Damaris have produced some multimedia and study resources for schools and churches in conjunction with the new Prince Caspian movie. See Damaris Media: Prince Caspian.
Free CD-ROM of resources if you’re in the UK.
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Stu, over at Definitive : a way of moving beyond the infinite wanted people to post their (random) thoughts on the future of (the) church.
So, I’ll post on and off over the next few weeks.
My first random thought about the topic is that we often forget that the Church (or church) is the Spirit’s. And that, while human endeavour and action shapes both its good and bad, ultimately the Church is the community formed, shaped and sustained by the Spirit of God. Sometimes, in our efforts to shape the church, predict the church’s future, and point out it’s good points and bad points we often forget that, as do lapses into Christomonism and such like.
The liturgical imperative, “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church,†should be more proactively engaged with, rather than just passive background noise.
Received the DVD and pamphlet for The Social Justice Commission of the Anglican Church - The Hikoi of Hope: Walking On in the mail the other day. I’ve only had a quick look at it but it looks like a well put together resource looking back at the Hikoi of Hope 10 years on, and providing resources for churches and other groups to explore issues of social justice within the present.
A while back I came across the Canongate series of Pocket Canons (see Greenflame · Nick Cave on the Gospel of Mark). I like the series, and now I’ve found that all the introductory pieces written for the different biblical books in that series have been collected into a single volume - “Revelations: Personal Responses To The Books Of The Bible†introduced by Richard Holloway.
I’ve borrowed the book from the university library in order to look at Bono’s piece on the Psalams for a course I’m preparing, but I’ve found that I’m dipping into it every now and then to read another person’s reflection on a biblical book. Some really interesting responses to, not only the content of the biblical material, but also the context it has been encountered in.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Darren wrote in an email “i’ll do serenity asap…â€. That was June 2006.
Now, however, he’s started the great Firefly Study Series and you can find the first parts at:
- Firefly Study Series - Introduction | Youth Ministry Blog
- Firefly Study Series - Episode 01 - Serenity | Youth Ministry Blog
- Firefly Study Series - Episode 02 - The Train Job | Youth Ministry Blog
He’s also noted the link (via Tensegrities) to a series of Firefly clips over at Cowgirl Jazz.
You would think that there should be a really good introductory survey article, essay or book chapter out there that describes various distinctives within Christian spirituality - either by theme or by historical period. Something that looks briefly at each of things like monastic tradition (desert and cloister), mysticism, mendicant spirituality (Franciscan & Dominican), Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, Holiness/Wesleyan etc.
Now, I know there are some good books out there like the one’s below - but what about a magazine or introductory academic article? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Books that do this include:
- A Brief History of Spirituality (Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion) by Philip Sheldrake
- Exploring Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Reader edited by Kenneth Collins
- A Brief History of Christian Spirituality by Bradley Holt
- The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality (Blackwell Companions to Religion)
As does something like Foster’s Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith does this.
I shall continue my trawling of journals, books and magazines…
This looks interesting - a public lecture coming up at the University of Auckland by Edward James (Professor of Medieval History, University College Dublin) on Tolkien and Lewis.
When: May 14
Where: Library Theatre B15
Time: 6.30pm
Here’s the blurb:
Tolkien and Lewis, two Oxford academics, were drawn together firstly by their love of medieval literature; their friendship took a new turn when Tolkien was instrumental in converting Lewis to Christianity; but the best known fruit of their friendship — and the main reason why both are remembered today, throughout the world — are the fantasy worlds which they created, Middle Earth and Narnia, and the books in which these worlds are found: The Lord of the Rings and the sequence of books beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Their fantasy worlds are both expressions of their deep Christian commitment (Tolkien called his book “a Catholic epicâ€), but they reveal the differences between these two scholars just as much as their similarities.
Link: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: Friendship, religion and fantasy - The University of Auckland
“Rapture” theology, and indeed the broader category of ‘apocalyptic’ that it sits within, lends itself to dramatic, visual imagery that can be picked up by comics books. The latest of these, Armageddon Now: Word War 3, is about to hit the shelves (if it hasn’t already). And as with many of these things it juxtaposes contemporary world-events with a particular (often loose) interpretation of apocalyptic biblical material. The way things are portrayed you get the impression that many would like to be ‘left behind’ so they can go to town with extreme armament and fight their way into the pearly gates.
You can see the main web site for comic over at: Welcome to - Armageddon Now: Word War 3
There’s an interview with one of the creators of the comic here at NEWSARAMA.COM: ROB LIEFELD GETS BIBLICAL.
Related links - Greenflame · Once Upon a Tribulation
While collecting up various links and articles relating to spirituality in New Zealand I came across these from the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. The first is a media release about some research they commissioned back in 2002-2003 about people’s perception of both church and spirituality. The second is a magazine piece that gives more details (and diagrams) of that research.
I’m jotting the links down here so I don’t lose them, while I write up a piece of a course relating to the perceived split between spirituality and religion in some people’s eyes.
- Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand // Media: Spirituality Among NZers (20 March 2003)
- Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand // Media: Outside - Looking In; Researching the perceptions of non-churchgoers - from the Feb 2003 issue of sPanz.
Anyone know if the Anglicans, Catholics or Baptists have something similar publicly available?
Related link: Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand // The spirituality buzz by Kevin Ward. (A summary of sorts of: Ward, Kevin. “Is New Zealand’s future churchless?”, Stimulus 12/2 (2004), 2-11. Available as a PDF here)
Over at InsideCatholic.com - Science Fiction and the Areopagus, Mark Shea contends that science fiction (and fantasy) are one of the last places left in the media to explore questions relating to philosophy and religion. And the intriguing proposition that fandom is similar to the Pauline Areopagus.
Such work is, it seems to me, vital. St. Paul did not wait around for the Athenians to come to him. He walked into a city where, as Luke marveled, “all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21), and opened his mouth on the Areopagus. It’s a perfect description of the world of fandom.
Hat tip to The Sci Fi Catholic: Mark Shea Discusses Catholicism in Sci-Fi.
Related links:
More details are now available for the A Rocha conference, “Eden to Aotearoa: From Biblical Hope to Ecological Action”, being held at Raglan over 30 May to 2 June.
- Conference Registration Forms (150kb)
- Brochure - Cover (150kb)
- Brochure - Inside (930kb)
Received The Mediated Spirit multimedia CD-ROM by Peter Horsfield in the mail the other day and I’m looking forward to having a moment in the next week or so to have a good look at it. Initial surveys look promising.
Here’s the blurb about “The Mediated Spirit” off the web site:
One of the first major studies to provide in digital format a systematic exploration of the important role played by media in the historical development and present ferment of Christianity. It places the changes brought by digital media in historical context, illustrating how Christianity has always been a mediated spirit, its different forms inextricably linked to the nature of its cultural mediation.With more than 1,000 links and 300 pages providing the chance to follow a topic or follow your own interests, the CDRom is an essential resource for researchers, educators, planners or those just interested in understanding how media have influenced the past and are shaping the present.
A selection of the book that are piled up waiting to be read - though given time constraints I’ll have to skim read more than I’d like to.
- Online Church? First Steps Towards Virtual Incarnation by Mark Howe. P112 in the Grove Books Pastoral series and discusses insights from www.stpixels.com.
- Godly Play: An Imaginative Approach to Religious Education by Jerome W. Berryman, published by Augsburg/Fortress Press. Picked up from a sale table after recognising the title from conversations with Steve Taylor. There’s also a handbook with activities in it - see Augsburg Fortress | Teaching Godly Play.
- The Ethics of Human Cloning by Neil Messer. E122 in the Grove Books Ethics series.
- “In Conversation” published by Azure. A collection of interviews originally published in Third Way Magazine.
- Practical Theology: On Earth as It Is in Heaven by Terry A. Veling. Published by Orbis.
- Minding the Spirit: The Study of Christian Spirituality edited by Elizabeth A. Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows.
- Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church edited by Robin Maas and Gabriel O’Donnell.
There is another pile waiting on my work desk, and still more waiting to be collected from various libraries.
Here’s the details of the next University of Auckland School of Theology public lecture.
Reaching the Well: The Preacher’s Creative Process
Dr. Jana Childers
VENUE: Algie Lecture Theatre, Law Building, The University of Auckland. [9-17 Eden Crescent Auckland]
DATE/TIME: Monday 31st March, 6.00 p.m.
COST: Koha (donation).
In her School of Theology Lecture Dr Jana Childers will note that few preachers avoid the dry well. Writer’s block, faith struggles and fatigue affect many. Most spend at least the occasional sleepless Saturday night second-guessing themselves, wondering where fresh inspiration is to be found.
This lecture examines the creative process and explores links between human creativity and the work of the Holy Spirit. It points to models of creativity, patterns of practice and skillbuilding exercises that can be sources of increased creativity in preaching.
Click on the picture below to download the PDF with more details in it. There’s an RSVP date in it but I imagine you can RSVP late (or just turn up if all else fails)
I’m always keen in finding resources about biblical interpretation aimed at the wider church, so I’ll be downloading this book by Stephen Dawes now available from connexions » Blog Archive » Why Bible-believing Methodists Shouldn’t Eat Black Pudding. Anything with a title like that is worth having a look at.
Hat tip to Ben at Faith and Theology
Tim puts out an open invitation to those going to be around at the SBL International meeting in Auckland in early July:
International (and indeed national, of any and all nationalities) bloggers with an interest in academic study of the Bible and/or Theology in any other of its (subsidiary?) forms are invited to share a meal and chat.
More at: SansBlogue: SBL International Bloggers.
Later this year I’m co-lecturing a course called “Spirituality in Aotearoa New Zealand” (which will also be offered in onsite and online modes). My bits focus particularly on Christian spirituality, the theme of peace-making, and connections with the ‘everyday world’. Somewhere in there we’ll be looking at how some Christian traditions that have tended to ignore things like contemplative spiritualities or spiritual disciplines from the wider Christian community.
For example, this sort of thing: The unexpected monks - The Boston Globe (Hat top to Ian Mobsby).
Clearing out old web links I’d saved over the past few months I came across this one.
John La Grou’s reflections, microclesia >> AI Jesus, on interacting the AI Jesus over at www.godsbot.org.
A couple of links today to PBS articles that look at religion and cinema.
It’s Shrove Tuesday already so I’ll be making pancakes tonight while we watch NZ play England at 20/20 cricket on the TV. Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, is also Waitangi Day here in NZ so all six of us will be off work and school for the day.
Over the years I’ve done various different things for the season of Lent (see here). This year I haven’t really got anything planned beyond a simple Bible reading plan and sending off for the (free) MDG praying cards from The Social Justice Commission of the Anglican Church. With all the changes coming up in the next month or so, keeping it simple is preferable.
Greenflame · Lent contains various posts relating to to the Lenten season, and links to related resources and studies (some of which is downloadable). Here are some more I’ve come across recently to add to the mix:
- Caritas Lenten reflection programme 2008 | Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand - Catholic series
- Assembly of Confessing Congregations – Following Jesus - Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark. Link via Uniting Church (South Australia) - UC E-News - January 16, 2008. Related link Pancake Day - What is UnitingCare Pancake Day?
- UCA VicTas - Lenten Resource 2006 - Description of using “a series of Retablos styled boxes that contain images, objects and stories to allow the community to reflect, and remember Christ life and teachings as we move towards Easter.”
- e~mergent kiwi: Lenten 7-pack a spiritual resource for your Lent
- Church Mission Society (CMS) | Lent resources | Mission Shaped Intro - Free course which could fit with a Lenten series - link via jonnybaker: mission shaped intro. See also
Interesting article by Real Live Preacher over at Christian Century on the enquiring mind and faith.
Some people see the boundary between mystery and science as a battleground with barbed wire and trenches on either side. But I think that the place where our searching and empirical minds meet the mysteries of the world is the realm of worship and poetry.
Full article at: The Christian Century: Faith matters - Brother Scientist (January 15, 2008) by Gordon Atkinson.
Another very busy week this week - two significant birthdays (mine included a zero in it, and fourth-born reached a significant milestone too), lots of end of year stuff, more other stuff (which was quite stressful), Kim had lots on as she finished up work to start a new job in the new year, and the kids finished school mid-day Thursday.
So now, for the next 10 days or so, they’ll be a brief blog interlude while we all enjoy a break from work, school, kindy and various commitments and spend some time with each other and our wider families.
This year the Pohutukawa trees all seem to be in fine form - even the little ones that were planted this year on the road side by the local school. The colour is refreshing at this busy time.
Have a good Christmas everyone.
Duncan Macleod (AKA Pacific Highlander and of Duncan’s TV Ad Land) has a short piece reflecting on Christmas in Journey (produced by the Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland) about celebrating Christmas in our everyday world. See Jingle all the way.
As part of a low-key celebration of Advent here at home we normally have an Advent calendar that the children take turns at updating each day (or having an Advent candle burn down a marked section each day). Finding an Advent calendar that isn’t loaded with chocolate or associated with a television programme or movie can be pretty hard, so a few years back I found a reasonable one (in a post-Christmas sale) that told bits of the Christmas story by turning a central cardboard dial each day to reveal the next passage of Scripture.
Now, while that calendar was much better at telling the story than your average ‘Finding Nemo’ or ‘Shrek’ Advent calendar, some of the Scripture passages it had were a little odd (especially taken out of the context of the wider passage) and after 3 years or so of using it, it was time for a change.
So I was interested in Jonny Baker’s post - 25 new from si smith - advent comic, calendar and flatpack models which pointed through to Proost - 25 Advent Comic and Calendar (PDF Download), which looked interesting.
So I’ve downloaded the advent calendar package (not really interested in the models, so didn’t get those) and each day we’re taking the next day’s cartoons and putting them in a multi-pocket clear-file that the kids can flip through over the Advent period. There are blanks left in speech bubbles for you to add your own words (which the kids are supplying) and we get to talk about the story as we go and recap it when we add a new page. Plus, if your children like coloring in pictures like my daughter there is scope for doing ‘exegesis with crayons’.
Early days so far, but it looks like it’ll work well.
On a related note - the kids have also enjoyed Nicholas Allan’s “Jesus’ Christmas Party” with the cutout manger scene and figures for retelling the story.
Andii helpfully points to the UK Just Church site.
Just Church is a free programme for use by churches, Christian groups and ecumenical bodies. It’s designed to help you embed a concern for poverty and social justice issues in the life of your community.
It looks like it’s well supported by various church and para-church organisations. The course material can be downloaded free, though printed copies are available for a small fee (and there’s a DVD you can buy with additional material, such as video, to supplement the base course materials).
There’s also a (free) package for doing a Lenten series using the materials. Definitely worth checking out for a look.
We’re not on for a children’s talk at church for a while, but I’ve been trying to thrash out some ideas that work and some that didn’t in advance. I thought I’d jot them down here because, as Steve found out in Adelaide a while back (see e~mergent kiwi: stories of failure), it’s useful to hear of things that didn’t work out as well as those that did.
As always you can see all the posts in this category here.
Jesus as train conductor
A talk I did ages ago after seeing the guards on the train go around the carriage making obviously exhausted school kids give up their seats for fit and healthy adults. The children and I made a big train track at the front of the church using Lego Duplo trains. It’s been a while but I’m sure it included the value of children in the Kingdom of God, Jesus buying tickets for us to ride the train to God, the train stopping anywhere to let people on, and ‘I’m going to ride that glory train’ gospel choir music.
What didn’t work so well: The track took a long time to build (and hence took ‘too long’ for the slot given according to some ‘grown ups’), and I forgot to invite interested adults down to see the train. Several adults and older youth wanted to see the train too, but we had to pack it up. I now often stop and ask if anyone from the back seats wants to have look at what we’re doing down the front.
Hand puppets
It seemed like a good idea at the time to use a zebra hand puppet for the talk. Forgot to work out clearly what the point of the talk was first, and then use the puppet to augment that. I’m sure I had something to work with but it didn’t integrate well. Got the big ‘thumbs down’ from my family evaluation for that one.
House on the sand and the rock
Literally made sand castles and rock piles at front of church and then poured water on them. What happened to them? Also read the parable from “The Lion Storyteller Bible†(Bob Hartman) (which I think is quite good).
What didn’t work so well: The activity worked well. The story worked well. Together they took too long. I’d retell the parable while we did the activity next time. Also, using lots of sand and water up the front caused a few of the church managers to worry about the carpet.
Prayers in the darkness
Talked about Jesus being the light of the world, and also about the importance of prayer - both individually and corporately. Used the example of some small tealight candles. One on it’s own in a dark place makes a real difference, but a whole lot make a huge difference. On the whole it worked well, but…
It’s really hard to make our church dark so the effect of the tealights didn’t work so well as I thought it might. Also need another adult to keep an eye on the candles so they don’t get bumped or touched (I had them on a plank down on the floor). Using a gas match allowed the kids to light them safely though. (Also, the odd comment that we’re not Catholic so don’t need candles from adults who missed the point of the talk - sigh).
Who’s loved the most by God?
Kim did this and it worked really well. It was impromptu and the kids all came to the party. Kim had the four kids arrange themselves in different orders - age, height (not the same as age), ticklishness, love of a particular food (I think). And then she had them arrange themselves in the order of who was loved most by her. The kids all clumped together so she could hug them all the same. And so an analogy for God’s love.
Possible problems: If one of the kids is in a bad mood or is feeling like mucking around it might not work. Also they needed to be confident with their mother showing them affection in public. (I don’t think I could have pulled this one off, but Kim did).
Strength in numbers
Got adult ‘volunteer’ from the congregation and put them on a chair. Then wrapped a strong of wool around them and had them stand up. Then repeated it with a bit more wool and had them ‘break free’ again. Finally, wrapped the ‘victim’ in enough wool to immobilize him. Then dressed him in a funny hat, glasses and face paint. The point being that sometimes individuals need to work with others to achieve a task. It’s a pretty general talk, but I’ve adapted it several times to deal with particular things from Scripture that are up for discussion.
Downside: Don’t pick a ‘victim’ who can’t take a joke. Also don’t pick a claustrophobe.
The humanity of Jesus
Did this just after Christmas when my youngest (who was born just before Christmas) was only a few weeks old. Wanted to connect that that Jesus in the Christmas story (who we forget about after Dec 25 often) was incarnated as real flesh and blood. So we counted toes and fingers (and marvelled at their smallness), checked out the clothes and blankets, and talked about babies in general. Just trying to get beyond the Christmas card Jesus to the God who ‘became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.’
Downside: I didn’t check with Kim first about ‘borrowing’ fourth-born for the talk. Ouch!
That’s all for now.
The other week I borrowed a friend’s copy of “a genuinely educated ministry”: Three Studies on Theological Education in the Uniting Church of Australia by Andrew Dutney, principal of Parkin-Wesley College in Adelaide.
It’s a collection of Dutney’s three research projects submitted for a course at Flinders University designed for educational administrators and managers. As such, each section reads like an academic report (which may not be your cup of tea), but I found it quite accessible, though each report draws upon common material so sometimes I skimmed ahead.
Each project is oriented around a different question or subject:
- Part 1. An historical study of the place of theological education in the inherited traditions of the Uniting Church in Australia
- Which looked at tensions that can arise from different views of theological education within Reformed and Methodist traditions
- Part 2. Theological education in the Uniting Church in Australia: historical trajectories and the future
- Which, in part, looked at how different parts of the church viewed their roles in the shaping and control of theological education, as well as the impact of para-church educators
- Part 3. Where do our ministers come from now?
- The issues arising from candidates for ministry coming for training later in life, often with prior theological education, and often already established in lay ministry.
That’s only a brief summary of some of the points in the book, but if you’re interested in theological education and some of the issues it faces in this part of the world then it’s well worth the read.
Related links:
- New Books at Parkin-Wesley College
- A couple of Bible studies by Andrew Dutney at the recent Presbytery and Synod of SA meeting: Part 1 (mp3) and Part 2 (mp3).
- I can’t remember if I cited this in the thesis, but I definitely skimmed Dutney’s book “Playing God: Ethics and Faith” and found it interesting.
Noticed in the latest PCANZ - Bush Telegraph (November 2007) that the Assembly sponsored resources under the Social Justice and Advocacy section of the web site are starting to be filled out. From the newsletter,
The first in a series of four group study resources produced by Assembly Office is hot of the press.Copies of Coming of Age: bring on the baby boomers will be available from your parish minister. Ageing is something that affects all of us. As you reflect on the issues raised in the resource – elder abuse, financial hardship – also consider what actions you and your congregation might take to make life better for ageing Kiwis in your community.
Look out for the next resource in the series (due out in December), which is on youth wellness.
Coming of Age: bring on the baby boomers is also available as a PDF download.
Which probably also means that as CASI (Churches’ Agency on Social Issues) begins to wind up the resources on that web site might start disappearing. You can check out their latest news in the Bush Telegraph here and also at Broadsheet - Index - Churches’ Agency on Social Issues - New Zealand.
A new comic book on the religion in comic books radar, Some New Kind Of Slaughter, or Lost In The Flood (And How We Found Home Again): Diluvian Myths From Around The World from Archaia Studios Press, which juxtaposes several ancient flood stories (e.g Noah, Atrahasis) with contemporary narratives of global warming and rising sea levels. Will be keeping an eye out for it.
There are some sample pages over at SOME NEW KIND OF SLAUGHTER #1 - NEWSARAMA
Today is, if you pay attention to children’s television (particularly on the US-oriented but locally adapted Sky channels) and retail outlets, Halloween. And I have to admit that I’m not a big fan, and it annoys me a many levels. The biggest thing that gets to me isn’t the ’spiritual’ content that many people I know object to, but rather that the entire concept feels like an imposition from an alien culture. Halloween wasn’t celebrated much when I was a child (if at all), and I can’t ever remember my parents talking about it being common for them. So there’s no tradition of it being celebrated in my community or family, and so the inescapable barrage of messages to celebrate it, spend money on it and make it part of the community’s life grinds on me. It feels like another attempt to impose culture from the US (and lesser extent UK) into this one. Ah, colonialism, my old friend.
The ‘trick or treat’ thing also becomes bizarre too. Firstly, it’s still light outside being daylight saving. Secondly, with no tradition of doing this there are a stream of disappointed children walking up the road wondering why no-one has any treats for them. And lastly, I know the more elderly folks around here don’t like it because, again, there’s no tradition of Halloween so having costumed teenagers banging on your door demanding treats is pretty scary.
Thinking about the whole thing though has made me stop and think about those people who see Christmas and Easter as a cultural imposition. That the message of Christmas, whether religious or commercial, is the thin edge of the wedge, and who want nothing to do with it. In light of my experiences of the minor imposition of Halloween I have more empathy for how they feel, and hope that allows me to separate out what’s really important in those festivals from the stuff that isn’t. And also, what cultural impositions do I ignore or affirm because they resonate with values and traditions that I’m biased towards, and don’t see the damage or annoyance they might do to others?
Also, Steve Hollinghurst has some interesting thoughts on the role of Christendom in Halloween over at On Earth as in Heaven: Removing Christendom from Halloween, and Andii also comments on those thought,s and adds some other ones about how we deal with death at Nouslife: Removing Christendom from Halloween.
Update:
See also:
Should make the conspiracy theorists happy. Might print a copy out to pin on the wall too.
See Da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ to go online - 26 Oct 2007 - Religion and beliefs news - NZ Herald.
On the children’s talk again today. Had a few ideas rattling around in my head, including one involving paper airplanes and Isa 40 and another involving something based on a game show. In the end decided to go with an talk introducing biblical genres to children.
Started with an apple and asked how we might go about sharing it out. Out of that discussion, produced my trust Swiss army knife and went through each of the different bits of it - asking if the bit in question (screwdriver, tweezers, can opener, knife etc.) would be the bit to use. Then cored and sliced the apple in to slivers to hand out.
Talked a bit about how the Bible is like a Swiss army knife. Not just a single book, but made up of all sorts of different parts and genres that are like the ‘toolkit’ build into the knife. So the genres of saga, myth, history, biography, lament, prophetic voices (ethics), letters, gospel, poetry and proverbs all help us with the different things we have to be, know and do.
Also, talked about how if we try to make part of the Bible (or a genre) do or mean something else that it’s meant to can end up making a mess of things - like if we tried to cut up the apple with the screwdriver attachment.
It was pretty rough and ready talk but seemed to go okay. The analogy will only go so far - and it wouldn’t be good to limit the Bible to only being a ‘toolbox’ - but it is a useful way of introducing the concept of genre.
(I’ve done something similar for hermeneutics classes in the past - where I’ve used snippets of musical genres in a gameshow format “Name the Genre!” to introduce the concepts of biblical genres).
Interesting article on Eureka Street: Australia’s ageing theological workforce. Pertinent to me as I look for that theological teaching/research position that has eluded me so far.
As someone who finds the plots threads of new Battlestar Galactic series intrigues (and intersecting with my own research in some ways) I’ve been interested in the various religious themes that come up from time to time (Cylon religion, reincarnation, transcendence). So it was nice to find this Beliefnet interview with a creator of the series: The Theology of Battlestar Galactica’s Cylons — Beliefnet.com
Hat tip to Kevin Kelly — The Technium — Holy Technology
Tyndale have produced a new graphical Bible version entitled Manga Messiah, joining the growing throng of different graphical representations of all or part of the Bible. This time the art is Japanese, though it is colourised and includes more text than would be usual in more authentic manga. And it’s focused on the Gospels, with other parts of the Bible to be produced at later dates (I think).
There’s a review of it over at Manga Life - Manga Messiah Review, which concludes that its target audience is not clearly enough defined. At some point I’ll try and track down a copy, but from the sample art in the review I think “The Manga Bible” appeals more.
Related links:
Greenflame · In the post - The Manga Bible
Greenflame · The Bible - Graphic interpretations
A couple of books on the go at the moment that I borrowed from the library after seeing them on a couple of blogs.
Firstly, A Case Of Conscience by James Blish, which is centred around a Jesuit biologists struggle with finding the perfect, moral alien society that doesn’t have any understanding of God. In a similar vein to later books like Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow and Children of God, and to a certain extent Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead.
The book is part of the excellent SF Masterworks for Gollancz, a series of reprinted classic or significant science fiction works.
Other related links:
- SF Masterworks - Wikipedia
- A Case of Conscience - Wikipedia
- The SF Site Featured Review: A Case Of Conscience
I’ve read some other of Blish’s work before but had never come across this one until I say it mentioned on The Sci Fi Catholic: The Sacred & the Profane (with the follow article The Sci Fi Catholic: The Sacred & the Profane Part 2, Christian Tragedy?)
The second book is As Far As We Know: Conversations about Science, Life and the Universe by Paul Callaghan and Kim Hill, with excellent complementary illustrations by Dylan Horrocks. It’s a collection of edited transcripts of the conversations about science between physicist Paul Callaghan and Kim Hill on Radio New Zealand National: Saturday Morning with Kim Hill.
Found via Physics illustrations published - Dylan’s blog
I’m enjoying both books, and the ‘As Far As We Know“ book is good for dipping into for a quick chapter or two.
As a fan of the Doctor from way back (I think I started watching around 1974) I’m intrigued by this: ‘Christlike’ Dr Who in church service | Metro.co.uk.
Article in the local paper on the juxtapositioning of electronic ads for Hell’s Pizzas with the Bible College of New Zealand and the local funeral home. Hell arrives at heaven’s door - Auckland news on Stuff.co.nz. While the pizzas taste good, they don’t get my custom because I think there’s enough problems in the world without someone glorifying (and commodifying) those problems as pizza flavours. (Still, I imagine it would make a nice case study for someone doing the meat offered to idols and freedom in Christ themes in 1 Cor).
I saw something similar last year at the prize-giving for the kids’ soccer club. The club was supported by both Hell’s Pizzas and the local Baptist church trust (among other sponsors) but they’d put those two up next to each other on the sponsors’ signage.
Relating to the post from a few days ago (Greenflame · Practical reflection upon one’s faith), Mary Hess has a post on her Tensengrites blog about Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary launching a free, online learning program, as well as links to other similar projects and some comments on them.
Stu’s blog - Stu’s a-Musings - bites the digital dust (along with its archives! No!) There are seasons for these things, but it’s sad to see someone on the blogroll disappear. I appreciated Stu’s honesty and public wrestling with stuff over there, but fully understand why he’d want to stop. Thanks for the memories, Stu.
Perhaps, like Andrew, we can live in hope for Stu to reinvent his digital presence anew.
Recently I’ve been thinking frequently about the place of practical theological reflection by those in the church who have no time or energy for formalized theological study programmes but still have a desire to integrate their faith in the real world. The practical outworking of faith in ways that connect with their stage and place in life brought about by, not only intellectual engagement, but also integration in a community that challenges and encourages people. With this in mind I was interested to see the following in the past couple of days.
Firstly, Mark Stevens over at Welcome to the Emergent Pilgrim Blog: From the Seminaries to the Pews reflects a bit upon the recent article From the Seminaries to the Pews | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction.
And then over at the Deep Church project blog a post on A deep church curriculum….
I’m still thinking about the gap between things like Alpha-type endeavours, Sunday sermons and prewritten Bible studies, and the more formalized (and costly, in terms of money and time) certificate, diploma and degrees courses run out of seminaries, Bible Colleges and like. What kings of things would fit there?
Last week sometime my name-brand Windows anti-virus software beeped at me and said it wanted to upgrade itself to the new, bright and shiny version. ‘Aha!’ I thought, ‘it knows that the subscription is about to run out and it might be replaced with something else so it’s trying to coerce me into loathing it less.’
Anyway, I duly let it do its thing and, given the painful process of upgrading Windows software, got it running smoothly or so I thought. It turns out though that it seems to become more draconian about CDROMs being inserted into the computer. Before a CDROM would be inserted, be scanned briefly and then autorun. Now a CDROM is inserted and we can all go off and have dinner before the computer recognize it’s there and autoruns it. This *really* *really* annoys the kids running games off CDROM.
Options available
- Uninstall new version, reinstall previous version. May increase risk through not being able to update in future
- Stay with the current setup - grit teeth and bear it. At risk from irate offspring.
- Turn off the ’scan CDROM’ setting - increase risk
- Change anti-virus software to a new program - which may do a worse job at scanning etc.
- And so on…
The experience made me think about the church and how sometimes we run our own ‘anti-virus software’ at the door, in the service, in our small groups, in what we read, watch and listen to, and in who we befriend. It seeks to prevent ideas and people who might disrupt the community of faith from even breaching the doorway. In doing so though we may set our ’scanning’ options to be so aggressive that things that are normal and useful become hard to do for people in the community, and others from outside the community will not ever encounter Christ because of being ’scanned’ (and heaven forbid, ‘quarantined’ or ‘deleted’). Perhaps, we need to check what our settings are and take a risk at setting them to something less aggressive.