching was. Which is not to say that Jesus' words are either easy to understand, or easy to follow. Jesus left us with a number of “parables” or stories. These parables were designed to open our mind, although their meaning is not always easy or obvious. Following a Universalist Christian spirituality means studying these parables, considering what they mean, allowing them to open up our minds and hearts, and thinking about how to apply them to our lives.

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