Bible Secrets Revealed: The Real Jesus

This Sunday we will continue with the History channel's series on religion. The blurb for the session is: "Nearly everything we know about the life of Jesus comes from the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But just how accurate are these sacred texts?" Preview Here: CLICK ME.

Join us. We'll be happy to see you.

Forbidden Scriptures

Last Sunday we watched and discussed the first half of the video "Forbidden Scriptures." This coming Sunday do the same with the second half. Preview here: CLICK ME. Ya'll come.

Lost in Translation

The History Channel is running a series on religion. Episode one is entitled "Lost in Translation" and it addresses textual criticism of the Bible as seen through the lens of various scholars, including Elaine Pagels, Bart Erhmann and Reza Aslan. Here's the blurb for the program's website:

"The Bible is one of the most influential and important books ever written and is considered by millions around the world to be the actual word of God. But has the Bible been translated, edited and even censored so many times throughout history that its original stories have been compromised? This episode explores many eye-opening contradictions and questions from a variety of historical and theological perspectives that have been debated for centuries. Is it possible that Moses did not actually write the first five books of the Old Testament? Could it be that David may not have been the real killer of Goliath? Were the four gospels of the New Testament attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John actually written by completely different authors? With the discovery of the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls, and with recent archaeological findings about the New Testament, religious scholars have found evidence of many truly compelling Bible secrets."

Please join us as we view and discuss parts of this interesting documentary. Preview available here: CLICK ME.

No Adult Forum on November 24

No meeting on November 24. We're making way for the "10,000 Villages" sale, which we hope you'll enjoy.

Painting the Stars: Mysticism

This Sunday, November 17th we will view and discuss the section of "Painting the Stars" titled "and Evolving Spirituality: Mysticism." The promotional material says:
"The essential spiritual practice of evolutionary spirituality is to be able to tell the story of the universe as one’s own story: a primordial explosion of light and radiation; the emergence of time and space; galaxies form and supernova explosions in which all the heavy elements necessary for life on Earth are
forged; our solar system; from matter life emerges on a tiny, blue planet, and evolves in staggering diversity and increasingly complexity; out of life conscious self-awareness arises in the human ones; existence is transformed into experience, as these upright creatures ponder beauty, death, meaning and
purpose, possibility, and the mystery of life itself; worldviews complexify in an attempt to solve problems and in the process create new ones to solve; we begin to ask ourselves what is this Life that is living us, this yearning for transcendence seeking deeper, more beautiful and more elegant expressions of itself?"
Please join us as we boldly go into the stars, and into our hearts.

No Adult Forum on November 10

We won't be meeting on November 10th as we'll be making way for the Gratitude Dinner following service. Please be warmly invited to attend the Gratitude Dinner.

Intersections of Science and Reliion

This coming Sunday, November 3, Jeff Wardeska will complete his series entitled “Intersections in Science and Religion, III. Thinking about God in an Age of Science.”  Please come and join us to hear the conclusion of his fascinating series.

Julie Wade on Bonobos, Faith and Genetics

This coming Sunday our own Dr. Julie Wade will lead the discussion on the origins of our faith and seen through the lens of comparative behavior. Julie will share some thoughts regarding a new book called “The Atheist and the Bonobo”.   Chimpanzees share 98% of their DNA with humans but they show some disturbing behaviors that are not typically human.  The bonobo, on the other hand, shows many more characteristics that humans share such as a love for peace, compassion, and making love, not war.  Is our behavior influenced by genetics or our faith? 
Please be warmly encouraged to join us for a delightful, interesting discussion

Lexy Close and Power Shift 2013

This Sunday, October 6 we're happy to host Lexy Close, regional coordinator for Power Shift 2013. Lexy writes, 

"I'm looking forward to speaking with folks on Oct. 6th.  Here's a brief bio about myself and the work I do.

Lexy is a native of Johnson City, TN.  After attending college in Massachusetts and doing extensive world wide traveling, she decided to return home to East Tennessee.  For the past three years, she has been involved in various jobs and volunteer projects focused on clean energy and sustainable agriculture.  Currently, she is a Program Leader for Build It Up East TN, a non-profit organization that promotes local food and sustainability in our region.  

Lexy will be speaking about Build It Up East TN and Power Shift 2013.  On top of her usual local food projects, she is recruiting young community members to attend an incredible 10,000-person youth conference on climate justice, the green economy, and sustainability. Her talk will cover local projects as well as how you can support young community members to attend Power Shift 2013.

Here's the website for more information about Power Shift 2013:

www.wearepowershift.org"

Please join us for a fresh view of the younger generation's stance on responsible energy.

Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom

September 29th we'll host Caroline Locke, an intern with Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom. 

Caroline writes, 

"SYRF is a part of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. SYRF is the youth activist branch of RCRC. We mostly do activism via education. Our main goal is to promote reproductive justice (such as abortion, access to birth control, and comprehensive sexual education). We do all this through a spiritual and religious context. We promote the idea that religion and advocating for reproductive autonomy aren't mutually exclusive ideas. Engaging local churches in our community is very important to me, so I'm very excited about this possible opportunity. Thanks!"

Thank you,Caroline. We look forward to hearing you.

Please be warmly welcome. Game on at 9:45

Youth Villages with Aisha Ellerson

This coming Sunday, Septermber 22, we're pleased to host Aisha Ellerson who works with Youth Villages in Johnson City. Aisha is going to tell us more about Youth Villages where she is a recruiter and trainer for potential treatment foster parents. Aisha writes, "I absolutely love what I do. I would like to come out and speak with your group on how they can help make a difference in these children’s lives. Many of the children have experienced so much trauma and the one thing they need is a good, loving home. I would like to present this idea to the group and give them a little more information on what that would look like."

Aisha is a Memphis native who "loves to stay involved in the community and working with children". She has volunteered at a few after school programs in the area. She's also a mentor at my church and works with the children’s ministry. She says that her desire is to one day start a non-profit that focuses on the betterment of our community and creating positive and future oriented experiences for youth of this generation.  Here's the link: www.youthvillages.org

Please join us. We'll be happy to see you.

Painting the Stars, An Evolving Faith

This Sunday we'll continue the Painting the Stars series with Chapter 4, An Evolving Faith.
From the included literature:

"“Christ is the evolver, the centrating energy of the evolutionary
movement. But Christ cannot be the energy of evolution unless the
incarnation is allowed to be continued in us.”—Ilia Delio

“Stress is the only thing that creates evolution.” —Elisabet Sahtouris

Scholar Phyllis Tickle claims that every five hundred years or so the church
holds a massive rummage sale. These are the times when it becomes
necessary to go through all the theological and ecclesiastical baggage that we
have been carrying with us over the years, and do the hard work of sorting out
what we need to let go of, what we intend to keep, and what we need to make
room for. The last big rummage sale was the Protestant Reformation. With the
advent of the printing press, and a rise in literacy, it became possible to take the
Bible out of the hands and dominion of the priesthood and entrust it the laity.
These rummage sales are evidence that the church has always been in the
process of evolving in response to shifting life conditions.
In an evolutionary paradigm, shifting life conditions represent provocations to
adapt. When these life conditions represent a deep enough challenge, sufficient
creative tension is produced that give birth to a whole new set of values, beliefs,
intelligences, and technologies. A new worldview emerges in response to crisis
requiring the church to evolve. Modernity, for example, challenged priestly
authority with the mantra of “no more myth and no more superstition.” German
scholars, one hundred and fifty years ago, began to distinguish between the
Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. The church was compelled to find out
what Jesus, the first century Mediterranean Jew, actually said, and what the
early church said about him. It is now commonplace for us to differentiate
between the religion of Jesus and the religion about Jesus. Radical
postmodernism began to challenge the legitimacy of any grand narrative, realizing that “truth” is contextual, and arises in and through perspectives.
Postmodernist philosophers noticed that the interpretive keepers of the grand
narrative tended to gain a disproportionate amount of power in society.
Eventually, the “myth of the framework,” (all we can really know is the frame
we’re looking through), replaced the “myth of the given,” (the traditional idea that
Truth is revealed from on high). In response, the church has needed to update it
truth claims and the basis of its faith.
It’s time for another rummage sale.""

Please join us. We'll be delighted to see you.

Painting the Stars -- Getting Genesis Wrong

This Sunday, September 8th, we'll explore the 3rd chapter in Painting the Stars: Getting Genesis Wrong. 
The reference is to Genesis 1:28 -- 
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

Sometimes we've abuse an interpretation of "subdue it."

The tone for our session is set in two verses:

An absence of a sense of the sacred, awe, is the basic flaw in many of
our efforts at ecologically or environmentally adjusting our human
presence to the natural world. It has been said ‘We will not save what we
do not love’. It is also true that we live neither love nor save what we do
not experience as sacred.” —Thomas Berry

and,

Earth’s crammed with heaven
And every common bush, afire with God
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes —Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Please be warmly invited to join us.

Painting the Stars, A Renaissance of Wonder

Last Sunday we viewed a lesson from the Living the Questions dvd, Painting the Stars. That lesson was on "Healing the Rift," ie., the rift between science and faith. It was good.
This coming Sunday, September 1, we'll view the second lesson, "A Renaissance of Wonder." The study materials include the following:

"Much of modern life is lived in a state of what sociologist Max Weber called
'disenchantment.' By this he meant that over the course of the modern period—
roughly the last 500 years—the cosmos has systematically been voided of
Spirit. A distinctive feature of the modern period is that if somebody were to walk
into your home and find you on your knees praying, or catch you with your arms
flung open in a gesture of thanksgiving to the cosmos you would be
embarrassed. This is the first period in the history of humanity in which this was
true."

and this from Fyodor Dostoyevsky:

"Love all Creation,
The whole of it and every grain of sand
Love every leaf
Every ray of God’s light
Love the animals
Love the plants
Love everything
If you love everything
You will perceive
The divine mystery in things
And once you have perceived it
You will begin to comprehend it ceaselessly
More and more everyday
And you will at last come to love the whole world
With an abiding universal love."

These are but tips of the iceberg. Please join us for what will hopefully be an intelligent, thoughtful discourse on the intersection of science and faith.

Why Jesus Matters

In a recent talk, Marcus Borg said, ""Jesus matters for Christians because he was for us the decisive disclosure of God." This coming Sunday we will watch and discuss a portion of Borg's presentation on "Why Jesus Matters, which you can preview at this link: Click here. We'll also have a look at, what I think, are two of the most telling passages in the New Testament, Mark 7:9-30, and John 10:30-34. These passages may speak volumes to the common humanity we share with Jesus.
Please join us for some thoughtful discussion. 

Our Labyrinth at FPCe

This coming Sunday, August 4, Aubrie Abernethy will talk about our unique Labyrinth at FPCe, its history, and its application in our lives. 

"Have you ever imagined that by simply putting one foot in front of the other and walking a labyrinth you might quiet your mind and find yourself in a place of mystery and discovery?? For thousands of years, across a myriad of religious traditions and cultures people have walked labyrinths in search of meaning and life's purpose. Please join us as we explore a subject that has intrigued many for centuries. Learn how our own First Presbyterian's labyrinth came about and you may be inspired to venture out to walk the labyrinth."

Please join us. We'll be delighted to see you

Deconstructing Original Sin

We all know the story of original sin. Eve did it, suckered Adam into it, and now we're all guilty of it, and the only way we can be saved of it is through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. I've had such a hard time with this narrative. It is so beautiful and compelling for some, and completely unconvincing to me. Some find joy and meaning in the story, and I'm not one of them. I just don't believe it. the story is logically inconsistent, and morally indigestible. We'll look at the why on Sunday morning.

Here are two important links: Rimsha Masihi and Eve.

On the following Sunday, we'll talk about what is beautiful and compelling within Christianity, apart from original sin.
Please join us. We'll be delighted to see you.

MORE LIGHT! Sunday Panel Discussion

This coming Sunday we'll host a panel discussion on LGBT issues led by Rev.Don Steele. This event occurs in conjunction with our celebration of More Light Sunday. Our church proudly supports More Light Presbyterians  http://www.mlp.org/ Last year's panel on a similar topic was genuine, meaningful and though-provoking, This year will likely be the same. Please be warmly welcome to join us, down stairs, at the church, at 9:45.

This is water....

In his commencement address to Kenyon College in 2005, David Foster Wallace quipped, "Two fish were swimming along the stream and a man walks by a says to them, " Morning boys. How's the water?" The fish keep swimming and after a few minutes one of the asks, "What's water?" Sometimes we don't see the most obvious and important things.
Later he noted that "Blind certainty (is) a close-mindedness that amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn't even know he's locked up."
Join us on Sunday Morning as we hear and discuss the 20 minute talk. We can preview it, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYGaXzJGVAQ It does contain mild profanity.
Please join us.

Kip Elolia and the new grist mill

Samuel "Kip" Elolia will present the Adult Forum this week - talking about his recent trip to Kenya to install the Grist Mill that our fundraising efforts have provided. Join us.

Lloyd Geering on Carl Jung

This coming Sunday we will view a lecture on Carl Jung delivered by Lloyd Geering. "How Jung Can Illumine our Self-knowledge." Over the course of his 40-year-long career Geering states that his series on Jung was the most popular he ever delivered. Please join us and see if you agree. We'll be delighted to see you. Bring a friend!

Gun Violence and Gospel Values Redux, A word from your Presbytery

I like to do one more session on Gun Violence and Gospel Values, the document from your PCUSA General Assembly. I will have met with the Holston Presbytery''s subcommittee on Gun Violence and I'd like to give a report. Here's a question to think about before hand. The GV2 document notes the following "Due to the recent expanded provisions in concealed carry laws in many states that
now allow guns to be carried openly, including into houses of worship, we recommend that churches and other entities prominently display signs that prohibit carrying guns onto their property." Is this a good idea for us?

Please join us. We'll be delighted to see you.

No specific program

We don't have a specific topic planned for Sunday, but if you show up, there'll be some interesting conversation. Please join us.

Australia vs USA: Gun control and effective politicians..

In the face of congress' failure to enact even the most tepid forms of gun control, John Oliver (of the Daily Show) went to Australia to interview politicians who passed effective laws in 1996 that have resulted in an apparent end to mass homicides, and a substantial reduction in homicides and youth suicides. Oliver, in essence, asks "Why can't this happen in the US?" You can draw your own conclusions from the videos, here.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-18-2013/gun-control-whoop-de-doo
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-23-2013/gun-control---political-suicide
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-25-2013/australia---gun-control-s-aftermath
Please join us for an interesting session as we continue our exploration into Gun Violence and Gospel Values.

PCUSA on Gun Violence

A couple of months ago, our church sent a request to the Holston Presbytery requesting action on gun violence. The Presbytery responded by forming a subcommittee. This coming Sunday will have a look at the action of the subcommittee, its guiding document, and we'll discuss your ideas about where this initiative might go. For the very ambitious, here's a link to the PCUSA report. Please join us. We'll be delighted to have you.

Science and religion, with Jeff Wardeska, Ph.D.

This coming Sunday, our own Jeff Wardeska, Professor of Chemistry at ETSU will take a look at the relationship between science and religion.
Jeff  writes, "Alfred North Whitehead (1925) said “Science and religion are the two strongest general forces which influence men.” How should we view them? Are science and religion in conflict? Are they independent lines of inquiry? Should science and religion be in dialogue? What are the prospects for integrating the two?

We'll venture into:

• A brief history of the intersections between Science and Religion. What is science?  How do scientists view religion and God? 

• How we view the relationship between science and religion: 1. In conflict?  2. Parallel lines of thinking? 3. Complementary?  4. Can be fully integrated?

• Can we find meaning in/from science?  What does it mean to be a Christian in a scientific world?"

Please be warmly welcome.

Whence cometh our hope?

This question came up last week and in the little time remaining, we decided to pursue the question next week. Greek mythology tells us the Hope was the last creature remaining in Pandora's box, after all the evils had been released. Nietzsche wrote that hope is the cruelest of the evils as it keeps us renewed to continued torment. And Hebrew's (6:19) tells us that "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain. Please join us. You'll be welcome.

The social cost of income inequality

This Sunday we'll view a brief TED Talk by the British Economic professor, Richard Wilkinson titled: How economic inequality harms societies. We've seen this talk previously, and the facts persist: Countries with the greatest division between wealthy and poor are more burdened with social ills. Even the richest individuals are negatively affected. Sheesh! What would Jesus do?
Please be warmly invited to join us in Martin Hall at 9:45.

Jesus as moral philosopher: Don Cupitt

In the 1999 debates preceding the Republican primary, when asked who was their favorite philosopher, candidate George Bush replied, "Jesus Christ." Bush did have much to add, other than his hubris. However, Jesus seminarian Don Cupitt used Bush's response as the starting point of thoughtful thread on Jesus the divine versus Jesus, the moral teacher.
Please join us this coming Sunday as we explore Cupitt's interpretations. We'll be delighted to see you.

"LIFE, LIFE" with Don Cupitt

This Sunday we'll have a look at a reading from Don Cupitt's book Life, Life.
Paraphrased from the book...."In modern thinking people have increasingly come to see the world as primarily one of ordinary life. Don Cupitt argues that we speak of life very much as people used to speak of God: faith in live, what life has in store for us, wrestling with life, etc. In Life, Life he has assembled some 250 life-idoms. Cupitt mines these to develop a modern religious philosophy of human life. In it, ethics and stories take the place of traditional supernatural dogma."
Please joins us for an interesting look at religion from life's perspective.

Anxiety and Evolution, Once again

This is going so well, we're going to schedule it one more time. Please join us for some interesting discussion on the evolutionary basis of anxiety -- why we have it, what benefits we derive from it, and what it means when anxiety becomes pathological.
We'll be delighted to see you.

Evolution and Anxiety, Redux

Last Sunday we had a change of plan, so.....once again, this coming Sunday, led by Rebecca Nunley, our topic is Evolution and Anxiety. Admittedly, that is an ambiguous topic that could be interpreted more than one way. It could refer to the anxiety experienced by the idea of evolution, or it could refer to the evolutionary basis of anxiety. We'll talk about both sides, and the relatedness of these interpretations.

Please join us. We'll be delighted to see you.

Evolution and Anxiety

This coming Sunday, led by Rebecca Nunley, our topic is Evolution and Anxiety. Admittedly, that is an ambiguous topic that could be interpreted more than one way. It could refer to the anxiety experienced by the idea of evolution, or it could refer to the evolutionary basis of anxiety. We'll talk about both sides, and the relatedness of these interpretations.
Please join us. We'll be delighted to see you.

Alain de Botton's TED talk on the best parts of religion

This coming Sunday we'll view and discuss Alain de Botton's TED talk in which he looks at the facets of religion that are too valuable ever to lose. Here's the link: Click me. Don't be put off by the title of the presentation, "Atheism 2.0." It's not about atheism. It's about what we need from our church, now, and because we are human, what we will always need, regardless of our individual beliefs. It is a kind, thoughtful, intelligent presentation, and perfect for our group.
Please be warmly welcome and join us for a lively meeting.

Rebecca Nunley continues Deep Affirmations

This coming Sunday, Rebecca Nunley will pick up where we left off last week with our exploration of the deep affirmations offered by Michael Dowd in "Thank God of Evolution."
Please join us for this meaningful session. We'll be delighted to see you.

Rebecca Nunley and Deep Integrity Affirmations

This coming Sunday, Rebecca Nunley will lead our discussion with a look at some of the text from Michael Dowd.

Rebecca writes "Michael Dowd offers 'tools for growing in evolutionary integrity via recalibrating our inner GPS systems and updating our mental software' in his book Thank God for Evolution. Sunday we will discuss these Deep Integrity Affirmations as Dowd suggests them and consider how they may be useful in our individual lives.

If you have the book check out Chapter Six for Sunday.

Please join us, We'll be delighted to see you.

Our Evolutionary Future

This coming Sunday, Dr. Julie Wade will be finishing the segment on Evidence for Evolution by discussing the future evolution of our species.  To quote an old cigarette commercial “We’ve come a long way, baby!”, but where do we go from here?  Are we still a product of natural selection or have we learned to control not only our environment but our genome as well?  What implications will this have for the human race?
Please join us. You'll be warmly welcome.

Winding down, one time

We don't have anything specific as a topic for this coming week. We covered such a tremendous amount of ground over the last three Evolution Sundays, maybe we'll spend some time reflecting.
Please join us for some leisurely friendship and good conversation. Something interesting always seems to turn up. If not, we'll watch Simon Sinek's TED talk on why we bother to get out of bed in the mornings.
We'll be delighted to see you.

Evolution Sunday Continues! Week Three!

This coming Sunday, February 24, we'll continue with the topic of evolution under the able guidance of Dr. Julie Wade. For the past two weeks, we've cover some of the basics on how evolution works and the evidence supporting it. This coming week we'll discuss what evolution means in terms of what we believe. This is my favorite part.

Please join us. We'll be happy to see you

Our Second Evolution Sunday

This coming Sunday, Dr. Julie Wade will continue exploring the evidence for evolution that we started last week.  She writes, "This week I shall emphasize some of the specific genes that are known to be around 500 million years old that are in us and that control the development of such structures as eyes, limbs, and heart.  We shall explore a new topic called biogeography that uses evolution to explain why we have certain animals and plants only on certain continents and not others.  Emphasis will be placed on how with todays technology, all lines of evidence so far examined continue to support the theory of natural selection as Darwin first described it."

Please join us for a friendly, lively session. We'll be delighted to see you.

Evolution Sunday! The Evidence for Evolution

The Adult Forum's most popular annual event centers around our celebration of Evolution Sunday, and the excellent presentations of Julia Wade, Ph.D., retired professor of Biology at Milligan College. This Sunday, Dr. Wade will speak on the Evidence for Evolution. She writes:

"So many people today say that they do not believe in evolution, but would they if they knew more about it?  In this talk celebrating Darwin’s birthday, we’ll explore some of the evidence from Darwin’s day and explain how that information has been substantiated and upheld by further research over the last 154 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859. We shall examine what is happening today in the fields of genetics and evolutionary embryology, all of which support Darwin’s original Theory of Natural Selection."

Please join us for this lively event. We'll be delighted to see you.

The Boogey Man

The boogey man arrives somewhere between 1 and 3:30 AM, bringing with him our anxieties, fears and obsessions. He covers these gifts with the sour sauces of dread and self-recrimination. He's not a lot of fun. He visits all of us from time to time, but we rarely talk about him. I figure that if we bring him into the daylight, make fun of him and tell jokes at his expense, it'll be easier to shoo him away the next time he comes creeping through the dark.
Please join for this hopefully interesting session. We be happy to see you.

Elements of Faith at a Catholic Funeral

Tuesday, I attended the funeral of a close friend, Rocky. My family and their family have been very close for more than 30 years. Rocky and I were "dad-pals". Our wives were roommates in college. Our children are close friends.  We were very much on the interior of the formalized grieving process through Rocky's traditional Catholic funeral and wake, where specific elements of tradition and faith were employed to palliative effect, often to the point of "laughter through tears."* This coming Sunday, we'll have a look at those elements, and discuss their merits. Please be warmly welcome. We'll be happy to see you.

*"Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion. (Truvey Jones)" -- Robert Harling, Steel Magnolias

Meet the author, Father Harry Shaefer

This coming Sunday, January 20th, we're in for a treat. We'll play host to retired Episcopalian priest, the Rev. Harry Shaefer. Enjoying retirement, Harry has returned to his love of New Testament study, and he has just authored the soon-to-be released book, The Hidden History of the Pauline Churches: First Thessalonians. This is our chance for a conversation with the author. In an email, Father Shaefer notes that, "The book is addressed to highly educated and intelligent laypeople. Parts of it will be too difficult for some." We'll take that as both a complement and a challenge. If you want to brush up on your Thessalonians, try the link: It's an easy listen.
Please join us for an engaging session. We'll be delighted to see you.

David Galston and Religious Literacy

This coming Sunday, January 13th, we'll listen to John Shuck's interview of David Galston. Galston head the Quest Learning Centre for Religious Literacy in Hamilton, Ontario. The Centre focuses on studies of the historical Jesus, and Galston notes that, when you take the historical Jesus to church, not everybody likes him. And further, between the two sides of Jesus, the wisdom teacher and the apocalyptic preacher, the apocalytic firebrand is much more popular, as always has been. (Preview here)
Please join us Sunday morning at 9:45. We'll be happy to see you.

Spong approaches post-atheism

This coming Sunday, January 6, we'll view an interview with retired Bishop John Shelby Spong on interpreting the Gospels (preview here). Spong talks about how we read the gospels and why. His approach seems remarkably consistent with David Galston in John Shuck's recent interview (heard here).

Please join us for some interesting listening and discussion. We'll be delighted to see you.