We're on!
Hey Everyone-
Theology Pub tomorrow night (Thursday, August 10), 7pm at the Reading Gaol in Ballard, as usual.
This is the last thing I do before leaving for a 5 day trip to Massachusetts. Let's yuk it up!
See you there.
- Gwen
posted by monsterpants @ 1:24 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
we yukked it up! we yukked it up good!
Hello to whoever might stray into this old post to read this...
Not sure if anybody's interested in sharing suggestions for topics but I've been reading The Hydrogen Economy by Jeremy Rifkin which outlines the socio-political-religious state of the world as it relates to the impending peak in global oil production. I know what you're probably thinking. Not very theological. I agree. But there's an interesting section that deals with Christian vs Islamist ideas, specifically a chapter titled, "Mohammed's Vision." Here's an excerpt:
"The current fundamentalist [Islamic] resurgence is part of a complex historical narrative of which many of us in the West are ignorant. What needs to be appreciated is why so many young Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere, both the poor and the well-off, the uneducated and the schooled, are finding common ground in what they call a "spiritual rebirth" and what we tend to regard as a menacing political polarization of the world. Understanding the history of Islam, from a Muslim perspective, provides clues as to what the future is likely to bring when both global oil production and the youth rebellion within Islam peak in the next decade.
The first thing to know about Islam is that while, like Christianity, it traces its roots to Judaism and is in the great tradition of monotheism that began with the prophet Abraham, it diverges in one fundamental respect: its understanding of what the role of the pious in earthly history. For Christians, the earthly sojourn is of far less consequence than eternal salvation in the world to come. Christianity, from the very beginning, has been an otherworldy religion. Early on, St. Augustine and other church leaders made it clear that this world is of lesser consequence and that the time spent here is to be used to spread the good news of the coming of Christ and prepare for the world to come. While Christians were to serve witness to the coming of God's kindom by being his stewards here on Earth, daily affairs of history were to be left to the "powers and principalities." "Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" become teh great watchword of the faith. If human beings and the rest of the creation were truly fallen--immersed in original sin by dint of the fall fsrom grace in the Garden of Eden--then restoration would only be found in the world to come.
Islam, however, was born of a different inspiration. Its founder, the prophet Mohammed, looked for the presence of God in human history and believed that history itself was the critical arena in which human beings played out their relationship to God. This was a far different notion than the one that inspired early Christian believers to separate from worldy affairs and create the monastic orders of the medieval era."
Whew, that was a long one.
While I don't think much of Rifkin's take on Christianity I think in some ways his view of Christianity reflects a view shared by many non believers.
Jesus said, "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" which to me refutes the idea that we're just waiting around here for the next life.
Anyway, I suppose the most interesting aspect of this topic would be to explore different perceptions and misperceptions of Christianity and maybe also to think how dialogue might span different religions.
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