Living the Questions - Newington UCC

John Bell at Marquand Chapel

2007-02-21T15:59:00.000-05:00

John Bell has been featured in several of the sessions. The CT UCC Conference has announced his appearance in the area:

John Bell at Marquand Chapel
Feb. 27, 8:00 pm
Marquand Chapel, Sterling Divinity Quad, 409 Prospect St., New Haven

John Bell, a member of the Iona Community, composer, author, song-leader,
and minister in the Church of Scotland, will be in residence at YDS/ISM from
Tuesday February 27 to Thursday March 1. On this Tuesday evening he will
lead the community in a Big Sing!

Cost: Free.

Other events in the three days:

Wednesday February 28

10:30 - 11 am John will lead Sung Morning Prayer
3:30 - 5 Speaker for the ISM Colloquium

Thursday, March 1

10:30 - 11 Preaching in morning worship
11:30 -12:30 Lunchtime discussion

http://www.ctucc.org/events.php?event=1531
http://www.ctucc.org/events.php?event=1532
http://www.ctucc.org/events.php?event=1533

Interviews with John Bell:

Sing a new song.(John Bell on music and congregations)(Interview)

For Whom the Bell Toils: An interview with John Bell of the Iona Community

To listen to some excerpts (30 seconds) from some of his songs, click on mp3 on the page:

Yale University Symposium: The Religion and Science Debate: Why Does It Continue?

2007-02-08T11:28:00.000-05:00

From CT-N Network:
View video at:
Yale University Symposium: The Religion and Science Debate: Why Does It Continue?

Video of 2 speakers:
University of Notre Dame philosophy professor Alvin Plantinga
biologist Kenneth R. Miller of Brown University (starts about 1hr 20 min into video)

From the Yale Daily News 9/17/2006:

Scientists, theologians and philosophers took the stage last Thursday and Friday at Whitney Humanities Center to discuss the tension between religion and science, in the first of this year’s Terry Foundation Lectures.

Titled “Religion and Science: Why Does the Debate Continue?”, the series featured biologist Kenneth R. Miller of Brown University as well as five other speakers representing a wide spectrum of scientists and philosophers. In lectures and a panel discussion, the experts discussed the debate over theism and evolution and explored the possibility of a peaceful coexistence between the two.

“Supernatural explanations in science bother me as a natural scientist,” Miller said.

But Miller went on to say that as a Catholic he sees no conflict between the empirical truth of evolution and the belief in a higher power that may have set the evolutionary process in motion. The two are separate, he said: One is a scientific idea, and the other is philosophical.

The co-author of a leading high school biology text, Miller was an expert witness in the Dover, Penn., trials to reverse a school board decision demanding the inclusion of intelligent design in the biology curriculum.

Another speaker, University of Notre Dame philosophy professor Alvin Plantinga, said in his lecture that “unguided Darwinism” — in his words, the idea that evolution proceeds without the guidance of a higher power — is a metaphysical add-on to the theory of evolution, not a concept that is implicit in the theory.

Some scientists in the audience, which included both Yale professors and members of the greater New Haven community, raised some objections. Molecular, cellular and developmental biology professor Robert Wyman said Plantinga failed to address any of the evidence for evolution occurring naturally, without the intervention of a higher power.

“If evolution explains everything you observe, why add on?” Wyman said.

Later, Wyman said the debate concerned more than intellectual abstractions. Because such questions influence legislation, civil rights and foreign relations, he said, “they impinge on the way we live.”

The Terry Lectures, established in 1905 to foster discussion of religion and science in the wake of Darwin’s discoveries, have in the past hosted such speakers as Carl Gustav Jung, Erich Fromm and Margaret Mead. Another series of lectures, given by Barbara Herrnstein Smith, professor of English at Brown and Duke universities, will take place on Oct. 17-23, said Terry committee member Bill Summers, a professor of molecular biochemistry and biophysics at Yale.

The Fundamentalist Psyche

2007-02-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Chapter 2 "The Fundamentalist Psyche" from Andrew Sullivan's book "The Conservative Soul" presents an eye-opening view of fundamentalists from all religions and points of view. Well worth reading to give you a significant, fuller understanding into the thinking, beliefs, and actions of fundamentalists. Very pertinent in understanding many things going on in our country, and in the world.

Interview on BookTV: http://www.q-and-a.org/Program/?ProgramID=1097
Times Magazine Article: When Not Seeing is Believing
Best-selling atheist Sam Harris and pro-religion blogger Andrew Sullivan debate God, faith, and fundamentalism.Is Religion 'Built upon Lies'?

Class Schedule

2007-01-25T18:04:00.000-05:00

SESSIONS will be held, for the most part, every other week at 7:00 pm in Fellowship Hall.
1-September 21
2-October 5
3-October 19
4-November 2
5-November 16
6-November 30
7-December 14
8-January 11
9-January 25
10-February 8
11-March 8
12-March 22

Topics covered in Classes

2007-01-25T17:15:00.000-05:00

1. an invitation to journey
2. thinking theologically
3. creativity and stories of creation
4. restoring relationships
5. evil, suffering and a God of love
6. intimacy with God
7. social justice
8. a kingdom without walls
9. lives of jesus
10. compassion: the heart of jesus’ ministry
11. a passion for christ: paul the apostle
12. out into the world: challenges facing
progressive Christianity

Ongoing themes will include:

Biblical authority
Metaphor and how it shapes us
The Jesus/Christ dichotomy
What does faith look like in the 21st Century?
The 20-30 minute videos for each session will include conversation, sermon clips, comedy/satire, lecture excerpts, and spiritual exercises for practical applications (including different forms of prayer and meditation, movement, walking the labyrinth, etc). Since the overall theme is that of faith as a journey, not a destination, the livingthequestions.com web site will offer resources for continued exploration, including downloadable expanded study guides, extra video resources, and links.

Welcome to the Living the Questions weblog

2007-01-25T17:10:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Living the Questions weblog.

Background
This weblog is an outgrowth of the Living The Questions Adult Study Classes that have been meeting since the Fall of 2006.

Intent
The intent is to provide a way for people to express their thoughts on the topics introduced in the classes...and to encourage the sharing of thoughts on the life journeys of individuals and the Church.

Interested in writing
If you are interested in posting an entry on this weblog, you will need to send an email to newingtonucc.web@snet.net expressing your interest. You will then be mailed an invite to join this weblog as a member and as a member be able to post an entry. Anyone can view the weblog without becoming a member.

Guidelines for posting:
Please keep the posts on the topics presented in the classes.
Please use common sense when creating a post
Provide any links to other resources
Always provide a source for any material copied into the post.
No profanity, please!
Be creative! Be inspired! Be imaginative! Be life-changing!
Enjoy writing
Enjoy reading others

Viewing the weblog
To view from http://newingtonucc.org , go to the Narthex page and navigate to Weblogs and select Spiritual Listening or direct access http://www.newingtonucc-ltq.blogspot.com

Email notification of updates to weblog
To subscribe for email notification of updates, send an email with the subject ‘subscribe’ to newingtonucc-ltqupdates-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Ladd Bethune, Weblog Administrator, newingtonucc.web@snet.net