materialism and theology

Cohort Revisited

The Cohort, under reconstruction, is meeting on Saturday nights around 7:30 at Melissa's house. We are reading John Howard Yoder's Preface to Theology. This book choice is not only because it is believed that Melissa and others are involved with a rough looking bunch who call themselves the Hauerwasian Mafia but also because Yoder is quite the thinker when it comes to theology and he will not stray away from the tough passages or marginal voices within this stream of thought. His main areas of thinking involve christology, pacifism, and the ethical-politico call of the Church, not the government nor any collusion of the people of faith with the Powers That Be, to save history, the present and the eschaton.

If you want to read more about him, wikipedia (of course) has a nice overview, but no affiliation with him is necessary to join up with us. We really just talk about what we don't know and the revolving questions that lurk in the shadowy corners of our (mostly) evangelical upbringings like little, brown spiders. To expose them is to rob them of their strength over us whether we in the end come to reconcile ourselves to them or drown them in quarts of anti-spider spray.

The email for the cohort is coemergentco@gmail.com if you are interested in coming we can give you directions and times. If you have already attended, hopefully this will be a good place to check in, post on topics for further discussion, ask questions and get times and dates for when we will be meeting next.

Theology of 9/11

There are three opportunities during the week to catch a series of lectures by Dr. David Deane of various topics surrounding the christian experience in the aftermath of 9/11. Melissa invited me to one; I went and thought it was really good. We talked of the tension between God's omnipotence and omni-benevolence in a horrific world and Dr. Deane is incredibly deft at opening the subject to very old voices (Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Gregory of Nyssa, etc.) as well as very new ones (Foucault, Moltmann, Neitzche, David Bently Hart, etc) in the theological and philosophical world.

The Coloradoan had an article on this a while back, which I found here which had this quote,
"A lecture and discussion...will be held three times a week at three local churches - John XXIII [Monday], Trinity Lutheran Church [Thursday] and First United Methodist Church [Tuesday]. Deane said several evangelical Christians will attend.."

I believe they are at 7:00pm.

-seth james forwood wrote the above


Here is the syllabus:

September 11th 2001 – A Theological Reflection

This course aims to reflect theologically on the experiences, questions and challenges that are synonymous with 9/11. It aims to do so by looking at the work of some of today’s leading theologians writing about the events of 9/11, but also by engaging in a dialogue with the giants of our theological past on the eternal questions 9/11 brought to the fore. All of this will be conducted in the shadow of the Gospel narrative, the core story through which Christians seek to make sense of the world and how we are to be in it.

For example, almost immediately the word “evil” - a theologically loaded term - was used and while we will discuss Stanley Hauerwas’ and Rowan Williams’ critiques of the use of such terminology after September 01’, we will also look at such questions as “What is Evil”?, “Where does evil come from?” and “how can a omnipotent benevolent God tolerate the suffering of innocents?” as they were looked at by our dialogue partners through theological history.

9/11 caused immense confusion for many Christians in America. Christians who felt threatened and hurt also have their faith rooted in a Gospel which proclaims the Christological imperative to “not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt: 5:39). Christians across America had an immediate and understandable desire to bring terrorists to justice and prison but Christ, in Matthew 25, identifies himself with the imprisoned. How are Christians to make sense of these feelings, hurts and fears engendered by the collective experience of 9/11?

We have discussed at length how to be an American desiring security after 9/11, we have discussed at length the international laws and processes which affect our action, but, have we had a vigorous and critical discussion about how we are to be, as Christians, after 9/11? This course aims bring our theological past and present around the table in the service of such a discussion. It aims to address the events of 9/11 and the issues it raised within a Christian theological perspective in dialogue with the voices of the dead, those of 9/11 and the cycle of violence it participated in, the theologians of history and the victims of the past. Ultimately it asks, in a world shadowed by the events of 9/11, what it means to be followers of that sovereign victim who is the source and destination of all Christian life, Jesus Christ.

Course Reading
We will be using two books in this course, Dissent from the Homeland: Essays after September 11. Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and Frank Lentricchia. (Duke University Press, 2003) each chapter of the book can be read, or printed out, from this online link http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/vol101/issue2/ and Christian Theology: A Reader by Alistair McGrath (Oxford: Blackwells 2001) sections of this book that are in the public domain (such as the first week’s reading) will be emailed to you prior to each class.

Course Outline
Week 1: General Introduction. In his first week we will introduce both the key themes we will be engaging and how we will be engaging them. We will focus on the relationship between the Christian and the state, centering on the nature of the moral framework that orientates the person. To this end we will look at two early Christian texts, from Tertullian and Athenagoras, which look at the relationship between the Christian and the state and claim that in no circumstances can Christians take up arms or strike back, even when one’s life is threatened. Later in the course we will explore other Christian positions, in favor of “Just War” but to introduce the issue, and to illicit our dialog and conversation, we will be confronted with the radicality of Pacifism in the early Church in week one. This week’s readings will be emailed.


Week 2: What is Evil? Here we will discuss the events of the day of 9/11 after having read some short excerpts from McGrath’s reader on “Evil” (Which we be emailed to you). Our goal will be to ask whether “Evil” should be used in relation to 9/11 and if so what are the theological issues involved in such a designation. We will examine some key Christian accounts of “Evil” and also explore the importance of naming and language in establishing the grounds for ethical action.

Week 3: Why do innocent people suffer? Here again we will read short passages from our theological past from Augustine, Luther, Aquinas, and so on, all from the McGrath reader asking this question about suffering. We will read it in them in the shadow of the Gospel, the suffering of those people in the towers, and our own experience of suffering. In our conversation and dialog we will look for a theological model of suffering, what it is and what does it mean to be a victim.

Week 4: What kind of world experienced 9/11? In understanding the reception, worldwide, of 9/11, we need to look at that world which experienced these terrible events; what are the paradigms through which the planes crashing and the victims dying were interpreted? For this we will read John Milbank’s essay “Sovereignty, Empire, Capital and Terror” from Dissent from the Homeland p 63-83. This reading can be found through the link http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/vol101/issue2/
This reading is very radical, and some may find it offensive, such radicality however can help us to think about some major issues arising from 9/11 that we rarely engage with, such as “What is the power of a sovereign state and on what authority does it function?”, “On what grounds do we feel that only a sovereign state has the power to kill, through war, the death penalty or economic sanctions?”, “can the reaction of sovereign states to 9/11 be seen as a desperate attempt to preserve their authority as theirs alone when the legitimating principles on which they’re based (divine right of kings, belief in the “truth” of popular vote) are far less believable than ever before?

Week 5: The voice of the Other - part 1 Here we will look at the experience of Muslims in America as the world experienced 9/11. We will look at some key aspects of Islam and the story of Islamic development since 1967. We will also explore what a properly Christian appreciation of and relationship with Islam might look like. For this we will read the essay “A Muslim to Muslims: Reflections after September 11” by Vincent Cornell from Dissent from the Homeland p 83-95. This reading can be found through the link http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/vol101/issue2/

Week 6: The Voice of the Other – part 2 Here we will look at a specifically Jewish perspective on 9/11 as explored in Rabbi Peter Ochs’ essay “September 11 and the Children of Israel” from Dissent from the Homeland p 137-149. This reading can be found through the link http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/vol101/issue2/ We will also look at Jewish/Christian relations and focus on Romans 9-11 as the epicenter of our conversation.

Week 7: “Those people who did this will hear all of you soon” Here we will look at the concept of a just war from a Christian perspective, we will discuss the gospel as well as various voices from Church history in relation to the question. We will be reading Rowan Williams essay “End of War” from Dissent from the Homeland p 25-37. This reading can be found through the link http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/vol101/issue2/
We will also be emailed the text wherein Augustine establishes the concept of Just War that will shape Christian thinking about War and Peace from then on. We will examine this text in light of the earlier texts by Tertullian and Athenagoras and ask, which of these positions is best supported by the Gospels? Are the political factors or developments within the Church that would lead to the development of a position such as Augustine’s? Do we face challenges today in differentiating between what we are called to do by the Gospels and what we are called to do by our state or even our “Brute Nature” to use a phrase of Gregory of Nyssa’s?


Week 8: What are we to do as Christians? Here we will ask, how are we to be, as Christians, in a world scarred by 9/11. How are we to live up to our role as Christians at this time, in this context. Our discussions will be in dialogue with Michael Baxter’s essay “Dispelling the “we” fallacy in the Body of Christ: The task of Catholics in a Time of War” from Dissent from the Homeland p 107-121 As well as looking at Christian story of reconciliation as manifest in the Gospels, the call to radical solidarity with the suffering in and as our participation in God’s Triune life..

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the darkening, the beginning of scarcity, the beginning of the end of God and the rift in our world where the Event, the True Human could appear.

I went to the Ash Wednesday service yesterday at John XXIII. I find that through the Liturgical Calendar the rhythms of life have room to breathe, to come to the light instead of being smothered in the candied, varnish of a normal, didactic Sunday service. We acknowledge our frailty, our trembling existence, how we are ashes and the truth of the matter is one day we will simply return to ashes. Eschatologically of course there is so much more to this story but to be in church and to have a recognition of this brutal, existential truth is refreshing.

The last line in one of the songs for the service described Christ as our 'day in the night.' And I loved the imagery of hope in the darkness and, not by any means ignoring the darkness, we still see through it to a deeper meaning, a truth that exists throughout.

The ashes that were giving to remind us of our many weaknesses were made from the palm branches of last years Palm Sunday and olive oil. The ash that we acknowledge as ourselves is the ash of an offering, a celebration of the strange entrance God made in our world. The subversive triumph Christ made on a donkey, the subversive God that Christ was and is, carried through the symbol of the palm branches we use to mark the path of a king and then burnt and mixed with anointing oils to be received when life turns fragile and dark. And life turns constantly, making its unexpected changes. So we hope and long through the liturgical seasons that embrace all turns of life that nothing escapes the reach of love and truth, that all will be captured in the eternal embrace, the disturbing and fracturing embrace of Christ crucified and risen.

Here is a quick list of places I frequent and have found Lenten resources:
- This is a big resource that will have daily reflections and articles following through Lent. ht: jonny baker
http://www.freshworship.org/lentblog07

- Lent devotions. (you can subscribe and have these emailed to you every day)
http://www.goshen.edu/cgi-bin/blosxom/devLent07/2007/Feb/21/Feb21-WelcometoGoshenColleges2007Lentendevotions

- Scot McKnight's Lenten reflections centered on the story of Mother Mary and Peter experiencing the fracture of following their Answer to be executed.
http://www.jesuscreed.org/?cat=37

- Another staple recurrence in my internet trolling habits, connexions, has a reflection for Ash Wednesday looking at shirking off moralism and embracing repentance.
http://theconnexion.net/wp/?p=2726

- Kester has an honest anecdote on fasting which is most likely the majority of experience. I was in the habit of fasting every Wednesday for awhile and there were those times immediately after school where I would find myself chowing down on a hunk of beef jerky the size of my hand before I'd catch myself...and then go right ahead and finish the entire package. http://kester.typepad.com/signs/2007/02/the_spiritual_f.html

stave off the atrophy

Interior:
Very good prayers (I especially like A Prayer for a Meal on a Tired Evening After a Day of Struggles in the City):
ht: Signs of Emergence

Art:
Jonny Baker has a five-part series that spans a couple of topics but, due to some interaction with Derrida's and Caputo's thought, I was attracted to his concept of The Gift in art.
The Gift, Artists are Poo, Wise Blindness, Blind Gratitude, Art and Prophecy

Also, a good look at Aesthetic Practice and the Postmodern Church at the always interesting site, The Church and Postmodern Culture.

Campolo and Jung's thoughts

I'm in the middle of reading a book by Tony Campolo called "Speaking My Mind," and this section of the book reminded me of a previous discussion we had at Avo's i believe. This part of the book is titled 'Is Evangelicalism Sexiest?'- which he is specifically talking about feminism, female preachers, etc.
"..we must ask ourselves what it means to become 'complete in him (referring to Colossians 2:9-10).' I have been intrigued with that question ever since i read the fascinating theories about human personality set forth by the great psychologist Carl Jung. According to Jung, the process of socialization has distorted all of us into being incomplete persons. Jung goes on to say that the psychological maladies that plague so many of us are in one way or another related to this distortion. He argues that men are socialized to suppress those dimensions of their humanity that our culture assigns to women. Likewise, Jung contends that those traits of being human that our society has ascribed to men are traits that we require women to suppress. In other words, members of both sexes are skewed persons, in that society requires each to suppress traits of humanness that only the other sex is allowed to express.
Interestingly, ancient Chinese philosophers set forth exactly the same theory of personality in their description of how what they call yin and yang are manifested in our lives. Yin, say these ancient philosophers, is akin to what we mean by feminine personality traits. On the other hand, yang comprises personality characteristics that we associate with masculinity. We can achieve holistic health and well-being, they say, when yin and yang are in perfect balance with each other..........I find much that is attractive in the way that the concepts of yin and yang help us to understand the call to wholeness in Jesus. I think it helps us to overcome the cultural disfiguration of both men and women that culture has imposed on us......What I am proposing is that culturally prescribed distortions can work themselves out in women, as well as in men, through transformation of personality that can come as a work of the Holy Spirit. I believe that as members of both sexes submit to the changes wrought by the Spirit, we will become more and more like Jesus, whom the Bible declares the perfect person- the only complete human being who has ever balanced the yin and yang, or as Jung would refer to these dimensions of being fully human, 'anima and animus.'"

Please Pray

Please pray for my family, my dad in particular, he just found out his brother is in the hospital with pulmonary fibrosis and could go at anytime. Thank you, my other family.

~Steve

A Reflection on Advent

Charlie had originally asked me to prepare a reflection on Advent for this Sunday, but because of time constraints we ended up not doing that. Given the previous post I thought it might be appropriate to share some of the thoughts I had:

(A brief note on theological jargon in the quote below: for all intensive purposes “eschatological” = end-time; “parousia” = coming; “eschaton” = end.)

We currently find ourselves in this advent season—this time of expectation as we wait for the celebration of Christ’s birth. Our lives as Christians are called into being by our past—that we are reconciled to God in Christ—and summoned forth by our future—that that reconciliation though often only dimly seen will be revealed; that that already present reality will be shown to be reality. Or as Paul puts it in Romans: “Creation groans and eagerly awaits the revealing of the sons and daughters of glory”. It is not a mistake that the church calendar is structured with this sense of expectation and restlessness, as it begins with Advent’s eager expectation of Christ’s birth, moves to Lent in expectation of Christ’s journey to the cross, looks forward from Good Friday’s loss to Easter’s joy, and moves through the 40 days of the Easter season in anticipation of the flooding of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost which finally occurs. Thus, our lives are defined by events before us and held firm by events to come. “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” Though some would suggest otherwise, this does not provide occasion for either gleefully-vicarious vengeance as we hope for the judgment and punishment of those who have “wronged” us as Christians or negligent escapism as we fix our eyes to the skies and abandon this world because it will all be “destroyed anyway”. Rather, it is exactly this history outside of us—which we have been called to participate in—which summons us forth to be immersed in this world, ministering to the poor and oppressed, caring for the environment, and bearing witness to the Gospel in the entirety of our lives—not simply sections—as they are reoriented to God’s graciousness towards us. Drawing out the contours of Karl Barth’s theology and quoting him extensively, Eberhard Busch paints a beautiful picture of this as he notes that:

The hope of the kingdom of God “finds its basis in the fact that the coming is not just ahead but is already an event…From the enacted and present coming the New Testament looks for the future coming” (CL 247). The hope of God’s kingdom, that we cannot make, is not a humanly concocted idea, for the kingdom has already broken in as reality: “‘The kingdom of God is at hand’ means ‘the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14)” (CL 249). That in this Word the eternal God has assumed time for us is itself an eschatological event, and as such it is the ground for both the reality and our knowing of that reality of what the coming of the kingdom of God is and will be. The coming, the “parousia” of Jesus Christ, is not merely an image for a reality that is distinct from him; it is the coming of the kingdom of God. The eschaton of the future does not differ from the parousia of Jesus Christ (CL 249-50). It is not “something better or the best…the Lord is coming” (III/2 486-87), so that, however, the “new creation” could be seen in the event of his Easter advent (III/2 490). The hope of the community is set “on Jesus himself” and not on the “attainment merely of abstract blessings,” on all further blessings only as “concomitant phenomena of His manifestation” (III/2 490). He himself is the covenant, fulfilled at his atonement, between God and us and ourselves and our neighbors. For this reason his coming is the coming of a new world. “He comes and creates righteousness…as the right order of the world that belongs to him. He comes and creating righteousness he abolishes the unrighteousness of people both in their relationship to him and also in their relationships to one another. He comes and sets aside not only unrighteousness but also the lordship of the lordless powers…restoring to man the freedom over his abilities of which they had robbed him, reinstituting him as the lord of the earth which he may and should be as the servant of God. He comes and with him comes that ‘peace on earth among men with whom he is pleased.’…This peace on earth, actualized when God himself comes as King and Lord and creates and establishes it, is the kingdom of God” (CL 237).
--Eberhard Busch, The Great Passion, 282-83.

So then, during this Advent season let us draw near in worship, not in naïve sentimentality, not in superficial joviality, but with utmost realism; that the present reality—with all its darkness and discord—is not the final word; that the final word, God’s “yes” to humanity, has been spoken to us in the Word, Jesus Christ. Let us come together in expectation of Christ’s coming in humility and poverty as the child in the manger, and in expectation of his coming in glory and honor when truly his will will be done “on earth as it is in heaven”.

In the Time of Advent, Our Minds Have Changed

Hauerwas' Matthew - Advent in a Minor Key
"...Jesus is born into a world in which children are killed, and continue to be killed, to protect the power of tyrants..."


The Boar's Head Tavern Advent site called Come to Bethleham and See

• Exhortation on the Liturgical Calendar
• An Odd Place to Find a Woman
• Resisting Consumerism
• Several very good Advent reflections from imonk.

The Church and Postmodern Culture's Geoff Holsclaw has Emancipation and Advent.

An interesting informal reflection on Disappointment and Waiting.

Scot McKnight has some thoughts on Christmas and reflections following the Magnificant for lighting the Candles of Advent (1, 2). All are collected here.

and if you have any other interesting Advent reading and have the access to insert it into this blog then please do. If you don't have access then just post a comment.

Thursday

Driving home at dusk, with a ring all the way around the horizon of rose, the sky filled with geese. There was such a wonder cultivated just by seeing the proportion of the sky with suspended things near and very far away drawn like a sheet across the previously nebulous, unknowable expanse, one corner traveling steadily towards the South.

I thought this might be the type of thing I would like to tell my wife when I got home from work. Then a flat black vintage truck gurgled violently past me, hurtling, and suddenly my bladder felt like a very taut ballon. When I turned the next corner into a neighborhood there seemed to be only a few aimless birds high up, slowly stealing away to the mountains.

Zizek

Tyler and I saw this philosopher at Calvin a few weeks ago and he was an interesting character at the least. Here is some information seth sent me about his ideas and I also heard about, but have not yet seen, a video recording of his speech on some website. So we could maybe find that out too. Thanks

***UPDATE***
I posted this at The Church and Postmodern Culture:

The Calvin English Dept. has streaming video of the lecture here: http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engl/
The quality of the video/audio is very good.There are about 6 minutes of milling about before Zizek says anything but, in classic Zizek fashion, his first words are "...it's kind of an aggressive phallic..." in reference to the microphone.

Christinity: Tragedy or Comedy?
Geoff Holsclaw's notes from Slavoj Zizek (an atheist Protestant) “Only an Atheist Can Believe: Politics between Fear and Trembling” given at Calvin College on November, 10th, 2006.
For those of you who have never read anything by Zizek, well, his lectures are exactly the same: entertainingly full of pop-cultural references, able to keep capture the attention of the ADHD generation through frequent (if not confusing) jumps in topic; and simultaneously keeping things light, yet able to sustain a certain gravity to the issues discussed.
It would take too long to summarize all the twists and turns of Zizek’s presentation, so instead I will focus on the themes of tragedy and comedy.
As fate would have it, just before hearing Zizek’s lecture, my wife and I saw “Stranger than Fiction,” a film about a woman writing a book, but the main character is a real person who hears her narrating his life. Eventually ending up at the door of a literary professor, he is told that the main thing is to find out if his story is a tragedy or a comedy. The professor explains that comedies affirm the continuity of Life and end in a wedding, but that tragedies express the inevitability of Death, ending with the demise of the hero.
So the question before us concerns whether Christianity is a tragedy or a comedy.
Zizek began his lecture interrogating two recent films concerning the events of 9/11: Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center and also United 93.
The problem that Zizek has with these films is that they are terribly apolitical, both avoiding the context and situation of the event, and resisting the horror of their actual occurrence. Instead these seek to inspire the audience, to bring out the best in the American people. Zizek claims these films (as with most catastrophe movies) offer us an implicit “Blessing in Disguise” theology. What he means by this is that they seek to inspire us by giving these tragedies a redemptive meaning. But for Zizek this attempt at giving disaster a meaning is ultimately a pagan aspiration of inscribing everything into a unified whole.
But for Zizek, Christianity is not about giving tragedy a meaning. Zizek turns initially to the Biblical story of Job to confront the pagan political theology of “blessing in disguise.” You can always tell a story to inspire and make sense of things, and this is exactly what Job’s friend attempt to do. But Job refuses to make sense of it all. He refuses to give an understandable meaning to his circumstances. Giving meaning to everything, even the disasters, is a pagan process of bringing the universe into a unified totality, even if through the tragic perspective. It brings the excessiveness of the human situation back into an understandable frame of reference. The gesture of Job is to refuse to fall into this pagan discourse.
So for Zizek, Christianity is not a Tragedy, attempting to reinsert a minimal order and meaning, but instead, as revealed on the Cross, the God of transcendent Order, giving meaning from above to our darkest hours, dies. The Cross reveals that there is no One to give reasons beyond humanity, beyond the God working within human history and freedom.
Excursus on Fundamentalism:The problem with Fundamentalism is that it, like Tragedy, attempts of giving a clear meaning to everything. It attempts to fill in all the Gaps. But Belief is full of gaps. That is what makes it faith, not certainty. Belief is never belief concerning the facts, but rather between the facts, or rather is itself counter-factual. The problem with fundamentalism is that it obliterates all the gaps, or rather fills them all in, such that there is utter continuity between faith and facts. But this reall y ends up being the end of faith, the end of belief. Usually this loss of faith is manifest in a believers life in a moment of disaster where they realize they haven’t had faith for a long time. Fundamentalism, for Fact-amentalism destroys the gaps within which faith grows.
Fundamentalism is congruous with the films such as World Trade Center and United 93 because they are seek to give a definite meaning to all circumstances, which even in its tragic form, is a return to pagan universal holism (everything has its place). In this we can see how it is that conservative evangelical theology falls in line with Bush administration politics.
But if Christianity is not a Tragedy, then it must be a Comedy right? Well, yes, but not like you might think. According to Stranger than Fiction, a Comedy is life affirming, and doesn’t the Book of Revelation end with the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Sounds like a Comedy to me.
But for Zizek, Comedy is not merely life affirming. While Tradegy pretends to stare straight into the horror of death, ultimately it turns away from the meaninglessness of Death, replacing it with a reason, a “blessing is disguise.” But for Zizek, Comedy is an indirect means of looking into the meaningless of death, and the horrors of life. He draws our attention to movies of the holocaust. A movie, a tragedy, which brought us right into the life and death of the concentration camp would be profane. How could a movie really attempt to portray the “blessing in disguise” of the death camps. Impossible! But a Comedy could depict this meaninglessness, even if indirectly, where we laugh to keep us from crying.
Now there was quite a bit more that Zizek discussed, but I will finish here with Zizek’s suggestion that Christianity offers a political theology, not of the pagan variety bringing meaning into the disaster, but rather a political theology of Christian Comedy, able to look at the horrors of life, not demeaning them by giving them meaning, and thereby offering a particularly powerful position for bringing about change in all areas of life.
Asides (from Q/A session):
1) The prohibition not to make idols in OT is not meant to lead to mysticism (lacking conceptual/aesthetic form), but rather to point us always back to the truth that God is found within humanity in the face of the neighbor. The image of God is found in the redeemed community, it is not a denial of cognative or aesthetic representations.
2) Zizek the Protestant: Zizek is against Eastern Orthodox view of theosis and its attempt at union with God. How could an atheist ever buy into that? But he is also against Catholicism because of it “symbolic exchange”. That’s what he said and I have no idea what he means by this. He says that Protestantism expresses what Christianity always was. It is the true rendering of Christianity.
Geoff's Thoughts: I’m not sure what to make of it that an atheist could feel so secure with Protestantism. Does that means we are already so fall off the path that an atheist finds it so inviting, or just that it picture of redemption is so compelling an atheist can’t resist it?
3) Predestination is Right On!: Asked by an astute, and very Reformed student, how Zizek’s account of freedom might relate to predestination, Zizek responded, “Yes, salvation is not about good deeds. It is predestination!” The predestinational paradox that our salvation is already decided, we just don’t know it, that it is a type of retroactive constitution of necessity, is very appealing to Zizek. Or as he says, “True Freedom is about choosing your necessity. True Freed is not a choice between deserts (cake or brownies), but a compulsion of destinies (to join the freedom fighter, the civil rights movement, acting justly).”

And finally I also don't know what to say about Chevrolet. Oh well.
Love,
Lander

Round-Up (Updated)

UPDATE***I also wanted to add this link at opensouretheology concerning the whole Bible Super Store deal and at least adding another facet to the conversation - I was absolutely speachless after the commercial that you can watch at the beginning of the article.***

A couple of interesting things I found on the 'Net this week:

Kruse Kronicle was mentioned by me before but they guy writes so much on such a diverse set of topics that I must link again to him. He tackles the role of women in church but if you search around his blog you will find all sorts of stuff - from economics, climate initiative and neanderthal DNA to T-Bone Burnett, emerging church and pink jail cells. Kruse writes a lot and writes well.

Another place I frequent, Internet Monk, has done a piece called Do Chinese Students Need an American Jesus? I thought I would mention it as a thread (or sutra) of my thought lately has been translating Christianity into other cultures as per the New Buddhism article, the African Creed and a couple conversations with friends.

Lastly, the topic of Universalism is floating around still. Generous Orthodoxy Think Tank is a good collection of bloggers and has just mentioned an NPR broadcast on church leaders catching heat for questioning Hell. An author trying to avoid this same fate has written a book under the pseudonym of Gregory Macdonald (two people who inspired his search) called The Evangelical Universalist. Leaving Munster, a very interesting Anabaptist blog, has done a two-part interview with "Gregory." And then to top off the massive link to Jason Clark's blog where he provides links to D.W. Congdon's collection of links - it reminds me of this - the way links work, not anyone's communist leanings.

-seth

Difficult

I am not sure what to think or do. There is a lot I could say on the subect but I need to think more. An airport is also not the best suited for me to think in, but nonetheless. This article has a few points worth considering. I added the italics. Thanks. Lander
11.09.2006 Thursday - ISTANBUL 21:26

[COMMENTARY]
The Saddam Hussein Death SentencebyRichard Falk
The timing of the death sentence imposed on Saddam Hussein, so suspiciously convenient for Republican aspirations in the mid-term elections, will only deepen the sectarian tensions in Iraq, fanning further the flames of civil war.
While President Bush predictably greeted the news as yet another ‘milestone’ in the effort of the Iraqi people ‘to replace the rule of the tyrant with the rule of law,’ a less partisan reaction would lament the timing as intensifying sectarian strife in Iraq that has by now become a civil war intertwined with a war of resistance.
The American stage-managing of this judicial process in Baghdad has been evident to close observers all along. It always seemed legally dubious to initiate a criminal trial against Saddam Hussein while the American occupation was encountering such strong resistance by Saddam loyalists, especially as the US-led invasion was widely regarded throughout the world as itself embodying the crime of aggressive war, a crime for which surviving Nazi leaders were charged and punished at Nuremberg after World War II. This reality constitutes a fundamental flaw in this whole judicial process. In effect, why Saddam Hussein? Or differently, why not George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld?
The cost of this political opportunism by the United States goes beyond the narrow circumstances of this trial. No one doubts that Saddam Hussein and the other defendants were substantively guilty of crimes against humanity when they killed 148 civilians in the town of Dujail back in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt; collective punishment is an international crime whatever the provocation. But the potential contribution to building a legal tradition of accountability applicable to political leaders has been undermined in this instance by the circumstances and auspices of the this tribunal, and by the way the prosecution proceeded. Defense lawyers were not adequately protected, and three were killed; evidence presented to the tribunal was not made available to the defense in advance; the judge was switched midway through because he was alleged to be too permissive toward those accused; there were no international judges on the tribunal; and some of the evidence appeared to be fabricated. Justice is not done if the appearance of justice is not present. This is particularly true if there is deep political cleavage about whether those accused should be prosecuted in the first place.
Finally, the impact of this death sentence is morally and politically questionable. At this point, internationally, a death sentence is not considered to be an acceptable punishment; the International Criminal Court, and other international criminal tribunals, reject capital punishment as an option. Almost all political democracies in the world have done away with the death penalty, and so to impose it here, especially by way of hanging, can only be regarded as an expression of primitive vindictiveness, an act of vengeance far more than an expression of justice that brings discredit to the whole process.
Politically, as the sectarian demonstrations throughout Iraq have already demonstrated, the verdict at this point by an Iraqi tribunal acting under the authority of the American occupier, intensifies the problematic situation in the country. It fans the flames of Sunni/Shi’ia strife, which possesses most of the characteristics of a civil war, and it reinforces the impression of an aggressive occupier imposing its historical narrative on a still deeply divided society. It also poses a dilemma. If the death sentence is carried out, it will ensure Saddam Hussein’s status as a Sunni martyr, and make even more unlikely an accommodation among Iraqis as an alternative to civil war. On the other hand if the sentence is not carried out, it will give further evidence that this is a political, not a legal, process, and sadly, encourage the most cynical views of these efforts to hold political leaders responsible for crimes of state. As well, it will sustain Saddam Hussein’s claim to be still the leader of the Iraqi people, a hero in captivity.
All in all, the outcome of this first trial against the Ba’athist regime of Saddam Hussein, should have been internationalized, or at the very least, waited until normalcy had been restored in Iraq. To convert this criminal process into a tool to vindicate the narrative of the Bush administration as to what was achieved in Iraq by the invasion and occupation was itself misguided even if the only audience was here in the United States. By now, even naïve America no longer listens when Washington claims that another milestone establishes progress in the war. As the milestones pile up, so do the bodies!
November 06, 2006

Found this at Opus...

A great reflection by one of my favorite writers / bloggers.

http://www.opuszine.com/blog/entry.html?ID=3229

-ryan

Prayer Labyrinth and New Buddhism

The Prayer Path has been up and running now for a couple days. I don't know why it was changed from Labyrinth to Path, maybe Labyrinth has too many scary Minotaurs connected to it like David Bowie. And to tag off of Daniel's excellent news, this is a small, humble way to experience an ancient practise here in our very big, modern, faceless building (godblessit!) .

Also, I found this paper on the way of Jesus as New Buddhism. I was a little raw from the small view of Buddhism (but I suppose if it is limited to popular Thai Buddhism then it is excusable) and I didn't exactly like the wording of a God who owns Heaven and decides who can get in and who doesn't but these are minor little semantics I'm splitting. It is an interesting viewpoint of how to do evangelism and how culture interacts with the Good News (or the Dharma). Check it out.

Ancient Faith for the Church's Future

Autumn is upon us. As you all are gathering around the fire with your hot cup of tea on these cold evenings, pondering the coming months ahead, I know you all are imagining what to do once springtime arrives. Even if you are not, it is never too early to begin looking to the future, especially when it concerns Wheaton College's annual theology conference. Why would any of you want to take the sixteen hour trek out to the cold-hinterlands of Chicago, Illinois when you could be spending the time in lovely colorado, you might ask? Well simply because the conference this year will be focusing on some things near and dear to our hearts.

The conference is entitled "Ancient Faith for the Church's Future" and to quote from the website "One of the most promising developments among evangelical Protestants is the recent rediscovery of the rich biblical, spiritual, and theological treasures to be found within the early church. This conference focuses on the life and thought of the early church with a view towards the future asking: How do we appropriate the riches of the ancient church in ways that are both faithful to its own world and relevant to ours? In what ways do the ancient practices of spiritual life and devotion inform and sustain a vital contemporary spirituality and practice of reading the Bible? What does the emergent Christianity hope to find in the ancient faith and how does it represent a vital catalyst to the development of faithful community and witness? Is the ancient church the first example of emergent Christianity?" As one who is somewhat uneasy about some of the directions the Emergent Church is going and as one who is not-quite willing to identify himself with that moniker (i know ironic, coming on a website entitled "CoEmergentCo), I am definitely interested to look into attening the conference as it will be featuring folks associated with the Emergent movement like Tony Jones, and those outside of it but who still think it has some compelling things to speak into our current situation like Ray Anderson. i am interested to partake in the dialogue which will be going on there.Anyway, all that to say, I know it is a ways off and you all have plenty of time to think about it, but I would definitely be interested in road tripping out for the conference (April 14-17 I believe) simply because the Wheaton theology conference is realisitically one of the best theology conferences in the country (i know, a somewhat inflated claim) which has really dealt with some of the pressing issues to the church in recent years (women in ministry, the question of the church, beauty and the arts (or often lack therein) and Christianity) and it looks like it could be quite exceptional this year as it seeks to move forward as the global face of christianity is chaning. i could probably find some friends we could stay with, so lodging wouldn't be a problem. anyway, think about it and let me know if you'd be interested, it's a ways away, but i thought i'd mention it now. check out the link above for complete info as well as a list of all the speakers and the schedule.

daniel

The Bible Superstore Signs

If you are reading this, it might mean that you've seen our signs on the bulletin board outside the Bible Superstore. Perhaps you have come here for further explanation.

First off, let us introduce ourselves. CoEmergentCo is shorthand for Colorado Emergent Cohort. We are a group of mostly college-age kids who have chosen to join God as He saves the world.

(for more info on what emergent cohorts really are, go to http://emergent-us.typepad.com/cohorts/)

Here's an explanation of each sign that appeared on the bulletin board:

THE BIBLE SUPERSTORE IS A DEN OF THIEVES. Jesus called the temple a den of thieves when He turned over the moneychangers' tables and disrupted their business. (see Matthew 21:12-13). He was outraged that they were exploiting the worship ceremony for profit. The contemporary equivalent is the Bible Superstore, which traffics in worship CDs, worship compilations, worship books, worship calendars, and well, just go in and see for yourself! And all at high prices, higher than most other "secular" media outlets. Go and compare prices for yourself!

THE BIBLE SUPERSTORE EXPLOITS THE NAME OF GOD FOR MONEY. A similar sentiment to the previous sign, but including mass-produced t-shirts, keychains, ballpoint pens, greeting cards, and even mints plastered with the name of our Creator and our Savior. These things are completely unnecessary for Christ-like living. On the contrary, they trivialize and dilute the name of God. What a sad, disgusting practice compared with Jewish tradition, which holds the name of God so sacred that it is never even written down.

THE BIBLE SUPERSTORE GETS AWAY WITH SELLING MEDIOCRE MUSIC, BOOKS, AND ART. The Christian niche market is perhaps the easiest to break into, for here it is not talent, passion, or excellence that matter, but the fact that something is labelled "Christian." Such as Christian Music, Christian Books, etc. The Left Behind series is a fitting example. It is full of one-sided characters, shoddy plot-kneading, and plenty of stilted dialogue. It is pulp fiction in the highest, successful as a high-paced page turner, but an utter failure as excellent art. But the fact that it is set in the "end times," and references a popular Christian interpretation of Revelation (as a prediction of the future rather than its original context as coded Jewish apocalyptic), the series has sold millions and in turn made Jenkins and LaHaye millionaires.

THE BIBLE SUPERSTORE PROMOTES CONSUMERISM. As Christians we should be finding a cure for capitalism, striving for a better day when everything, including time, is not money. The way to do this is not to set up yet another store in which to buy products. More in the next entry.

THE BIBLE SUPERSTORE IS A SAFE PLACE FOR CHRISTIANS. A common habit among Christians is to pull away from culture in an effort to maintain one's own personal purity or rightousness. Christians are constantly seeking "wholesome alternatives" to "secular" media. The Bible Superstore preys upon this escapism, offering a safe haven where Christians can spend their money without having to sort anything out on their own. It allows Christians to indulge their consumerist urges, but still somehow feel good about it, just because they bought something with the name Jesus on it. As followers of Christ, we are not meant to be timid escapists, afraid of "bad influences," hiding in a bubble with WayFM. No, we are meant to be a powerful force in the world, changing it for the better, joining with God as He saves it. We must not seek safety; we must start a dangerous revolution of love and reconciliation.

THE BIBLE SUPERSTORE IS PART OF A MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRY. As stated above, smart businesses have learned how to profit from Christian escapism. Read this and this with a few more stats. Also, this report is just sickening. The words "Christian" and "market" should never go together. The essence of Jesus's message was "Give away all you have. Do not store up treasure on earth."

THE BIBLE SUPERSTORE WILL TAKE DOWN THESE SIGNS BECAUSE THEY ARE BAD FOR BUSINESS. Although these signs proclaim truth, they will still come down quickly. Because the pursuit of truth, another central theme in Jesus's teachings, is not what the Superstore is interested in.

EVERY DOLLAR YOU SPEND AT THE BIBLE SUPERSTORE IS A DOLLAR YOU COULD HAVE GIVEN TO THE HOMELESS. STOP BUYING CHRISTIAN TRINKETS AND START SAVING THE WORLD.

Granted, there are a few good things for sale at the Superstore, such as books by C.S. Lewis. But there are other places to find these, like the library. The Bible is another thing to acquire elsewhere. The Gideons will give you one for free, as it should be. Selling a Bible is perhaps the most opposite thing to Jesus's message.

I would like to add a clause if I may:

I don't think these statements apply directly to the intentions and motivations of the owners of the Bible Superstore. This does not cut the legs out from under the truth of the post but simply avoids the presumption that we can judge the hearts and minds of those involved, whether in ownership or employment, with the store. I believe this store is not a problem in itself but rather is a sore - a manifestation of the greater disease that is thriving in the Church catholic.

With that in mind, the solution to this sickness, rather than attacking the sore that is only the result of the sickness, is to take the above truths (or simply the Truth, Jesus) into our lives which would make consumerism null and void

Please leave comments, rants, arguments, agreements, etc. They can even be anonymous, we don't mind. We just want to start a conversation that hopefully leads to a better world.

a very cool guy

I discovered a like-minded Fort Collinser!

Here's his blog. I left him a comment, hoping to get in touch.

-ryan

Humble Us Through the Violence of Your Love

"Gracious God, humble us through the violence of your love so we are able to know and confess our sins. We want our sins to be interesting, but, God forgive us, they are so ordinary: envy, hatred, meanness, pride, self-centeredness, laziness, boredom, lying, lust, stinginess and so on. You have saved us from "and so on" to be a royal people able to witness to the world that the powers that make us such ordinary sinners have been defeated. so capture our attention with the beauty of your life that the ugliness of sin may be seen as just that--ugly. God, how wonderful it is to be captivated by you. Amen"

--Stanley Hauerwas

words I can stand behind

I have been looking out for prayers/blessings/poems that say something I have not heard a million times. There is a place for those old, true words passed down and imbedded in our tradition but where ever it is I am not there now and I need something to straight-up strike me in order to feel like I can repeat it and mean it. The noon day prayer did that for me and so did a Franciscan Benediction I just found over at our interested commentor's blog. She found it first at Waving or Drowning.

-seth

holy, holy, holy

the question has been raised as to what to do tonight.

jonathan myers has a good idea.

here is the info i have from him:

"Okay, here's the scoop:

http://holy-roar.com/

It's all on the website, but I thought I'd just give you a brief discription.

Starts at six pm.
Lasts about three hours.
No costumes/ NOT a halloween alternative.
A time of JOYOUS Worship to the Lord Jesus Christ for the victory he has already
won.
Everyone is encouraged to get involved in the worship with singing, dance,
instruments, visual art, and whatever else.
There will be water.
I don't think food stuffs are allowed.

And it will be GREAT!"



there you have it. we should think about whether there is something we would like to do as a group and talk about it (?) before tonight.

God of mercy,
this midday moment of rest is your welcome gift.
Bless the work we have begun,
and make good its defects and let us finish it in a way that pleases you,
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Mv

We can most likely do a movie night at my house. I was maybe thinking for Friday night or something. We have a good list going that we need to work on. Thanks.
lander

I am a little bummed that my incoherence and words were, at the least, commented on or even worse were the first and only representation of our cohort to these people of hilton. perhaps unlikely. but anyways, look at the comment on the previous blog and possibly we will introduce ourselves.
love,
lander

Is Christianity Easy or Hard?

I am finishing up C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity and came across a chapter that dynamically displays my more recent thoughts.

"8. Is Christianity Hard Or Easy?
The ordinary idea which we all have before we become Christians is this. We take as starting point our ordinary self with its various desires and interests. We then admit that something else call it "morality" or "decent behaviour," or "the good of society" has claims on this self: claims which interfere with its own desires. What we mean by "being good" is giving in to those claims. Some of the things the ordinary self wanted to do turn out to be what we call "wrong": well, we must give them up. Other things, which the self did not want to do, turn out to be what we call "right": well, we shall have to do them. But we are hoping all the time that when all the demands have been met, the poor natural self will still have some chance, and some time, to get on with its own life and do what it likes. In fact, we are very like an honest man paying his taxes. He pays them all right, but he does hope that there will be enough left over for him to live on. Because we are still taking our natural self as the starting point.

As long as we are thinking that way, one or other of two results is likely to follow. Either we give up trying to be good, or else we become very unhappy indeed. For, make no mistake: if you are really going to try to meet all the demands made on the natural self, it will not have enough left over to live on. The more you obey your conscience, the more your conscience will demand of you. And your natural self, which is thus being starved and hampered and worried at every turn, will get angrier and angrier. In the end, you will either give up trying to be good, or else become one of those people who, as they say, "live for others" but always in a discontented, grumbling way-always wondering why the others do not notice it more and always making a martyr of yourself. And once you have become that you will be a far greater pest to anyone who has to live with you than you would have been if you had remained frankly selfish.

The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says "Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked-the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours."

Both harder and easier than what we are all trying to do. You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, "Take up your Cross"-in other words, it is like going to be beaten to death in a concentration camp. Next minute he says, "My yoke is easy and my burden light." He means both. And one can just see why both are true.

Teachers will tell you that the laziest boy in the class is the one who works hardest in the end. They mean this. If you give two boys, say, a proposition in geometry to do, the one who is prepared to take trouble will try to understand it. The lazy boy will try to learn it by heart because, for the moment, that needs less effort. But six months later, when they are preparing for an exam., that lazy boy is doing hours and hours of miserable drudgery over things the other boy understands, and positively enjoys, in a few minutes. Laziness means more work in the long run. Or look at it this way. In a battle, or in mountain climbing, there is often one thing which it takes a lot of pluck to do; but it is also, in the long run, the safest thing to do. If you funk it, you will find yourself, hours later, in far worse danger. The cowardly thing is also the most dangerous thing.

It is like that here. The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self-all your wishes and precautions-to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call "ourselves," to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be "good." We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their own way-centred on money or pleasure or ambition-and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly and chastely and humbly. And that is exactly what Christ warned us you could not do. As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs. If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown.

That is why the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.

We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us. It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through. He never talked vague, idealistic gas. When he said, "Be perfect," He meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder-in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

May I come back to what I said before? This is the whole of Christianity. There is nothing else. It is so easy to get muddled about that. It is easy to think that the Church has a lot of different objects-education, building, missions, holding services. Just as it is easy to think the State has a lot of different objects-military, political, economic, and what not. But in a way things are much simpler than that. The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden-that is what the State is there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics, etc., are simply a waste of time. In the same way the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It
is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. It says in the Bible that the whole universe was made for Christ and that everything is to be gathered together in Him. I do not suppose any of us can understand how this will happen as regards the whole universe. We do not know what (if anything) lives in the parts of it that are millions of miles away from this Earth. Even on this Earth we do not know how it applies to things other than men. After all, that is what you would expect. We have been shown the plan only in so far as it concerns ourselves.

What we have been told is how we men can be drawn into Christ -can become part of that wonderful present which the young Prince of the universe wants to offer to His Father-that present which is Himself and therefore us in Him. It is the only thing we were made for. And there are strange, exciting hints in the Bible that when we are drawn in, a great many other things in Nature will begin to come right. The bad dream will be over: it will be morning."

It is a great challenge for sure. Recently in several situations, I feel good lost because of this sort of description. I often think over certain things i am involved in and the motivations behind it: relationships, music, school, church, and even down to simple everday stuff like what words I am using and why. I guess what I want to make clear to myself is what my perspective is and if I am asking the right question, that leads my life, or am I looking for an unapplicable answer. It can be very frustrating at times and yet I feel the blessing too. "Work out your own salvation with fear and humility, for it is God who worketh in you."
Thanks,
Lander

THIS Tuesday Night- October 24

I am trying to write a message to all of you, not just comment, so I hope this works:

I wanted to invite all of you to "Night Vision" at the University Center of the Arts (old Fort Collins HS) in Griffin Hall. Nancy Princenthal, art critic and editor for Art in Time, is giving a presentation of works by contemporary artists. It is suppose to be an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing! It is free of cost and begins at 6pm on Tuesday night. I just thought I would throw that out there in case any of you were interested and would like to come-- maybe mix up the typical Tuesday Night Cohort a bit (no offense). Let me know if you want to come. I sent out an email with my contact info.

Kaia

Christianity in Christendom

The following is an excerpt I came across in a Kierkegaard anthology, taken from a more obscure work (not available for linking). I have quoted the pieces of it which I thought relevant; it is by no means quoted in totality, nor is it representative of the major points in the piece.

cut and reposted here so as not to take up so much screen!

*
And,
I just found out about this:
There will be a philosophy forum discussing Nietzsche tonight from 6-8 at the Mosman House (324 E. Oak Street across the street from the
Public Library). Dr. David Deane and a few other CSU faculty will be there.

-M

Tyler's house tonite?

Moose eating a twig wants to know.

take two

movie night
this friday
7:30
Melissa's

also...






these just opened in denver (chez artiste and the esquire, respectively).
1, 2.

einladung: invitation

Last Tuesday, outside of Avo's, a proposition was made:
the next cohort meeting could be in a house.

So we are giving it a try.
Be there if you can. If you can't, we will miss you.

7 pm(!)
Melisssssa's
this Tuesday (tomorrow)

call/e-mail/post a comment with your e-mail if you have questions or need directions.

Steve suggested that, due to the good conversation last time, we should employ a catalyst of some sort. If you have ideas, make them heard! Hope to see you tomorrow.

-M

short and sweet

This poem is simply great. I found it linked at my new favorite thinker's blog.

done.
seth

lights, camera, action

movie night
7:30 @ melissa's
this saturday



+
i nearly forgot: as per request.

Guy

Did everyone see this comment under Steve's blog?

Jeff Kursonis said...
Hi guys,This is Jeff checking in on you from Emergent Village. How did your gathering go on Tuesday night?I loved your affirmations in the post a few below so much that I am going to use them on Sunday morning in my church.you can email me at jkursonis@yahoo.comBlessings, let us know if we can do anything to help.Jeff
1:41 AM

I think he's talking about Seth's discussion with Deb, but i'm not sure. Regardless, Jeff is from something bigger than us that we are--and could be even more--apart of. I think on tuesday, maybe we can talk about the emergent church, especially emergent village and see how we could fit in to that or not. I wonder how it could "help" us to view ourselves in this context. At least we could consider emailing him or some kind of motion to acknowledge ... something. i'm tired.

In the mood for love

we should maybe watch that tommorrow. i would really like to see it and it may need to be given back in sometime. ryan may have said that kiah was house sitting or something so it may work out. thanks

The Weakness of God

Reading this review of The Weakness of God by John D. Caputo was simply amazing. I was struck with many different thoughts of how Caputo's theology changes problems I have reluctantly held onto for awhile now and reinforces those aspects of theology and philosophy that have lit my heart recently. It seems Caputo inverts the Problem of Evil and the pervasive (perhaps modern?) definition of Power, emphasizes the feminine nature of God and incorporates the theme of God as Event rather than being or substance in his theology - all things I am already trying to sort out in my own head as I walk to get the mail or mow the lawn.

They are also things I have already had conversations with friends about and would like to return to. Daniel, can you give us an idea of what Barthe (or some kind of bionic Neo-Barthian) would add to/correct Caputo? Steve and Tyler (Steven Tyler), remember that Problem of Evil phase I went through awhile ago and how there seemed to be nothing close to an answer? Does the weakness of God present a solution or at least eradicate the question or is it simply rephrasing the Free Will response? Does anyone think this Caputo guy is completely out of his tree and that the omnipotence of God is something very necessary for a proper theology? Then lend me your ears!

According to our political discussion on Tuesday, here is a link to Jim Wallis' blog and here is an article by him. He is the editor of Sojourner's magazine, the big alternative news and political voice to Dobson and the Religious Right crew. Yet all is not quiet on the Wallis front, from Tlery's alma, James K. A. Smith has had some beef with Wallis in the past but focuses more generally on the tendencies of the religious left rather than the prolific and diverse Kruse Kronicle in this supes-long-but-well-thought post concerning specific arguments in Wallis' book. *(notice I put cartoons for the religious right references because I think alot of it is just silliness but for the religious left the problems are more subtle and, although still problems, cannot be narrowed into exaggeratory cartoon form.)*

Finally, in regards to looking back as we move forward (Charlie and Daniel), David Finch writes about Brian McLaren and Ancient-Future Faith. Lander, as you will be going into the trenches of Calvinist theology (with the already fully Calvinized tlery as your guide, no less) Scot McKnight might help with some pretty unbiased distinctions. And for all the rest, I don't know where Kim Fabricius came from but all these are glorious...and this...and this.

(again, sorry for the long and dry theology post. can we get some more music, film and book recommendations - spice things up a bit?)

seth

Dear Lander,

On one of my favorite sites ever, I found this review of thy movie.

I think we should watch it soon.

love, Ryan

It worked

I think this might work. I have just started Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig, and it is presenting some interest. I spoke to a girl who said that you could sit and think about each paragraph for a while. Anyways it does seem to be a good book, but one part stuck out to me. The selection is kind of long, but it works.
Its about a dad and a son, and a couple traveling on motorcycles. The dad is the narrator. They are at a motel when Chris, the son, says;
"Let's tell stories then," Chris says. He thinks for a while. "Do you know any good ghost stories? All the kids in our cabin used to tell ghost stories at night."
"You tell us some," John says.
And he does. They are kind of fun to hear. Some of them I haven't heard since I was his age. I tell him so, and Chris wants to hear some of mine, but I can't remember any.
After a while he says, "Do you believe in ghosts?"
"No," I say
"Why not?"
"Because they are un-sci-en-ti-fic."
The way I say this makes John smile. "They contain no matter," I continue, "and have no energy and therefore, according to the laws of science, do not exist except in people's minds."
The whiskey, the fatigue and the wind in the trees start mixing in my mind. "Of course," I add, "the laws of science contain no matter and have no energy either and therefore do not exist except in people's minds. It's best to be completely scientific about the whole thing and refuse to believe in either ghosts or the laws of science. That way you're safe. That doesn't leave you very much to believe in, but that's scientific too."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Chris says.
"I'm being kind of facetious."
Chris gets frustrated when I talk like this, but I don't think it hurts him.
"One of the kids at YMCA camp says he believes in ghosts."
"He was just spoofing you."
"No, he wasn't. He said that when people haven't been buried right, their ghosts come back to haunt people. He really believes in that."
"He was just spoofing you," I repeat.
"What's his name?" Sylvia says.
"Tom White Bear."
John and I exchange looks, suddenly recognizing the same thing.
"Ohhh, Indian!" he says.
I laugh. "I guess I'm going to have to take that back a little," I say. "I was thinking of European ghosts."
"What's the difference?"
John roars with laughter. "He's got you," he says.
I think a little and say, "Well, Indians sometimes have a different way of looking at things, which I'm not saying is completely wrong. Science isn't part of the Indian tradition."
"Tom White Bear said his mother and dad told him not to believe all that stuff. But he said his grandmother whispered it was true anyway, so he believes it."
He looks at me pleadingly. He really does want to know things sometimes. Being facetious is not being a very good father. "Sure," I say, reversing myself, "I believe in ghosts too."
Now John and Sylvia look at me peculiarly. I see I'm not going to get out of this one easily and brace myself for a long explanation.
"It's completely natural," I say, "to think of Europeans who believed in ghosts or Indians who believed in ghosts as ignorant. The scientific point of view has wiped out every other view to a point where they all seem primitive, so that if a person today talks about ghosts or spirits he is considered ignorant or maybe nutty. It's just all but completely impossible to imagine a world where ghosts can actually exist."
John nods affirmatively and I continue.
"My own opinion is that the intellect of modern man isn't that superior. IQs aren't that much different. Those Indians and medieval men were just as intelligent as we are, but the context in which they thought was completely different. Within that context of thought, ghosts and spirits are quite as real as atoms, particles, photons and quants are to a modern man. In that sense I believe in ghosts. Modern man has his ghosts and spirits too, you know."
"What?"
"Oh, the laws of physics and of logic -- the number system -- the principle of algebraic substitution. These are ghosts. We just believe in them so thoroughly they seem real.
"They seem real to me," John says.
"I don't get it," says Chris.
So I go on. "For example, it seems completely natural to presume that gravitation and the law of gravitation existed before Isaac Newton. It would sound nutty to think that until the seventeenth century there was no gravity."
"Of course."
"So when did this law start? Has it always existed?"
John is frowning, wondering what I am getting at.
"What I'm driving at," I say, "is the notion that before the beginning of the earth, before the sun and the stars were formed, before the primal generation of anything, the law of gravity existed."
"Sure."
"Sitting there, having no mass of its own, no energy of its own, not in anyone's mind because there wasn't anyone, not in space because there was no space either, not anywhere...this law of gravity still existed?"
Now John seems not so sure.
"If that law of gravity existed," I say, "I honestly don't know what a thing has to do to be nonexistent. It seems to me that law of gravity has passed every test of nonexistence there is. You cannot think of a single attribute of nonexistence that that law of gravity didn't have. Or a single scientific attribute of existence it did have. And yet it is still `common sense' to believe that it existed."
John says, "I guess I'd have to think about it."
"Well, I predict that if you think about it long enough you will find yourself going round and round and round and round until you finally reach only one possible, rational, intelligent conclusion. The law of gravity and gravity itself did not exist before Isaac Newton. No other conclusion makes sense.
"And what that means," I say before he can interrupt, "and what that means is that that law of gravity exists nowhere except in people's heads! It's a ghost! We are all of us very arrogant and conceited about running down other people's ghosts but just as ignorant and barbaric and superstitious about our own."
"Why does everybody believe in the law of gravity then?"
"Mass hypnosis. In a very orthodox form known as `education."'
"You mean the teacher is hypnotizing the kids into believing the law of gravity?"
"Sure."
"That's absurd."
"You've heard of the importance of eye contact in the classroom? Every educationist emphasizes it. No educationist explains it."
John shakes his head and pours me another drink. He puts his hand over his mouth and in a mock aside says to Sylvia, "You know, most of the time he seems like such a normal guy."
I counter, "That's the first normal thing I've said in weeks. The rest of the time I'm feigning twentieth-
century lunacy just like you are. So as not to draw attention to myself.
"But I'll repeat it for you," I say. "We believe the disembodied words of Sir Isaac Newton were sitting in the middle of nowhere billions of years before he was born and that magically he discovered these words. They were always there, even when they applied to nothing. Gradually the world came into being and then they applied to it. In fact, those words themselves were what formed the world. That, John, is ridiculous.
"The problem, the contradiction the scientists are stuck with, is that of mind. Mind has no matter or energy but they can't escape its predominance over everything they do. Logic exists in the mind. Numbers exist only in the mind. I don't get upset when scientists say that ghosts exist in the mind. It's that only that gets me. Science is only in your mind too, it's just that that doesn't make it bad. Or ghosts either."
They are just looking at me so I continue: "Laws of nature are human inventions, like ghosts. Laws of logic, of mathematics are also human inventions, like ghosts. The whole blessed thing is a human invention, including the idea that it isn't a human invention. The world has no existence whatsoever outside the human imagination. It's all a ghost, and in antiquity was so recognized as a ghost, the whole blessed world we live in. It's run by ghosts. We see what we see because these ghosts show it to us, ghosts of Moses and Christ and the Buddha, and Plato, and Descartes, and Rousseau and Jefferson and Lincoln, on and on and on. Isaac Newton is a very good ghost. One of the best. Your common sense is nothing more than the voices of thousands and thousands of these ghosts from the past. Ghosts and more ghosts. Ghosts trying to find their place among the living."
John looks too much in thought to speak. But Sylvia is excited. "Where do you get all these ideas?" she asks.
I am about to answer them but then do not. I have a feeling of having already pushed it to the limit, maybe beyond, and it is time to drop it. "

What interests me, is that while i was reading I obviously thought about religion and the idea of God. I was wondering how could this idea be disproved or at the least how could God not be a simple discovery that isn't really true. But I soon realized that it was the wrong approach. I feel that this selection should and does prove or encourage the idea of such a being, idea, as God. I might have a hard time articulating but, what I enjoyed was the fact that all the things were of or in the mind. So our perception and understanding is from the mind. So when the Bible, jesus' life, or other things challenge our thinking we use our minds. The laws of nature he talks about are gravity, math, and maybe even laws of morality and thinking. However, I don't think God can be viewed in this context, as a document, or a simple statement or idea. He is constantly mysterious and draws us further in. And at least in the laws of physics people have found this out. Einstein's law of relativity is being challenged by modern physics with such ideas as the string theory. And yet in my small observation of these scientists they still proclaim that they may have the final answer. But anyways, we have seen in life that "discoveries" or answers really lead to more thinking, researching, living . . .okay i think i got most of this out. I guess my main point is that we don't have to defend God,Jesus, and maybe religion, in its truer form, as a law or a human invention, but rather that these things were always there and our interpretations, distortions, portrayls, and even names are the inventions. I should've made paragraphs. sorry first time. stupid.

The Real Mary by Scot McKnight

Here is the first and second chapter of Scot Mcknight's forthcoming book, The Real Mary. We'll be given three copies so those that are interested in reading the entire thing should start calling dibs with stampies and no reversies.


Charlie and I briefly talked about this article at one of my favorite blogs and, lo, I found the same discussion at Scot McKnight's great blog here. So the topic is going around in several other places and I thought I'd mention it because the subject might come back around after Chocolat and heck, we are at least near 20-somethings and we all are having an internet informed faith to some degree, so this is largely talking about us.

and lastly, tonight at Melissa's, 7:00.

I liked to read this.

http://thinkerup.blogspot.com/2006/09/brian-mclarens-unorthodox-quotes_07.html

Coemerge Tonight

Everyday Joe's tonight.

let's try to make it a little earlier if we can...how about trying for 7 - 7:15.

Picking Up a Piece of Orange-hot Space Tile

Where is melissa's house????

love,

Kay and Ryan stranded at Joe's

Nevermind I checked my "E-mail"

da dot

give me fuel, give me fire, give me double chai desire

I think we need to focus a little bit, or at least think about focusing our little bloc so that we don't just fall into reactionary bitching (a little bitching can be like chicken soup to the soul though). Perhaps we don't need a doctrinal statement about what we believe (which we don't) but some group affirmations that we love and are committed to/aspire to, I think would be a very good exercise and a step towards forming a group identity.

Here's mine:

I love the crucifixion, contemplating it keeps Christianity rooted in the beautifully messy gospel story.

I love and value (though I'm sorely lacking in systematic practice) discipleship to Jesus. Talking to him, trying to be like him, contemplating his parables and stories, and learning how to be a good 'questioner'.

I love meaningful conversations with people, when the outter shell is broken and when I can lead or be lead into a more meaningful and expanded encounter/view of Christianity/Christ.

I love ancient spiritual practices that are deep, meaningful and mysterious.

I love learning about ancient Christianity, whose practices are the antithesis to the pop and pulp consumeristic Christianity.

I love get-togethers(I was going to say fellowship but that word sucks) that have no other reason/value then in the getting together. Fine i'll use it - i place a high value on fellowship and friendships.

I love lamp

~Steve/Brick

I met death today. We are playing chess.

Det Sjunde inseglet, (aka The Seventh Seal), Ingmar Bergman, 1957.

I think a few of you would find this film very worthwhile. I didn't give it proper press a few nights ago, so this is in an effort to articulate to you how rad it is.

Revelation 8:1-2 opens the film, as the crusading knight, Antonius Block, arrives home to Sweeden. On the ocean's shore, he is greeted by Death, with whom he begins a to play a game of chess...

There is an excellent descriptive comment on the imdb page which goes into far greater detail.

If anyone would like to watch the film, you may borrow it, or perhaps we may opt to view it collectively sometime.

technoati tags: foriegn films