There are at least two great theological questions. First, “What is the truth about God?” and second, “How shall we live as a result?” The Apostle Paul typically opened his letters with declarations regarding theology and then taught the church how to live as a result of those truths, both as individuals and as the body of Christ.
Many within congregations of today’s Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will have heard of John Calvin’s metaphor for Holy Scripture as “spectacles.” Often in passing reference, the basic premise is that the words of the Bible allow us to see clearly the world around us as God intended. Words like sola scriptura are added to cement the notion that Christian truth is found in God’s Word, as read in the Holy Bible.
Much has been written, printed, and promoted in recent years on just how to effectively address the continuing drop in membership across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — a dilemma that has progressively gripped the denomination for several years now. Page upon page are cluttered with flowing verbiage on just how congregations can, through spiritual renewal and transformation, become sufficiently infused with a spiritual fire and buzz-word theology to stem this dwindling membership crisis and stabilize these staid, established congregations from further erosion.
A friend and colleague in ministry with whom I share a number of theological and cultural differences recently commented that I was most surely a “liberal” and that we would never agree on certain things that he held of deep value as a “conservative.”
William C. Placher, the LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind., passed away unexpectedly Nov. 30 in Minnesota at age 60. At the time of his death, Placher was on leave from Wabash and was serving a one-year appointment as the Kilian McDonnell Writer-In-Residence at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.
Outlook Editor Jack Haberer recently interviewed Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons about his thoughts looking back at the year 2008 and ahead to 2009. Parsons was elected to the stated clerk position at the 2008 General Assembly in San Jose.
(RNS) Barack Obama may have chosen Joe Biden, and John McCain may have turned to Sarah Palin, but in the end the most sought-after running mate in the 2008 campaign never appeared on a single ballot.
So how was your 2008? On many fronts it looked bleak: the collapse of the financial markets, an often ugly political race that turned incendiary on religious issues, continuing conflicts among the world’s religions — including stepped up persecution of Christians in some mostly Muslim and Hindu countries.
“The Day the earth Stood Still”
Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly star in “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” a remake of the 1951 classic. Connelly plays Dr. Helen Benson, a scientist who is kidnapped by government agents in order to deal with an urgent emergency: a certain fast-moving object from space is going to collide with earth in an hour, and it appears to be on an irregular flight pattern, that is, guided. All attempts to intercept fail.
A 10-minute preview of “Voices of Christmas from the National Council of Churches,” the CBS Christmas Eve special celebrating the 100th anniversary of the NCC, can be found on YouTube.
It’s a tradition that many Presbyterian churches don’t follow – but one with a strong theological vision.
While many folks celebrate New Year’s Eve with champagne and parties, or an evening around the TV with a bowl of popcorn, some Christians choose to wave in the New Year at church.
it's getting pretty late,
at the bottom of the driveways
the naked trees await,
the tinsel has been vacuumed
from the carpet and the chair,
BETHLEHEM (ENI) — Unemployment has shrunk to 23 percent and hotel capacity is often around 100 percent these days, so things are looking up for Bethlehem says the head of the city's chamber of commerce and industry board.
"While some may gasp at the mention of 23 percent unemployment, when we have witnessed 45 percent unemployment, 23 percent is an improvement," said Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairperson, Samir Hazboun, at a recent meeting with journalists.
GENEVA (ENI) — Sixty years ago, 147 churches met in Amsterdam to bring into being the World Council of Churches, which is now the world's largest Christian grouping. Today, the organization exists in a world where the landscape for Christianity and other faiths is changing.
At a service at the beginning of 2008 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the WCC, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I, who is often considered the spiritual leader of Christians from the Orthodox tradition, said churches should be prepared to confront their differences honestly, and to examine them in the light of the Scriptures.
University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark., has received a $800,000 gift from the Rogers Foundation in Fairfax, Va., to help expand and renovate its student center.
‘Tis a sign of the season: Brunswick, Ohio, cancelled its holiday lights display due to a lack of money. Snowflakes normally hung from the downtown light poles stayed in storage for possible use next year.
DUBUQUE, IOWA — The John Knox Presbytery voted here Nov.18 to enroll as a candidate for ministry an inquirer who declared a scruple to the denomination’s ordination standards.
c. 2007 Religion News Service
Being a child of the 60s, my theology was shaped by those great British theologians, The Beatles, who announced good tidings of great joy: “All you need is love,” followed by “Love, love me do, you know I love you” and “She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah.”
From the time of Christ, his followers have struggled to recreate a wholesome life and community that reconciles each of us to one another and to God. Instead of reconciliation, however, we frequently find ourselves trapped by circumstances that limit our capacities to be free to love, to live a life rich with possibilities, and instead, find ourselves isolated and broken.
Always we are chasing words, and always
words recede.
But the greatest experiences are those for
which we have no expression.1
Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany: Liturgies and Prayers for Public Worship, by Brian Wren. WJKP, 2008. Pb., 230 pp. $29.95.
holiday film reviews
There is plenty of light-hearted movie fare for the holidays, but the great performances are usually to be found in the more serious films. Here are several that are hard to watch, but worth the effort:
If the First Beatitude is true about the blessedness of knowing our need of God, the current financial crisis opens the door to important progress in Spiritual Development.
(ENI) — A government-backed independent U.S. commission has recommended that Iraq be designated "a country of particular concern" for what it calls "ongoing, severe abuse of religious freedom".
(ABP) -- A majority of American Christians believe that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life, says a new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
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