Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Holy Week Reflections by Rowan Williams

ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury offers Holy Week reflections

By ENS staff, March 30, 2010

[Episcopal News Service] Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is giving three Holy Week lectures in a series entitled "The beginning of the Gospel -- reading Mark's life of Jesus."

In the March 29 lecture, titled "History and Memory," Williams talked about Mark, the origins of his work and how the Gospel of Mark "has an exceptional impact." He also spoke about the purpose and the goal of the book and what scholarship has been doing with Mark's gospel for the last century. A questions and answers session followed the lecture.

The March 30 lecture is titled "Unveiling Secrets" and the final lecture on March 31 is to address "A Lifelong Passion."

Williams is presenting the lectures at Canterbury Cathedral.

Multimedia versions of the lectures are available here.

In addition, Lambeth Palace has posted a Holy Week video message in which the archbishop calls the days leading up to Easter "a week when we discover in a way we don't do at any other time just who we are and just who God is." A transcript of his message is here.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

God vs. God

Sean Hannity was recently scolded by bloggers for being disinterested in Mosab Hassan Yousef’s theology.  The Fox TV host was castigated for being too politically correct to join Yousef in his attack on Allah when Hannity interviewed Yousef on his March 4th program.

Yousef said, “There are no moderate Muslims.”  “All Muslims are the same,” (that is, they are all militant). He adds, but the "most criminal terrorist Muslim has more morality than their God” (what Yousef calls “the God of the Koran”). Further, he stated, “Their God is a terrorist and ignorant.”
           
The following day, the Wall Street Journal published an interview of Yousef by Matthew Kaminski. The headline read: “THEY NEED TO BE LIBERATED FROM THEIR GOD.”  It turns out that liberation is not merely physical liberation by military force, but also spiritual liberation. Yousef says his father is “doing the will of a fanatic God…a fanatic, fundamentalist, terrorist God.” People “don’t want to admit this is an ideological war [but]…[t]he problem is their God.” Yousef claims that the God of the Koran is the real enemy we must fight.
           
Yousef is living in the U.S. and is a convert to Christianity.  He often speaks of “the grace, love and humility that Jesus talked about.”  

Here we have God vs. God, our God vs. their God, good God vs. bad God.  Mosab Hassan Yousef’s book, Son of Hamas, presents a view of the “God of Islam” which is a distortion and bears no resemblance to the God of Abraham which all Muslims, Christans and Jews worship. It is easy, in our world, to forget that we are talking about the same God--the God of Abraham. As Abraham’s children, we are siblings. In this way, there is no “us” and “them”, only “us” and “us.”

Yousef may be right about some things, but I know he is wrong about God. There is but one God.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Documentary

I am making a short documentary for a class I am taking at Harvard this Spring semester (part of my sabbatical). Spent the day conducting an interview with a biologist on evolution. Tomorrow more interviews.

Friday, March 5, 2010

More on Maximum Wage

From a 2006 Atlantic Monthly article on income distribution in the USA. Illustrates why I believe we need a"Maximum Wage." http://bit.ly/9f8f11

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Homosexuality & Christian Scripture

You can now purchase a copy of my lecture from 2004 on Homosexuality and Christian Scripture from Carmichael's Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky. Both the Frankfort Avenue and Bardstown Road locations have copies available. I am going to give the proceeds (if there are any) to the Fairness Campaign.

Each book comes with a DVD of the lecture.

Great for study groups! Read the book. Watch the DVD. Talk about it!