Jan adventure 1

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Faith Beyond Fundamentalism
& Anti-Fundamentalism:
where do we go from here?

Faith Beyond a Failed Narrative:
Reframing Jesus in a new narrative space

Text

From the place where But doubts and loves
we are right
Dig up the world
Flowers will never
grow Like a mole, a plow.
In the spring.
And a whisper will be
The place where we heard in the place
are right Where the ruined
Is hard and trampled House once stood.
Like a yard. Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai

Something is on the way out and something
else is painfully being born.
It is as if something were crumbling,
decaying, and exhausting itself,
while something else, still indistinct, were
arising from the rubble....
We are in a phase when one age is
succeeding another, when everything is
possible.
Vaclav Havel, “The New Measure of Man”

Fr. Vincent Donovan:
,,, do
not try to call them back to where
they were, and do not try to call them to
where you are, as beautiful as that place
might seem to you. You must have the
courage to go with them to a place that
neither you nor they have ever been
before.

Never accept and be content with unanalyzed
assumptions, assumptions about the work, about the
people, about the church or Christianity. Never be
afraid to ask questions about the work we have
inherited or the work we are doing. There is no
question that should not be asked or that is
outlawed. The day we are completely satisfied with
what we have been doing; the day we have found
the perfect, unchangeable system of work, the
perfect answer, never in need of being corrected
again, on that day we will know that we are wrong,
that we have made the greatest mistake of all.
(Christianity Rediscovered, 146)

a new kind of
christianity:
ten questions that
are transforming the
faith

! ?
Statements evoke debate that
creates a new state, sometimes
producing division and hate.
Questions can create
conversations that launch us on
new quests.

Just over 1500 years ago ...
Medieval Christianity was conceived
through Augustine of Hippo.

Almost 500 years ago ...
Modern Christianity was launched
through Martin Luther.

Both of whom experienced
conversion through Paul and
his message.

If a new kind of Christian faith
is going to be born in and
through us today ...

it will come through a fresh
understanding of Jesus and his
message.

Varied Jesuses “on the market” today
The tribal/nationalist/ ethnic/
religious US VERSUS THEM Jesus …
backing colonizers and empire
builders since the 4th century!
The PERSONAL ENHANCEMENT
Jesus … helping ME have a better
time in this life and the next. Bringing
you the exclusive Personal Savior …
and the ever-popular Prosperity
Gospel!

The STAINED GLASS Jesus … the nicest
man who set up nice places where nice
people could honor him. Amen.
The TICKET-TO-HEAVEN Jesus …
solving the problems of original sin,
total depravity, and eternal damnation,
so you can be one of the chosen few!
The INSTITUTIONAL Jesus … he may
have proclaimed a radical kingdom, but
we created a big, bureaucratic religion
out of it!

The SECOND COMING WARRIOR Jesus
… He may have been peaceful the ﬁrst
time, but next time ... watch out!

-Whatever a new kind of
Christian faith is and will be, it
involves a fresh vision

of Jesus

A revolution in Jesus
study:
-Putting Jesus back in his native
historical setting (various “quests”)

study:
-New insights into “second-temple
Judean Judaism”

study:
Judean Judaism”
-Seeing Jesus primarily through the
sight-line of his ancestors rather than
his descendants

A revolution in Jesus study:
Judean Judaism”
-Seeing Jesus primarily through the
sight-line of his ancestors rather than
his descendants
-Fresh perspective on Paul,
Apocalypse

-Putting Jesus back in his native historical
setting (various “quests”)
-New insights into “second-temple Judean
Judaism”
-Seeing Jesus through the sight-line of his
ancestors rather than his descendants
-Fresh perspective on Paul, Apocalypse
-New understandings of the formation of
the gospels … starting with Mark (Q).

-Putting Jesus back in his native historical setting
(various “quests”)
-New insights into “second-temple Judean Judaism”
-Seeing Jesus through the sight-line of his ancestors
rather than his descendants
-Fresh perspective on Paul, Apocalypse
-New understandings of the formation of the gospels
… starting with Mark (Q).

-New emphasis on the themes of
empire/captivity and liberation

In what narrative do we
place Jesus?

(A pre-critical question)

Eden Heaven

Fall Salvation

Fallen history/
The fallen
world Hell

Platonic Ideal Platonic Ideal

Fall Atonement,
puriﬁcation
Into
Aristotelian Aristotelian
Real
Real
Hades

Pax Romana Pax Romana

Civilization,
Rebellion development,
into colonialism
barbarism Barbarian/ assimilation
pagan
world
Destruction,
defeat

Is there an
alternative
understanding?

sdrawkcab gnidaer
Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Charles Finney, John Wesley (or Calvin), Luther,
Aquinas, Augustine, Paul, Jesus

reading forwards
Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Jesus

Exodus: Liberation & Formation


Genesis: Creation and Reconciliation

Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
Mercy


Genesis: Creation and Reconciliation

G
e
n
Mercy
e
s
i
s


HUMAN DESTRUCTION
G
e
n
Mercy
e
HUMAN VIOLENCE
s
i
s HUMAN EXPLOITATION


A New Exodus: Jesus leads us into a new freedom.

A New Genesis: Jesus leads us into a new creation - a new
humanity. New Adam, New Abraham, New Joseph.

A New Isaiah: Jesus leads us into a new future - a new kingdom.

Jesus as a servant-leader of social
change ...
Not an evacuation plan, but an
incarnation/new creation/
transformation/reconciliation/
liberation plan -
into which we are invited.

The Gospel Question:

SEEING WHAT HAS
BEEN THERE ALL
ALONG ... BUT WE
WERE WELL-
TRAINED TO MISS IT:

After John was put in
prison, Jesus went into
Galilee, proclaiming the
good news of God.

The time has come, he
said. The kingdom of
God has come near.
Repent and believe the
good news!
Mark 1:15

What does “Kingdom
of God” mean?

Remember:
Kingdoms (or
Empires) were
contemporary
realities in Jesus’
day!

There was Herod ruling
over the Jewish people
… and the Emperor
Caesar ruling over the
whole region.

Jesus could have
proclaimed a new
religion.

But he didn’t.

He proclaimed
a new
kingdom.

It was a dangerous time to
proclaim a new kingdom.
That kind of thing could
get you killed!

Too few people realize the
radical nature of the message of
the Kingdom of God.

There are several reasons for
this misunderstanding.

• Many think “kingdom of
God” means heaven
(after you die)…
especially because
Matthew frequently uses
“kingdom of heaven.”

But it’s clear that
“kingdom of heaven”
does NOT mean
“heaven after you die.”
Consider the Lord’s
prayer:

It does NOT teach us to pray
May we come to your
kingdom when we die.
May we all go to heaven
where, unlike earth, your
will is done.
Instead, it teaches us to pray-

Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.

Why do Mark and Luke
say “Kingdom of
God,” but Matthew,
John, and Paul don’t
(much)?

As the most Jewish gospel …
Matthew follows the Jewish
reticence about using the name of
God directly. “Heaven” substitutes
for God.

Why does John hardly ever say
“kingdom” at all?
John uses “kingdom” only in chapter 3
and 18. Elsewhere, he uses the phrase
“life” - life to the full, or eternal life.
But it is also clear that “eternal life”
doesn’t simply mean “life in heaven
after you die,” contrary to popular
opinion.

Zoein Aeonian means “Life of the
ages” - not life limited by this present
age.

“Now this is life of the ages: that
they may know you, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom you have sent.”

Paul actually does speak constantly
about the kingdom of God - but he
uses a variety of kingdom-related
terms:
Lord (supreme king), Christ
(liberating king), church (ecclesia,
assembly of citizens).
Consider the Book of Acts …

Paul (as Fr. Richard Rohr has helped
us see) comes to see a universal,
cosmic, and mystical dimension to
the life of Jesus ... which he
embodies in the phrase “in Christ.”
The term might be rendered “in the
messianic” or “in the new
humanity” or “in the kingdom of
God”

After John was put in
prison, Jesus went into
Galilee, proclaiming the
good news of God.

The time has
come, he said. The
kingdom of God has
come near. Repent and
believe the good news!
Mark 1:15

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor …
freedom for prisoners … recovery
… release … the year of the Lord’s
favor.” … Today this scripture is
fulﬁlled in your hearing.
Luke 4:18 ff

This may be the most radical challenge
of Jesus’ message: Someday, everyone
agrees …
The poor should helped
The rich should be generous
Racism should end
The environment should be cared for
Wars should cease.

Jesus says the time has come - today!
The poor should helped
The rich should be generous
Racism should end
The environment should be cared for
Wars should cease.
No wonder Jesus says ...

Repent!

... which means, “Rethink
everything!”

This vision of the
kingdom of God
gives us a new
sense of mission
and a new sense of
identity.

Christian: 3

vs.

Disciple: 261

Disciples of Jesus

Learners of his way

Disciples/Apostles of
the good news of the
kingdom of God

All of our traditions are
contributing to this fresh
vision of Jesus.

Eastern Orthodox Roman Catholic Protestant

All of our traditions have contributed to this fresh vision
of Jesus.
Catholic liberation theologians, missionaries, and biblical
scholars …
Mainline Protestant Jesus scholars …
Evangelical missionaries and Bible scholars …
Eastern Orthodox scholars and leaders who maintained
a non-Western approach…
And sincere Christians of all traditions …
who listened to the Holy Spirit speaking of Jesus in their
hearts.


“‘…do not [leave them where they are],
and do not try to call them to where you
are, as beautiful as that place might seem
to you. You must have the courage to go
with them to a place that neither you nor
they have ever been before.’
- Fr. Vincent Donovan (Spiritan priest to Masai)


“Follow
me!”


Text

Reframing Jesus:
beyond fundamentalism & anti-
fundamentalism

The Lord’s Prayer

1. Our Father above us
and all around us …

2. May Your unspeakable
Name be revered.

3. Now, here on earth
may Your
commonwealth come.

4. On earth as in
heaven may Your will
be done.

5. Give us today our
bread for today.

4. Forgive us our
wrongs as we forgive.

3. Lead us away from
the perilous trial.

2. Liberate us from the
evil.

1.For the kingdom is
yours and yours alone.
2. The power is yours and
yours alone.
3.The glory is yours and
yours alone.
4.Now and forever, amen.

5. Now, here on earth may your
commonwealth come.
4. Here on earth may your
dreams come true.
3. Hallelujah
2. Hallelujah
1. Amen.

Circle Conversation:
What idea from this session was most
hopeful to you? Most troubling? Most
confusing? Most important to take away?
And why?
What emotion do you feel now?
What does “the good news of the
kingdom of God” mean to you?

Jan adventure 1

Jan adventure 1

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