Central Ohio Emergent Cohort

Central Ohio Emergent Cohort

1. Jean-Paul Sartre: Friend or Enemy of the COEC?
   This funny title suggests the dramatic relationship between French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and Christians (i.e. some of his books were once banned by the Catholic Church, some Christians have co-opted his ideas). Sartre is useful to the Emergent movement, because popular Emergent thought both resonates with and reacts passionately against his version of existentialism. Therefore, the next discussion (Sun. 7/5) will be all about Sartre. By the end of the discussion my goal is for us to decide whether or not to place Sartre’s Complete Works on our cohort’s list of prohibited reading material.
   
   We will focus on “Existentialism is a Humanism,” an essay Sartre wrote in 1946 that outlines the basics of his philosophical position (at least in the 1940s) with a broad audience in mind. The text can be found at http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/works/exist/sartre.htm. Before reading it, I would suggest reading the Wikipedia article on existentialism. You can also read a scholarly overview of the subject that I have posted on our YahooGroups page. If you aren’t a member of the group, you’ll need to sign up to get to the files (see the button on the right panel of the blog). Once you’re into our page, click on “files,” to the left. The latter overview is on the one hand a more difficult read, but on the other hand treats the subject in a broader way that might better stimulate thought. I’m planning on putting Sartre’s essay front-and-center, so if you don’t have time to read much, please focus on his essay. Something that I like about Sartre is that he was suspicious of lofty philosophical exercise, so that even his non-fiction works are surprisingly easy to approach without a background in the material. Read the essay with an open mind that allows Sartre’s ideas to spark your own ideas, and a critical mind that causes you to test his ideas against what you believe about the nature of human experience.
   
   If you would like a more guided reading, you might keep these questions in mind:
   1) Does anything Sartre says bring Biblical passages into your mind?
   2) How does Sartre’s philosophy accord with your own spiritual beliefs?
   3) What does Sartre say that really bothers you? Why?
   4) What do you think of Sartre’s critiques of Christianity?
   5) Do you believe that humans are ultimately responsible for every choice?
   6) Do you find existentialism to be a positive or negative way to approach life?
   7) Does existence precede essence?
   8) Why did Sartre choose atheism?
   9) Does the decision process Sartre advocates resemble how you make decisions?
   
   May you remain in the depths of existentialist anguish until Sunday!
   
2. Does It All Need to Change?
   After reading Jesse’s post immediately below, I thought about the question "Does it all need to Change?" I offer an excerpt from a book I’m currently reading called “The Seeker’s Guide” by Elizabeth Lesser.
   
   
   "The New American Spirituality
   
   "We are witnessing the birth of a wisdom tradition that is uniquely American. Within traditional organized religions, as well as in the hybrid creations of our times, the stamp of American thinking is plain. We see the American spirit in the proliferation of nonaffiliated Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Islamic churches, and also in the profound changes within sanctioned denominations. This spirit values independence from religious hierarchy. It crosses religious and social boundaries, telling the tale of a diverse people, gathered in close proximity, and absorbing each other's ways of worshiping, ritualization and mythologizing the great mysteries of life. In contains the nature-centered traditions of the original peoples of the Americas. It is part science, which has underscored, for the most of the twentieth century, our unspoken collective philosophy. It respects both a mistrust of heavy-handed authority and the willing surrender to a greater power. It draws from the religious teachings of the past: from the biblical traditions; from the spiritual roots of Africa; from the meditative schools of Asia; and from other diverse mythic and religious worldviews. and it draws from our own times, from the wisdom of psychology, democracy and feminism.
   
   Old Spirituality:
   1. Who Has Authority: The hierarchy has the authority. Church authorities tell you how to worship in church and how to behave outside church.
   
   2. What Is Spirituality? God, and the path to worship Him, have already been defined. all you need to do is follow the directions.
   
   3. What Is the Path to God? There is only one path. It is the right way and all other ways are wrong.
   
   4. What is Sacred? Parts of yourself--like the body or ego or emotions are evil. Deny or transcend or sublimate them or they will lead you astray.
   
   5. What Is the Truth? The truth is like a rock. Your understanding of it should never waiver. Therefore ask the same questions and receive the same answers at all stages of life.
   
   New Spirituality:
   1. Who Has Authority: You are your own best authority. As you work to know and love yourself, you discover how to live a spiritual life.
   
   2. What Is Spirituality? You listen within for your own definition of spirituality. Your deeper longings are your compass on the search.
   
   3. What Is the Path to God? Many paths lead to spiritual freedom and peace. You have a rich array of gems from which to draw illumination: the world's religious traditions; mythology; philosophy; psychology; healing methods; scientific wisdom; your own experience.
   
   4. What is Sacred? Everything is sacred--your body, mind, psyche, heart and soul. The world is sacred, too, with all of its light and darkness. Bring the exiled and unloved parts of yourself back into the fold.
   
   5. What Is the Truth? The truth is like the horizon--forever ahead of you, forever changing its shape and color. Let your spiritual path change and diverge as you journey toward it. The truth accommodates your growth.”
   
   
   
   
   Does it all need to change?
   
   I think it already has.
   
   But perhaps I can allow the truths from my past, those truths I still hold so dear, to continue to shape and define me as I head toward a horizon 'forever changing its shape and color.'
   
3. XWB Discussion Post #2
   This post is a part of the online discussion about Doug Pagitt's book "A Christianity Worth Believing in anticipation of his visit to Columbus."
   
   A Hellenistic Faith?
   
   The following is an excerpt taken from chapter 5 in which Doug uses the story of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 to show that in the 1st century, the new faith of following Jesus Christ was meant for different people of different backgrounds, races and lifestyles. He proceeds in the chapter to discuss how Christianity became more "set in stone" along with the development of Greek and Roman culture.
   

   
   "So the Jewish believers were asking the Gentile believers to do whatever they could to make it possible for the two groups to meet together. The first few centuries of the Christian faith were all about this balance between diversity and unity.
   
   But then something changed...Christianity started moving from a faith committed to multicultural unity to one requiring monocultural uniformity. In other words, Christianity began settling into one particular culture and worldview, and all adherents had to convert to that worldview if they wanted to follow Jesus. Strangely, that mandatory worldview was not the Hebrew worldview of the Jewish people. It was the Greek worldview of the Gentiles. ...
   
   ... By the time Christianity became the official Roman religion under Constantine, it was so deeply a Greek expresion that not only had the Jewish heritage faded, but many Christians were fearful of the Jews, and deep conflict between Jews and Christians was common. This marked quite a change. The influence of telling a dynamic Jewish story in and through multiple cutlures was replaced with a Greek monocultural expression of Christianity. It is from within this fully Greek worldview that much of our 'official' modern Christianity arose. ...
   
   ... Augustine and many who followed him needed to create complex theologies to smooth out the questions raised by all of these competing worldviews. Their theological explanations are brilliant for their situation, but they are just that - situational explanations. They are not in and of themselves the story of God. This is why it's important for us to recognize the cultural encoding that takes place every time a theology is created. every theology is grounded in a culture and set of culturally based assumptions and concerns. To hold to these theologies in the fifth century was to be faithful, for they were created as explanations for the understanding of the world at that time. But to hold to those same conclusions today, when the worldview that demanded them has expired, is simply foolish."

   
   
   In my opinion, one of the most common mistakes religious people make is that they experience God in a meaningful and real way, and then they aim to replicate that experience with everyone else they know, regardless of any differences in background, personality or experiences. It seems almost contradictory to have a "flexible" or "changing" religion, because inherent in the concept of religion is a set of beliefs and systems that are unchanging, permanent, absolute.
   
   But as we all know, the world - and the people and the ideas in the world - are all changing, and very rapidly. The faith of the 21st century, in many respects, is not the same faith as the 20th century, and certainly not the same faith of the 5th century when Augustine wrote.
   
   But on the other hand, we have the creeds, we have the Scriptures, and we have the traditions of the Church. Does it all need to change? Herein lies the difficult interpretative task: Which beliefs are culturally bound and necessitate revision? And which are more permanent, more foundational and should not be changed at all?
   
   Possible questions to discuss:
   
   • In what ways do you see the ancient influences in the Christian faith?
     
   • What parts of your current Christian experience do you feel are more being held over from cultural experiences of the past, and aren't really central to the core of what it means to be a follower of Jesus?
     
   • How do we determine what parts of our faith are cultural and what parts are permanent? Can we make such a division?
     
   
4. It's Cook Out Time!
   
   We are having a super-fun! cook out this Sunday at 5:00 and everyone is welcome (including President Obama, or any former Presidents for that matter). We will be at 1270 Courtland Ave. I'll have a grill up and running, so bring something to throw on and a side dish or drink to share. Also, if you have any good outdoor games bring them along. The cornhole set we had last year is no more, but hopefully someone can bring one?
   
   It should be a fun time. Feel free to bring friends and loved ones.
   
5. Violence and God Audio
   We had a great discussion with Brandon Sipes regarding world religions, violence, conflict and spiritual life. It was great to see everyone there, and many thanks to Brandon for sharing with us.
   
   I recorded the discussion and have uploaded it. You can access the mp3 here. If anyone would like to post other reflections or links here, feel free.