I haven't read any of Bandy's stuff, but several people whose opinions and whose track records I respect have and are impressed.
At the risk of being branded a heretic, can I point out that not even the Bible should be uncritically applied in all circumstances, yet Christians all believe that it contains ultimate truth. For example, just because the Bible gives us instructions on how to be good slave owners doesn't mean we have to have slaves. However, we also don't reject the whole of the Bible on the basis that it tells us how to be good slave owners when we are all ethically opposed to owning slaves (on the basis of other Biblical teaching). If I remember correctly, the person who raised theological questions about Bandy's writing was Rob Bos, and I didn't hear him saying "let's ignore him - it's all garbage" but rather "along with things with which I resonate, I have some reseverations about what he has to say in some areas". We will *never* find the perfect recipe for church growth across the board, but I don't think we should use the fact that everything we are offered will need tinkering with to suit our own contexts as an excuse not to look at anything. Rather, we analyse what we're offered and see whether there's anything worthwhile in it for us. Are the reservations justified or just excuses to allow us not to do something that scares us rigid? If the former can we get past the bits over which we have reservations by adapting or does it have to be accepted as a whole package? Judy -- "Politics is the work we do to keep the world safe for our spirituality" - Judith Plaskow Rev Judy Redman Uniting Church Chaplain University of New England Armidale 2351 ph: +61 2 6773 3739 fax: +61 2 6773 3749 web: http://www.une.edu.au/campus/chaplaincy/uniting/ action for peace: http://www.une.edu.au/campus/chaplaincy/uniting/links/peace.html email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
