Well Done, James...

Like all real men, I took only a cursory interest in the Royal Wedding. I sat at the kitchen table doing anything else while my beautiful wife Megan watched the wedding from prime position on our comfy couch. This arrangement suited me just fine. I was happy with the amount of wedding I was not tuning into... but then you can't help but pick up a few bits and pieces along the way in this kind of set up no matter how hard you try...

When James Middleton started to read the Bible Reading from Romans 12, I was drawn away from my not so important business at the kitchen table, and over to the TV... and this is what I saw and heard:

This reading from Romans 12 is one that I have read or heard many times before. It is the kind of reading that is easy to take for granted... I found James Middleton's reading of this passage very moving. There was a certain power to it that can't just be explained by the coaching he received . Anyway, it got me thinking about how the Bible and its message, in the right hands, can be powerful and moving... and also I guess, how in the wrong hands, it can be hurtful and repugnant...

So, thanks to all those who made the royal wedding possible so that James could deliver that great reading. It was worth the effort if just for that... I'm sure there were some other good things about it too...

Shalom... 

Doubts and Loves

I recently finished reading a book by Richard Holloway called "Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity". I have blogged on Richard Holloway before. I like his stuff. I think he has a lot to offer...

Richard Holloway used to be the Bishop of Edinburgh with the Scottish Episcopal Church, but resigned in 2000 after attending a Bishop's conference where he was appalled by the overall attitude of the conference to people who identify as gay and lesbian. Now, he calls himself an atheist or agnostic, but still attends and even preaches in a church. He's not sure about God, but he still loves Christianity and the church, and believes that it all still has something to offer. So, he is an 'outsider' of sorts. An outsider who has been on the inside and now likes to have a foot in each camp. I don't know if he would be pleased with that assessment of his current position, but it gives you some idea of where he is at... I hope...

Throughout "Doubts and Loves", Holloway outlines his current theological positions. He's not completely sure, but he doesn't believe there is a God;  he thinks religions are extremely insightful conversations humans have been having with themselves; there are and were no miracles (EG - no virgin birth, no water into wine, no healings and no resurrection etc ); there is no heaven and hell etc etc... you get the idea. His belief is that the gospels were heavily edited later on to include all the God claims and miracles of Jesus. But even without these, he still wants to be a part of "what is left of Christianity". He thinks that if people followed the way of Jesus, in terms of how he lived and what he taught , that even without all the spiritual and miraculous stuff, the world could be transformed, the Kingdom would come, and heaven would come to earth.

I was really challenged by that. Christianity is a faith that has spent a lot of time and effort getting it's beliefs right ("orthodoxy"). But what Holloway is suggesting, is that Christianity should be defined by it's "orthopraxy", that is, it's right practice and ethical living. So, here is a man whose theology is completey "not right" by orthodox standards. He doesn't subscribe to any of the orthodox creedal positions on God, Jesus, the Bible etc, and yet he believes that if we literally follow and imitate Jesus, we'll change the world and make Jesus' vision of the world a reality.

That's all I really wanted to say about that (how very Forrest Gump of me)... I just thought it was a great 'outsider" observation that we could get something from. Francis Schaeffer once asked the question (in the title of his well known book), "How should we then live?". Maybe rather than "What should we believe?", this is most important question of all?

Shalom

Steve

My Apologies For My Blogging Slackness

I just wanted to apologise for my blogging slackness. I've been very busy with work and I've started some post-grad study at uni in politics and government. I can say that my blogging on spirituality in the public sphere, with an emphasis on the political realm, has lead me down this path. Maybe one day, I'll actually know what I'm talking about. Oh, and I also lost my ipod, which was a major source of podcast information and inspiration...

Oh, and I have a wife and kids... They are quite time consuming as well... but also quite nice really...

The really sad thing is that there has been quite a lot going on that I would have liked to babble on about. I would like to have shared a few more thoughts on different people's reactions to Julia Gillard being an atheist. I got some great emails sent to me by different people claiming that she was the anti-Christ etc etc, and then she went and trumped God's own party (the coalition in case you were wondering) by pledging $65 million more than them for the contunuation of chaplaincy over the next three years. I don't know why, but I just thought that was really funny...

Then there was the "ban the burka" debate... now this is fascinating. Bans are already in place in European countries like France and Belgium, and the discussions have already started here. Amazing stuff - what does it mean to be a free society? Should Muslim women be free to wear the burka or should they be freed from wearing it? Anyway, I just haven't had the time to go into it... but I'm sure it's not the last we've heard of it.

Also, I finally finished the "His Dark Materials" trilogy after about a year of reading. Those three books together were about a metre thick. You might have heard of the movie, "The Golden Compass". Well it was that set of books - the "anti-Narnia", a supposed atheistic fantasy novel. That stuff was there, and it was also a ripping good read! I'm back into "Doubts and Loves " by Richard Holloway, but can't seem to get motivated to keep going with "God Delusion".

And then on the weekend, in The Australian Magazine I think, there was an article about guilt and how in some ways modern society has done away with it, along with religion, but in another sense it has just transferred it to a different set of "deadly sins" (one of which was to have religious belief)... There was some interesting discussion about whether the loss of guilt in our modern world had been a good thing or a bad thing. Interesting stuff going on out there...

Anyway, I saw the light on and thought I'd drop in... just touching base, checking in etc etc... I'm not sure when I'll get onto this beast again but I hope it's soon. There are heaps of interesting things going on out there that are greenspace blog-worthy. If I don't get to them and start talking about them, make sure you do...

Shalom

Steve

Where Does Evolution Leave God?

Both Karen Armstrong (author of "The Case for God") and Richard Dawkins (author of "The God Delusion") were asked to respond to this question by The Wall Street Journal. Neither new what the other would write and then both responses were published. I read them both in The Weekend Australian and thought you might be interested as well.

Click here to read the article from The Wall Street Journal. I think it is interesting to read what both authors have to say, but I think it is even more interesting that a newspaper like The Wall Street Journal asked them the question so that they could write an article on this topic for everyone to read. The whole God / not God debate is really going on out there...

I hope you read this article and gain some fodder to engaging in this discussion for yourself. And you should take a look at this as well. It is called "Duelity" and is a very creative representation of an interplay between creationism and evolutionary theory. It is pretty clever and it also makes you think. I'm not going to say anything more about it. You're just going to have to trust me that it is worth going to and having a look at it.

Shalom...

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

Philip Pullman of "The Dark Materials" trilogy fame (better known to the general public as "The Golden Compass") has a new book coming out. It is called, "The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ". I wonder what it will be about (insert sarcasm here)...

But seriously folks, we really needed another neo-athiest manifesto like a hole in the head. I am now two years into trying to read "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, but am still languishing in chapter 2. Its opening chapter and a bit was so disappointing that I have struggled to bother with it. This was supposed to be THE world's most prominent atheist sticking it God, Christianity and religion etc and if it keeps going the way it has started, then atheism is in big trouble. Maybe it gets better as it goes on... Maybe I'll never find out... Over the weekend, I was horrified to see that "The God Delusion" made it onto "Appleyard's Dozen: 12 books that helped change the world" influential books list... God, help us all if that is what is influencing us...

Anyway, "heads up!", another one is on the way. Apparently, one of this new book's main tenets is that the Apostle Paul made up the divinity of Christ and influenced the writing of the gospels. Not startlingly original but interesting enough to make the papers. I will probably buy a copy and try to read it, but no promises...

I am in the process of reading Pullman's "The Dark Materials" trilogy and it is a ripping good yarn. It is a great example of the fantasy genre. It has been called the "Anti-Narnia", given its apparent anti-Christian themes, but apart from some slagging of at the church (I've been known to do this a bit myself), so far it has been thoroughly enjoyable. Apparently these themes ramp up more towards the third book, where they kill off God.

Interesting, I'll keep you posted...

Shalom...