WAS JESUS GOD?

THE MEANING OF JESUS - TWO VISIONS

This is the title of our December book by Marcus J. Borg (author of The Heart of Christianity) and N.T. Wright (author of Simply Christian). The cover of the book describes it thus: 

The leading liberal and conservative Jesus scholars present the heart of the Historical Jesus debate.

There are eight sections to the book and in each the two authors are given a chapter each to present their fascinatingly contrasting visions. Thus Part I sets out the very basics of historical theology and asks How do we know about Jesus? with chapter 1 by Marcus Borg (Seeing Jesus: Sources, Lenses, and Method) and chapter 2 by Tom Wright (Knowing Jesus: Faith and History). 

It's unlikely that we will be able to do the book justice in one week's discussion and so for this first meeting on December 7th we will focus on those first two chapters and then go on to see how the two authors interpret the subject of Part V: Was Jesus God? There is a clue to their differing approaches in the title of their respective chapters:  Borg (ch 9) calls his Jesus and God, Wright (ch 10) sets out his stall in The Divinity of Jesus. 

Maybe in the month of December and a time of celebration (in theory) of the nativity we should have opted for Part VI The Birth of Jesus, but there will be many more occasions to tackle other topics in the book, not least Part IV which gets quotation marks for its title - presumably to keep everyone happy: "God raised Jesus from the dead".  More anon, I imagine. 

One review described the book as a "thorough and accessible scholarly exchange" and another as "a refreshingly respectful exchange". No doubt our discussion at Wychwood Library will be, as always, respectful if not particularly scholarly! 



Was Jesus God? The discussion at Wychwood Library on December 7th, from 7pm to 9pm (latest), will be based on the book by Marcus Borg and N T Wright The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, published by HarperOne (1999), focussing on Parts 1 and 5. As always, anyone is welcome to attend and contribute their own views and comments on the book. 

ISLAM: MAINSTREAM OR EXTREME?

Monawar Hussain changed the title of his talk to us on November 16th and gave his own response to the events of the Middle East: in his own words, 'a mainstream Islamic response to modern day terrorism'.  He was a signatory to the Open Letter to IS and as such had much to tell us. 

This commentary on the letter might also be of interest for those who want to know more. For more on Monawar's Oxford Foundation and their splendid interfaith work visit their website.

FROM THE LESSER TO THE GREATER JIHAD

Please note that the title of this event has since been changed.

Imam Monawar Hussain was on Radio 4's Prayer for the Day in early October (at the time of Eid al-Adha, the major Islamic festival) where he was introduced as Muslim Tutor at Eton College.  Closer to home he is better known as the founder of the Oxford Foundation and more recently of Oxford Muslim College. His original theme, following from the research which he is still engaged in, was to have been the spiritual journey, which he explained on a later Prayer for the Day that week was referred to by the Prophet as 'the greater Jihad'.

His topic will now be his own response (and that of 100 other Muslim clerics in the Open Letter to IS - see next post) to the current events in the Middle East: 'ISLAM: mainstream or extreme?'  This will be a fascinating introduction and a great opportunity to widen our Wychwood Circle horizon. All are welcome, as usual - of any religion or none - and please bring friends. 

National Quaker Week and Eid Mubarak 2014

MEETING A NEED?

It's National Quaker Week and a good opportunity to announce that we have invited Geoffrey Durham to come and lead a Wychwood Circle event next year. His website is worth checking out as are the links to both magic tricks and introductions to Quakerism. His book Being a Quaker - a guide for newcomers is both approachable and informative.  We look forward to receiving him on Sunday 12th April 2015. 

We have been fortunate in welcoming a Buddhist funeral director and two Anglican canons so far and next month we look forward to hearing about Islam from a liberal imam who happens also to be local to Oxfordshire: Monawar Hussain is Muslim tutor at Eton College as well as founder of the Oxford Foundation and Oxford Muslim College. 

Again this is a topical moment since Muslims were this weekend celebrating Eid Mubarak 2014 or Eid al-Adha, also known as the greater Eid, one of two significant days in the Muslim calendar. Monawar Hussain's topic will be the spiritual journey, which in Islam is also known at The Greater Jihad. Join us on November 16th at Wychwood Library. 

FAITH, INTELLIGENCE AND LOGIC

"Intelligence is tied to the ability to think logically; so intelligent people ought not to believe in God."

This is the provocative line taken in the first part of Edward Dutton's article in the Church Times. But that is not all there is, just as logic is not all there is. 

His offended Evangelical friend says in paragraph one, "So basically your book is saying I'm thick". By the end, after examining a number of personality characteristics with their 'life implications', he can say of her: 

She is an intelligent person, but is likely to have very high agreeableness, conscientiousness, and, perhaps, openness and neuroticism.

He himself, though an atheist, says: "I believe in God sometimes."  

By contrast Professor Brian Cox even questions the relevance of logic to the question of the existence of God. He was asked about his attitude to religion and told the Radio Times recently: 

In the spirit of Gottfried Leibniz [17th century mathematician and philosopher], you can say, "Well, I don't accept that something can come into existence without a cause." You're allowed to say that; it's not illogical. So if you want to think there's an eternal presence that causes things to happen, that's not illogical. I don't happen to think that - I almost don't have an opinion on it.

Join us on Sunday at Wychwood Library as we explore these different angles on faith, rationality and personality. The article is available online here:
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/30-may/features/features/why-atheists-are-brighter-than-christians

LINES WRITTEN WITH CARE

"POETRY IS THE NATIVE LANGUAGE OF THE PERSON OF FAITH" 

Thus Canon MARK OAKLEY in an article just published in the Church Times. Many of us were, if not persuaded, then at least enlightened by Mark at our Wychwood Circle meeting in September. Here he takes up his theme in print:
Mark Oakley in the Church Times 3rd October 2014

A short extract: 

Poetry will always be healthily sceptical of our cheerful pulpit fluency when it comes to the divine reality, and will work harder to see everything, from the human heart to the humility of heaven, from fresh and dislocating angles. It will warn us of the curse of religious literalism, its immodest certainties setting flames of hate across so many parts of the world.

Poetry encourages our mind to think in metaphors. It teases our soul to be ready for the surprise of wonder and the gift of tears, the moment when we say "Yes, that's how it is, and I never quite knew it like that."

Poetry has both immense intimacy and intimate immensity, and, in its pledge to a more attentive perception, faith celebrates the sacramentality of poetic words as a beautiful and frightening gift of the God who is in this world as poetry is in the poem.

Alas, the book which his publisher is already advertising on their website has not yet been completed!  It will bear the same title as Mark's talk: The Splash of Words: believing in poetry. Due out in the spring. 

ATHEISTS HAVE HIGHER IQs ...

WHY ATHEISTS ARE BRIGHTER THAN CHRISTIANS - an article by Edward Dutton

"It is not only fervent religiousness that is associated with low intelligence, but any fervent advocacy of an ideology - whether it is Marxism, multiculturalism, or conservative nationalism." 

Edward Dutton's book Religion and Intelligence: an evolutionary analysis finds, from a number of independent studies, that atheists have higher IQs than liberal religious people, who in turn have higher IQs than religious conservatives. Dutton's article begins:

"So, basically, your book is saying I'm thick," an Evangelical friend of mine said to me. In fact, I am saying no such thing.

What he does say is that "faith" means "strong belief based on conviction rather than proof" and that in this way faith is not rational or it wouldn't be faith: 

The failure to see that implies bias, which is caused by having an emotional investment in something. 

He goes on to look at the implications of the five 'essential personality characteristics' that psychologists generally agree, in order to look at their implications for many aspects of our lives - including obesity, alcoholism and depression... and religiousness. He examines how pronounced personalities (such as high levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness) might overwhelm the intelligence of religious people, even academics. Interestingly his research also finds - as suggested in the quotation above - that a certain balance of personality traits and intelligence can make for fervent advocacy of any ideology.

Indeed, I would argue that ideologies are, in many ways, replacement religions. 

Join us as we discuss his article at the next Wychwood Circle meeting.

Edward Dutton is Adjunct Professor of the Anthropology of Religion at Oulu University in Finland.  His book is published by the Ulster Institute for Social Research. The article which summarises the book's findings, and which is the basis for our discussions at Wychwood Circle on October 5th, was published in the Church Times in May 2014. Copies are available at Wychwood Library (OX7 6LD) or from david.soward@gmail.com