Saturday, June 25, 2005
The Meeting House
I'm currently on vacation, but this past Sunday (June 19th) I had the opportunity to visit "The Meeting House", an innovative church in Oakville (near Toronto), Ontario. While at times I may sound critical of the Christian "religion", I want to highlight those who are addressing the "religion" issue head-on and working to seriously address faith and the church from a non-religious stance. "The Meeting House" is an example worth noting. Check out their website at www.themeetinghouse.ca and especially go through their initial flash presentation entitled "Some Thoughts on the Value of Religion". This church states its core purpose as: "To honour God by proclaiming the irreligious message of Jesus and fostering loving communities of fully-committed Christ followers". From my brief personal encounter I am impressed.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Religious No More
I know that I haven't posted much lately, as life has been busy. Despite not writing much, my conviction regarding this project is as strong as ever, and I look forward to keeping the topic alive even with upcoming vacations, etc.
It's time for another book recommendation. Religious No More: Buidling Communities of Grace and Freedom (by Mark D. Baker, InterVarsity Press, 1999) is an important contribution to the topic in that it not only attacks religion, but offers a solid alternative rooted within the New Testament, using Paul's radical, anti-religious teaching in Galatians.
Here are some noteworthy quotes:
"Although they claim to accept people and treat them equally, on both an internal and external level, the priority given to rules of behavior leads evangelicals to make distinctions and draw boundary lines between people and groups. Once the lines are drawn, some inevitably feel inferior and even rejected." (p. 29)
"Religion's perceived link with God gives it great power in people's lives. In some sense, religion has a force of its own. Religion is a power that transforms our human religious drive and human religious system into a force that is greater than the sum of those two things. It is a force that humanly we cannot resist or control." (p. 38)
"Religion produces individualistic-spiritualized Christianity." (p. 56)
"Religion provides fig leaves, or masks, ways to cover up our finiteness. Masks stand in the way of authentic community." (p. 115)
"Freedom from religion is a characteristic that serves as a boundary marker of authentic Christian community. It is much harder to define how a person stands in relation to that boundary, however, than to determine on which side of a religious boundary line a person stands" (p. 123)
"freedom from religion is freedom for an increased level of Christian commitment; it is freedom for community." (p. 159)
It's time for another book recommendation. Religious No More: Buidling Communities of Grace and Freedom (by Mark D. Baker, InterVarsity Press, 1999) is an important contribution to the topic in that it not only attacks religion, but offers a solid alternative rooted within the New Testament, using Paul's radical, anti-religious teaching in Galatians.
Here are some noteworthy quotes:
"Although they claim to accept people and treat them equally, on both an internal and external level, the priority given to rules of behavior leads evangelicals to make distinctions and draw boundary lines between people and groups. Once the lines are drawn, some inevitably feel inferior and even rejected." (p. 29)
"Religion's perceived link with God gives it great power in people's lives. In some sense, religion has a force of its own. Religion is a power that transforms our human religious drive and human religious system into a force that is greater than the sum of those two things. It is a force that humanly we cannot resist or control." (p. 38)
"Religion produces individualistic-spiritualized Christianity." (p. 56)
"Religion provides fig leaves, or masks, ways to cover up our finiteness. Masks stand in the way of authentic community." (p. 115)
"Freedom from religion is a characteristic that serves as a boundary marker of authentic Christian community. It is much harder to define how a person stands in relation to that boundary, however, than to determine on which side of a religious boundary line a person stands" (p. 123)
"freedom from religion is freedom for an increased level of Christian commitment; it is freedom for community." (p. 159)
Sunday, June 05, 2005
