Trevor Mattiske wrote: > "I believe that one of the cruelest jokes we perpetrate on our young people > is to instill in them the falsehood that they are their own > meaning-makers." (from a page at the Becoming Disciples site). > > This quote made me think about the autonomous self.
clip > More to the point, how can what's left of the church present the Gospel > honestly to a society in which at least 3 generations have been immersed in > this culture of the autonomous self? Does the church first have to roll > back the idea that the autonomous self is paramount? How? > > Are the claims of primacy for the autonomous self part of the cruel joke? > > ------------------------------------------------------ Scott Cowdell in his book "God's next big thing"(John Garratt publishing 2004) treats this as part of his assesment of the world the present church must confront, it is well worth a read. The firstpart of the book looks at the concepts of identity and solidarity, its foundations and problems and understandings in post-modern terms. He quotes John Frances Kavanaugh (pg.98) (paraphrased) if you are happy, contented, satisfied, stable and have good relationships, what good are you economically in terms of our (international consumerism) sustem? However, if you are unhappy, and distressed, living in anxiety and confusion, unsure of yourself and relationships - you will crave much and want more. you will have the behaviour most suitable to a social system that is based upon continual economic growth. Cowdell sees the concept of identity and solidarity, and their flexibility in a post modern environment as a major problem and spends some time in analysis of this (pg 22ff) I am about to start the second part of the book (What the church needs to become) but I like the analysis he has done in the first part. Peace, Rob -- Robert & Barbara Dummermuth Uniting Church in Australia Esperance / West Nullarbor Patrol 18 Hicks Street, Esperance, 6450 tel 08 9071 1184 fax 08 9071 5814 mobile 0428 532 304 [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 ------------------------------------------------------
