The Arts and Theological Education

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Arts and Theological Education Theological Education Sacred Imagination: The Arts and Theological Education Volume XXXI Number 1 Autumn 1994 ISSN 0040-5620 Theological Education Sacred Imagination: The Arts and Theological Education Volume XXXI Number 1 Autumn 1994 ISSN 0040-5620 THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION Volume XXXI, Number 1 JAMES L. WAITS, Executive Editor WILSON YATES, Contributing Editor NANCY MERRILL, Managing Editor Theological Education is published semiannually by The Association of Theological Schools IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 10 Summit Park Drive Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15275-1103 Subscription Rates Per Year (U>S> address) $7.00 Per Year (non-U.S. address) $8.00 10 or more to the same address $5.00 per copy Single Copy $5.00* *Plus Postage and Handling Indexed with abstracts in Religion Index One: Periodicals, American Theological Library Association, Chicago, Illinois. Available on-line through BRS (Bibliographic Retrieval Services) in Latham, New York, and DIALOG in Palo Alto, California. Contents Introduction 1 Wilson Yates THE ARTS AND THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION Characteristics of Art 5 and the Character of Theological Education Frank Burch Brown Theology, the Arts, and Theological Education 13 Gordon D. Kaufman Theological Education and the Arts: Four Comments 23 Edward Farley Arguments and Allies: The Yale Consultations 29 and Recent Writings about Theological Education Barbara G. Wheeler Art and Multiculturalism: 37 Competitors or Allies in Theological Education? William A. Dyrness Theology and the Arts Dialogue: 47 Tasks for Theological Education Wilson Yates THE VISUAL ARTS IN THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION A Willem de Kooning Triptych 59 John W. Cook The Revelatory Body: 75 Signorelli's Resurrection of the Flesh at Orvieto Margaret R. Miles Sharpening Our Vision 91 as a Mode of Theological Education William A. Dyrness Three Functions of Arts in Theological Education 97 Nicholas Wolterstorff THE LITERARY ARTS IN THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION "What is Truth?" 101 The Question of Art and Theological Education Peter S. Hawkins "Writing for God After All"— 113 Scripture, Poetry, and Proclamation Richard B. Hays Literature and Theological Education: 121 Notes on a Resurrected Romance James H. Evans, Jr. The Place of Poetics in Theological Education: 133 A Heuristic Inquiry Edward Farley MUSIC IN THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION Ethical Vision and Musical Imagination 149 Max L. Stackhouse An Exploration of Music as Theology 165 Victoria R. Sirota Music and Human Existence: A Response 175 Edward Farley Reflections on Music and Theology 183 Paul Westermeyer Introduction Wilson Yates United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities ver the past 15 years, more attention has been given to the place and role O of the arts in North American theological education than at any previous time in its history. This is a cause for celebration for those who seek an integration of the arts within the theological curriculum, but it is also a cause for sober reflection regarding how far we have yet to go. For a careful assessment of where we are indicates that while a serious dialogue between theology and the arts has begun and a movement toward integration of the arts within theological education is underway, the road we must travel remains long and full of theological. political, and, no doubt, budgetary detours of the first order. This double-sided experience of recognizing the strides that we have made while seeing the major task before us is important to keep in mind. On the positive side, we have seen more than a dozen schools launch programs in the arts in which the schools have not only developed course work but engaged the larger question of why the arts should be a part of the theological enterprise and what the implications of their inclusion are for the theological curriculum as a whole We have also seen a rather large number of schools institute courses in religion and the arts and, more generally, entertain and experiment with what the integration of the arts in traditional course work and the theological disciplines would look like.1 The Association of Theological Schools has also been involved in this effort, including the arts in theological education as one of its themes for the 1988 Biennial Meeting in San Francisco. Its growing interest in this area, under the leadership of executive director James L. Waits, has led also to the selection of theology and the arts as one of the areas of research of the new Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology program as well as the publication of these essays in Theological Education. Beyond specific programmatic efforts of individual schools and the supportive work of ATS, publications such as ARTS—the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies and the recently created journal, Images, have further high- lighted the religion and arts conversation and, in the ease of ARTS the discussion has had a specific focus on theological education. International, national, and local conferences have also made their contributions. In l985 Lilly Theological Education, Volume XXXI, Number 1 (1994): 1-4 1 Endowment sponsored a conference at Candler School of Theology that focused on two Endowment-funded reports, later published as books: John Dillenberger’s A Theology of Aesthetic Sensibilities and Wilson Yates’s The Arts in Theological Education. With the Candler conference as a foundational gathering, a series of important events have occurred since, often, again, with Lilly Endowment support. The Arts and Christianity Enquiry group, created in 1990 and made up of persons working in the field from several different countries, has held meetings in London and Dresden with a summer meeting and large interna- tional conference scheduled for Berkeley, California, in 1995. (The conference will be the largest and most ambitious public event that has yet been held for theology and the arts.) Various symposia and forums have occurred for national and local audiences including the 1993 Image Conference in Berkeley and the yearly symposium of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Worship, and the Arts. Of all the ventures in this field, the 1991-93 Lilly Endowment-sponsored Consultations of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Worship, and the Arts provided the most intensive and far-reaching discussion of the arts and theo- logical education. The collection of essays that make up this volume came out of the consultations and is presented here as a source for continuing discussion for the schools of ATS. A word about the Yale project, therefore, is in order before turning to the papers themselves.2 In 1986 John Cook, Director of the Institute of Sacred Music, working with Robert Lynn of Lilly Endowment, received a grant from the Endowment to undertake a major investigation of the relationship of the arts and theological education. The grant funded two national conferences. The first in 1988 in- volved both seminary faculty and administrators and was focused on raising major issues for theological schools to consider in approaching the arts. The second conference in 1989 was smaller and involved mostly seminary faculty charged with the exploration of certain of those issues together with their implications for teaching. In 1990 Lilly Endowment enabled Yale to continue its work by providing funding for smaller consultations on the visual arts, litera- ture, and music. A final consultation focused on the findings of the previous meetings and their implications for the nature and role of the arts within theological education. The approach for this investigation was: (1) topical, organized by artistic medium; (2) pedagogical, with presenters giving lectures just as they do in their seminary classes; and (3) analytical, with participants observing and assessing the particular mode and substance of “classroom” presentations. The guiding question that informed all of the sessions was: What is theological about 2 the inclusion of the arts in the curricula and programs of seminaries and divinity schools? The consultations were made up of persons primarily from theological schools who were working with the arts. They came from schools of different theological orientations, so that their assessment of what the future of the arts in a theological setting should be was of necessity varied. The presentations that have been chosen for this volume were selected in light of their insights for ongoing debate and conversation regarding the theological significance, place, and purpose of the arts within theological schools. Certain of the essays w ere edited so as to focus the issues for the larger conversation that needs to take place among theological faculty and administra- tors who make up the ATS community. But the essays also reflect the specific discussions that took place in the Yale consultations; accordingly, they invite the reader to see the unfolding development and interplay of ideas and issues that became the central concerns of the participants in those settings. Overall, I think we can say that the essays provide a good case study of what a relatively small but representative group of theological educators raised as issues that must be dealt with by us all if we are to define in a significant and lasting way the role and place of the arts for the theological enterprise. The format for this collection draws on the general format of the consultations with a division of the material into four sets of essays. The first set treats in broad stroke the role and place of the arts in theological schools by considering a range of larger questions of concern including: Why should
Recommended publications
  • Bibliography
    BIBLIOGRAPHY Achebe, Chinua. "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart if Darkness." In Hopes and Impediments, Selected ESSIDIS, 1965-1987 (Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1988) 1-13. ~~-. Moming Yet on Creation DIDI: EsslDIs (Garden City: Anchor, 1975). Achtemeier, Paul J. "'And He Followed Him': Miracles and Discipleship in Mark 10:46-52." Semeia II (1978) 115-145. Adam, A. K. M. What Is Postmodem Biblical Criticism? (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995). Adorno, Theodor W. Minima Moralia: Riflections )Tom Damaged Lift, trans. E. F. N. Jephcott (London: New Left Books, 1974). Aichele, George. 'Jesus' Frankness." Semeia 69-70 (1995) 261-280. Aichele, George and Gary A. Phillips, eds. Intertextuality and the Bible. Semeia 69-70 (1995). ~~-. "Introduction: Exegesis, Eisegesis, Intergesis." Semeia 69-70 (1995) 7-18. Alter, Robert. The Art if Biblical Narratives (New York: Basic, 1981). Althusser, Louis. "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes Towards an Investigation)." In Lenin and Philosophy and Other EsslDls, trans. Ben Brewster (New York: Monthly Review, 1971) 121-173. Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlmuls/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza. (San Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lute, 1987). Appiah, Kwame Anthony. "Is the Post- in Postmodemism the Post- in Postcolonial?" Critical Inquiry 17 (1991) 336-357. ~~-. "Tolerable Falsehoods: Agency and the Interests of Theory." In Arac and Johnson, 63-90. Arac, Jonathan and Barbara Johnson, eds. Consequences if Theory (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991). Armstrong, Nancy. "The Occidental Alice." Differences 2 (1990) 3-40. Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures (New York: Routledge, 1989). Ba, A. Hampate. "The Living Tradition." In General History if Afiica.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Note James Luther Adams Bibliographies
    Research Note James Luther Adams Bibliographies JARED A. FARLEY James Luther Adams (1901-1994) is widely considered the twentieth century’s leading Unitarian theologian. Serving as professor of theology and ethics at Meadville Lombard Theological School and the Federated Theological Faculty in Chicago, IL (1936-1957), and at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA (1957-1968), Adams authored innumerable sermons, essays and book chapters. Among scholars, he is known for having translated the works of Paul Tillich and Ernst Troeltsch into English. Among students of ministry, he is recognized for his arguments concerning the religious efficacy of voluntary associations, derived from his experiences confronting Nazism in pre-World War II Germany. An intellectual with an uncanny ability to recall information and see connections across diverse subjects, Adams drew deeply from the well of theological, historical, and social concern that was his life. His writings preserve much of what he came to believe. The following two bibliographies came about as a helpful by- product of my research on James Luther Adams. These titles list and cross-reference the sermons, essays and addresses of JLA that have been reprinted in the various edited volumes of his writings, including the recently published Prophet to the Powerful (2008). They go beyond the scope of the bibliography that appears at the conclusion of Adams’ Not Without Dust And Heat (1995), and may prove advantageous, particularly as they are organized here, for the many theology students, ministers, 91 92 James Luther Adams Bibliographies / FARLEY and scholars who often turn to these collected works to become familiar with Adams’ life and work.
    [Show full text]
  • Original Print
    Published by the American Academy of Religion October 2004 Vol. 19, No. 4 www.aarweb.org Annual Meeting News Annual Meeting Countdown ! . 3 AAR Officer Election . 4 Six Weeks and Counting Candidates for Vice President and Secretary Featured Speakers . 3 Wimbush, Ramadan, Elizondo, Cisneros, and Ellis Regional Meetings and Calls for Papers . 9 New Program Units . 3 Regional Groups Meet in Spring 2005 Islamic Mysticism, Scriptural Reasoning, Foucault, Open and Relational Theologies, and Sacred JAAR Focus Issue . 10 Space in Contemporary Asia. Chairs Workshop . 6 Religion and Secrecy Being a Chair in Today’s Consumer Culture American Academy of Religion Awards . 10-11 Reel Religion . 6 Six Influential Films to be Shown Excellence in Teaching, Book Awards, Best In-Depth Reporting, Latin American Focus of and Martin E. Marty Award the Annual Meeting Twenty Sessions . 7 Tribute to Lonnie Kliever . 12 Sylvia Marcos and Latin American Scholarship . 7 Wiggins, Courtright, and Cooey Eulogize Their Colleague Maldonado-Torres and the Study of Religion in Latin America Today . 7 Is There a Place for “Scientific” Studies Where to Eat in San Antonio . 8 of Religion?. 13 Refreshment Wuthnow Discusses the Scientific Method Things to Do in San Antonio . 8 Cultural Opportunities Online and in Person at the Annual Meeting Performances . 8 Art Video, Music, and Dance Library of Congress . 14 Pike Visits the World’s Largest Library FEATURES Theorizing Scriptures Conference. 15 Department Meeting . .17 Claremont Institute’s Inaugural Conference An Interview with William Harman, Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the Religion and Humanities Doctorates University of Tennessee, Chattanooga Granted in 2002 .
    [Show full text]
  • Twentieth Century (Mainly) Protestant Theologies (EMT 3542 / 6542) Fall 2017 / Thursdays, 2:00-4:00 Thomas E
    Twentieth Century (mainly) Protestant Theologies (EMT 3542 / 6542) Fall 2017 / Thursdays, 2:00-4:00 Thomas E. Reynolds [email protected] / (416) 585–4544 DRAFT – a final copy will be distributed on the first day of class Description: This course explores key figures and movements in 20th century (mainly) Protestant Theologies. The scope of investigation broadly includes liberal, neo-orthodox, political/liberation, feminist/womanist/mujerista, postliberal, postmodern, and theologies of religions. Attention will be given to representative authors and related movements. Educational methods used include lectures, discussions, presentations, and a research paper. Required Texts Most of the required reading for the course is taken from the following books, available for purchase at Crux Books, Wycliffe College or online through other distributers, or available on reserve at the Emmanuel Library: -Core Text James. C. Livingston, et. al., Modern Christian Thought, Vol II: The Twentieth Century, 2nd ed. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006). -Primary Texts Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology: An Introduction (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992) Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Testament to Freedom: Essential Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (New York: Harper One, 1995) Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1996) Paul Tillich, ed. F. Forrester Church, The Essential Tillich (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1999) Other required and recommended reading will be available on reserve in the Emmanuel College library or distributed online via the Portal. Recommended Texts Gregory Baum, ed., The Twentieth Century: A Theological Overview (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999) David Ford and Rachel Muers, eds., The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology Since 1918, 3rd ed.
    [Show full text]
  • James Luther Adams Prophet to the Powerful
    James Luther Adams Prophet to the Powerful James Luther Adams Prophet to the Powerful Edited by Herbert F. Vetter Cover Portrait of James Luther Adams Paul Hertz, 1975, Some Rights Reserved. Photographer: Jon Chase Photo Harvard Square Library, Cambridge James Luther Adams: Prophet to the Powerful This book is not copyrighted and is placed in the public domain by Harvard Square Library 2008, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02140. Published by Harvard Square Library www.harvardsquarelibrary.org ISBN: 978-0-615-25994-9 Contents I. The Life of James Luther Adams 3 Taking Time Seriously 5 James Luther Adams A Biographical and Intellectual Sketch * 15 Max L. Stackhouse Harvard Faculty Memorial Minute 43 George Kimmich Beach A Celebration of Life 49 Max L. Stackhouse II. James Luther Adams at 75* 55 Introduction by the Editor 57 The Evolution of My Social Concern 64 James Luther Adams III. James Luther Adams Papers: Six Decades * 79 1. Pessimism and Optimism in Religion 81 2. Christianity and Humanism 91 3. The Stabilizer and the Shatterer 109 4. The Liberal Christian Looks at Himself 113 5. Festschrift: Presentation to Paul Tillich 130 6. The Body and the Soul of Learning 134 IV. James Luther Adams Papers** 141 Introduction by the Editor 143 Papers 1. Our Enemy: Angelism 147 2. Religion’s Word Against Religion 154 3. The War of the Gods 156 4. Betraying the World with a Kiss 162 5. Perspectives on the Pluralistic Society 169 6. The Wrath and Love of God 176 7. The Creative Thrust of Conflict 178 8. By Their Groups Shall Ye Know Them 186 9.
    [Show full text]
  • Black, Queer, and Blessed: Toward a Biblically Based Black, Queer Narrative of Leadership
    University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2017 Black, Queer, and Blessed: Toward a Biblically Based Black, Queer Narrative of Leadership Arthur Leon Tredwell University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, Biblical Studies Commons, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons Recommended Citation Tredwell, Arthur Leon, "Black, Queer, and Blessed: Toward a Biblically Based Black, Queer Narrative of Leadership" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1363. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1363 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. Black, Queer, and Blessed: Toward a Biblically Based Black, Queer Narrative of Leadership A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program University of Denver In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Arthur Leon Tredwell November 2017 Advisor: Dr. Arthur Jones Author: Arthur Leon Tredwell Title: Black, Queer, and Blessed: Toward a Biblically Based Black, Queer Narrative of Leadership Advisor: Dr. Arthur Jones Degree Date: November 2017 Abstract This dissertation focuses on the evolution of traditional African-American religious leadership as it evolved during the first half of the twentieth century. It traces the two primary models of Black religious leadership that emerged from White, cis, benevolent and dominating models of patriarchy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Agĩkũyũ, the Bible and Colonial Constructs: Towards an Ordinary African Readers‟ Hermeneutics
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository THE AGĨKŨYŨ, THE BIBLE AND COLONIAL CONSTRUCTS: TOWARDS AN ORDINARY AFRICAN READERS‟ HERMENEUTICS. by JOHNSON KĨRIAKŨ KĨNYUA A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham February 2010 . [1] ABSTRACT THE AGĨKŨYŨ, THE BIBLE AND COLONIAL CONSTRUCTS: TOWARDS AN ORDINARY AFRICAN READERS‟ HERMENEUTICS. By Johnson Kĩriakũ Kĩnyua February 2010 (346 Pages) Recognising the paradigm shift in African biblical studies where the image of a “decontextualized and non-ideological” scientific Bible reader is slowly being replaced with one of a “contextualized and ideological” reader, this research seeks to explore and understand the role of the “ordinary readers” in the development of biblical interpretation in colonial Kenya. It seeks to understand whether the semi- illiterate and illiterate can engage the Bible as capable hermeneuts. The study uses postcolonial criticism to recover and reconstruct the historical encounters of the Agĩkũyũ with the Bible. It reveals that ordinary African readers actively and creatively engaged biblical texts in the moment of colonial transformation using several reading strategies and reading resources. Despite the colonial hegemonic positioning, these Africans hybridised readings from the Bible through retrieval and incorporation of the defunct pre-colonial past; creating interstices that became sites for assimilation, questioning and resistance. The study proposes an African hermeneutic theory that accepts both scholarly readers and the ordinary readers with respect to biblical interpretation as constitutive of a community of readers positioned in a particular sociocultural milieu.
    [Show full text]
  • Rerum Novarum (1893) Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno (1931) John XXIII, Mater Et Magistra (1961) John Paul II, Centesimus Annus (1991)
    Religion and Politics After the Enlightenment GOVT-788-01 Spring 2008 Georgetown University Wednesday 12:15PM - 02:45PM Berkley Center Conference Room, 3307 M Street, Suite 200 Instructor Michael Kessler, [email protected] Course Description Recent generations have witnessed a reawakening of potent, even vehement, forms of political theologies. Across the globe, vigorous political expression of impassioned belief has emerged within contemporary political orders. Even when political theologies do not turn to physical violence, recent advocates have espoused taking control of the political order for religiously-motivated goals, using a vast arsenal of legal, cultural, and electoral means. This surge of political religion comes at a time when forces of urbanization, globalization, and advances in knowledge and technology have spread, forces that were supposed to quell religious piety and make faith increasingly benign, according to many academics and secular theorists. Religion has not become a domesticated sphere, separated from politics and other sectors of human society. Countering the so-called secularization thesis, God’s followers have not receded quietly and they increasingly assert their role in the political order. This persistence of political theologies poses many important issues: How do religions legitimate their political activity? How do religions, newly conscious of history, time, and material reality, shape their political activity? How do they grapple with modern demands of reason and the principles of liberal democracy in formulating their political agenda? How can liberal democratic political communities, shaped by enlightenment ideals, accommodate—or cabin—political theologies? As religious thinkers in the West grappled with the meaning of modernity and how religious belief and practice could properly, if at all, enter into the public sphere, they came to a new understanding of the limits of power politics and the role of religion in shaping the collective order.
    [Show full text]
  • Février 2012 Nouveautés – New Arrivals February 2012
    Février 2012 Nouveautés – New Arrivals February 2012 ISBN: 9782070113330 (rel.) ISBN: 2070113337 (rel.) Titre: Écrits gnostiques : la bibliothèque de Nag Hammadi / édition publiée sous la direction de Jean-Pierre Mahé et de Paul-Hubert Poirier ; index établis par Eric Crégheur. Éditeur: [Paris] : Gallimard, c2007. Desc. matérielle: lxxxvii, 1830 p. ; 18 cm. Titre de coll.: (Bibliothèque de la pléiade ; 538) Note générale: "Le présent volume donne la traduction intégrale des quarante-six écrits de Nag Hammadi ... On y a joint ceux du manuscrit copte de Berlin (Berolinensis gnosticus 8502, désigné par BG), ..."--P. xxxi. Note bibliogr.: Comprend des références bibliographiques (p.1685-1689) et des index. AC 20 B5E37M2 2007 ISBN: 9782070771745 (rel.) ISBN: 2070771741 (rel.) Titre: Philosophes confucianistes = Ru jia / textes traduits, présentés et annotés par Charles Le Blanc et Rémi Mathieu. Titre parallèle: Ru jia Éditeur: [Paris] : Gallimard, c2009. Desc. matérielle: lxvi, 1468 p. : cartes ; 18 cm. Titre de coll.: (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade ; 557) Note générale: Contient les "Quatre livres" (Si shu): Lun yu, Mengzi, Da xue et Zhong yong; contient aussi le Classique de la piété filiale (Xiao jing) et le Xun zi. Note bibliogr.: Comprend des références bibliographiques (p. [1335]-1350). Dépouil. complet: Les entretiens de Confucius (Lunyu) - Meng Zi -- La Grande Étude (Daxue) - La pratique équilibrée (Zhongyong) -- Le Classique de la piété filiale (Xiaojing) -- Xun Zi AC 20 B5P45L43 2009 ISBN: 9782130576785 (br.) ISBN: 2130576788 (br.) Auteur: Déroche, François, 1952- Titre: Le Coran / François Déroche. Éditeur: Paris : Presses universitaires de France, 2009. Desc. matérielle: 127 p. ; 18 cm. Titre de coll.: (Que sais-je ; 1245) Note bibliogr.: Comprend des références bibliographiques (p.
    [Show full text]
  • Unitarian Universalist Theology Renaissance Module ONLINE
    Unitarian Universalist Theology Renaissance Module ONLINE VERSION PARTICIPANT GUIDE By Lynn Ungar and Sara Lewis © 2018 by the Faith Development Office of the UUA, Boston, MA Table of Contents About the Authors; Acknowledgement 3 Overview of Sessions 4 Introduction to the Module 6 Pre-Module Assignments 16 Session 1: What Is Theology? 17 Session 2: Early Unitarianism and Universalism 34 Session 3: Expanding Beyond Christian Roots 40 Session 4: More 20th Century Influences 48 Session 5: 21st Century UU Theology 55 Session 6: Closing Session 59 UU Theology Renaissance Module, ONLINE Participant Guide 2 About the Authors Rev. Dr. Lynn Ungar holds an M.Div. from Starr King School for the Ministry and a D. Min. in religious education from McCormick Theological seminary. She has served as a parish minister in Moscow, Idaho and in Chicago, and as a director of religious education in Fremont and Hayward, California. She currently serves as minister for lifespan learning for the Church of the Larger Fellowship, our online UU congregation (www.questformeaning.org and www.clfuu.org ). Lynn is co-author of the Tapestry of Faith curricula Faithful Journeys and Love Connects Us and author of Sing to the Power. Lynn’s poetry can be found in a variety of publications, including her latest book Bread and Other Miracles. She is the composer of the round, “Come, Come, Whoever You Are,” Hymn 188 in Singing the Living Tradition. Sara Lewis, unchurched in her early years, found Unitarian Universalism in her teen years and has served as Director of Religious Education at the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Olympia, Washington since 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • This Year from Kregel Academic
    KREGEL THIS YEAR FROM ACADEMIC KREGEL ACADEMIC 288 pgs • $21.99 $12.09 Conf 400 pgs • $27.99 $15.39 Conf 288 pgs • $21.99 $12.09 Conf 432 pgs • $34.99 $19.24 Conf 352 pgs • $26.99 $14.84 Conf 464 pgs • $24.99 $13.74 Conf 704 pgs • $51.99 $28.59 Conf 544 pgs • $47.99 $26.39 Conf second edition releasing Feb 2021 CONFERENCE SPECIAL: The Text of the Earliest NT Greek Manuscripts, vols 1 & 2 $79.99 separately • $36.99 Conference Set 400 pgs • $27.99 $15.39 Conf 416 pgs • $36.99 $20.34 Conf 45% Conference discount and free shipping in the US on all Kregel books. Contact (800) 733-2607 or [email protected] to order with discount code EAS20. Offer good through Dec 31, 2020. Request free exam copies and subscribe to our monthly newsletter at KregelAcademicBlog.com. 2020 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETINGS November 29–December 10 FUTURE ANNUAL MEETINGS 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 San Antonio, TX Denver, CO San Antonio, TX San Diego, CA Boston, MA November 20–23 November 19–22 November 18–21 November 23–26 November 22–25 Thanks to Our Sponsors Baker Academic and Brazos Press Baylor University Press Westminster John Knox Wipf & Stock Zondervan Zondervan NRSV Publishers Weekly 2 See the full Annual Meetings program online at www.sbl-site.org/meetings/Congresses_ProgramBook.aspx?MeetingId=37 and papers.aarweb.org/online-program-book TABLE OF CONTENTS Annual Meetings Information AAR Academy Information ........................... 81 2020 Virtual Annual Meetings .................... 4 AAR Program Sessions How to Use the Program Book ....................
    [Show full text]
  • The Five Smooth Stones of Unitarianism: the Basics of Liberal Religion Part Three
    The Five Smooth Stones of Unitarianism: The Basics of Liberal Religion Part Three Yakima Unitarian Universalist Church Yakima, WA September 27, 2020, Zoom Andrew D. Whitmont, PhD (Call to worship: words of Galen Guengerich, UU Minister in NYC.) “It’s my view that many people today have rightly recognized that established religions don’t have all the answers, that some of the answers they offer don’t make sense in our world today, and that some of the answers are downright destructive and offensive. But the rise of interest in spirituality indicates that the longing for a comprehensive sense of meaning and a deep sense of purpose, a longing historically satisfied by religion, remains unmet by secularism” Introductory song: “Spirit of Life”, lighting of chalice, joys and sorrows, etc. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming today. In this talk we I will seek to advance our understanding of the work of Unitarian Universalist theologian James Luther Adams and his “Five Smooth Stones” of liberal religion. Adams, you may recall, was born in 1901, raised in Ritzville, WA, educated at Harvard Divinity School and lived until 1994. He is known as the leading theologian of Unitarian Universalism in light of his clarification of the nature of liberal religion. It’s important to keep in mind that Adams’ work is about religion, an institutionalized social organization dealing with the relation between humans and The Mystery, also called God, Deity, Divinity, etc. Many of you may consider your self atheists, adeists, humanists, or non-believers and might find the explicitly metaphysical and spiritual approach of religion to be off-putting.
    [Show full text]