----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Crawford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'insights'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 12:11 AM Subject: RE: Tom Bandy Reflection Part One - Palliative Care
Allan has said >Some interesting reflections, Darren. I couldn't help thinking, however, that >if we were to be really honest with ourselves about 'palliative care of >congregations', we would have to admit that in reality we really are only >applying palliative care to the whole church as it is functioning to day. This >is largely because the God we have been proclaiming through our doctrines and >creeds is himself currently receiving palliative care. The credibility of this >God is and has been under attack since we started to move into a scientific >understanding of the universe and until we start to perceive God in a way that >makes sense of the world we live in, I can't see much hope of a resuscitation. Greg has said Oh no! Don't say God is about to die again! But please, can we have a resurrection rather than a resuscitation? OK, people have grown weary of some anthropomorphic projection of middle-eastern culture into the sky, but where is this new God of Alan's going to come from? Allan again If I might stop speaking in metaphors for a while, of course God is not dead or even dying but what is dying is the way we have tried to understand or describe God in the form of old images doctrines and creeds. I think that the new images and perceptions of God will arise out of our own search for inner meaning coupled with a re-interpretation of the old (scriptural?) stories in the light of our current scientific knowledge. I believe we will move from theism to panantheism and this will have an enourmous impact on how we might understand and talk about God. Certainly the old images will be swept away and and the God who requires sacrifice and homage as a means of being in relationship with humans will be banished forever as a way of bringing meaning to life. God will be acknowledged as the source of being rather than a supernatural being. Allan ------------------------------------------------------ - 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 ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------ - 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 ------------------------------------------------------
