DOCSLIB.ORG

Lenten Study 1. (Drawing on ‘Thy Will Be Done’ by Stephen Cherry.)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lenten Study 1. (Drawing on ‘Thy Will Be Done’ by Stephen Cherry.) Lenten Study 1. (Drawing on ‘Thy Will Be Done’ by Stephen Cherry.) Part 1. Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer The Lord’s Prayer is the best known and most widely used of all Christian prayers. Take a few moments to reflect on the prayer then write a few words that express your encounters and relationship with it. You may decide to write a poem, create a mind map or draw a picture instead. (We have about 7 minutes for this activity.) The Lord’s Prayer is written in poetic form making it easy to recite and remember. Like much of the Scriptures, it is challenging in interpretation, layered with theological meaning and yet practical in its grounding for daily life. It is primarily about the relationship between humanity and God. We can assume that the prayer arose from the times of solitude and quiet prayer that Jesus sought on a regular basis. While this prayer has become communal, it’s the quiet, sincere prayer ‘behind closed doors’ that Jesus commends. Prayer, according to Jesus, should never be motivated by our need to impress others or to manipulate God with our words and wants. What does prayer mean to you? How do you pray? When is prayer most meaningful? Jesus suggests that prayer should be ‘light’ and not a burden. Is this your experience with prayer? 1 Matthew 6. 9-13. (a literal translation from the Greek) Father of us the one in the heavens, let be revered the name of you, let come the kingdom of you, let be done the will of you, as in heaven also on earth. The bread of us daily give us today. Forgive us the debts of us, as also we have forgiven the debtors of us. And do not bring us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. Note down any patterns of words that you can see. If we look closely, we can see that the prayer divides readily into two halves. The first half of the prayer is about God. It is only after our acknowledgement of God and who God is that we ask for ourselves: for our daily provisions, for forgiveness, to be spared temptations and for rescue from the evil one. Cherry paraphrases this section of the prayer as: ‘Give us what we need and keep us away from everything that would harm us.’ He states that ‘the prayer begins with God’s fatherhood and ends with God’s glory. And in between it is focused on three facets of human lived experience- our needs in the present, our relationship with what has gone wrong in the past, and our fears for the future.’ Part 2. Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name. If we call our Father Him who is incorruptible and just and good, we must prove by our life that the kinship is real. Gregory of Nyssa Naming God as Father: What language should we use in addressing God? Do you think ‘Father’ is a suitable name for God? What other titles or names could we use? 2 Cherry claims that in naming God as ‘Father’ Jesus is not referring to his or to our personal relationship with our biological male parent. For Jesus, while he showed care for his mother, his genetic family unit did not take priority over his community of faith. Cherry claims that when Jesus names God as ‘Father’ in this prayer, ‘he was shifting the focus of our relationship with God from one based on power and deference to one based on care and support.’….. ‘from the institutional to the relational.’ Catholic theologian Gerald O’Collins suggests that God should be referred to as a ‘motherly father.’ How could this change our view of God? The prayer is not written in the first person. It refers to ‘our father’, not ‘my father.’ So, when we pray this prayer, we place ourselves in relationship with Other along with God. Cherry states, ‘if and as we let the Lord’s Prayer shape us, we will find that the barriers around the self begin to dissolve and we begin to discover our true identity not as ‘me’ but as a member of a broad communion of people who belong to each other through God.’ Who or what is Other under these circumstances? Is the use of the prayer limited because it’s patriarchal in nature? Below are two images that express within them the motherly-fatherhood of God. The first is Rembrandt’s ‘The Prodigal Son’ in which one hand of the father figure is painted as a feminine hand and the other as a masculine hand. How can we best express the non-gender and dual-gender of God? 3 The second image is an earlier one by the icon painter Andrei Rublev of God as Trinity based on the story of the divine visitation announcing the conception of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah. The figures are androgenous, both male and female and neither. What do you think the artist is trying to say about God? Who is in heaven. What do you think of when you think of heaven? While God is transcendent, God is also immanent or close to us. Augustine wrote in his Confessions; ‘God is nearer to us than we are to ourselves.’ For Thomas Aquinas, heaven was not about God’s transcendence but about God’s power to hold and help and support and is a place where ‘all desires are fulfilled in the intimacy of God.’ Hallowed be your name. ‘Hallowed’ refers to God’s holiness. What does ‘holiness’ mean for you? Biblical scholar Paula Gooder refers to God’s holiness as ‘God’s shininess’. God’s goodness glows! So, when we ask for God’s name to be hallowed, we are recognising and acknowledging the goodness of God and our relationship to that goodness. What other things do we call ‘holy’ and why? 4 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • On Calling God 'Mother'
    Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers Volume 11 Issue 2 Article 12 4-1-1994 On Calling God 'Mother' William Harper Follow this and additional works at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy Recommended Citation Harper, William (1994) "On Calling God 'Mother'," Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers: Vol. 11 : Iss. 2 , Article 12. DOI: 10.5840/faithphil19941123 Available at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy/vol11/iss2/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers by an authorized editor of ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. ON CALLING GOD 'MOTHER' William Harper Patricia Altenbernd Johnson argues that referring to God in female terms is desirable in that it would help overcome patriarchy, bring to our image of God positive qualities missing when God is referred to in male terms, and would be more inclusive. I find that Johnson's notion of patriarchy is such that overcoming it involves introducing pantheistic elements into Christian belief. Also, Johnson's arguments assume an objectionable stereotype of maleness. The argument from inclusiveness is not supported by observation. Concluding that Johnson's arguments fail, I suggest that Biblical example is sufficient permission for referring to God exclusively in male terms. In her article "Feminist Christian Philosophy?," Patricia Altenbernd Johnson argues in favor of referring to God in female terms, at least as mixed with male terms.! Johnson's advocacy of the use of female terms for God is based on assertions that certain advantages would result from the practice.
    [Show full text]
  • Women, Monotheism and the Gender of God1
    Women, monotheism and the gender of God1 F. Klopper Department of Old Testament University of South Africa PRETORIA E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Women, monotheism and the gender of God God is experienced in heightened awareness that can only be represented in images and symbols. According to the Old Testament there was one male God, Yahweh, imaged as a father, king, judge, shepherd and more. Since God-images are cultural creations related to the time and place in which they were conceived, the male character of God is a natural reflection of the patriarchal culture of the ancient Near East. Twenty-first century women have difficulty relating to the male God-image and patriarchal church language, both of which justify the subordinate position of women in church and society. Investigation into Old Testament religion reveals that the way Israelite women dealt with the single male God opens the way for contemporary women to do likewise and create images of God with which they can identify. Opsomming Vroue, monoteïsme en die geslag van God Die verhewe ervaring van God kan slegs in beelde en simbole uitgedruk word. Volgens die Ou Testament is daar een manlike God, Jahwe, uitgebeeld as vader, koning, regter, herder en so meer. Omdat Godsbeelde kultuurskeppings is wat gebonde is aan die tyd en plek waar hulle ontstaan het, is die manlike aard van God ’n natuurlike refleksie van die patriargale kultuur van die ou Nabye Ooste. Vroue van die een-en-twintigste eeu vind dit moeilik om aanklank te vind by ’n manlike Godsbeeld en die patriargale kerktaal 1 Paper delivered at a workshop on Women in church and society held at PU for CHE during 2-4 May 2001.
    [Show full text]
  • God As Father: the Maleness of God
    GOD AS FATHER: THE MALENESS OF GOD D.T. Williams Department of Systematic Theology University of Fort Hare Abstract It is fashionable today to try to avoid sexist language in theology, despite the Bible’s consistent use of the masculine pronoun when referring to God. Although such an attempt has largely been engendered by modem culture, the maleness of God is not simply a hangover from a patriarchal society, but reflects a fundamental maleness in God’s dealing with man. It emphasises the idea of redemption by grace alone over against creation, and such aspects as the adoption of Christians as sons. The maleness of Christ likewise has not simply been cultural, but is sipiificant theologically. This is not to deny any femininity in God, but to assert that male features predominate. Such an idea does not reduce the status of women, but rather an emphasis on redemption raises it. Raising the status of women in society would in fact reduce the pressure to demasculinize God. 1. INTRODUCTION The Anglican Church is currently in a state of controversy, as they have been for quite a time, over the question of the ordination of women. The arguments and implications are well known, such as the effect that such ordination would have on relations with the Roman Catholic Church. Typically it is argued that priests are male in so far as they stand in the place of Christ and the Father, and a woman "clearly" cannot do that (Packer, 1977:80). On the other hand, it is frequently asserted that as God himself cannot be either male or female, so likewise a priest or minister can be of either sex.
    [Show full text]
  • The Reinvention of God: Stories of an Exiled People
    The Reinvention of God: Stories of an Exiled People by Katrina Anne Diaz The Reinvention of God: Stories of an Exiled People by Katrina Anne Diaz A thesis presented for the B. A. degree with Honors in The Department of English University of Michigan Spring 2011 © Katrina Anne Diaz 2011. All rights reserved. For my mother, who is constantly finding new ways to believe. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank Theresa Tinkle for not rejecting my request to take her 300-level Honors seminar when I was a freshman. Because she let me stay, she knew from the very beginning that this thesis would be the endgame of my college English career. I am indebted to her for many things: her incredible ability to be my sounding board, her constant encouragement, her inspiration, and most of all, for being my friend and mentor throughout this important time in my life. I look forward to future chats over tea, and will cherish her counsel for the rest of my life. Professor Tinkle, the thesis is done, and you are truly “the beginning and the end.” I am grateful for Cathy Sanok’s support and feedback throughout this process, for she constantly pushed the Honors thesis cohort into producing the best work that we possibly could. She provided us all with the kind of encouragement we needed the most and miraculously found a way to tie us all together, despite our vastly different areas of interest. I would also like to thank the amazing Honors thesis cohort of 2011.
    [Show full text]
  • Out of Respect for Goddess
    2779 14 Apr 96 or the deity's feminine dimension OUT OF RESPECT FOR GODDESS , ELLIOTT THINKSHEETS 309 L.Eliz.Dr., Craigville, MA 02636 SOME--THINKING THEY ARE DOING IT OUT OF RESPECT FOR Phone 508.775.8008 WOMEN--HAVE BANNED THE BIBLE'S PRONOMINAL WAY OF Noncommercial reproduction permitted REFERRING TO GOD--WITHOUT REALIZING THAT THIS REDUCTIONIST CENSORSHIP (1) IMPOSES THE NEED TO MONITOR AGAINST RECIDIVISM (i.e., slipping back into the way the Bible speaks of God), (2) FADES THE SENSE THAT GOD IS PERSONAL, (3) CONFUSES THE DIRECTION OF REVELATION (Our will be done in heaven as it is on earth.), (4) WEAKENS THE BIBLICAL* WITNESS IN THE WORLD, sz (4) FURTHERS "THE GODDESS REVIVAL" (which is the title of a Baker/95 book--detailed below--which, with unintended irony, purports to be against the return of the Goddess). BY THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, HERE OPERATING IN THE INTEREST OF HELL, THIS PRONOMINAL SCUPULOSITY HAS PRODUCED A NEW RELIGION. Both by questioning the authority of, & alienating the people from, Scripture. A The above is my only Thinksheet title that is, in itself, a Thinksheet &--in this perspective--is my shortest Thinksheet. But you may be interested enough to read some commentary. Pages 3 & 4 are my response to Gabriel Fackre's request that I comment on the book's 6th chapter, titled "God Is Not Male." The remainder of the Thinksheet is commentary after he loaned me the book. (Previously, I'd had only the 6th chapter.) Note the 1st phrase of this Thinksheet's title.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critical Study of African Womanhood, Maternal Roles, and Identities in Theological and Cultural Constructs in the Roman Catholic Tradition
    DOCTORAL THESIS African Women as Mothers and Persons in Rhetoric and Practice: A Critical Study of African Womanhood, Maternal Roles, and Identities in Theological and Cultural Constructs in the Roman Catholic Tradition Arabome, Anastasia Award date: 2017 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 African Women as Mothers and Persons in Rhetoric and Practice: A Critical Study of African Womanhood, Maternal Roles, and Identities in Theological and Cultural Constructs in the Roman Catholic Tradition by Anastasia Arabome, MA, D.MIN A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Humanities University of Roehampton 2017 1 Abstract Title: African Women as Mothers and Persons in Rhetoric and Practice: A Critical Study of African Womanhood, Maternal Roles, and Identities in Theological and Cultural Constructs in the Roman Catholic Tradition This thesis adopts maternal well-being as a prism for studying the roles and identities of African women.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Studies (RLST) 1
    Religious Studies (RLST) 1 RLST 17500-17510 Selected Topics in Religion (LA) RELIGIOUS STUDIES (RLST) Topics to be determined according to teacher and student interest. (IRR) Attributes: HU RLST 10100 Religion Matters (LA) 3 Credits What is religion? Why is it important for understanding our rapidly RLST 20100 Religion and Culture (LA) changing world? This course investigates what religion is all about, Study of the mutual relations between religion and culture. The course drawing illustrations from various traditions around the globe. Students explores the religious dimension of art, music, and other contemporary cultivate skills used in the academic study of religion, while exploring media, and considers the way religious symbols influence cultural and issues of belief, atheism, mysticism, morality, sex, and more. (F) social movements. Students study both Western and non-Western Attributes: HM, TIII examples, of the intersection between religion and culture in art, music, 3 Credits literature, ritual, film, and games. Prerequisites: One liberal arts course RLST 10300 Hebrew Scriptures (LA) in any of the following departments: ANTH, ARTH, CMST, CLTC, CSCR, This course treats the books of the Bible critically as literature, as ECON, EDUC, ENGL, GERO, HIST, JWST, LGST, PHIL, POLT, PSYC, RLST, religious and moral texts, and as a source of sociological knowledge. It SOCI, WGST, WRTG. (Y) surveys the biblical literature, acquaints students with critical methods Attributes: AN3, HM, INBG, SCE, TIII for the study of the Bible, situates the Bible within the literature and 3 Credits culture of the ancient Near East, and discusses the religion of ancient RLST 20200 Religion and Society (LA) Israel.
    [Show full text]
  • Liberating Gender Through God-Talk
    College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day Undergraduate Research 4-25-2019 Beyond the Masculine: Liberating Gender through God-Talk Sarah Dischinger College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/ur_cscday Recommended Citation Dischinger, Sarah, "Beyond the Masculine: Liberating Gender through God-Talk" (2019). Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day. 80. https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/ur_cscday/80 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Sarah Dischinger Beyond the Masculine: Liberating Gender through God-Talk “…if God is male, then male is God.”1 “We have created a false god and substituted ‘him’ for the true God of Judaeo-Christian revelation.”2 “To encapsulate God into any single gender identity or sexual expression limits the possibilities of God’s manifestations in humanity”3 Introduction As a gender studies student I long for a world/society where people are liberated from “correct” ways to do gender. Gender studies has informed me that models of gender within modern society are often determined as correct or incorrect depending on whether or not they align with hegemonic models of gender which usually exist within a gender-binary, heterosexual, patriarchal way. Women’s studies and feminist scholars have historically sought ways to liberate women. Eventually, in partnership with queer theorist there was a push to use gender studies to liberate all marginalized groups.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Luke's Library
    St. Luke's Library Items by Call Number - with Title and Author Call# Title : Subtitle (Series) All Author(s) 060 ROB Scott, Foresman Robert's Rules Of Order Newly Revised, The Robert, Henry M. (Henry Martyn) , 1837-1923. / Robert, Sarah Corbin. 091 SIM Exploring The Book of Kells Simms, George Otto , 1910- 096 ZAC Book of Kells, The : Art, origins, history Zaczek, Iain. 113 TEI The Future Of Man Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre 113 TEI The Phenomenon Of Man Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre 128 FEI Meaning of death, The Feifel, Herman. 149 APP Postmodernism for beginners Appignanesi, Richard. / Garratt, Chris. / Sardar, Ziauddin. 150 FRO Psychoanalysis And Religion (The Terry Lectures) Fromm, Erich, 1900-1980. 150 JAC The Psychology of C. G. Jung Jacobi, Jolande 150 ROO Inner journey to sacred places Roomy, David. 155 CAL Final gifts : Understanding the special awareness, needs, and Callanan, Maggie. / Kelley, Patricia , 1945- communications of the dying 155 FOR Forever remembered. 155 KAV Facing death Kavanaugh, Robert 155 KUB Death : The final stage of growth (Human development books A Spectrum Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. book) 155 KUB On death and dying. Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. 155 MOR Talking about death won't kill you Morris, Virginia. 155 WES Good grief : A constructive approach to the problem of loss Westberg, Granger E. 155 WOO Leaving my father's house : A journey to conscious femininity Woodman, Marion , 1928- 155 YOU Gifts of suffering, The : Finding insight, compassion, and renewal Young-Eisendrath, Polly , 1947- 158 BRO Live and learn and pass it on : People ages 5 to 95 share what they've Brown, H.
    [Show full text]
  • A Sufi Reading of the Gospel of John Based on the Writings of Muḥyī Al-Dīn Ibn Al-ʿarabī (1165-1240 CE)
    The World Could Not Contain the Pages: A Sufi Reading of the Gospel of John Based on the Writings of Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (1165-1240 CE) Michael Wehring Wolfe Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2016 © 2016 Michael Wehring Wolfe All rights reserved Abstract The World Could Not Contain the Pages: A Sufi Reading of the Gospel of John Based on the Writings of Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (1165-1240 CE) Michael Wehring Wolfe This dissertation addresses the question: how might the Sufi master, Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (1165-1240 CE), have read the Gospel of John? Although the Gospel of John belongs originally to the Christian tradition, this dissertation is a contribution to Islamic Studies, endeavoring to illuminate Ibn al-ʿArabī’s distinctive manner of reading religious texts and to highlight features of his negotiation of a dual heritage from Jesus and Muḥammad. To set Ibn al-ʿArabī’s thought against an Islamic backdrop and situate it in an Islamic context, this dissertation adopts the device of constructing a commentary, guided by seminal passages in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s written corpus, on an Arabic translation of the Gospel of John: the Alexandrian Vulgate, widely circulated in the Arab world during Ibn al-ʿArabī’s time. This amounts not only to a comparison between Johannine doctrines and Ibn al-ʿArabī’s doctrines, but also a comparison between the latter and historical Muslim commentaries on the Christian scriptures—particularly the Biblical commentary (in circulation by the thirteenth century) attributed to the famed Sufi theologian Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, and the fourteenth-century Muslim Biblical commentary by Najm al-Dīn al- Ṭūfī (d.
    [Show full text]
  • Bible Study #1: Name and Gender of God
    Part 1: One Body, Similar Members ONE BODY Bible Studies MANY MEMBERS Bible Study #1: Name and Gender of God Exodus 3:13-15; Images of God: A Reflection Isaiah 49:15, 63:16, and 66:13; Matthew 23:37(Luke 13:34); Use the following reflection as a reference on the themes John 14:8-11a of the suggested passages. Bible study or group lead- ers, read it in advance and summarize it for the group if you think that will help. Or you can hand it out to partici- Photocopy the suggested passages or write pants to take home for further study. them on a board for participants to look up in their Bibles. Divide the participating body Belief in God is central to Christianity. The God Christians into three groups to share with each other the believe is the one who has been disclosed to humans on caricatures of God that are enshrined in the God’s own will throughout human history as recorded in passages. the Bible. However, the Gospel of John 1:18 categori- cally states that no human has seen God except his son Group 1 can devote attention to the name/s of Jesus Christ. In spite of the general acknowledgement God (Exodus 3:13-15) that God is beyond any known or existing materials and living creatures on earth, Christians as well as people Group 2 can devote attention to male images of other faiths have portrayed God in a variety of ways. of God (Isaiah 63:16b, 66:13, John 14:8-11a) They have projected on God what was familiar to them.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Not God the Mother?
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Asbury Theological Seminary Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers Volume 15 Issue 2 Article 8 4-1-1998 Why Not God the Mother? Andrew J. Dell'Olio Follow this and additional works at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy Recommended Citation Dell'Olio, Andrew J. (1998) "Why Not God the Mother?," Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers: Vol. 15 : Iss. 2 , Article 8. Available at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/faithandphilosophy/vol15/iss2/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers by an authorized editor of ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. WHY NOT GOD THE MOTHER? Andrew J. Dell'Olio This essay considers recent criticism of the use of inclusive language within Christian discourse, particularly the reference to God as "Mother." The author argues that these criticisms fail to establish that the supplemental usage of "God the Mother," in addition to the traditional usage of "God the Father," is inappropriate for Christian God-talk. Some positive reasons for referring to God as "Mother" are also offered, not the least of which is its helpfulness in overcoming overly restrictive conceptions of God. In light of the increasing acceptance among Christians of more inclusive, less androcentric language about God, concerns have been raised about the propriety of speaking about God in female terms.
    [Show full text]