Index	Related Video	Commentary	Discussion	References
Related Video
Opening - Cool Change. Inspirational Video from Singapore, by Ansori123. Here are wise words from many people and many cultures and then accompanied them with lovely pictures and the song "Cool Change" by Little River Band. For the change we need will be guided by such wise words. "If there's one thing in my life that's missing, It's the time I spend alone Sailing on the cool and bright clear waters There's lots of those friendly people Showin me ways to go And I never want to lose your inspiration Time for a cool change... I know that it's time for a cool change Now that my life is so pre-arranged I know that it's time for a cool change..." Video 2 - We Need a New Ethic and a New Ritual. Lloyd Geering of New Zealand has been trying to reform the church his whole life. He is a Presbyterian, a Professor and a contributor to Jesus Seminar. This is a 7 minute segment from New Zealand TV special on his life last year. There are 10 segments on youtube of the program which is called "The Last Heretic". You will find these related segments brought forward as you play this segment. A theology student named Robert Myles in New Zealand posted these videos to Youtube. He's a member of a facebook group called Progressive Christianity. If you want to sample a bit of the new generation's insight, check out this conversation about tolerating the other "truths". Video 3 - Excerpts from the launch service for Pathways Church of Markham, Ontario of the United Church of Canada. Guest speaker Bishop John Spong. Oct 2007. Click HERE for the website for the Pathways Church. Check out their extensive programs of an interfaith nature. They are also now having a bookstudy on Vosper's book.
Commentary - Liberating Christianity
Vosper now moves into that part of her book that attempts to construct a new liberal theological system for real people and their congregations. She is not primarily concerned here with an academic presentation - although scholarship informs her thinking. Imaging a Liberal Christianity: 1. Dismantle to Rebuild. Vosper believes that there can be no middle ground here. The old system needs to be dismantled so that a new system can emerge. 2. Deconstruct to Reconstruct. To use philosophical terminology - we must deconstruct our thought structures in order to reconstuct new ones. Four Qualities of Progessive Thought: 1. Open Mind - the basic requirement 2. Passion - adds vitality to our efforts 3. Creativity - offers new possibilities 4. Intellectual Vigor - cannot avoid hard questions Other Essentials 1. Honesty - go with the truth, wherever it leads 2. Courage - do not hesitate to test the boundaries 3. Respect - honour where people are at now 4. Balance - view this with perspective and common sense Values: Roots and Wings 1. Belonging - a basic human need 2. Traditions - must be our servant, not our master 3. Spirituality - Religion/ each is important 4. Religion - Spirituality/ each informs the other 5. Defining One's Own Meaning - we make our own meaning (the labyrinth image is helpful here) Working Tools for a New Theology 1. Formal & experiential - we bring all faculties to our endeavours 2. Historical & contemporary - neither past nor present is master nor servant of the other 3. Related & pertinent disciplines - all disciplines (arts and sciences) inform our thought 4. Insights beyond our communities we are not afraid to gather truth wherever it may be found Employ a "hermeneutic/interpretation of suspicion" (pp. 214-15) This term has long served theological liberation movements. It questions all sources to determine issues of control. 1. By whose authority? - we question the sources 2. Interests served - we ask who is benefitting from a point made 3. Language used - we discern power issues behind the words we read 4. Limits set - we do not allow any power to control our thinking 5. Obligations required - we investigate *must* or *ought* words 6. Suspect interpretations - we do not readily accept any point made 7. Abuses of power - we are aware of how power has motived people in the past as well as in the present.
Summary of Discussion Notes
Questions for Group Discussion: 1. Imagine yourself as a beginning student in theological school. Critic this chapter as a course outline in introductory theology. 2. It is time to democratize theology? Do you agree/disagree with Vosper? Feedback from Small Group Discussions Note: To democratize theology means to move it beyond a discipline for the elite and encourage everyone to participate in theological thought. 1. The Spong video was helpful and should be used as part of a Sunday morning service at church. 2. As we share points from our learning here, we should anticipate resistance and support each other in the process. 3. Engage people positively, not defensively. 4. Affirm and support those that preach on these themes in our congregational services of worship. 5. Vosper gives voice, clarity and guidance to our thinking. 6. Seminars and other learning events are needed to help those who have questions and seek new understandings amoung us. 7. We must move beyond thought to action in all this.
References Related to Chapter One
p151 The Quest of the Historical Jesus, Albert Schweitzer. 1904.Here's the translation on line. Schweitzer describes and critiques 18th and 19th century attempts at retrieving the "Jesus of history" and stands at the crossroads of the 19th and 20th centuries to bring closure to the former, and to open the latter for New Testament scholarship. Book In a sort of answer to Schwitzer's challenge, Jesus Seminar fellow JD Crossn wrote in 1993, "The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant" It is a facinating study into the society and times that birthed Jesus. He starts with the words of Jesus, all a single piece, and asks what sort of man would say these things. 600 pages later he begins to talk of Jesus. review p153 Northrop Frye's "The Great Code". A review in Canadian Literature. p170. Song of Faith. Pondering the UCC's Statement of Faith. (Vosper's Blog). "In my opinion, the church has missed an enormous opportunity to be named the first denomination to acknowledge in its statements of faith that the Bible is not the authoritative word of God for all time. The project being undertaken by The United Church of Canada is a big one. ..." p212 makes reference to The Re-Imagining Conference of American progressive Presbyterians in 2003. Witherspoon is their website and here is the archive. Check in on this progressive group and see the commonality with our own UCC. Remember that our union included the progressive Presbyterians of an earlier time. My Dream for the Presbyterian Church - Howard Rice. A keynote address from a former moderator in 2000. An excellent essay. Here he speaks of a church that sees the future as an opportunity, not a problem, and also of feminism, justice, biblical criticism. p213 The Jesus Seminar of the Westar Institute, with more than two hundred participating scholars, has attempted to distinguish fact from fiction in the words and deeds ascribed to Jesus in the gospels. They also bring theological scholarship to the people directly.
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