Christianity

So here's our New Year offering. Sarah and I are going to host a series of evening conversations on (re-)reading the Bible and all that that might mean, imply, demand, unsettle, rouse in us. Our emphasis is really on conversation, talking together about the subject at hand.

At the moment I'm anticipating eight evenings of discussion, the first being next Sunday evening, 20th January, from 8.30pm. I'm anticipating them being about every 2 weeks (and not always on Sunday evenings) for as long as we've got something more to unpack and explore.

If you're interested to this point, here's the skinny …

This coming sunday, Sunday 8 April, is Easter sunday. It is the crest of the Christian calendar, the high point of Christian faith, as we remember and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

It is also the last of our lenten meditations on lament.

Last night's lament was a journey through the seven last words of Jesus on the cross, with the small group of women and men who remained with him, who took him from the cross to the tomb, and who returned after the sabbath to anoint his body only to find it gone. And we joined together to return to the Lord with our wounds, because he is wounded to.

‘Come, let us return to the Lord;
   for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
   he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
   on the third day he will raise us up,
   that we may live before him.
Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
   his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
   like the spring rains that water the earth.’
      Hosea 6:1-3

This sunday's lament is called 'Come Lift Up Your Sorrows: Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice, Weep With Those Who Weep.' During this meditation we will be celebrating the Meal, the Lord's Supper, communion, the eucharist, in the manner that the Anabaptist martyr (and my personal hero) Balthasar Hubmaier offered, which includes a liturgy called The Pledge of Love.

Lloyd Pietersen was the course director of Advanced Workshop and runs the Anabaptist Studies blog. In his 'about' page he says that 'In particular, as a biblical scholar, I am interested in Anabaptist readings of biblical texts.'

And that's got me thinking.

In the light of the last couple of evenings we've had here in the Birmingham community on Anabaptism (which I've posted about here on the site), Who Were the Anabaptists? and Anabaptist Lives, and the upcoming evening this Thursday when I bare my heart to talk about Why I am an Anabaptist, I've been wondering about what it might mean to conduct Anabaptist readings of biblical texts, what spices are peculiar to the taste, you might say.

So here's a little list of thoughts about what might go into the roux of Anabaptist readings.

So, in the light of the last post on The Hidden Face of God, I propose that our Lent meditations this year are based around the theme of lament.

Deep Memory.

Exhuberant Hope.

We're going to host a Sunday evening reflection each week through lent, with some readings from the Bible, some poetry, and some songs.

Stay posted for more details. I'll try to post any helpful materials we produce on the website, in advance of the date where possible, for you to use also if you'd like.

I've recently been reading a wonderful book by Walter Brueggemann called 'Deep Memory, Exuberant Hope: Contested Truth in a Post-Christian World'. I've never read any Brueggemann before, never had the opportunity I guess, but when a friend on the Advanced Workshop course spluttered over his coffee on hearing that I'd never read him, I thought I'd give it a go. So, I went for a Brueggemann overdose with some birthday money and got four books in one go, of which this is the first one that I've read (more from the others in due course, I'm sure).

The book is sublime, and I heartily recommend it to anyone! It's a collection of essays by Brueggemann on the theme of the meaning of Scripture in today's post-Christian society. Each essay stands alone, but there is a thread that moves through them all, that being the heart of creativity and imagination rooted in the story of Yahweh.

So all that remains for this, the eighth installment of my Advanced Workshop essay comparing New Age spirituality and Christianity, is to offer you the conclusion.

The word limit for the essay was 3000 words ± 10%, and so, as with almost all my essays, I went flying past the 3000 words and had to try really hard to end up with the final work count of 3,299 words!

The result is that my conclusion is more functional than I would have liked - nothing more than a summary of the argument. I would liked to have given some conluding thoughts more than just summarise the essays, but that's the limits of word counts! Maybe I'll offer some concluding thoughts here on the site somewhere in my next few posts. Maybe you have some concluding thoughts yourself - if so, leave a comment.

If you're just entering at this point, you may like to read for your yourself the previous posts of the essay, which you can do by selecting the links on the right of this page.

So, without further ado, here's the conclusion.

Today is the seventh installment of my Advanced Workshop essay comparing New Age spirituality and Christianity.

In the previous installment I began looking at the Aquarian understanding of the nature of reality, looking in particular at Aquarian notions of God and the self. Today's episode takes this on further to understanding the role of a faith community and to questions of ethics.

If you're just entering at this point, you may like to read for your yourself the previous posts of the essay, which you can do by selecting the links on the right of this page.

Please do leave your comments or reflections!

Today is the sixth installment of my Advanced Workshop essay comparing New Age spirituality and Christianity.

Today I start looking at the specific understanding of the nature of reality within the Aquarian vision, using critque it from Christian understanding of the Kingdom of God. Today's post specifically examines the nature of God and the self within the Aquarian approach.

I you're just entering at this point, you may like to read for your yourself the previous posts of the essay, which you can do by selecting the links on the right of this page.

Please leave your comments or reflections - it's nice for me to know there's someone out there!

Ok, so here's the fifth installment of my Advanced Workshop essay comparing New Age spirituality and Christianity.

Today's post carries on from examining why we're talking about an 'aquarian age' by asking about Aquarian eschatology - if the Kingdom of God is understood as 'now' but 'not yet', what are Aquarian notions of the ultimate destiny of humanity?

I you're just entering at this point, you may like to read for your yourself the title and some of the background thoughts to this essay, or catch up by reading the introduction, about why it's a 'new age' and why that new age might be considered and aquarian age. Please leave your comments or reflections if you would like to.

Today is the fourth installment of my Advanced Workshop essay comparing New Age spirituality and Christianity. We've so far had the introduction and begun to look at the what is meant by a New Age.

Today's post asks why it should be an 'aquarian age' and seeks to assess the notion of an age of aquarius in the light of Christian understanding of the Kingdom of God.

I you're just entering at this point, you may like to read for your yourself the title and some of the background thoughts to this essay. Please leave your comments or reflections if you would like to.