I am at a conference in Victoria called Epiphany Explorations, the same conference I have attended the past two years, although with different presenters each time. I find that when I attend conferences it is because of at least one "star" presenter, then discover a bunch of other people who are wise and thoughtful and lead my into a deeper understanding of my faith.
As I have written before, the United Church includes three weeks of continuing education in every year, and thanks to the St. Paul's Schammerhorn Fund I am able to travel to participate in some excellent events. One of the two principle theme speakers this year is Marcus Borg. I really appreciate Borg even though I don't agree with some of his key conclusions about Jesus. http://www.marcusjborg.com/ It is important though to consider the thoughtful and well reasoned ideas of those who don't think like us. Or so I figure. How do we grow and test our own convictions without understanding other points of view?
Not long ago my brother loaned the book Love Wins A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived by Rob Bell to a friend. The friend had visitors from her conservative congregation visit and saw the book. They were very concerned and advised her not to read it. Bell has stirred up controversy in the evangelical world by suggesting that some ideas about damnation for non-Christians may be false and inconsistent with the gospel. The friend asked if they had actually read the book and they hadn't. So much for informed inquiry and decision making.
I will let you know my impressions about Borg and others at Epiphany Explorations. http://firstmetvictoria.com/4582
In the meantime, what are your thoughts on all this?
2 comments:
Haven't heard of the author, or the book, but it's been my immediate experience that ideas of damnation (ie - who gets in, who gets left out) are at the heart of many a religious disagreement.
Some of the these quarrels I have actually wrecked friendships.
I actually just finished reading Rob Bell's book a couple of days ago. I was thinking of passing it on to my son.
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