Colleagues List, May 17th, 2020

Vol XV. No. 41

Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                                                                                              http://colleagueslist.blogspot.ca/ http://colleagueslistii.blogspot.com/

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE                                          CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net 

This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally - waholst@telus.net

*****

Dear Friends:

This week I introduce you to a new book by a favourite
author, Bart Ehrman. Over the years I have found him
to be a great friend in my search for life's meaning and
am always happy to share his books and lectures with
others. Please enjoy, as well as struggle!

I happy to share another full complement of material -
current thinking, news and wisdom.

Wayne

NOTE A REMINDER - If a link, below seems to be dead, 
cut and paste it into the address bar at the top of your 
web page and it should work.

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

Book Notice -

HEAVEN AND HELL
A History of the Afterlife
by Bart D. Ehrman

Simon & Schuster, Toronto
Hardcover $36.50 CAD. 
Kindle $18.00 CAD
ISBN # 97815011136733

Publisher's Promo:

A New York Times bestselling historian of early 
Christianity takes on two of the most gripping 
questions of human existence: where did the 
ideas of heaven and hell come from, and why 
do they endure?

What happens when we die? A recent Pew 
Research poll showed that 72% of Americans 
believe in a literal heaven, 58% in a literal hell. 
Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian 
and assume they are the age-old teachings of the 
Bible. But eternal rewards and punishments are 
found nowhere in the Old Testament and are not 
what Jesus or his disciples taught.

So where did the ideas come from?

In clear and compelling terms, Bart Ehrman recounts
the long history of the afterlife, ranging from The Epic 
of Gihlgamesh up to the writings of Augustine, focusing 
especially on the teachings of Jesus and his early 
followers. He discusses ancient guided tours of heaven 
and hell, in which a living person observes the sublime 
blessings of heaven for those who are saved and the 
horrifying torments of hell for the damned. Some of 
these accounts take the form of near death experiences, 
the oldest on record, with intriguing similarities to those 
reported today.

One of Ehrman’s startling conclusions is that there never 
was a single Greek, Jewish, or Christian understanding 
of the afterlife, but numerous competing views. Moreover, 
these views did not come from nowhere; they were 
intimately connected with the social, cultural, and 
historical worlds out of which they emerged. Only 
later, in the early Christian centuries, did they develop 
into the notions of eternal bliss or damnation widely 
accepted today.

As a historian, Ehrman obviously cannot provide a 
definitive answer to the question of what happens 
after death. In Heaven and Hell, he does the next 
best thing: by helping us reflect on where our ideas 
of the afterlife come from, he assures us that even 
if there may be something to hope for when we die, 
there is certainly nothing to fear.

--

Author's Words:

This book discusses views of the afterlife in the
ancient Near East, Greece and Rome, the Hebrew
Bible, Second Temple Judaism, the New Testament
and Early Christianity.

When I was a child I believed in heaven and hell.
As a teenager the hope for heaven and fear of hell
played a large role in my spiritual thinking.

When I became a born-again Christian, I had no
doubt: I was going to heaven.

I felt badly for those who did not believe as I did.
They were lost and it was my duty to convert them.
I was  a Christian on a mission and quite obnoxious
about it.

I went through a number of evangelical schools
and then did post-graduate studies at Princeton
Theological Seminary, decidedly a non-fundamental-
ist school. I began to wonder about my strongly-held
beliefs in God and Christ. Would my eternal life 
get into serious trouble? 

Should I doubt my teachers? I wanted to be right.

In time I moved into a more liberal kind of faith.
Finally, I left my faith altogether. But my fascination 
with the afterlife continued. It played a very important
role in the thinking of early Christians, which has
always been my teaching and research specialty.

Knowing where ideas of the afterlife came from, 
how they developed, how they changed over time
can teach us how Christianity came to be what it
is today.

Many people in our modern societies hold to very
traditional beliefs about heaven and hell today.
But these views do not go back to early Christianity.
They have evolved over the centuries. They cannot
be found in the Old Testament and they are not
what Jesus taught. Where did they come from?

Both Judaism and Christianity were remarkably
diverse in their views. Even Paul differed from
Jesus. So where did these beliefs originate? 

I am not saying that a literal heaven or hell
have experienced historical changes. I am saying
that the ideas of heaven and hell were invented
and have been altered over the years.

I am not saying these ideas are wrong. Only that
once these ideas did not exist and then they did.

My task here is to see how ideas of the afterlife
came about, were modified, transformed, believed,
doubted and disbelieved over time.

Many different cultures and philosophies helped
to determine the beliefs about the afterlife we
hold today and I will work through many of them.

Death itself cannot be the end of the story. A study
of beliefs about death and the afterlife can lead to
important and salutary ends.

In the end, our beliefs about this important subject
can provide assurance and comfort. I believe that
we have absolutely nothing to fear. That can help
us to enjoy living in the here and now; living lives
that are full of meaning and purpose in the time
allotted to us.

- edited/interpreted from the book's 
   Acknowledgments and Preface sections.

--

Author's Bio:

Bart D. Ehrman is a highly acclaimed scholar of the 
New Testament and the history of early Christianity. 
He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of 
Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina 
at Chapel Hill. He is the author or editor of over thirty-
one books and has been featured in the New Yorker 
and Time. In addition to appearances on the National 
Geographic channel, the History channel, the Discovery 
channel, BBC, and NPR's Fresh Air, Ehrman has written 
five New York Times bestsellers, including How Jesus 
Became God. With preeminent academic credentials, 
he is the editor and Greek-to-English translator of both 
volumes of The Apostolic Fathers - Loeb Classic Library.

--

Q@A With Bart Ehrman: 
Religion News Service, March 26th, 2020:
https://tinyurl.com/yc74vxa

--

Frederick Buechner's Paragraphs about Heaven and Hell:
​​​​https://tinyurl.com/ycaw27kd 
https://tinyurl.com/y7tj2wkj

--

My Thoughts:

One of the great benefits about having doubts along
our faith journeys - then learning from those who have
struggled with those doubts to find a richer meaning - 
is one of the central benefits of reading a book like 
this one.

Ehrman has moved from a very conservative to a 
liberal Christianity, and then to a place of agnosticism
from which he has written many thoughtful and most
important books. His task is not to turn believers into
non-believers. Rather, it is to follow the truth wherever
it leads him. and to help us do the same.

I was raised in an environment where it was considered
a sin to doubt the truths of the faith handed down to me.
I represented that through many years of ministry, and
I tried to convince others that doubt was wrong.

No longer do I believe this. My understanding has shifted
from passing on the truths understood by others to come
to a truth I have found for myself. If Christ offers me
"the Way, the Truth and the Life" I will not go wrong
if I continue to live and bear witness to the truth that
I must pursue. I invite others to join me in that quest.

That truth applies to the meaning I find for this life, and
the hope I have for what happens after death. As a good
friend once shared - "I am prepared for whatever comes."

This book, like many of Ehrman's previous works, 
helps me to move through doubts to deeper meanings.
I think he would do the same for you.

_____

Buy the book from Amazon.ca: 
https://tinyurl.com/y9yby2lj


*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Shanon Mang,
Calgary, AB

CTV News,
May 11th, 2020

"I Would Do Anything for a Do-Over"
  https://tinyurl.com/yd6lo9g7

--

Martin Marty,
Chicago, IL

Sightings,
 May 11th, 2020

"Cultural Disruptions"
  https://tinyurl.com/y77uqhct
-

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON

Sermons and Blog,
May 8th, 2020

"There's a Place for You"
   https://tinyurl.com/ycrjrqyg

--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log,
May 8th, 2020

"Stay Home, Keep Calm, Knit Comfort"
  https://tinyurl.com/y85sf5zh

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site,
May 11th, 2020

"Leaving Peace Behind as Our Farewell Gift"
  https://tinyurl.com/yaf44lll

*****

NET NOTES - May 17th, 2020

LITTLE RICHARD
6 Examples of Religion in His Life

Religion News Service,
May 11th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/y7parf48

--

WE'VE GOT TO MOVE ON
Q & A With Franklin Graham

Religion News Service,
May 12th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/y9fuay9m

--

CHRISTIANITY GETS WEIRD
Punk May Be in Its Future

New York Times,
May 8th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/y99kxp5s

--

SUMMER SOLSTICE AT STONEHENGE
This Year It's Going Virtual

Huffpost
May 15th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/y754pagt

--

REMEMBERING FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
Her Bicentenary is Celebrated in May

Broadview
May 12th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/y9vxcxdv

--

WHAT CHURCHES REALLY
THINK ABOUT OPENING UP
Most Americans Are Quite Cautious

New York Times,
May 14th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/yazbg56u

--

VANCOUVER BISHOP
FUNDS VACCINE RESEARCH
His Church Invests in Science

Religion News Service,
May 11th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/y9wt3xf8

--

THE GIFTS OF THE SMALL
CHURCH IN A PANDEMIC
The Value of Being Little

Faith and Leadership
May 5th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/yc2gnk3k

--

PANDEMIC HITS US WHERE
WE'RE SPIRITUALLY WEAK
It is Making Us Sad

Christianity Today,
May 7th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/y7u98dch

****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK - May 17th, 2020

Provided by Sojourners and the  Bruderhof online:

If we lose love and self-respect for each other, 
this is how we finally die.

- Maya Angelou

--

Each contact with a human being is so rare,
so precious, one should preserve it.

- Anaïs Nin

--

The church is being called back to fulfilling the initial
responsibility of ministering to the human condition.

- Brandon T. Crowley

--

If one really wishes to know how justice is
administered in a country, one does not question
the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the
protected members of the middle class.

One goes to the unprotected — those, precisely,
who need the law's protection most! — and listens
to their testimony.

- James Baldwin, "No Name in the Street"

--

Jesus went directly to those who were outcasts.
He much preferred to associate with the “sinners”
than with those who proudly set themselves apart.
Jesus shared the lot of the downtrodden because
God himself loves those rejected by society, those
the world deems unworthy. God wants to help all
people, and raise the dignity they possess to the light.

 - Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt

--

There is often more wisdom to be found at the
edges of life than in its middle. Life-threatening
illness may shuffle our values like a deck of cards.

Sometimes a card that has been on the bottom of
the deck for most of our lives turns out to be the
top card, the thing that really matters. Having
watched people sort their cards and play their
hands in the presence of death for many years,
I would say that rarely is the top card perfection,
or possessions, or even pride. Most often the
top card is love.

- Rachel Naomi Remen

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Eric Hoffer

In times of profound change, the learners 
inherit the earth, while the learned find 
themselves beautifully equipped to deal
with a world that no longer exists.

(end)

*****

--

Colleagues List, May 10th, 2020

Vol XV. No. 40

Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                                                                                              http://colleagueslist.blogspot.ca/ http://colleagueslistii.blogspot.com/

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE                                            CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net 

This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally - waholst@telus.net

*****

Dear Friends:

A major experience for me this week was the Zoom
gathering of fellow-alumni of the Graduate School
of Ecumenical  Studies, Bossey, Switzerland, near
Geneva on Tuesday. Of the original 1967/68 class
of about 50, a dozen were able to connect this time.

Please check out a little about this World Council of
Churches' school - https://institute.oikoumene.org/en

Please forgive if this issue comes off as too heavily
"me-centered." I will do better next week.

I hope the items I have accumulated for you will
be of interest, in any event.

Wayne

NOTE A REMINDER - If a link, below seems to be dead, 
cut and paste it into the address bar at the top of your 
web page and it should work.

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

A LIFE REFLECTION IN THREE-QUARTER(S) TIME

It was a wonderful experience to connect and chat
(via Zoom) with about a dozen fellow graduate school
alumni, mainly from continental Europe and the UK,
this past Tuesday. We had originally planned to come
together in Bossey from May 5th-8th, but the pandemic 
put a stop to that. 

After an hour together, we concluded by committing
to a repeat visit this autumn, and a hoped-for, postponed
get-together in person next May.

A very simple, but basic, question was asked by our
group leader Tim Ollier from near Durham, England.
"What has happened in your life since we were all
together 52 years ago?" he asked. Everyone told
their story in 2-3 minutes and it was wonderful to
hear everyone!

Henri Nouwen wrote something that has remained with
me for many decades. "Your ministry vocation can stay
the same, while your ministry activities change" - to 
paraphrase him.

What could I say about myself and those 50-plus years?
Here is what I said about three-quarter(s) time - or
75 years - in answer to that question. I have embellished
some of what appears below, with additional thought.

Preparatory Quarter (to age 25)

I grew up in a rural, German-Canadian community of
Southern Ontario and got my formative socialization
and education during the fifties and sixties - just as
Canada was emerging as a nation in its own right.

Coming to Bossey was the first time I really lived in
both a foreign country and an ecumenical church
environment. I have to admit now that after that
experience I never returned home. Even though I 
have revisited often over the years to see family and
friends, I could never fully return to the place that
shaped me as a person. I had married, and it was
before Eleanor and I had started a family together.

I assume many of you my readers could say a bit of
the same if you were to tell your own story.

By the mid-to-late 60's I had completed graduate
studies and more, for a career in ministry service.

I have worked hard to stay connected to family and
friends from the first quarter of my life, and it has
not been easy. But I treasure my continuing 
connections from the first quarter of my life.

First Career (circa 25-50)

I had always wanted to be a pastor, but my formative
ministry path set me in a direction quite different from 
what I had expected.

After spending several years in a rural parish in SW
Ontario, we traveled to Trinidad, West Indies where
I served as a missionary. It was actually my first
experience working in a culture different from my own.

Returning to Canada in the early 1980's, I was called
as assistant to a Lutheran synod president (bishop)
in Winnipeg, Manitoba and learned a lot about 
administrative work and congregational life in very 
unusual circumstances for me.

Following the death of that bishop I took up a more
extensive administrative position at our international
church offices in New York City. This work gave me
a broad awareness of the church in North America.
It also helped me to see things more clearly from a 
Canadian perspective.

I wanted to return to life in Canada, and to a ministry 
closer to the grassroots. In 1979 we moved to Calgary, 
Alberta and I have remained here for 40 years.

At the end of my second quarter (about age 50) I
had developed considerable administrative experience
and also served in new church development by building
a new congregation from the ground level. I am proud
to see that parish thriving today.

I also lost my first family (wife and two children)
through the tragedy of divorce. A key learning from
my second quarter was that I much needed to focus
on immediate relationships and not just on career.
It was a hard lesson to learn and wounds from this
will accompany me through the rest of my life.

Second Career (50-70)

Most of this period was spent in academic life -
completing a doctorate in religion and culture studies -
(St. Stephen's College, University of Alberta) and
teaching at the University of Calgary (for 20+ years.)

This experience helped me to learn how to relate to
students - most of whom were of other faiths or none.
This proved to be a most important growth step for
me and I consider this a key career development.

I came to understand ecumenism as relations beyond,
as well as within, Christianity. I also came to respect
and appreciate people called "Nones". Doubt need not
be negative or an enemy to faith. It helped me grow
as a person and hopefully to understand others better.

Third Career (70 and beyond)

After some years as a single divorcee, I found love
again with Marlene and her family. We have completed 
close to a second decade together. 

I could not have imagined such a scenario of new life
that has continued - and will hopefully be - the last 
quarter of my life.

But my ministry has not ended. Probably, the most
rewarding of my career has been my work as the
coordinator of adult spiritual development at St. David's 
United, Calgary. This has been a responsibility
since 1998 and I have worked with many capable 
co-leaders and hundreds of fellow-participants in
spiritual growth through book and bible studies, retreats,
library, book sales, global travel and special seniors' 
service activities.

I have also tried to develop my writing skills to help
writers promote their books and to create columns
from an ecumenical perspective.

For as long as possible, may these ministries continue!

--

Conclusion

Nouwen was right. Our ministries change over a lifetime,
but our vocation (serving God as best we can) continues.

This was a bit of an elaboration to respond to the question
asked of me earlier this week by a fellow Bossey classmate.

I was amazed at the variety of marvelous ministries lived 
by my fellows of 53  years ago.

Thank God for this blessed moment in time when I could
take a second look at how many beautiful lives have unfolded.

(end)

*****   

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Elfrieda Schroeder,
Winnipeg, MB.

In Transit Blog
May 6th, 2020

"Telling the Story"
  https://tinyurl.com/yay5yjhb

--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC.

Personal Web Log,
May 3rd, 2020

"Living Through Liminal Times"
  https://tinyurl.com/yaxk34z9

--

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON

Sermons and Blog
May 1st, 2020

"The Rhythm of Life"
  htpts://tinyurl.com/ydynscjx

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
May 4th, 2020

"Fever"
  https://tinyurl.com/y7rcz2jb

*****

NET NOTES - May 10th, 2020

LORNA DUECK -
A STORYTELLER RETIRES
Face of Evangelical Christianity

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
May, 2020 (podcast)

https://tinyurl.com/y9je7ppt

--

MAY IS ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH
Churches' Contributions from Asia

United Church of Canada,
May 6th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/ydypzf3l

--

CONSPIRACY CULTURE AND
THE POWER OF COMPASSION
How to Restore Faith in Facts

Broadview,
April 27th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/ybfku956

--

MY THEOLOGICAL WAKE-UP
CALL AT WALMART
We're Often Blind to What God Sees

The Christian Century,
May 1st, 2020

https://tinyuyard2ukqrl.com/

--

HOW CORONAVIRUS
MADE OUR CHURCH STRONGER
We Can Still Act in Concert

New York Times,
May 2nd, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/yard2ukq

--

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR --
POWER OR LEADERSHIP?
Joan Chittister on America Today

National Catholic Reporter,
May 6th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/y8p9t7nr

--

PRAGUE REVEALS THAT JEWISH
GRAVESTONES USED TO PAVE STREETS
Another Communist Era Atrocity

The Guardian
May 5th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/yb7xzsbl

--

CROWDED INTO CAMPS, REFUGEES
ARE SITTING DUCKS FOR COVID-19
A Disaster Waiting to Happen

Religion News Service,
May 7th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/yd5aeepfh

--

SAMARITAN'S PURSE FIELD HOSPITAL
TO CLOSE IN CENTRAL PARK NYC
It Also Caused a Critical Reaction

Religion News Service,
May 4th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/yawrsm54

--

AFTER WEEKS ON ZOOM, AMERICAN
CHURCHES CONSIDER RE-OPENING
Many Miss the Human Interaction

New York Times,
May 7th, 2020

https://tinyurl.com/ybtsxfdx

***** 

WISDOM OF THE WEEK - May 10th

Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is
an unbeatable combination.

- Maya Angelou, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

--

The present is the ever moving shadow that divides
yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope.

- Frank Lloyd Wright, "The Living City"

--

We are not people who protect our own safety:
we are people who protect our neighbors’ safety.

- Barbara Glasson

--

If I am afraid to speak the truth, lest I lose affection,
or lest the one concerned should say, “You do not
understand,” or because I fear to lose my reputation
for kindness; if I put my own good name before the
other’s highest good, then I know nothing of
Calvary love.

 - Amy Carmichael

--

The chief biblical analogy for baptism is not the
water that washes but the flood that drowns.

Discipleship is more than turning over a new leaf.
It is more fitful and disorderly than gradual moral
formation. Nothing less than daily, often painful,
lifelong death will do. So Paul seems to know not
whether to call what happened to him on the
Damascus Road “birth” or “death” – it felt like
both at the same time.

- William Willimon

--

That a good man may have his back to the wall is
no more than we knew already; but that God could
have his back to the wall is a boast for all insurgents
forever. Christianity is the only religion on earth that
has felt that omnipotence made God incomplete.

Christianity alone has felt that God, to be wholly God,
must have been a rebel as well as a king. Alone of all
creeds, Christianity has added courage to the virtues
of the Creator. For the only courage worth calling
courage must necessarily mean that the soul passes
a breaking point – and does not break.

- G. K. Chesterton

--

I knew before that God gave life to humankind and
desires that they should live; now I understand more
than that. I understand that God does not wish people
to live apart, and therefore he does not reveal to them
what each one needs for himself; but he wishes them
to live united, and therefore reveals to each of them
what is necessary for all. I now understand that
though it seems to people that they live by care
for themselves, in truth it is love alone by which
they live. He who has love is in God, and God is
in him, for God is love.

 - Leo Tolstoy

--

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything,
and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly
be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it
intact, you must give your heart to no one..Wrap
it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries;
avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket
or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe,
dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be
broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable,
irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least
to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place
outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from
all the dangers and perturbations of love is hell.

- C. S. Lewis

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Pope Francis

God's providence is always one step ahead of us.

(end)

*****