When I at first asked my face-to-face discussion groups to define friendship, I got the answers I expected. They seemed to say the same things as early Christian writers. For instance, they echoed what Ambrose wrote in 340 AD: “Friends open their hearts to each other, sharing their deepest thoughts, their hopes and fears, their […]
Last week, I suggested the church of the future might well be a community of friends who gather face-to-face to share a lifestyle that suits following Jesus in our time. Every indication points to these groups engaging in more Bible study. However, I think the emphasis will be on honest sharing rather than dogmatic teaching. […]
Bob suggested another challenge to Christian Ethics might be that people who certainty. I got that all the time during my ministry. Many said they missed the old days when you were told what was right and what was wrong. “At least, you knew what you were supposed to believe in those days,” they said. […]
If I asked you who you are, chances are you would describe yourself with a list of the groups to which you belong: your family, neighborhood, ethnic group, town, and nation, as well other social affiliations. Sandel claims these communities shape our ethics as much, if not more, than abstract rational reasoning or voluntary choices. […]
Aristotle believed humans are political creatures by nature. He thinks this is apparent when we see how our speech enables us to relate to one another quite differently than beasts or gods. Politics not only gathers us into communities for defense against foreign powers, but also for using rational speech rather than physical violence to […]
I began suggesting people often claim they go to Church to find a basis for ethics. Public figures on television often try to show their morality by reporting, “I grew up in Church.” I then suggested these people are often speaking of learning laws that are taught at Church, laws they can take with them […]
I began my ministry at a time when the liturgical renewal was urging congregations to celebrate Communion every week. Coincidental with this was the house church movement in which small groups began sharing meals and and conversation. Sometimes this was done as an extension of the local parish and sometimes as a replacement. How interesting […]
Let’s resume examining Practical Christianity, that part of the Christian life that does not necessarily involve the supernatural. In my ministry, I found many people came to church or sent their children, not because they wanted to worship, but because they sought a community that would give meaning to their lives– a place where they […]
I find myself unable or maybe unwilling to do much while on vacation. So I decided to simply suggest you read this piece by Dorothy Solle that Sister Rita sent me. Dorothee Sölle was a free thinking German theologian who died in 2003. She spoke out against the Vietnam War, the arms race of the […]
As Juan observes about history not being objective fact but a story continuously retold to make sense of our present and future, so too custom is an ever-changing guide to the Christian life. The community is continuously retelling it to find both the continuity and the creativity she needs. I find the best model for […]
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