essays

Apologies for being a bit quiet recently, I got rather bogged down in my essay ("Ecclesiastes is a book for contemporary society". Discuss). But, thanks to help from mrPM "Just sit down and write it" I have sent it in, and have finished the OT writings module (hurray!)
Unfortunately, that means I need to get on with the next module which is "evangelism". It's a compulsory module (there's no way I would be doing it otherwise!) and I am not finding it at all easy. For starters, it assumes I'm part of a church, which I'm not really at present. MrPM and I have started going to another church where we fit much better than the previous one, but it is some distance away and I don't really know anyone there yet, so wouldn't consider myself a part of it yet. The other problem is that the whole module so far seems to be written from the standard evangelical perspective of "if you don't believe Jesus died for your sins, then you're going to hell. Oh, and by the way, God loves you." I feel like I'm an alien from another planet. So the most important thing is getting my sorry soul into heaven when I die?
The Bible says that Jesus went about PREACHING THE GOSPEL. This was BEFORE he died. So how can 'the Gospel' mean "Jesus died for your sins"??? Cause it wasn't what Jesus himself preached as the Gospel. He seemed to more along the lines of setting captives free, and bringing the kingdom of God to earth in the here and now. Surely we are supposed to do the same? Work with him to bring God's kingdom here and now? To give hope where there is none? Work for justice and an end to oppression? To help those who have no help? To love those who are unloved?
And I object to those who do these things in order to entice people so they can then 'preach the Gospel' and ask them to make a commitment. That's operating under false pretences, and cannot be compatible with following the one who said he was the Truth. I do these things because it's what I understand God did in Jesus. Sure, if someone wants to ask me about my faith, I'll talk til the cows come home. And yes, I do these things because of my faith, because this is how I live it out.
There's also the small matter of the rest of creation. If God so loved the WORLD etc, it's not just human souls that get redeemed, it's the whole of creation that is reconciled to God. How much anthropocentric individualism has the church syncretised with Jesus' teachings and is now teaching as sound doctrine?
In short, I'm going to have a nightmare doing this module and I suspect I may well be ranting here from time to time. Prayers/ good wishes etc gratefully received....

theology course

I got my psalms essay back - not too bad, but it seems I sit on the fence far too much, and am supposed to give my own opinion. I suppose that's only to be expected as I come from a scientific background. Oh well, now I know...
Next essay on OT writings is on Ecclesiastes. I'm one of those odd people who likes Ecclesiastes - it cheers me up to know there's someone more depressed than I am - but I can only deal with it in small bits. Too much at once makes me more depressed. So it's going slowly.
In the meantime, I've started another module - Evangelism in contemporary society. (It's a compulsory module - no way would I be doing it otherwise!) It is going to be very hard going, as I seem to be coming from a different planet to the standard evangelical take on things. And it's not made easier by the word "evangelism" bringing me out in a (metaphorical) rash, and memories of a booklet called "Journey into life" - anyone else remember that? I loathed it with a vengeance then, and it seems to still be the standard tract model. In other words, the "gospel" is as follows:
God really really loves you, but you are so awful that he has to punish you in hell forever. The only way you can escape this is to accept Jesus as your "get out of hell free" card. There is nothing else you can do about the situation - only bloodshed and death will do. If you don't accept Jesus, then you know the consequences.

I've just read "Love Wins" by Rob Bell. And while there are bits of it I think are superficial, I really don't understand what all the fuss was about - he's not saying anything new. But the reason for bringing that particular book up is that he says we can have all the programs and trendy stuff we like, but if our concept of God is off, we will not reach people. And the idea that Jesus rescues us from an angry Father who is waiting to fry us (out of love because we deserve it, of course) is not the reality of God. Unfortunately it seems to be there in the background of so much of what passes for the "gospel".