About Me
Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, George Fox University
My name is Mark McLeod-Harrison. I taught college students for over thirty years in state, Roman Catholic, liberal Christian, and evangelical Christian colleges and universities. I hold a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as Bible college and seminary degrees. Academically, I describe myself as a philosophical theologian. I was ordained an Anglican priest in 2001 and served as pastor for several years of a small community. I've engaged in spiritual direction for many years.
I've been both a sceptic and a Christian most of my adult life. How does that go together? Long story, but in a nutshell, my religious views are Christian in the broadest, progressive sense, including alliance with LGTBQ+ folks. My views on the core theological issues can be summed up in the following. God is love, God wants us to love one another, and God never coerces us but the Spirit welcomes everyone into the kingdom. The sceptic part? Well, I hope something like Christianity is true but I think the arguments for other religions are just as good as the ones for Christianity. The really big questions are, as philosophers sometimes say, underdetermined by the evidence.
Philosophically I think the best we can do is attempt to reach the truth about the big questions. Part of our place on the planet is not to reach certainty or even knowledge about the good, the true and the beautiful but to come to an understanding of the world. The difference between certainty or knowledge and understanding is important, something we could perhaps talk about together. Suffice it to say that we are profoundly historical entities and we create meaning, in part, by living our lives in loving ways, seeking to understand ourselves, our neighbors, and the wonderful, mysterious world around us.
After many years of teaching, writing, publishing, and counseling students and others about theological and philosophical matters, I retired from teaching. Part of me simply no longer fit into the evangelical framework of the college where I was teaching, though part of me still takes the historic Christian faith (with all its challenges) seriously. But it was time to go.
My wife suggested that I could continue to help people through a sort of truth-seekers site. So I opened this spiritual direction service. I want primarily to help those leaving fundamentalism and/or evangelicalism sort out their beliefs. I also want to help heal the damage done by the church and it's sometimes lousy theology. I hope to help others develop a view of the world that is more whole and truthful.
But this site is not just for Christians or former Christians. I'm also interested in working with anyone who simply wants to clarify their beliefs, and what difference those beliefs make in living one's life. I'm not interested in converting anyone to anything except the search for the good, the true, and the beautiful. I want to help people sort out their beliefs, whether they remain Christian or not, become Christians or not. My goal is simply to help others deepen and enrich their view of the world by focusing further on goodness, truth, and beauty.
I'm curious about religions of all sorts, as well as naturalism and secularism.
Wisdom is wisdom no matter where it is found. Nevertheless, I see religious ways of being in the world as very important, responding to the mystery of the universe in ways appropriate to finite, humble people. I see myself as still on the path toward reality, but I can't shake the thought and commitment to the idea that reality i foundationally love.
But my journey is obviously not the only one. So, I invite you to let me join
your walk for a while, and I'm sure we can learn something together.
cruxspiritualdirection@gmail.com
