The Amateur Theologians Club

It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?

2009-04-19T05:05:00.000-07:00

Bono's recent Op Ed in the NYT

So much of the discussion today is about value, not values. Aid well spent can be an example of both, values and value for money.

Christian Mistake

2009-04-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Jim Wallis' take on the recent Newsweek cover, “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.”

Prayer Watch

2009-03-16T19:31:00.001-07:00

Hello again,

I've yet to add my notes from the second Sunday with Mary, but I wanted to get a post up about the Prayer Watch event that happened last weekend. Several folks commented on the event during Sunday morning adult ed and I thought the blog might be a good way for folks to continue to share thoughts. I came to the event from a couple of perspectives: 1) as someone seeking to add depth to my prayer practice, and 2) as one of the event planners, hopeful that others would find the Watch to be meaningful and community enhancing. I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive about how it would go...but I've gotten a lot of very positive feedback from folks about how powerful an experience it was...awesome!

I had signed up for two separate hours - an early morning stint that I did alone at home and a evening slot that I did with my daughter Sydney at the church. I'm still processing my experiences, but in both cases I felt refreshed after the hour and during the hour, a sense of freedom...letting go of answering my phone, checking e-mail, or letting the dog out, etc. Anybody else with thoughts to share? You can do so via the "comment" option for this blog entry. Please share!

What a great job by Susan and Betsy in setting up the prayer resource room! I captured it in video with my phone:

Looking at Creation

2009-03-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

Today we welcomed back the always engaging and knowledgeable Rev. Dr. Mary Shields for for a few sessions on creation stories in the Bible. For those that have not participated in one of Mary's previous Adult Ed sessions at IPC, you're in for a real treat. I mentioned the blog to Mary this morning and she wanted me to send her the URL, which I will, and I'd like to see if we can continue some of the great Sunday morning discussions via the ATC site.

We began this morning with the first two chapters of Genesis, a text that we have examined before with Mary. I wasn't on the ball this morning and didn't bring paper/pen to take notes but here's my attempt to recall a few key points:

There are two accounts of the story of creation are told in the book of Genesis. The first concerns Elohim creating the universe in six days. The second concerns Adam, Eve, and story of the Garden of Eden.
Most scholars agree that Chapter 1 was written in time of the Babylonian exile. In fact, Mary suggested that the story was designed to be overlain on and/or as a response to the Babylonian creation myth (Enûma Elish) <--- refer to the link for more detail.
Gen. 1: God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness..." an acknowledgment of the "divine council" way of thinking of Elohim as the "highest" deity among many deities.
In Gen. 2. 7, "man" is translated from the Hebrew adam...formed from the ground (adamah). Mary noted a better translation probably is "earthling".

Mary also touched on a concept of "seed of seed" in reference to Chapter 1, but I had to leave a few minutes early and missed this discussion.

But what really struck me in looking at these two chapters again was the image from Gen. 2 of God creating humankind from the earth. I think this is a powerful image that can be very meaningful to us to today...think Wendell Berry's mantra that the health of the people is in direct relation to the health of the land. Healthy land = healthy people. In a sense we are re-made from the earth every time we eat, for what is our food other than earth (soil/air/water) with a bit of sunlight? Thoughts?

Nonviolent Social Action Training and Dinner

2009-02-01T04:08:00.000-08:00

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

The Interfaith Center for Peace is proud to bring Daniel Hunter of Training for Change to Columbus on Saturday, March 28th. Daniel has led diversity, nonviolence and strategy training for a wide range of activists and social change groups. He has done trainings on strategy and conflict transformation with various ethnic minorities in Burma/Myanmar, religious leaders in Sierra Leone and Indonesia, Naga activists in India, and environmentalists in Australia. In addition, he has worked with a range of labor, religious, peace and justice activist organizations in the United States and Canada.

Schedule of Events:

11:00 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Intensive Workshop (limited to thirty participants):
Beyond marches: creating tactics that use power
Some activists are scared of the word "power." Yet making social change requires us to move beyond our own circles and engage others. It even requires breaking out of routine tactics and into tactics that challenge the status quo. This workshop will be a chance to analyze the actions we are already doing, and assist into coming up with new tactics, appropriate to our current situations. More than just a strategy workshop, it'll be a chance to connect with others, have some fun, and gain a new perspective on how to make social change. Coffee, water, and snacks provided.

6:00-8:00 p.m. Catered Dinner, Lecture, and Group Conversation:
Nonviolent Action: more than personal expression
Over the years and centuries, humankind has long been engaged in violent conflict. Some respond with a personal commitment and discipline for disengagement from a violent world. Currently such approaches use rallies and vigils to symbolize this approach to peaceful resistance. Yet nonviolent action is different than just personal expression -- it is a technique for waging social change. Using past and present stories, this talk and ensuing conversation offers a challenge and advice on how to use new and old tactics for using nonviolent action to make social change.

Location: Indianola Presbyterian Church (1970 Waldeck Avenue, Columbus, 43201)

Tickets:
Workshop: $40 ($20 student/low-income)
Dinner and Talk: $25 ($10 student/low-income)
Attend both events for $50 ($30 student/low-income)

Register by phone or email no later than Friday, March 13th
Contacts: Pat Rose and Audra Teague
Phone: 614.294.9019 Email: office@InterfaithCenterForPeace.org

CE for Febuary 1 & 8

2009-02-01T04:02:00.000-08:00

Issues of Darwinian Evolution and Faith
(led by Dr. Susan Fisher, Chair, OSU Entymology Dept.)

Dr. Fisher teaches Freshman Biology at OSU. When she polls her classes, she routinely finds that 50-60% of the students reject Darwinian evolution, believing instead that humanity came into being roughly 10,000 years ago pretty much as it is today. Dr. Fisher will help us to explore common misunderstandings of Darwin's theory as well as ways evolution is consonant with contemporary understandings of theology.

What's on deck for Sunday morning adult ed...

2009-01-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

January 18, 25 & March 15 - Living the Questions Video Series

February 1 & 8 - Dr. Susan Fisher from OSU

February 15 & 22 - Iraqi Partnership Network Report w/ Emily Schornstein

March 1, 8, 22, 29 & April 4 - Old Testament study w/ Rev. Dr. Mary Shields

Early Christians & Rome

2008-12-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

Borg & Crossan argue the language ("Son of God", "Prince of Peace", etc.) and theology used by Luke & Matthew was used to counter the Roman imperial theology of the time. As an example, in the Genealogy as Destiny chapter, they note that Luke's genealogy of Jesus (which goes back to Adam/God) was likely an attempt to "one-up" the genealogy of Caesar Augustus. On Sunday, a question was raised about why this was necessary...why, if Jesus was a transformative figure, was this elaborate story needed?

We think in words?

2008-12-16T18:04:00.000-08:00

Wow, my head is still spinning from the great discussion on Sunday! How about some further discussion on Eric's comment about how we "think in words". Any comment on that? Eric shared that his experiences of God are beyond words, beyond thinking (I hope I've captured this correctly). How about you, are your God "experiences" similar?

Matthew's Story Elements vs Luke's Story Elements

2008-12-13T16:26:00.000-08:00

As discussed at the first session, we learned that the two Christmas narratives are very different and that popular/common concepts of story combine these elements without much thought to the original intent. Here is a summary of the story elements that was passed out on 11/23:

Matthew

31 verses
Abraham → Jesus genealogy (1:1-17)
Angel reveals God’s plan to Joseph, not Mary. Jesus is born. (1:18-25)
No travel to Bethlehem (already there?), no birth story, no stable.
Wise Men & Herod. No specific number of wise men, not described as kings (2:1-8)
Adoration of the Magi. Follow star to “the house”, adoration, three gifts (2:9-12)
No shepherds
Herod’s plot to kill Jesus, flight to Egypt. Lives there until Herod dies (2:13-15)
Slaughter of the infants (2:16-18)
Return from Egypt, settle in Nazareth (2:19-23)
No youth story
NEXT chapter: BANG! Jesus is doing his ministry

Luke

132 verses
Conception of John the Baptizer (1:5-25)
Angel reveals God’s plan to Mary – The Annunciation (1:26-38)
Mary’s visit to Elizabeth – The Magnificant (1:39-56)
Birth of John the Baptizer, another miraculous birth – The Benedictus (1:57-80)
Living in Nazareth (in Galilee), decree from Caesar Augustus, travel to Bethlehem, birth of Jesus in a stable (2:1-7)
No Magi, no star
Angelic announcement to shepherds (2:8-20)
Circumcision & presentation of Jesus in Temple. Simeon and Anna are there. Return to Nazareth. (2:21-39)
No Herod, no flight
Jesus as youth, twelve years old at Passover in Jerusalem, gives the parents the slip, then back to Nazareth. (2:40-52)
NEXT chapter: Baptism of Jesus
Jesus → Adam Genealogy (3:23-38) – not in the birth narrative

Borg & Crossan stress the importance of viewing each story on its own to get to the heart of their meaning. Many of us on Sunday morning admitted that it is a struggle to keep the elements separated...so many years of melding the stories. We discussed other "traditional" parts of the story that we we taught that are not in Matthew/Luke...the donkey, the notion that there were three "kings" (riding on camels, no less), shepherds, wise guys & holy family all chillin' in the stable together.

The First Christmas (Leaders: Eric Anderson & Jeremy Carroll)

2008-12-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

November 30 through January 11

This class will be a book study of The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus' Birth by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan along the lines of the study this past Lent of their book The Last Week. From the book flyleaf: "As they did for Easter in their previous book… here they explore the beginning of the life of Christ, peeling away the sentimentalism that has built up over the last two thousand years around this most well-known of all the stories to reveal the truth of what the gospels actually say. Borg and Crossan help us to see this well-known narrative afresh by answering the questions, 'What do these stories mean?' in the context of both the first century and the twenty first century."