Author: Halldór Guðmundsson

The Church of the Non-Believers

It’s a question you may prefer not to be asked. But I’m afraid I have no choice. We find ourselves, this very autumn, three and a half centuries after the intellectual martyrdom of Galileo, caught up in a struggle of ultimate importance, when each one of us must make a commitment. It is time to declare our position.

This is the challenge posed by the New Atheists. We are called upon, we lax agnostics, we noncommittal nonbelievers, we vague deists who would be embarrassed to defend antique absurdities like the Virgin Birth or the notion that Mary rose into heaven without dying, or any other blatant myth; we are called out, we fence-sitters, and told to help exorcise this debilitating curse: the curse of faith.

The New Atheists will not let us off the hook simply because we are not doctrinaire believers. They condemn not just belief in God but respect for belief in God. Religion is not only wrong; it’s evil. Now that the battle has been joined, there’s no excuse for shirking.

via Wired 14.11: The Church of the Non-Believers.

Hans Kung: happy to stay in the church

Why do I remain in the church? Because of the just foundations of the church. I am inspired by Jesus Christ himself, his Spirit. I do not live as a solitary individual. I stay in a community, my community of faith. Wherever I go–Japan, Pakistan–I always find people of my community. This is the community in which I was born and baptized, in which I have had so many positive experiences, a community of 2,000 years. Why should I be alienated from this? As a Canadian you may have some problems with your government but you will not go away seeking a better country. I shall remain in the Catholic Church and in Christianity.

via Hans Kung: happy to stay in the church; happy to change it – page 2 | Catholic New Times.

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Few years ago I wrote a short presentation about the theologian Hans Kung for a class in Systematic Theology. I decided to focus on his connection to the RCC, and his connection to the current pope. Here are few links on articles.

Rapture Ready

I remember when I heard first about the rapture from a TV-evangelist five or six years ago. I immediately thought it was some kind of a joke having never seen anything in the Bible referring to anything like what he described. However, the believe in the rapture is real, and some incorrectly think that believing in a hateful God, that is out to destroy all Creation has something to do with Christianity.

American Dispensationalism’s Perpetually Imminent End Times* by Jonathan R. Baer is a good article that addresses this hateful religion.

Short Overview of the Law Codes

There are at least three main strands of law codes found in the Torah.

Book of Covenant: Exodus 21-23

Here we have texts that are connected strongly to the Code of Hammurabi, with code intertwined that is related to the protection of those on the margin.

Deuteronomic Law: Deut. 12-26

The Deuteronomic Law Code legislates a one central place of worship. It assumes that the people under the law are living in the land God gave. It is probably from the time of Josiah (621 BCE) and is perhaps part of the law reclaimed/found by the prophetess Huldah. It is a Yahweh and Jerusalem focused law.

Holiness Code: Leviticus (some of it anyway)

It is likely written later than the other. It is seen as part of the priestly source of the OT. Some of the laws might have been older than the written form it appears in.

From άδελϕοί to οἰ̑κος θεου̑

David G. Horrell looks in his paper at how the Pauline literature moves away from using sibling language (άδελϕοί) and starts to refer to the Christian community as a household (οἰ̑κος θεου̑:) and wonders whether this is an indication of growing hieararchial tendencies in the early Christian church, as the household was a hierarchically structured entity.

From άδελϕοί to οἰ̑κος θεου̑: social transformation in Pauline Christianity – University of Exeter.

God and the Digestive System

Luther suffered from lifelong constipation and urine retention. Thus, “In this creative moment the tension of nights and days of meditation found release throughout his being – and nobody who has read Luther’s private remarks can doubt that his total being always included his bowels.” Thus, for Erikson, there is something profoundly physiological in Luther’s new understanding of God as one who is “no longer lurking in the periphery of space and time,” but is rather “moving from inside” of us, and is thus, in a very real sense, “what works in us.”

From “The Soul as the ‘Coreness’ of the Self” by Donald Capps.

Paying Attention

Mastering these three skills of good listening — accurate paraphrase, productive questions and perception check — fosters the emotional connection between persons. While they presuppose a certain level of basic trust, they also function to further that trust. If a person begins to speak hesitantly and the listener conveys his respect by empathically focusing on her feelings and needs, she has the space to consider sharing further, The more that one receives with care, the more trust will be engendered. As the speaker tells her story, she will gain a deeper emotional connection with herself.

via Paying Attention.

(The article appeared originally in Christian Century, August 22, 2006, and is there said to be written by Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger).

Baby Spared Mother’s Fate By Genetic Tests as Embryo – NYTimes.com

A 30-year-old woman who is very likely to develop a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease before she turns 40 has had a baby girl who will be spared that fate because she was genetically screened as an embryo before being implanted in her mother’s womb, doctors are reporting.

via Baby Spared Mother’s Fate By Genetic Tests as Embryo – NYTimes.com.

Sexuality Papers

Here are few papers, articles, and references about sexuality and the church.

Confirmation in ELCA

Few resources from ELCA about confirmation and confirmation studies.

There is no one right way to do confirmation ministry in your congregation! In fact, a quick review of present confirmation practices in the ELCA reveals there is incredible, refreshing diversity across this church. Congregations serious about effectively discipling their youth and adults shape their confirmation ministry offerings in ways that work best for their people, context and particular circumstances.

via Confirmation more than just business as usual.

While it is true that confirmation is a practice not mentioned in Scripture (although it is grounded in Baptism, as we shall see), it was created by the church as a valuable tool for growth in faith. Because of its work through the centuries in helping to shape a Christian’s faith, confirmation ministry remains important to Lutheran congregations today. Its changing form and function over the years is an attempt to address better the needs of the young people of the day.

via The Confirmation Ministry Task Force Report.

It is about people

People work harder because of the increased involvement and commitment that comes from having more control and say in their work; people work smarter because they are encouraged to build skills and competence; and people work more responsibly because more responsibility is placed in hands of employees farther down in the organization.

via Putting people first for organizational success (pdf).

Protecting Children and Youth

The Episcopal Church has developed a great resource about children’s protection in church context. It is called “Model policies for the protection of children and youth from abuse” and can be found here (PDF).

ELCA has gathered information on a one place on their website. The informations are at http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Office-of-the-Secretary/Congregation-Administration/Legal-Issues-for-Congregations/Questions-About-Protecting-Children-and-Adults-from-Abuse.aspx.

In Ohio there are few Revised Code sections that deal with this issue: 109.574, 109.575, 109.576, 109.577, 121.401, and 121.402).

Conversations Needed

Anthony B. Robinson calls us to 10 intriguing conversations about what is needed to “be church.”

  1. It’s not about you
  2. And yet… It is about you
  3. A New heart
  4. Who will lead them?
  5. Why are we here?
  6. Let’s get (less) organized
  7. Taking on adaptive challanges
  8. The church and the public square
  9. Death and resurrection
  10. Where do we start?

According to an article in Congregations from Summer 2007. Anthony B. Robinson has written a book about change called: Changing the Conversation – A Third Way for Congregations.

Ecumenical

One of the many books I read without quoting it in my STM thesis was “Bound to be free: Evangelical Catholic Engagements in Ecclesiology, ethics, and ecumensim” (2004) by Reinhard Hutter. This caught my attention:

The only way to think about the  the church theologically that is neither sectarian, claiming the fragment as the whole, nor “Platonic,” forgoing the church’s concrete existence and settling for its bare idea, is specifically and forthrightly ecumenical. In short, ecclesiology – thinking theologically about the ekklésia – must be done ecumenically or it amounts to a self-deceptive sham that is bound to fail before it even begins. (p. 2)