The general consensus of religion historians and analysts is that right-wing Fundamentalism is now identified as Christianity in America. The mainline Protestant churches are in decline, and no radical movement has come to the fore in Catholicism although there are plenty of prophetic spiritual teachers within its fold. Since the 1990s, a new grassroots form of Christianity has arisen according to Hal Taussig, who wrote this book when he was a visiting professor of New Testament at Union Seminary. He calls it Progressive Christianity and claims that it has five characteristics:
1. Spiritual Vitality (participatory worship, arts-infused programming, the renewal of ancient Christian and non-Christian rituals and practices, and the development of small groups for spiritual formation).
2. Intellectual Integrity (changes in God language, the relationship between religion and science, and postmodern consciousness)
3. Transgressing Gender Boundaries (the rejection of homophobia, the affirmation of equal rights across lines of gender and sexual orientation with an emphasis on the deepening feminist root)
4. Vitality without Superiority (avoiding the Christian arrogance of the past, opening up to a mutuality of respect and relationships with other religions)
5. Justice and Ecology (combines charitable work of the past and the systemic emphasis of liberal Christianity, along with a new emphasis on ecology and ecofeminism)
Taussig then identifies and lists a large cross-cut of progressive Christian congregations representing what he calls self-confident, spiritual, open-minded, gender-bended, justice-seeking, Earth-loving Christians. He also writes about the work of National Progressive Organizations that form single agenda groups at the Center for Progressive Christianity.
In the closing sections of the book, he shares his thoughts on books written by exiled Christians, critiques the lack of people of color within Progressive Christianity, addresses the danger of sectarian arrogance, and makes suggestions for new cross-denominational activism and collaboration. A New Spiritual Home by Hal Taussig is a helpful and hopeful survey of a burgeoning movement in America.
