August 2017 - Dialogue - lists.wedgeblade.net

8/17/17, Farrin/Spong: : A New Poem, an Invitation, & Thoughts on Religion and the Arts: Spong Revisited
by Ellie Stock via Dialogue 18 Aug '17

18 Aug '17

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valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" id="aolmail_templateHeader" style="background-color: #D8E2EA;border-bottom: 0;"> <tbody><tr> <td class="aolmail_headerContent" style="color: #202020;font-family: Arial;font-size: 34px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;padding: 0;text-align: center;vertical-align: middle;"> <img alt="" border="0" style="margin: 0;padding: 0;max-width: 600px;border: none;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;height: auto;line-height: 100%;outline: none;text-decoration: none;text-transform: capitalize;" src="http://gallery.mailchimp.com/b51b9cf441b059bb232418480/images/newsletter_he…"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" class="aolmail_headerNavigation"> <h5 style="color: #202020;display: block;font-family: Arial;font-size: 12px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 15px;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;text-transform: uppercase;"> <a style="color: #4487cf;text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Homepage</a> <a style="color: #4487cf;text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">My Profile</a> <a style="color: #4487cf;text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Essay Archive</a> <a style="color: #4487cf;text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb2…">Message Boards</a> <a style="color: #4487cf;text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Calendar</a></h5></td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" id="aolmail_templateBody"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" class="aolmail_bodyContent" style="background-color: #ffffff;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top"> <div style="color: #000000;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><h1 style="color: #003d4a;display: block;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 34px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;">A New Poem, an Invitation, & Thoughts on Religion and the Arts</h1> <h3 class="aolmail_null" style="color: #4487cf;display: block;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 26px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;">By Cassandra Farrin</h3> <p style="text-align: left;"> <img height="125" style="width: 125px;height: 125px;margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;float: left;border: none;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;outline: none;text-decoration: none;text-transform: capitalize;display: inline;" width="125" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b51b9cf441b059bb232418480/images/a31e15af-62b…"><strong>The Poem: Autopsy of a Stillbirth</strong></p> <blockquote> <p><em>In their hearts the living book of the living was revealed. … This book was impossible to take because it was placed there for the one to take it to be killed. —Gospel of Truth 6:1, 3</em></p> </blockquote> <p>Her body, lost for thirty-seven hours in the hospital bureaucracy, Her body, which wavered like a paper flower before the hospital incinerator, has returned to you as a heart the size of a raspberry.</p> <p>Its musculature murmurs not in the likeness of a drum but a poem.</p> <p>Particles tattooed into the cardiac tissues, like braille, allow the unseen to be touched.</p> <p>You loved her. The book of her life cannot be read with the naked eye. Her holy Word, a folded wing, rustles between the atria.</p> <p>This broken filament you place inside your lover’s cavernous ventricle. Together, you are defibrillating the dark matter.</p> <p>Is she the voice of God? You already know. Still, you trace her through microscopes and hadron colliders, listening for a wingbeat, the First and the Last.</p> <p>May all buried books grow into trees in the Garden of Paradise. May all trees bear globes of light. May all beings eat and ascend. May all wings carry the light to the roots of their mothers, singing,</p> <p><em>You are the Good You are the Good You are the unfathomable Good</em></p> <p><strong>The Invitation: Apocryphal Monologues</strong></p> <p>The poem above was inspired by a challenging set of verses from the Gospel of Truth, one of the texts found at Nag Hammadi in 1945 but originally written sometime between 80 and 160 CE. The Christian bishop Irenaeus referred to it in his writings, and some scholars believe it was written by Valentinus, who was later labeled a heretic. The tone of this gospel is often ecstatic, yet with dark undertones.</p> <p>Here is a full quote from the Gospel of Truth 6:1–3 in Hal Taussig’s <em>A New New Testament</em> translation:</p> <p style="text-align: center;">In their hearts the living book of the living was revealed. It was written in the thought and mind of the Father and, since the beginning of all things, was in his incomprehensibility. This book was impossible to take because it was placed there for the one to take it to be killed.</p> <p>In this eclectic and fascinating and at times infuriating gospel, Jesus is described as “nailed to a tree and published as the Father’s edict on the cross” (6:9). We’re also told he was “nailed to a tree and became the fruit of the Father’s knowledge” (4:5). It shows literary relationships with the letters of Paul, letters in imitation of Paul (e.g. Ephesians), and the Gospel of John, as well as numerous non-traditional texts like On the Origin of the World, the Secret Revelation of John, and the Prayer of the Apostle Paul. The Gospel of Truth obsessively explores parallels among the book of the living, the cross, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.</p> <p>As some of you are already aware, I am in the middle of a project <strong>retelling early Christian texts as poems</strong>, tentatively titled <strong><em>Apocryphal Monologues</em></strong>. Each poem pairs modern-day ethical questions with words from an ancient text, putting them into dialogue with one another. In some cases I am retelling whole texts, such as On the Origin of the World. In others, as in the poem above, I engage with a single episode or saying. Along with miscarriage, the poems so far address nuclear meltdowns, the arms race, rape, abortion, and the feminine as a legitimate expression of the divine. I don’t want the poems to be preachy; I try not to moralize. I’m more interested in asking difficult questions of the texts and demanding emotionally honest answers.</p> <p>Why poetry? One reason I like poetry is that it is a disarming medium. It works in image and sound. It does not mean literally what it says but is always implying something more. In particular, I am intentionally writing these poems as <em>lyric</em> poems. Unlike the classic form of religious poetry, the epic—such as <em>Gilgamesh, Beowulf</em>, the <em>Iliad & the Odyssey</em>, and the <em>Aeneid</em>—the lyric speaks in the form of an individual voice. It is intentionally personal. That creative decision reflects my desire not to continue to treat religion as a form of top-down, universal authority.</p> <p>In advance of completing the full collection, I would love to continue to share early editions of these poems with you, along with notes about my writing process, such as why I chose to work with a particular text. I welcome your thoughts, questions, inspiration, and collaboration! You can email me at <a href="mailto:welovetea@gmail.com">welovetea(a)gmail.com</a>, or send me notes on <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">my blog</a> any time.</p> <p>Returning to the poem “Autopsy of a Stillbirth,” I found the juxtaposition of images in the Gospel of Truth absolutely provocative from both a moral and emotional perspective. As I considered what moral dilemmas might come into dialogue with these verses, I could not help but think of my many friends who had shared their heartbreaking stories of miscarriage: how they and the body of their unborn child were handled in the hospital, how they felt about themselves, what questions they asked. I was struck, repeatedly, by the painful echoes in the Gospel of Truth: a book of living that is hidden but untouchable in the heart, a tree that gives knowledge of good and evil but also doubles as a crucifix, and a child born already fated to pass away from this life.</p> <p><strong>Thoughts on Religion & the Arts</strong></p> <p>In my <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb2…">June Q & A</a>, I was asked whether or not we should continue to sing hymns that we no longer believe in. I advocated for honoring what we have inherited the same way we cherish great literature. Yet I also said we should commit ourselves to the difficult creative work of developing and falling in love with <em>new</em> art that <em>does</em> reflect our values. Nostalgia is a good and even delightful emotion, but we should not let it become a dictator over our religious and spiritual lives. Nostalgia represents the honor we feel toward our parents, grandparents, and ancestors. Creativity allows us to address our own experience of an ever-changing world. Among other things, we need new music, new stories & poetry, new visual art, new rituals & liturgy, new commentaries, and new translations of our sacred texts.</p> <p>The good news is that people <em>are</em> collaborating and creating on various fronts. Thanks to readers and colleagues, I am aware of several individuals and organizations who working diligently on this task, including the <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Hymn Society</a> (hymnody), the <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb2…">Tanho Center</a> (music, art, film, liturgy), and the <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Westar Institute</a> (historical research, translation). By belonging to this list, of course you already regularly see and benefit from the vast contributions of <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb2…">ProgressiveChristianity.org</a> (networking, resource-sharing, children’s curriculum, liturgy, and more).</p> <p>Art is a fickle thing. It doesn’t move according to directive. No one can “take charge” of art to make it popular or compelling by force. Yet it has an enormous influence on how we understand ourselves and the world around us. Once upon a time, people learned the history of Christianity through stained glass windows, mosaic, statuary, music, lectures, and church architecture—not, notably, through the written word. Once the written word became more aggressively available via the printing press, we remained enamored with it for hundreds of years. Now smartphones and other new technologies are creating an outlet for the visual and auditory arts to have their turn. Even poetry, a blend of auditory and literary arts, is carving out new spaces. Some of the best-known poets today are masters of performance on Twitter and YouTube, for example, and in the current political climate, poets around the world are rediscovering their most radical and dangerous voice: the voice of protest.</p> <p>What do you honor from the past, and what new art, song, ritual, commentary, poem, or other expression do you feel the need to bring into being?</p> <p>~ Cassandra Farrin Read the essay online <a target="_blank" style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb2…">here</a>.</p> <p><strong>About the Author</strong></p> <p>Cassandra Farrin is a poet, writer and editor of nonfiction books on the history of religion. She recently launched the blog <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Ginger & Sage</a> on religion, culture, and the land. Her writing can be found on the Westar Institute and <em>Ploughshares</em> websites, along with a poetic retelling of “On the Origin of the World” forthcoming in <em>Gender Violence, Rape Culture, and Religion</em> (Palgrave Macmillan). A US-UK Fulbright scholar, she has more than ten years’ experience with cross-cultural and interfaith engagement. Cassandra can be reached at <a href="mailto:welovetea@gmail.com">welovetea(a)gmail.com</a>.</p> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top"> <div style="color: #000000;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><hr> <h2 style="color: #4487cf;display: block;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 30px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;">Question & Answer</h2> <p> <span style="font-size:18px">Bruce from Pasadena, writes:</span></p> <h4 style="color: #4487cf;display: block;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 22px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;">Question:</h4> <p>A friend recently suggested that Christianity arguably emphasizes forgiveness more than other major religions, the reason being that Jesus, viewed as illegitimate by his community, was mocked and taunted as a young man. Perhaps Mary was as well.</p> <p>Being on the wrong end of discrimination, he was led to cultivate an attitude of forgiveness towards those who attacked him. Any thoughts on this idea?</p> <p> </p> <h4 style="color: #4487cf;display: block;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 22px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:20px">Answer: By Eric Alexander</span></h4> <p><a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…"><img class="aolmail_alignleft aolmail_size-full aolmail_wp-image-49700" height="113" style="border: 0px;float: left;width: 111px;height: 113px;margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;outline: none;text-decoration: none;text-transform: capitalize;display: inline;" width="111" src="https://johnshelbyspong.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-…"></a></p> <p>That’s an interesting angle. Certainly radical forgiveness was around in the Judeo tradition prior to Jesus. Many stories throughout the Hebrew Scriptures cite God as incredibly forgiving (except when he’s not, that is). And the idea of Jubilee found in Leviticus is one of the most radical examples of them all.</p> <p>But you do hit on a point that Jesus made it much more personal. To Jesus, the idea of forgiveness didn’t need to be mandated via law code, but rather entrenched within the hearts of individuals. He taught forgiveness as a spiritual practice for one’s own joy and contentment.</p> <p>That said, I also think that the arts of ‘letting go’ and ‘non attachment’ are very similar to the brand of forgiveness that was taught by Jesus - and it was around for some time in eastern religions prior to the life of Jesus, such as with Confucius and Buddha. Those enlightened teachers recognized clearly that holding in their pain, anger, and resentment would hurt and hinder the feeler / thinker of those thoughts far more than they would help.</p> <p>So it would seem to me that any enlightened being would quickly come to the conclusion of forgiveness being a core component to spiritual advancement.</p> <p>Was Jesus shaped by the tumultuous life he led? He probably was very much. But I think any great spiritual leader would recognize forgiveness to be a foundational practice, including the Buddha (Siddhartha) who grew up in the lap of luxury and privilege which was very different from Jesus. And I think within the Levitical law community Jesus was certainly revolutionary in his take on forgiveness, but as compared to other religions I think it’s low ante table stakes in its level of uniqueness.</p> <p>~Eric Alexander</p> <p>Read and share online <a target="_blank" style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">here</a></p> <p><strong>About the Author</strong></p> <p>Eric Alexander is an author, speaker, and entrepreneur. He is a board member at <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">ProgressiveChristianity.org</a>, and is the founder of <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Jesism</a>, <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb2…">Christian Evolution</a>, and the <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Progressive Christianity and Politics</a> group on Facebook. Eric holds a Master of Theology from Saint Leo University and studied negotiations at Harvard Law School, and authored the popular children's emotional health book <a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…"><em>Teaching Kids Life IS Good</em></a>.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">______________________________________</p> <h3 class="aolmail_null" style="text-align: center;color: #4487cf;display: block;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 26px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;"><strong>Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited</strong></h3> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>The Bible and Homosexuality The Church's Dance in the 21st Century - Part 1</strong> </p> <p><img alt="Spong" class="aolmail_wp-image-49832 aolmail_alignleft" height="132" style="border: 0px;width: 125px;height: 132px;float: left;margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;outline: none;text-decoration: none;text-transform: capitalize;display: inline;" width="125" src="https://johnshelbyspong.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Spong-283x300.jpg"></p> <p><em>"Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: It is an abomination (Lev.18: 22 KJV)."</em></p> <p><em>"If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: They shall surely be put to death, their blood be upon them (Lev. 20:13.)"</em></p> <p>This is the Word of the Lord?</p> <p>The primary issue rending the Christian Church during the last fifty has been the seemingly unending battle over homosexuality. It has not been a flattering battle among Christians, since they have used all of the weapons that godless people use - blackmail, character assassination, deliberate disinformation, threats of civil war, secession, schism and even hints of murder. It has been, in reality, a battle of consciousness with one side refusing to enter a new vision, the integrity of which they do not believe, and the other standing inside a totally different perspective that no longer affirms the generally assumed moral values of the past.</p> <p>As one might expect, the Bible, quoted as if it is the ultimate authority, has become the primary weapon used in this debate. Typical of this attitude is the Reverend Peter Moore, an Anglican evangelical and a self styled champion of what he calls 'biblical morality,' who has stated: "There is nothing more certain than that the Bible condemns homosexuality. If the homosexuals win this battle, then the Bible will have no moral authority left in any area of life." It is an interesting claim and reveals just how traumatic this debate has become for the traditional Bible-quoters. Those texts of the Bible, which have historically been used to define homosexual persons as evil, are destined to be challenged as a new consciousness emerges, just as similar texts on a host of other issues have each in turn been challenged and finally overthrown.</p> <p>If the Bible is believed to be the dictated word of God or even the inspired truth of God, a phrase that gives fundamentalists a little more wiggle room, then the battle in the Church over the full acceptance of gay and lesbian people becomes a life and death struggle for both this understanding of the Bible, and the kind of Christianity which rests upon it. People think that this means primarily evangelical Protestant Christianity but I believe it to be a powerful threat to every part of Christianity. A study of the formation of the dogmas, doctrines, liturgies and creeds, that under gird all of Christianity, finally rests on an assumption that the Bible is in some sense, the word of God. I believe that this claim can no longer be maintained in any literal sense, which means that the entire Christian enterprise is, to use the biblical image, a house built on sand and its foundation can no longer bear the weight of the superstructure that has been erected upon it. Collapse of that structure is therefore imminent and that reality is already unconsciously perceived. That is why the battle over homosexuality is marked with such bitterness and intensity. It is a life and death struggle for Christianity as it is traditionally understood.</p> <p>The Achilles heel for those claiming biblical authority to justify their prejudices turns out to be nothing less than the Bible itself. This 'holy book' is filled with attitudes that thinking people now reject. Peter Moore adopts incredibly convoluted rhetoric when trying to separate his version of 'biblical morality' from the other texts he does not wish to defend. That always happens when authority systems die. In this series I will let the Bible speak for itself and ask 21st century Christians to judge the credibility of the ancient claim that the Bible is in any literal sense 'the word of God.' Evil, I believe must be confronted even when it appears in a source regarded as sacred, for the harm that evil does is no less harmful when based on a sacred text.</p> <p>In this effort to expose these texts for what they are, I begin first with the oft-quoted passages in Leviticus, which have been used for centuries to justify the rejection, abuse and oppression of gay and lesbian people. I want to concentrate on the real people who are on the receiving end of the violence that these texts have been used to justify. I have met young adults across America and around the world, who tried to face their homosexual orientation in their families of origin and were told that they must deny this reality and seek medical and psychiatric help to become 'normal.' That was frequently the condition for remaining part of the family. When this violent and destructive pseudo treatment was either not accepted or proved to be ineffective, these young men were then thrown out of their homes, disowned and told never to return. Lest my readers think this is a rare occurrence, I assure you that these victims are legion. With my mind's eye I see their very real faces.</p> <p>One of them was so poignant that it still haunts me. A young gay man in his mid-thirties was estranged from his parents even though they did not know that he was gay. His family was one in which homosexuals were verbally ridiculed and condemned constantly. Perhaps his parents suspected their own son might have "tendencies" in that direction and believed that this overtly hostile attitude toward homosexuality just might be the necessary corrective he needed to come out on the right side of this issue. It did not work and when this young man went to the university, he began to cut his family ties. He seldom wrote and rarely visited his home, finding those visits stifling. He could not be who he was and he could never be who his parents wanted him to be. It was an irreconcilable reality.</p> <p>Upon graduation, this young man took a job across the country and his relationship with his parents grew even weaker. Eventually, he was diagnosed with HIV AIDS and told he might live only a year. His dying desire was to be reconciled with his parents. He sought the help of a Methodist Chaplain for advice as to how to approach his parents. Together they decided on a letter rather than a face-to-face meeting or telephone call. This would allow his parents time to react and think about their response. So the letter was written and mailed -- a young man telling his parents that he was gay, that he had AIDS, that he was dying, and that he yearned above all other things to be reunited with them before he died. He asked for the privilege of seeing them soon. A week later a response was received and this young man again sought out his chaplain friend, so that he did not have to open this letter alone. Inside the envelope was a blank piece of stationery containing this young man's birth certificate ripped into shreds.</p> <p>I recall a sign carried by a counter demonstrator in the New York City Gay Pride Parade in the 90s that announced. "God said fags should die! Leviticus 20." More than one gay man or suspected gay man has learned that people have treated that particular text quite literally. The slang word "faggot," by which gay people are sometimes known, was originally the name of the little sticks used to ignite the fires that burned the "queers" at the stake. So many were burned over the years of Christian history that the name of the stick became the name of the victim.</p> <p>These are just some of the people who are the victims of these texts. Their counterparts are present in every century. Recently the American public's attention was vividly captured by the murder in Wyoming of a young college student named Matthew Shepard. Set upon by a gang of males in their mid-twenties, Shepard was brutally beaten until unconscious, then fastened to a fence post in a crucifixion-like pose and left in sub-freezing weather until he died. His tormentors were serving God and obeying God's word that they found in Leviticus 20, where persons assumed to be guilty of the "crime" of homosexuality were ordered by God "to be put to death." It was the punishment prescribed for what Leviticus 18 had called an "abomination."</p> <p>These texts, written in the 6th century B.C.E. are in the same book, in which the death penalty was required for cursing (24:14), blasphemy (24:16) and dishonoring your parents (20:9). Leviticus also enjoined dietary laws upon the Jewish people (20:9) and prescribed many other prohibitions now long abandoned. Yet the texts regarding homosexuality, reinforced by the ignorance and discrimination of the ages, are still literalized and used to justify dreadful, even murderous, behavior, carried out against those whose only fault, or as religious people might prefer, "only sin," was that they were born with a sexual orientation different from the majority.</p> <p>The overwhelming consensus of the medical and scientific world today suggests that sexual orientation is a given like gender, skin pigmentation and left-handedness. One's sexual orientation is not normally a moral choice. It is a description of one's being, not one's doing. It is therefore not morally culpable. The texts in Leviticus 18 and 20 are simply wrong. Based on ignorance, they should be viewed with other abandoned attitudes as stages in our development that we have outgrown. To quote these texts today to justify continued prejudice destroys what Christians say they believe about God, and the Christ who invited all to come to him to find rest from their labors. The very depth of Christianity is violated if the texts of Leviticus 18-20 are given legitimacy. The time has come for all Christians to decide which of these two paths is the way to follow Christ. There can be no compromise. The contending positions are mutually exclusive. There must be no wavering. Leviticus 18 and 20 cannot be allowed to remain in the lexicon of Christian behavior.</p> <p>"Those texts do not stand alone in the Bible," my Bible quoting critics will say. "They are but a small part of a larger biblical condemnation of homosexuality!" Fair enough, so I will turn to the others. Next I will focus on Genesis 19, the chapter that has given us the words 'sodomy' and 'sodomite,' as our examination of the Bible's role in our cultural homophobia continues.</p> <p>~ Bishop John Shelby Spong Originally Published March 31, 2004</p> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top"> <div style="color: #000000;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><hr> <h2 style="color: #4487cf;display: block;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 30px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;">Announcements</h2> <h3 class="aolmail_null" style="text-align: left;color: #4487cf;display: block;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 26px;font-weight: normal;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;"><span style="color:#696969"><strong><a target="_blank" style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb2…"><img height="200" style="width: 250px;height: 200px;margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;float: left;border: none;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;outline: none;text-decoration: none;text-transform: capitalize;display: inline;" width="250" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b51b9cf441b059bb232418480/images/d5d81a80-dcb…"></a></strong></span> <span style="color:#000000"><strong>Ever Wonder, an expansive spirituality conference</strong></span></h3> <strong><a style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb2…"><img align="left" height="86" style="border: 0px initial;width: 250px;height: 86px;margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;outline: none;text-decoration: none;text-transform: capitalize;display: inline;" width="250" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b51b9cf441b059bb232418480/images/3496e23a-d33…"></a></strong> <div style="text-align: center;color: #000000;font-family: Georgia;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;"> <strong>September 1st - 3rd in Edmonton, Canada</strong></div> <strong>Ever Wonder</strong> is a conference for spiritual seekers who are open to wisdom from many sources, eager to learn from one another and willing to explore beyond the boundaries of belief systems. <a target="_blank" style="color: #4487cf;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://johnshelbyspong.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b51b9cf441b059bb23…">Click here</a> for more information/registration</div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" width="600" id="aolmail_templateFooter" style="background-color: #FDFDFD;border-top: 0;"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" class="aolmail_footerContent"> <table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" valign="middle" id="aolmail_social" style="background-color: #FAFAFA;border: 0;"> <div style="color: #707070;font-family: Arial;font-size: 12px;line-height: 125%;text-align: center;"></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" valign="middle" id="aolmail_utility" style="background-color: #FDFDFD;border: 1px dashed #d3d3d3;"><div style="color: #707070;font-family: Arial;font-size: 12px;line-height: 125%;text-align: center;"><div class="aolmail_vcard"><div class="aolmail_adr"><div class="aolmail_street-address"></div></div></div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" valign="middle" id="aolmail_utility"><div style="color: #707070;font-family: Arial;font-size: 12px;line-height: 125%;text-align: left;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></center><center> </center></div> </div> <style type="text/css">#AOLMsgPart_2_f4ef9b40-71cf-4203-8b25-ce049659cd29 td{color: black;} @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .aolReplacedBody table#aolmail_canspamBar td{font-size:14px !important;} .aolReplacedBody table#aolmail_canspamBar td a{display:block !important; margin-top:10px !important;} } </style>

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Interesting opportunity to talk about leadership
by Sunny Walker via Dialogue 14 Aug '17

14 Aug '17

Register now for Thursday's event: Growing a new Sense of Leadership We sent some of you details (repeated below for the rest of you! :)) - and oops, did not include the "register here" information: <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/growing-a-new-sense-of-leadership-tickets-3698 5856693> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/growing-a-new-sense-of-leadership-tickets-36985 856693 We hope to see you there! ORIGINAL DETAILS: including link to JOIN Meeting - check in 15 minutes early to insure audio is working, then you can step away until the event begins. Interactive Dialogue on Growing A New Sense of Leadership August 17: Noon EST, 9:00 am PST, 2:00 am Sydney, 9:45 pm Kathmandu Leadership is on our heart, minds and lips these days. Our times are leaving us reeling with what does it mean to be a leader today. Step out of the fear and frustration of current leadership into an exploration of Growing a New Sense of Leadership. Take the time for individual reflection and group dialogue. Explore avenues not being traveled. Look inside for meaningful ways to bring forth the creative human spirit in each of us to give shape for the world we are yearning to live in today. You will be introduced to concepts of New Leadership created by 50 cross-cultural leaders at ICA International Conference on human development. There will be time for interactive dialogue, individual reflection, silence in community and practices. Leadership may be considered the single most important aspect of creating a way forward. How to Connect: * Use a headset, preferably with a USB connection. Alternatively, a smartphone headset. * Link: See instructions at the bottom of this page. Meet the Presenter: Janet Sanders, founder and owner of PEOPLEnergy has worked in leadership development and social change in over 26 countries on 5 continents in local and national governments, corporations, communities and networks of concerned individuals. She has done in-depth research and has residential experience in isolated villages in developing countries and in the urban pockets of major cities. She is convinced that the empowerment of the individual is fundamental to societal change--an empowerment that challenges individuals to attain higher levels of creativity and commitment. She began a 20-year career with the Institute of Cultural Affairs where she helped pioneer methods of 'wholistic community development' where she worked as an agent of change demonstrating that an organization or community's effectiveness increases when the people it affects are part of the leadership and implementation process. Later she established PEOPLEnergy, which promotes seminars and planning events that enable leaders to explore their human capacities and motivation, develop comprehensive perspectives for understanding society and develop the social skills to lead participative process for planning and action. She received her Master's of Education from the University of Toronto in global transformation education. Currently, she is a senior trainer with the Jean Houston Foundation designing and delivering social artistry leadership programmes. LINK INSTRUCTIONS: Invited By: Virtual Facilitation Collaborative (info(a)virtualfacilitationcollaborative.com) To join the meeting: <http://top.adobeconnect.com/leadership-dialogue/> http://top.adobeconnect.com/leadership-dialogue/ ---------------- If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before: Test your connection: <http://top.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm> http://top.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm Get a quick overview: <http://%20http/www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html> http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat and Adobe Connect are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Sunny Sunny Walker, CPF, CTF SunWalker Enterprises sunwalker(a)comcast.net <mailto:sunwalker@comcast.net> Cell: 303-587-3017 (preferred for business calls) Landline (preferred for personal calls) 303-671-0704 Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. ~ Viktor E. Frankl

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ICAI Global Buzz August 2017
by ICA International via Dialogue 08 Aug '17

08 Aug '17

Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.....If you wish to SEND a report...send to your ICA contact person OR...go to the members section on the ICA International website Please click the link below for the latest issue of the Global Buzz Global Buzz Report: August 2017 or copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar http://globalbuzz.icai-archives.org/7dayreport-17/2017-08-01.php ICAI Communications

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Quotes for Chapters of GTBoT
by Jo Nelson via Dialogue 07 Aug '17

07 Aug '17

Hi, all, The good news is that the book Getting to the Bottom of ToP is on track, working toward publication by October this year. Ronnie Seagren, who is editing the book, suggests that each chapter should start with a quote that evokes the experience, essence or quality of the method in the chapter. This group had really good suggestions earlier, so I thought you would be a good source for quotes. I have quotes for the sections, but not for the chapters. What literary or poetic quotes would you suggest? They could be a line or two, or more if necessary. I need the source of the quote as well, as this book is partly intended for an academic audience I’ve thought of a couple of possibilities for the Participatory Strategic Planning chapter, for example, from posters we had for the Town Meetings. Here is the table of contents with numbered chapters: Getting to the Bottom of ToP – Foundations of the Methodologies of the Technology of Participation Foreward Introduction Section 1: Theory and Background of ToP (Technology of Participation) Practice 1. Phenomenology as a Discipline Describes the foundations, intents and practices of phenomenological inquiry, and describes the methodological roots of ToP 2. ToP Methods Development Describes the key conceptual steps in the formation of ToP methodology 3. ToP Methodology Reveals the evolution and roots of various ToP approaches and describes ToP methodology as a phenomenology of practice. Section 2: Core ToP Applications Explains the core design patterns for each core application and how they apply the phenomenological method 4. Intro to the Core Applications 5. The Focused Conversation Method 6. The Consensus Workshop Method 7. ToP Strategic Thinking 8. The Action Planning Method 9. The ToP Historical Scan Section 3: ToP Facilitation Design Describes the process of designing a complex ToP facilitation, and provides a practical process for applying ToP in responding to client needs 10. The ToP Design Eye Section 4: Study Methodologies Describes the two core study methodologies and provides methods for study and deep learning 11. Charting Method 12. Seminar Method Conclusion Thank you for anything you are able to contribute, and take care, Jo -- Jo Nelson, CPF, CTF <jnelson(a)ica-associates.ca> Certified Professional Facilitator and ICA Certified ToP™ Facilitator ICA Associates, Inc. 401 Richmond Street West, Suite #405, Toronto, Canada. M5V 3A8 Ph. 1 416-691-2316, x2230 Toll-free 1 877-691-1422 Fax 1 416-691-2491 Website http://ica-associates.ca Cellphone 647 233 6910 Skype “jofacilitator” Vendor of Record: Government of Ontario Learning and Training Services #OSS00536903 Vendor of Record: ProServices Canada E60ZT-120001/826/ZT Business Consulting/Change Management Pre-qualified Vendor, Alberta Education Resource List “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Richard Buckminster Fuller”

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Plumer/Spong: The End of Progressive Christianity?; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock via Dialogue 04 Aug '17

04 Aug '17

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR The End of Progressive Christianity? By Fred C. Plumer As the President of Progressivechristianity.org, and as an occasional writer for this publication, I receive a lot of email from readers. Most of it is helpful. Some of it I admit is not fun to read. Two weeks ago I received a rather rude note from someone who was clearly not a fan of mine or of progressive Christianity. His email had an attachment. The attachment was an article written for Patheos by a Catholic Priest, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Twelve Reasons Why Progressive Christians Will Die Out. If you look this up you will discover that this article was written and published back in January 2016. I presume that this man’s intention was not to necessarily share an “informative” article with me but was rather to make the point that our organization is fighting an “impossible mission.” Fr. Longenecker is regular blogger for this particular Patheos site and apparently quite popular with his audience. I read the article three times and while I found it interesting and even agreed with a few of his presumptions. I did not agree with his conclusions. For example, Fr. Longenecker writes: The historic Christians believe their religion is revealed by God in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, and that the Scriptures are the primary witness of that revelation. They believe the church is the embodiment of the risen Lord Jesus in the world and that his mission to seek and to save that which is lost is still valid and vital. Historic Christians believe in the supernatural life of the Church and expect God to be at work in the world and in their lives. Progressive Christians believe their religion is a historical accident of circumstances and people that Jesus Christ is, at best, a divinely inspired teacher, that the Scriptures are flawed human documents influenced by paganism and that the church is a body of spiritually minded people who wish to bring peace and justice to all and make the world a better place. Now this is a good start. I think he has a point and frankly I have no real problem with his description of who we are, with the possible exception of some of the pagan influence. But his title and most of his article is devoted to explaining why he thinks we are on the wrong track. Even his main conclusion does not bother me that much. He suggests that Progressives will fade away by the end of the century. When I look at how the world and religion has changed over the last fifty years, it is not hard to believe this could happen. However, I believe Christianity is going to fade away much faster unless we progressives continue to speak out. What Fr Longenecker does not realize is organizations like ours, scholars like Bishop Spong, Marcus Borg, Robert Funk and a hosts of others, and brave clergy people, have been trying to save Christianity for almost three decades now. It may be because of his earlier life as an Evangelical Christian, but Longenecker seems to be locked into a literal reading or as he calls it a Supernatural reading of the Bible. He therefore cannot get away from referring to the Bible as something with unusual authority. Maybe he has forgotten what the Bible is and how it came about. The Torah came out of a long oral tradition that dates back some 3000 years. Parts of what we call the Old Testament probably took on some written form in the 1400 BCE but these were written on animal skins in ancient Hebrew and though they were considered sacred by the people of the day, they were open to lot of challenging translations over the years. And the Christian Bible, or New Testament, also started off primarily as oral traditions and these were eventually written down in the first century. None of these books were canonized until the 3rd century, CE and several books were left out of the mix. We are not certain which ones or why. But even then we have to accept there was no printing press. So the Bibles were hand printed by a select group of Monks who made some of their own comments and translations. This continued until the late 15th Century when the press was created. Which Bibles did they use to be printed? Which comments were added? What words were changed? When Fr. Longenecker makes a criticism of someone’s behavior, as a Progressives or anybody for that matter, he is referring to the “law” of the Bible or the “Word of God.” And so when he states that “historic religion is about salvation of souls, redemption of sin, heaven, hell damnation, the afterlife, angels and demons and all that stuff,” he is taking this right out of the Bible. So for him, Progressive Christians believe that “religion is a matter of fighting for equal rights, making the world a better place, being kind to everyone and “spirituality.” In other words, Fr. Longencker is clinging to the literal words of the Bible to make his point. Frankly I am proud to be working for a better place, equal rights and seeking some spirituality. I do not see the Bible is not a “flawed document” but it was never intended to be read literally. It is a reflection of different times, different places, with people with different ideas over a period of what must have been a couple of thousand years. The Old Testament (the Jewish Torah) has a perspective of a group of people who were struggling for survival for roughly 3000 years. These include ideas and expectations of behavior that frankly would shock people today if we took them literally. I wonder how anyone can read Leviticus and imagine that this is the way that Jesus would have found it necessary to behave. I do not believe that anyone can honestly read the four gospels for example, and not come to the conclusion that each author is telling his particular version of the story that has been influenced by time and place. While we know that there are many things recorded in Scripture that Jesus did not say, we do know he believed in a loving, just God, and forgiving Abba. He believed in an Abba that wants the best for his children. He believed in forgiving and forgiving and forgiving. He believed loving your enemy was a requirement to experiencing the Kingdom of heaven. And he certainly believed that we worry way too much about things that are not important. And when we stop to consider the difficult situation that Jesus was living in, it is something of a miracle that he could have been so compassionate and kind. Yes, some of the same words have been spoken over the centuries by a few others but that does not take away from their power. In fact for me, they add to their strength to their meaning. Let me take a moment to look at some of his other points. “Progressive religion is essentially individualist and not communal.” This is clearly an area that shows he has no idea of what it means to be a progressive Christian. For many of us, community is central to the reason we gather. We are not looking to join communities with likeminded people. We enjoy the diversity, the confusion, the messiness, the tension of community that forms around compassion, love, forgiveness. We are not there because of a creed or a belief but rather to learn how to behave more like we believe Jesus would have behaved in the 21st century. We seek a faith journey that will challenge us and embrace us, and to help us see the world in a different way and hopefully cause us, together, to respond. “Progressive Christianity is also subjective and sentimentalist.” I am trying to figure out how our desire to “eschews doctrine and favors individual spirituality and sentimental responses to doctrines and moral issues“, makes us different than any other community of faith. I would suggest that one of the criticisms I receive regularly is that progressives are too heady, too intellectual. I am not certain where this comes from but I hope it is true. We can be pretty subjective what we are talking about our faith journey and occasionally we can even become sentimental. We have feelings and I have dealt with tears many times in church as a pastor and as a member. But I would argue that our personal sentiments are a healthy response to doctrines and moral issues. Yes, we do ask how these might hurt someone and hopefully respond with compassion. “Progressive Christianity is historically revisionist.” I assume he suggests this because progressives are trying to change the way we think about our faith. John Shelby Spong wrote a book called A New Christianity for a New World. This was on the heels of another book he wrote earlier called Why Christianity Much Change or Die. Both of these books were best sellers and one of them has been translated into several languages. Progressive Christians take these books seriously and are attempting to provide something that will work. The old story just does not work anymore. One of the things we also understand about historical Christianity was the desire to control of the masses by those in power. There are a lot of things that need to change. Are we traditional? Some of the time, but the truth is when a tradition hurts some people, tradition needs to be changed or ignored. “Progressive Christianity is based on out of date Biblical scholarship.” One of the things I am most proud about as a progressive Christian is the scholarship we find both in the sermons and in the pews in our progressive churches. I find it interesting that one of the complaints about our tradition is that it is too scholarly. I really do not understand where Longenecker is coming from here but he is determined to put something on us that is just not true. Possibly, it is his confusion about modern biblical scholarship verses historical scholarship. There are those “scholars” who believe that Jesus was indeed the Christ, and the word of God. They have PhDs but throw out, or ignore, anything that suggests that Jesus was not who they thought he was. Yes, they teach in conservative seminaries and produce a lot of young “men” and a few women who repeat their ideas in conservative churches. I do not consider this good scholarship. “Progressives allow for moral degeneracy and that saps the strength out of real religion.” Now this one seems to make a lot of sense. What Longenecker goes on to say is “religions demand moral purity. Real religion requires self discipline.” What can I say but now I understand this man’s tirade against Progressive Christianity. I do not believe anyone associated with Progressive Christianity is thinking about achieving moral purity. Whose morals? Morals in the Bible? How does one go about that? And then it get worse. He says, “The modernist sees religion not as self denial but self fulfillment.” This man has an agenda and it does not seem very Christian to me. We are aware of the imbalance in the world we live in. We seek to make choices that put us in sometimes difficult situations. We want to make a difference. Yes, sometimes we are successful and we celebrate those small victories. But I would not call this self-fulfillment. I do not believe this man understands anything about Progressive Christianity let alone our world. I suspect that this has more to do with having choices about how many babies our women have. His closing last two lines on this point was: “Another aspect of this point is that progressive Christians use artificial contraception and endorse abortion. It’s not rocket science to conclude that a population who stop having babies will soon die.” “The Church of the South is on the rise. Christianity is most vital in Africa, Asia and South America.” Let me finish this critique with one more quote. This is Longenecker’s reason or proof that his assumptions are correct. The church in the South is on the rise and churches in Africa, Asia and South America are growing at a rapid pace. I cannot imagine an area in the world that is more ripe for “salvation of souls, redemption of sin, heaven, hell damnation, the afterlife, angels and demons and all that stuff.” Of course this does not take into consideration the tremendous amounts of money denominations and wealthy conservative non-profits are spending to buff up this phenomenon. I am sorry to say that this is as much for political gain as it is about bringing these “poor, indigence people” to the Lord. Generally speaking these are not particularly educated people who are desperate for some kind of salvation. In many ways they are a lot closer to the abused and sorry conditions the Jewish community was living under during Jesus’ time and actually centuries before and after his death. As to the growth in the South, I am not certain how that is measured, but whatever it is, it has more to do with politics than faith in their “Lord Jesus.” There are six more challenges for Progressive Christians, but you get the idea. You can look it up and read the whole thing. I hope you do. It seems a little strange to me but while doing some research on this article I came across four more article on Patheos that predict the demise of progressive Christianity. I thought it was interesting that two of these articles were similar to the one by Fr. Longenecker and the other two were by younger people who said it just doesn’t do it for them. There were of course other articles that defended the intent and actions of progressive Christians. What was strange to me is none of the authors of the articles mentioned or even seemed to know anything about our organization. I guess that means we have come a long way since we created the term now nearly 27 years ago. I think I am OK with that. ~ Fred C. Plumer President, ProgressiveChristianity.org Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Kay from Florida, writes: Question: I have friends who seem to think believing that Jesus died for them is all they need to do. Some of them even treat other people badly and when I say something to them about being more Christian they just quote John 3:16 to me. What are your thoughts? Answer: By Rev. Mark Sandlin Dear Kay, Most of us could probably quote at least one verse of the Bible and most likely that verse would be John 3:16. It has been called the greatest love story ever told. Martin Luther, (the early church reformer) called that verse “the Gospel in a nutshell.” Someone else once said that “if the Bible was destroyed and only John 3:16 remained, that would be enough information of God’s love to change the human heart”. It is also, by far, the most popular verse for cardboard signs at sporting events as well as for wooden roadside reminders. Personally though, I sort of disagree with Martin Luther and others who hold this verse in such high regard. If anything, taken by itself, I find it to be symbolic of contemporary theological perspectives that find their way into books like the Prayer of Jabez and The Left Behind Series. They are overly simplified and promote a bumper sticker kind of theology that says, “Jesus did it, so come and get it.” When we let John 3:16 stop at an understanding of “Jesus did it, come and get it,” we are only telling half the story. The remainder of the story is up to us. You see for me John 3:16, is incomplete without 1 John 3:16 – or at least the meaning behind 1st John 3:16. Let me read them to you together. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” I'm much less concerned about what the theological question of atonement would encourage us to do and more concerned about what the life and teachings that lead to the cross would encourage us to do. In my way of reading these verses, in John 3:16 we learn how far Jesus was willing to go to show us how much we are loved, then in 1st John 3:16 we learn how far we should be willing to go in response to that love to show others how much they are loved. Far too often, those of us who consider ourselves or call ourselves, “Christian,” forget to practice our faith as if these two verses go together. Somehow, we don't realize that on its own John 3:16 is only half the story. When we think it is the whole story, it is just a little bit too easy to feel slightly privileged, it is just a little bit too easy to measure the rest of the world by your own standards, judging whether people measure up rather than just loving them. The truth is we all need to be a little bit better about turning our faith outward. You see as John 3:16 says, the ultimate sacrifice was made for us, but it's not some sort of soul saving buffet - “Jesus did it, come and get it.” It comes with requirements, some assembly required, the work is not yet done. When we act like the work has already been done FOR US, so there's nothing left to do, we lose sight of the call to respond to that love and share it. We become judgmental, less accepting of those who are different from us, and we start to slowly slip into a life motivated not by love, but by hate. Dr. Martin Luther King puts it this way, “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” ~ Rev. Mark Sandlin Read and share online here About the Author Mark Sandlin is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) from the South. He currently serves at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. He is a co-founder of The Christian Left. His blog, RevMarkSandlin, has been named as one of the “Top Ten Christian Blogs.” Mark received The Associated Church Press' Award of Excellence in 2012. His work has been published on "The Huffington Post," "Sojourners," "Time," "Church World Services," and even the "Richard Dawkins Foundation." He's been featured on PBS's "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly" and NPR's "The Story with Dick Gordon.” Follow Mark on Facebook and Twitter @marksandlin _________________________________________________ Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited "The Passion of the Christ" Mel Gibson's Film and Biblical Scholarship – Part IV Last week I examined the connection between Psalm 22 and the earlier gospel accounts of Jesus' crucifixion. This week I turn to Isaiah 40-55, which was the other primary source from the Hebrew Scriptures that was so obviously woven into the story of the final events in Jesus' life. The author of these chapters is called II Isaiah because his 6th century writings were attached to the scroll of Isaiah. Yet because George F. Handel used his words in the Oratorio entitled "The Messiah," he is probably better known by most people than the original Isaiah. Who is not familiar with the words: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God," or "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord," or "Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together (Is. 40:1-5)?" It was with these words, that this unknown prophet introduced into his narrative a mythological figure, called 'the servant,' who first appears when God is heard to say: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him (42:1)." II Isaiah then sketches out the role of 'the servant,' who is surely a synonym for the Jewish nation, and in the process charts a new vocation for the Jewish people. They are no longer called to status and power. Their role is rather to be sacrificial and self-giving, to absorb the abuse of the world, to bear the sufferings of the nations and through this means, to restore wholeness to life. In II Isaiah's words, 'the servant' is to be "despised, rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Is. 53: 3)." First century Christians clearly found in this portrait an image by which they could explain the suffering of Jesus and so 'the servant' in Isaiah began to shape the Church's memory of Jesus. This connection became so intense that Christians even began to say that II Isaiah 'predicted' the things that Jesus would actually do. The facts, however, are exactly the opposite. The historical details of Jesus' death were simply unknown when the gospels were written. Jesus died alone, with no witnesses to record the events of his trial, torture and crucifixion, because at his arrest "all the disciples forsook him and fled (Mk. 14:50.)" The first Christians knew only that he had been crucified. Years later when the Christians needed to write an account of Jesus death to guide them in their worship, they drew their images from what they called 'prophecies' in II Isaiah and Psalm 22. II Isaiah said, "the servant stood silent before his accusers (53:7)," so Mark portrayed Jesus as silent before Pilate and the chief priests (14:60, 15:5). II Isaiah said 'the servant' was "numbered with the transgressors (53:12)," creating the narratives of thieves crucified with Jesus. The thieves are barely mentioned in Mark but the connection with Isaiah is clear. Mark writes: "And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, 'he was numbered with the transgressors' (15:27,28)." Matthew develops this story by noting that both thieves added to the verbal abuse Jesus received (27: 44). Luke expanded it further, suggesting that one of the thieves became penitent, asking to be remembered when Jesus came to his kingdom (23:39-43). Isaiah II said of 'the servant' that he would make his tomb with the rich, (53:9). This reference led to the introduction of Joseph of Arimathea into the passion narrative. Mark emphasizes his wealth by having him wrap Jesus 'in fine linen' and place him in a newly hewn rock sepulcher (15:43-46). Matthew follows II Isaiah even more specifically by calling him a 'rich man.' By the time of John, Joseph has evolved into being 'a secret disciple,' who provides a tomb in a beautiful garden and burial with 'a hundred pound of myrrh and aloes (19:38-42). The idea that a convicted felon, like Jesus, would be given a burial attended by such splendor is obviously not history. Paul, who died before the first gospel was written, certainly knew nothing about the burial tradition or the women coming on the first day of the week. All Paul says is, "He was buried (I Cor. 15:4)." The probable fate of the crucified Jesus was to be thrown with other victims into a common, unmarked grave. The general consensus of New Testament scholars is that whatever the Easter experience was, it dawned first in the minds of the disciples who had fled to Galilee for safety, driving us to the conclusion that the burial story in the gospels is both legendary and was developed directly from the words of II Isaiah. 'The servant' of Isaiah II "made intercession for the transgressors (53:12)." This detail was generally ignored until Luke added it to his expanding portrait, having Jesus intercede for the soldiers by praying "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (23:34)" and giving assurance to the penitent thief, "today you will be with me in paradise (vs. 43)." The final step needed to complete the passion story came when II Isaiah's 'servant' was merged with other symbols drawn from the worship life of the synagogue. Paul called Jesus the new paschal lamb (I Cor. 5:7), whose shed blood, like that of the original Passover lamb, had broken the power of death. It was an image that blended easily into the role of 'the servant.' Next imagery drawn from the Day of Atonement was applied to Jesus. He became both the sacrificial lamb of Yom Kippur whose blood washed away the sins of the people, and the scapegoat who made the people clean by bearing all their sins away. These images also fitted II Isaiah's portrait, since, like 'the servant,' they too absorbed the pain of human evil and made the people at one with God. That is how the passion narrative, written to recreate liturgically the death of Jesus and to interpret how it brought salvation, came into being. For anyone to suggest that these accounts are history is to demonstrate biblical ignorance. For the Pope to view this film and announce, "It is as it was," is an action that confuses piety with a lack of scholarship. For Christian leaders not to face what the last 150 years of biblical scholarship has made obvious about the passion narrative is to misread the Bible totally. The tragedy of Gibson's film is that it presumes that the gospel accounts of the crucifixion tell us what actually happened. They do not. What they do tell us is what second generation Christians understood the death of Jesus to mean in the plan of salvation and to issue an invitation to believers not only to "watch with him," but also to enter the Christ experience. The interpretive process had by now wrapped around Jesus the role of "the servant" of II Isaiah, the Passover lamb and the sacrificial animals of Yom Kippur. These were the images that gave content to Paul's earlier claim that Jesus had died "in accordance with the scriptures." Next these Jewish themes were combined with the wrenching events that occurred just before the gospels were written (70-100 C.E.). A war had been fought between the Jews and the Romans, resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. As is common in warfare, this war had loosed the hostility of the conquering Romans into that area's bloodstream. That hostility victimized all Jews, but its primary targets were the Temple priesthood, the Sadducees and the Orthodox party of Judaism, all of which were assumed to have been guilty of plunging the nation into that war. It took, therefore, the inevitable form of a violent anti-Semitism. Even though the early Christians were themselves primarily Jews, they also shared a great hostility toward the Orthodox party that viewed them as revisionists, who did not hold the "true faith." These Christians defended themselves by joining with the Romans in the abuse of the Temple priesthood and the Orthodox party. "We were not the Jews who brought this destruction on our nation," they asserted. "Indeed, those Jews who brought this disaster on us are the same ones who conspired with the Romans to put to death the Jesus we follow." These thoughts were then written into the story about the crucifixion with Pilate portrayed with compassion and the Jews portrayed as culprits and villains. I will go into this period of history more fully in next week's column. It is the substance of my book: Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes. The original writers of the Passion story were well aware that the details of the crucifixion had been created for liturgical purposes. They knew, for example, that the idea that the Jews would execute a teacher because he interpreted the law, the Torah, from a new perspective, was unheard of in Jewish history. They knew that the Sanhedrin would never meet to judge Jesus in the middle of the night since that was in direct violation of the Torah, which forbids judgment save in the light of day. But these details mattered little when Judaism was prostrate before Roman authority. That is, however, something that Mel Gibson should have understood. So should both his religious devotees and his religious critics. None of them seems to embrace the fact that to be accurate in telling the crucifixion story is to produce an anti-Semitic film, for anti-Semitism was already overtly present in the biblical account itself. All this film will do ultimately is to justify the continuation of that prejudice. That is its shame and its embarrassment. Next week I will examine how the story of Jesus' passion became for the Jews the primary source of prejudice, pain and death throughout western history. It is not a pretty story and it still remains the dark underside of the Christian Faith. ~ John Shelby Spong Originally published March 17, 2004 Announcements Letting Go Online eCourse with Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality & Practice 8-06 thru 8-26, 2017 Freedom, the wisdom traditions all say, comes from letting go. By giving, releasing, and clearing out things, we open up new pathways for the Divine energies to enter and transform us. Click here for more information/registration .

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