Empire and justice in Jesus's time and ours

• Travel as a Political Act, by Rick Steves (Nation, 2009)
  If you know Rick Steves only from his travel guidebooks and TV shows, this book may surprise you. A faithful and perceptive Lutheran, he considers typical cruise vacations hedonism. The travel he finds most valuable gives opportunities to get to know people overseas who see things differently from us--to broaden our perspectives personally, culturally, and politically. Along with telling readers how he has had his cultural furniture rearranged and his ethnocentric self-assuredness walloped by his experiences traveling in seven different parts of the world, he includes mini-presentations of liberation theology and of how empire shows up in today's world.
• The Powers that Be: Theology for a New Millennium, by Walter Wink (Galilee/Doubleday & Augsburg Fortress, 1998)
  This very powerful book is essentially a condensed and simplified version of Wink's series of three books about what the King James Version of the Bible calls "the principalities and powers." See the March 2001 Connections http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/3-01conn.pdf for a brief mention of it, and the May 2001 Connections http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/5-01 conn.pdf for a summary of Wink's description of the five main worldviews that he finds represented in Western history.
• Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times, by Joerg Rieger (Fortress, 2007)
  Rieger, a professor of constructive theology at Perkins School of Theology, describes the influence of the Roman Empire on early Christianity and discusses what this means for Christians today. He discusses how several prominent theologians through the centuries have addressed or failed to address the subject of empire's influence. The August 2007 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/8-07Conn.pdf, September 2007 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/9-07Conn.pdf , and October 2007 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/10-07Conn.pdf Connections include quotes from this book, which is especially appropriate for academic readers.
• God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now, by John Dominic Crossan (HarperSanFrancisco, 2007)
  Crossan, a leading historical-Jesus scholar, discusses what the remains of documents, coins, and buildings tell about the Roman Empire, the matrix in which Christianity originated. Crossan also gives his views on how Jesus, Paul, and the other earliest Christians actively resisted the Empire's all-pervasive effects, and how today's Christians need to be resisting empire as it appears in today's world. Read more in the August 2007 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/8-07Conn.pdf, September 2007 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/9-07Conn.pdf , and October 2007 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/10-07Conn.pdf Connections.

Examining our ways of portraying God

• Like Catching Water in a Net: Human Attempts to Describe the Divine, by Val Webb (Continuum, 2007)
  Lay theologian Val Webb observes that deities described in prescientific terms no longer engage people in this age. Thus many have left their religious tradition because they found its portrayals of God unbelievable and their church, synagogue, or mosque offered no other ways to talk about the sacred. Webb includes numerous quotes about God, from many centuries and many traditions. Read more about her thought-provoking book in the February 2008 Connections. http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/2-08Conn.pdf
• Falling in Love with Mystery: We Don't Have To Pretend Anymore, by Richard F. Elliott, Jr. (out of print)
  Elliott, a retired UMC clergyman from South Carolina, writes about the great separation he finds in our culture, between religion and reality. Quotes from his book are in the February 2003 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/2-03 revised.pdf and March 2003 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/3-03 revised.pdf Connections. The book is out of print but you can get it, complete and free, from Elliott's web site, www.fallinginlovewithmystery.com.
• In Times Like These: How We Pray, by Malcolm Boyd and J. Jon Bruno (Church Publishing, 2005)
  You're likely to find this book about prayer, by two Episcopal priests, a welcome change from most other books about prayer. It's a collection of pieces by a diverse group of authors, describing the wide variety of ways in which they experience prayer. Read about it in the January 2006 Connections. http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/1-06Conn.pdf

Examining what being a Christian means

• The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith, by Marcus J. Borg (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003)
  As in his earlier books, Borg writes here about the earlier way of seeing Christianity and the emerging way. In the May 2004 Connections http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/5-04 conn.pdf he writes about his ability to be nourished still by traditional worship, and his feeling that the main purpose of worship is to furnish what Celtic Christianity called "thin places."

Seeing the need for change in the church

• Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile, by John Shelby Spong (HarperSanFrancisco, 1998)
  Retired Episcopal Bishop Spong writes about what he sees as the silent majority of people who find it increasingly hard to remain church members and still be thinking people. He believes that if we want the church to survive, we must start presenting authentic Christian belief in terms that make sense to today's people. Read more in the March 2001 Connections. http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/3-01conn.pdf
• Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus, by Robin R. Meyers (HarperCollins, 2009)
  UCC pastor and OCU professor Meyers believes we have come to a fork in the road that is Christianity and that we need to take the road less traveled. But he feels that in order to do that, we need to revisit a crucial fork at which Christianity long ago took the wrong road—the creedal road—instead of staying on the experiential road that the earliest followers of Jesus called "The Way." We're now so focused on beliefs about Jesus instead of the invitation to follow Jesus, says Meyers, that a new Reformation is needed. It also needs to focus more on politics, meaning the exercise of power and its moral consequences, rather than refusing to "mix religion and politics" as some church members advocate. Read more in the July 2009 Connections. http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/7-09Conn.pdf
• The Dishonest Church, by Jack Good (Rising Star Press, 2003)
  Good, a United Church of Christ pastor, bemoans churches' failure to let their members know what most pastors know about the Bible's origins, Christian history and doctrine, and recent discoveries about the earthly life of Jesus. For more about this powerful, easy-to-read book, see the February 2006 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/2-06Conn.pdf and March 2006 http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/3-06Conn.pdf Connections.
• Dying Church, Living God: A Call to Begin Again, by Chuck Meyer (Northstone Publishing, 2000)
  Meyer, who died in a 2000 car wreck, was an Episcopal clergyman in Austin, Texas. His book is funny and very easy to read. Some Christians will probably consider it unacceptably irreverent. "If you like the status quo, get all gushy over the Atonement and the Blessed Virgin Mary," says Meyer, "and you think the Church is the one thing that will never change," this book is likely to make you angry. However, it says some things that are very important for churchgoers to hear and think about. Its format and style would make it ideal for a church group to read together and discuss. For more about it, see the March 2001 Connections. http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/3-01conn.pdf

Understanding non-Christian religions and relating to their adherents

• The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions, by Karen Armstrong (Knopf, 2006)
  Armstrong writes about the insights of the Axial Age, in which "the great world traditions that have continued to nourish humanity came into being: Confucianism and Daoism in China; Hinduism and Buddhism in India; monotheism in Israel; and philosophical rationalism in Greece." She believes we have diluted our religions' most valuable insights today and replaced them with a religiosity that too often harms rather than helps. Read about these timeless insights in the July 2007 Connections. http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/7-07Conn.pdf This book is thick and is packed with historical detail, which makes it slow going, but it's worth the effort.
• Relating to People of Other Religions: What Every Christian Needs to Know, by M. Thomas Thangaraj (Abingdon, 1997)
  Thangaraj is a Christian who grew up in India among Hindus and now teaches at Candler School of Theology, a United Methodist seminary. He reminds readers of the many scriptures that refer to the variety God has created. His book has an especially helpful discussion of what he considers the most common ways in which Christians regard other religions. This book is easy reading and would be a good basis for talking about the subject in a church group. Read more about it in the December 2001 Connections. http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/12-01 conn.pdf

Considering current events and issues

• War: A Primer for Christians, by Joseph L. Allen (SMU Press, 1991/2001)
  This book by a professor of Christian ethics gives a good summary of the just-war tradition and other ways in which conscientious Christians have responded to war. See the March 2002 Connections. http://www.connectionsonline.org/Connpdf/3-02 conn.pdf
• The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, by Andrew J. Bacevich (Henry Holt, 2008)
  Bacevich is a retired U.S. Army colonel who is now a professor of history and international relations. He discusses the need to look at our economy, our government, and our involvement in endless wars in realistic ways instead of in the illusory ways he sees both Democrats and Republicans currently looking. He's not writing from a religious perspective, but his intriguing book can help Christians think about today's most pressing issues.

“Changing The Church / Changing The World” with Gil & Inez Dawes and Friedrich Gehring

Guns-In-Church? Priest pedophiles? Tea-Party-Jesus? Excommunication? Inquisition of women religious?

Finding Solutions To Our Nation’s Growing Energy Crisis

Dr. Joerg Rieger speaks on Anselm of Canterbury in FAITHANDREASON Seminar, Dallas, TX

PCCS MISSION

Debo Dykes

On March 11, 2010, Peter Laarman published an article on The Huffington Post website that raises awareness about a raging firestorm that is sweeping this nation that is fueled by a tempestuous American Empire and is based upon fear and misinformation.  Click the following link to read Peter’s post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-laarman/for-the-seriously-faithfu_b_494956.html

The Rev. Peter Laarman, Executive Director of Progressive Christians Uniting (PCU) is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Divinity School with a background in community organizing and in media work for the U.S. labor movement.

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Joerg Rieger

From Amazon:

Economics has always had a moral dimension; even free-market mascot Adam Smith was a Christian minister.

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Joerg Rieger

Dr. Joerg Rieger says, “At present, more and more people are becoming aware that the gap between rich and poor is widening, affecting even people in the First World who have traditionally been middle class. 

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Short clip from DOM CROSSAN & JOERG RIEGER “GOD & EMPIRE” Question & Answer

This is a short clip of John Dominic Crossan and Joerg Rieger during the “question & answer” segment of a FAITHANDREASON seminar titled “God & Imperial Power; Jesus & Economic Injustice”, October 2009, Dallas, TX.  To purchase the complete “God & Empire” DVD contact 1-800-882-7424, or visit http://www.faithandreason.org.

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Posted on May 12, 2010 - 05:09 PM