I finished The Bible, Christianity, & Homosexuality by Justin R. Cannon yesterday.
It was a very quick read, and a great overview of the seven passages typically referred to in arguments about homosexuality within Christianity. Cannon gave a brief explanation and overview of the Greek words encountered in places where English translations of the Bible use "homosexual" or "sodomite" or some such. Having had Greek in college, I greatly enjoyed this bit, but I wanted to dive further into the exploration of the language. I'll be doing that on my own, of course. :)
Cannon also gave a brief explanation of the context of the verses. He included not only historical context, but also passage context--that is, he didn't use isolated verses, but situated them within the overall 'story' being told. Furthermore, Cannon associated the biblical context with Christian tradition (Augustine) and linked it to contemporary Christian thought. Again, these links were brief--the book itself is only 25 pages long, after all--but well-explained.
I did buy a second copy to pass around to friends who are interested in the topic/the language/the religion. Judging by the people I've seen pick up the book so far--one firm agnostic and one pseudo-Norse-pagan-spiritual friend--and by the people who've engaged in conversation with me upon hearing about the book, I think it's going to be a popular and informative read.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Beginning German
I've begun brushing up on my German. I decided to re-start it first, rather than Greek, because for the ThD programs I'm interested in working through, I will need to be fluent in either German or French. Since I already have a background in German, and since knowing German is beneficial to learning Greek, this just makes sense.
I've worked my way through the first two lessons in the book. Of course, they're very basic--getting down the pronouns and verb endings, learning the genders, things like that. I'm hoping to be able to read my way through some original German texts before too long. I'm not sure what I'll start with in the realm of theology, but I'll figure that out when I get there.
As for theology, I feel very scattered. I want to study other religions, but I also want to study things in Christianity relating to marriage and to the historical Jesus. I really want a companion to the Qur'an. I think that will be my next purchase, since I've already purchased a couple of books dealing with homosexuality and the Bible/Christianity.
I've worked my way through the first two lessons in the book. Of course, they're very basic--getting down the pronouns and verb endings, learning the genders, things like that. I'm hoping to be able to read my way through some original German texts before too long. I'm not sure what I'll start with in the realm of theology, but I'll figure that out when I get there.
As for theology, I feel very scattered. I want to study other religions, but I also want to study things in Christianity relating to marriage and to the historical Jesus. I really want a companion to the Qur'an. I think that will be my next purchase, since I've already purchased a couple of books dealing with homosexuality and the Bible/Christianity.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Saving link/article
Why American Church-goers Like to Shop Around I want to save this link for future reference. I saved it to my laptop, too. :)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Finished one book
I finished The Skeptical, Passionate Christian on Tuesday.
Theologically, it was a good way for me to reconnect with my studies. I'm already pretty positive what I want to do with my life--that is, I'm sure of my vocation--and this helped reaffirm that for me. I also found myself laughing over certain sentences and passages, and sympathizing in other places. It was a very good read overall, very easy to understand, very well-explained, very thorough. But then, I would expect no less from one of my favorite theology professors.
I found myself underlining quite a few phrases and passages in the book, and I made some notes in it for future reference, too, particularly as regards the historical Jesus, polyamory, marriage, and the nature of God. The first three were things that occurred to me as I read; the last is something that Duffy briefly covered and that gives a good starting-point for questions and study.
I then promptly ordered The Bible, Christianity, and Homosexuality by Justin R. Cannon--partially because it was very cheap and very short, and partially because it has been on my wish list for a while. I have only begun to read it, but already my roommate--not a religious person herself--cannot put it down. I very much enjoy the quote, from the book itself, on the front cover: "There is no word in biblical Greek or Hebrew that is equivalent to the English word homosexual. The word was coined only about 100 years ago and first appeared in the Bible in the 1946 Revised Standard Version (RSV)." ("The Bible, Christianity, & Homosexuality by Justin R. Cannon. Copyright 2008 All rights reserved. Justin R. Cannon. Used by permission.")
I look forward to finishing this text within the week, as well as making my way through the next Surah in the Qur'an.
Theologically, it was a good way for me to reconnect with my studies. I'm already pretty positive what I want to do with my life--that is, I'm sure of my vocation--and this helped reaffirm that for me. I also found myself laughing over certain sentences and passages, and sympathizing in other places. It was a very good read overall, very easy to understand, very well-explained, very thorough. But then, I would expect no less from one of my favorite theology professors.
I found myself underlining quite a few phrases and passages in the book, and I made some notes in it for future reference, too, particularly as regards the historical Jesus, polyamory, marriage, and the nature of God. The first three were things that occurred to me as I read; the last is something that Duffy briefly covered and that gives a good starting-point for questions and study.
I then promptly ordered The Bible, Christianity, and Homosexuality by Justin R. Cannon--partially because it was very cheap and very short, and partially because it has been on my wish list for a while. I have only begun to read it, but already my roommate--not a religious person herself--cannot put it down. I very much enjoy the quote, from the book itself, on the front cover: "There is no word in biblical Greek or Hebrew that is equivalent to the English word homosexual. The word was coined only about 100 years ago and first appeared in the Bible in the 1946 Revised Standard Version (RSV)." ("The Bible, Christianity, & Homosexuality by Justin R. Cannon. Copyright 2008 All rights reserved. Justin R. Cannon. Used by permission.")
I look forward to finishing this text within the week, as well as making my way through the next Surah in the Qur'an.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saving Link
I want to save this link here for future reference: a polygamist's diary. I'm also saving it on my laptop, just in case.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
My Vocation
I am almost all the way through Michael Duffy's The Skeptical, Passionate Christian. On pages 123-125, he's engaging William Perkins's view on calling/vocation, and he writes, "God does not invite us to something but puts us where we belong. God has designed it so that our gifts, other people's gifts, and society's needs fit together. If we are not living the vocation for which God has designed us, we are endangering the happiness of the whole society." This is, of course, Duffy's paraphrase of Perkins's view.
This struck me, because I am very much at a crossroads right now with no idea which direction to go. I cannot seriously see myself fulfilling any sort of 'calling' where I am now. My husband and I moved here with the goal of eventually fulfilling what we both see as our individual callings--him as a writer, me as a theologian--but neither of us seems to be getting anywhere. I would like to volunteer here, but I haven't been able to locate any place *to* volunteer. He can write here...and he has...but he hasn't made any further progress on publishing his book since we moved here. I know I could apply to school right now, but the prospect of being accepted frightens me because I have no idea how we would live financially. I don't even know how we would afford the move down to where I would like to attend school. And, due to several factors, my recent year of relative unemployment doesn't seem to be much of a 'plus' for being accepted or for finding good employment, in any case.
So, theologically, I have to wonder what it is Perkins thinks I ought to be doing. I know I have gifts; I would love to use them. I can see areas where those gifts would be useful, but I can't see those areas here, particularly without further schooling. And I fail to see the practicality of attending school *now*, with so much financial burden already on my husband and myself. So, has God put me here? And if God has, for what purpose?
For myself, I don't tend to think of God as an intervening God. I like to think that God is with me in every moment, and that God knows all the choices surrounding me, but that I am free to choose whichever option I want out of all the options I can see. I would argue that God hasn't put me here, but rather that God is with me on my journey.
Of course, this offers little comfort--there's no security in a God who doesn't place me somewhere, ordain certain things for me; there's no certainty of "I'm doing what God wants me to do." On the other hand, it offers great comfort in that I believe that God knows intimately what I am going through, what I am experiencing.
However, I still feel the need to be serving a purpose, to be fulfilling my calling. For me, that's what this blog is all about. It's my way of being theological, while I try to figure out where I'm putting my foot next. Hopefully I'll figure out something more solid before long.
This struck me, because I am very much at a crossroads right now with no idea which direction to go. I cannot seriously see myself fulfilling any sort of 'calling' where I am now. My husband and I moved here with the goal of eventually fulfilling what we both see as our individual callings--him as a writer, me as a theologian--but neither of us seems to be getting anywhere. I would like to volunteer here, but I haven't been able to locate any place *to* volunteer. He can write here...and he has...but he hasn't made any further progress on publishing his book since we moved here. I know I could apply to school right now, but the prospect of being accepted frightens me because I have no idea how we would live financially. I don't even know how we would afford the move down to where I would like to attend school. And, due to several factors, my recent year of relative unemployment doesn't seem to be much of a 'plus' for being accepted or for finding good employment, in any case.
So, theologically, I have to wonder what it is Perkins thinks I ought to be doing. I know I have gifts; I would love to use them. I can see areas where those gifts would be useful, but I can't see those areas here, particularly without further schooling. And I fail to see the practicality of attending school *now*, with so much financial burden already on my husband and myself. So, has God put me here? And if God has, for what purpose?
For myself, I don't tend to think of God as an intervening God. I like to think that God is with me in every moment, and that God knows all the choices surrounding me, but that I am free to choose whichever option I want out of all the options I can see. I would argue that God hasn't put me here, but rather that God is with me on my journey.
Of course, this offers little comfort--there's no security in a God who doesn't place me somewhere, ordain certain things for me; there's no certainty of "I'm doing what God wants me to do." On the other hand, it offers great comfort in that I believe that God knows intimately what I am going through, what I am experiencing.
However, I still feel the need to be serving a purpose, to be fulfilling my calling. For me, that's what this blog is all about. It's my way of being theological, while I try to figure out where I'm putting my foot next. Hopefully I'll figure out something more solid before long.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Initial Thoughts
In college, I wrote my last paper--my "Independent Study"--on Theology and Sex. I will probably use parts of it in my posts, but I don't want to publish it in its entirety as I have hopes of someday updating it and shaping it into a book, or, at the very least, several periodical installments.
As such, I feel like I have my best footing, my best groundwork, laid in that area. I want to visit it in more detail, both with the hope of gaining more insight for that future shaping and with the hope of clarifying some of the details that, due to time constraints, I could not clarify then.
I want to explore Theology and Marriage in more depth. To this end, I want to look both at sex within marriage and at different versions of marriage and how those versions have played out from ancient history to today. I want to look at polyamory, GLBT marriage, monogamy/mono-amory, adultery, committed relationships, cheating. I want to examine our laws and Christian strictures, but I also want to examine how marriage plays out in other religions. Since I'm reading the Qur'an, I'll start with that as my first "other" religion, especially as I've finished reading the Second Surah, which goes into some detail about marriage law and equity within marriage.
I also feel like I have some footing with regard to pluralism, and so I want to explore that in more depth. How do the religions relate to one another? Is one better than another? Does it all come down to how we were raised? Can God be revealed in all religions? Are religion and culture inextricably linked--does one define the other and/or visa-versa?
And I also feel like I have some footing in exploring the historical Jesus. This is probably my favorite part of the New Testament--looking at how the different authors/groups represented Jesus and then trying to put together a picture of what the historical man might have been like. Was Jesus more loving or more violent? Was he a man of action? What do the Gospels and Paul's writings have to say about Jesus? Which version of Jesus is more true: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John or Paul? If we see the differences, how can we believe in them all? Do the differences say more about Jesus or about the political climate of the time/the authors' persuasions? How does knowing the historical Jesus help us today? And how have other religions portrayed him throughout time?
In the same respect, though I have almost no background in it, I would like to look at major figures from other religions: the Buddha, Mohammed, the Dalai Lama, and etc. I am *much* less well-versed in this area, so I think that first, I will read their original texts (insomuch as they exist), and then I will look at their historical backgrounds, much the same way I have approached Christianity although lacking the years of experience I have as a Christian in an evolving background.
And I want to explore extra-biblical texts: Septuagint, Apocrypha, 'newly discovered' writings, and etc. With more familiarity with other religions, I might eventually do the same with their extraneous writings, but that will be far in the future, I'm sure.
As well, I will, from time to time, want to discuss religion in the news. What about separation of Church and State? Should we have Federal funding for Faith-Based Organizations? What about teaching religion in schools--how can we do that and not violate freedom of religion? Should we even try to do so? What about the evolution/creationism/intelligent design debate? Prayer in schools? This may cause me to go on a rant from time to time; sometimes I get worked up about the issues, so this is my 'fair warning' about that, although I will always try to limit my ranting and keep it as truthful as I possibly can.
And, I will want to explore how the Church has handled Christianity over the years. I will pay particular attention to current Church practices insofar as I am aware of them (I don't know everything about every denomination and sect, and I don't know that I could possibly know all of that information without my head exploding!), but I will want to back my thoughts and convictions with historical fact. I'll want to look at why we consider some things 'tradition' that didn't exist with original Christianity, and I'll want to look at the role tradition plays--if we heed it too closely, are we worshipping Tradition instead of God? How should worship work, anyway? Can different styles of worship be acceptable? What counts as worship, what counts as prayer, what counts as being 'religious' vs. being 'spiritual'? Is one better than the other, and why? Is the Church handling the teaching of religion in the best possible manner? How might things be improved? Does all of it even matter--will people care, or should we push for change even if people do not care in the hopes of reform?
Once again, when I gain a firmer footing in other religions, I might explore how their religious institutions handle their teachings--but I expect that to be far in the future.
And I want to be at least somewhat autobiographical with my exploration, because as my Theology professors in college pointed out time and again, Theology is necessarily autobiographical and at least somewhat subjective. We all have our lenses; it is impossible to step completely outside our lenses, and so I know there are areas where I will blind myself unintentionally. I hope that, by being intentionally autobiographical as well as scholarly, I will clear away at least some of my blind spots.
This might all seem overwhelming; I sometimes feel quite overwhelmed by all of these things. I occasionally fall into fits of despair over how much there is to know and to discuss and to study, and I sometimes get the 'big-picture blues': is it going to matter anyway? Is it really going to make the world a better place if I figure out where *I* stand? Shouldn't I be doing more? Rather than sitting here writing about all of this, shouldn't I be out there *doing* good works? Do my charitable contributions really substitute? Wouldn't I better serve my purpose by getting out there, getting others out there, and feeding the hungry/clothing the poor/housing the homeless/sheltering the orphaned/living greenly/etc? To some extent, I think those leanings in me are correct--I do need to be out and doing something to actively help. On the other hand, we need doers and we need encouragers/motivators--people who get our consciousness moving, get us thinking about our actions so that we don't hare off into the unknown without a clear plan/some idea of how we'll be affecting our future. Perhaps my writing will inspire others to at least think and explore on their own, and perhaps those explorations will inspire still others to get up and do good works. Perhaps I will inspire some debate, create some clarity, shed light in dark areas. I can only hope that is so.
As such, I feel like I have my best footing, my best groundwork, laid in that area. I want to visit it in more detail, both with the hope of gaining more insight for that future shaping and with the hope of clarifying some of the details that, due to time constraints, I could not clarify then.
I want to explore Theology and Marriage in more depth. To this end, I want to look both at sex within marriage and at different versions of marriage and how those versions have played out from ancient history to today. I want to look at polyamory, GLBT marriage, monogamy/mono-amory, adultery, committed relationships, cheating. I want to examine our laws and Christian strictures, but I also want to examine how marriage plays out in other religions. Since I'm reading the Qur'an, I'll start with that as my first "other" religion, especially as I've finished reading the Second Surah, which goes into some detail about marriage law and equity within marriage.
I also feel like I have some footing with regard to pluralism, and so I want to explore that in more depth. How do the religions relate to one another? Is one better than another? Does it all come down to how we were raised? Can God be revealed in all religions? Are religion and culture inextricably linked--does one define the other and/or visa-versa?
And I also feel like I have some footing in exploring the historical Jesus. This is probably my favorite part of the New Testament--looking at how the different authors/groups represented Jesus and then trying to put together a picture of what the historical man might have been like. Was Jesus more loving or more violent? Was he a man of action? What do the Gospels and Paul's writings have to say about Jesus? Which version of Jesus is more true: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John or Paul? If we see the differences, how can we believe in them all? Do the differences say more about Jesus or about the political climate of the time/the authors' persuasions? How does knowing the historical Jesus help us today? And how have other religions portrayed him throughout time?
In the same respect, though I have almost no background in it, I would like to look at major figures from other religions: the Buddha, Mohammed, the Dalai Lama, and etc. I am *much* less well-versed in this area, so I think that first, I will read their original texts (insomuch as they exist), and then I will look at their historical backgrounds, much the same way I have approached Christianity although lacking the years of experience I have as a Christian in an evolving background.
And I want to explore extra-biblical texts: Septuagint, Apocrypha, 'newly discovered' writings, and etc. With more familiarity with other religions, I might eventually do the same with their extraneous writings, but that will be far in the future, I'm sure.
As well, I will, from time to time, want to discuss religion in the news. What about separation of Church and State? Should we have Federal funding for Faith-Based Organizations? What about teaching religion in schools--how can we do that and not violate freedom of religion? Should we even try to do so? What about the evolution/creationism/intelligent design debate? Prayer in schools? This may cause me to go on a rant from time to time; sometimes I get worked up about the issues, so this is my 'fair warning' about that, although I will always try to limit my ranting and keep it as truthful as I possibly can.
And, I will want to explore how the Church has handled Christianity over the years. I will pay particular attention to current Church practices insofar as I am aware of them (I don't know everything about every denomination and sect, and I don't know that I could possibly know all of that information without my head exploding!), but I will want to back my thoughts and convictions with historical fact. I'll want to look at why we consider some things 'tradition' that didn't exist with original Christianity, and I'll want to look at the role tradition plays--if we heed it too closely, are we worshipping Tradition instead of God? How should worship work, anyway? Can different styles of worship be acceptable? What counts as worship, what counts as prayer, what counts as being 'religious' vs. being 'spiritual'? Is one better than the other, and why? Is the Church handling the teaching of religion in the best possible manner? How might things be improved? Does all of it even matter--will people care, or should we push for change even if people do not care in the hopes of reform?
Once again, when I gain a firmer footing in other religions, I might explore how their religious institutions handle their teachings--but I expect that to be far in the future.
And I want to be at least somewhat autobiographical with my exploration, because as my Theology professors in college pointed out time and again, Theology is necessarily autobiographical and at least somewhat subjective. We all have our lenses; it is impossible to step completely outside our lenses, and so I know there are areas where I will blind myself unintentionally. I hope that, by being intentionally autobiographical as well as scholarly, I will clear away at least some of my blind spots.
This might all seem overwhelming; I sometimes feel quite overwhelmed by all of these things. I occasionally fall into fits of despair over how much there is to know and to discuss and to study, and I sometimes get the 'big-picture blues': is it going to matter anyway? Is it really going to make the world a better place if I figure out where *I* stand? Shouldn't I be doing more? Rather than sitting here writing about all of this, shouldn't I be out there *doing* good works? Do my charitable contributions really substitute? Wouldn't I better serve my purpose by getting out there, getting others out there, and feeding the hungry/clothing the poor/housing the homeless/sheltering the orphaned/living greenly/etc? To some extent, I think those leanings in me are correct--I do need to be out and doing something to actively help. On the other hand, we need doers and we need encouragers/motivators--people who get our consciousness moving, get us thinking about our actions so that we don't hare off into the unknown without a clear plan/some idea of how we'll be affecting our future. Perhaps my writing will inspire others to at least think and explore on their own, and perhaps those explorations will inspire still others to get up and do good works. Perhaps I will inspire some debate, create some clarity, shed light in dark areas. I can only hope that is so.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Current Projects
I'll start by saying that it's been a while since I actively studied Theology. I've done some reading here and there since I graduated, but without formal school it's been hard to keep myself on track. However, I have never stopped having theological conversations--friends and family and even new acquaintances seem to talk about religion around me as if I somehow draw it out of them. This is fine with me--I can hardly imagine a more wonderful way to spend a day, an afternoon, an evening than talking through all the possibilities, all the minutiae, all the vastness encompassed by the word 'theology.' I never seek to convince a person to one side or another, merely to understand where s/he stands and to open my own and/or his/her mind to possibilities aside from my/his/her convictions.
To that end, I'm opening this conversational portal; I'll write here about my own thoughts and conclusions (insomuch as I can come to a conclusion theologically). I can't promise regular posting, but I can promise to be open and honest, to go back to the source(s), and to explore more than just my own religion.
Currently, I'm working my way through The Skeptical, Passionate Christian, The Other Bible, and The Message of the Qur'an. For my Bible, I'm using The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985 edition. I was introduced to this Bible in college and have fallen in love with the way it has been translated. I am, of course, open to looking at other versions of the Bible, and I have several throughout my apartment. I would love to get my hands on a Bible with original Hebrew and Greek languages side-by-side with English, or even just an original-language Bible.
To that end, I'm opening this conversational portal; I'll write here about my own thoughts and conclusions (insomuch as I can come to a conclusion theologically). I can't promise regular posting, but I can promise to be open and honest, to go back to the source(s), and to explore more than just my own religion.
Currently, I'm working my way through The Skeptical, Passionate Christian, The Other Bible, and The Message of the Qur'an. For my Bible, I'm using The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985 edition. I was introduced to this Bible in college and have fallen in love with the way it has been translated. I am, of course, open to looking at other versions of the Bible, and I have several throughout my apartment. I would love to get my hands on a Bible with original Hebrew and Greek languages side-by-side with English, or even just an original-language Bible.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Point of the Blog
This blog is to explore my own personal questions and convictions in a theological and scholarly manner (or as scholarly a manner as possible given that I don't always have ready access to scholarly materials). Some things will relate to current events; some things will be historical in nature; some will relate to language, both foreign, ancient and native; and some will be purely personal in nature--my vocation, ideas relating to my life. I do not seek to tell anyone else how to live. I seek merely to order my own life to be the best that it possibly can be as I live out my convictions and ideals.
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