Hello –
Tomorrow night the second year of New College of Christian Practice begins. I am so excited about all 4 of the classes we’re offering this year. I wish I could take the other 3 that I’m not teaching!
Below, I’ve included the full class descriptions given by our teachers, The Rev. Carol Luther, Walter Tanner, the Rev. Dr. Scott Sinclair and myself.
New College meets three times, every other Wednesday, starting tomorrow night. It is $30 for all three meetings. You choose one of the 4 classes and stick with it. Tomorrow at 7pm we gather in Duncan Hall to hear from all of the teachers if you’re still undecided. Class goes until 8:30 when we convene for hospitality. Evening Prayer is at 6:30 if you wish to join us.
Here are the 4 class descriptions:
Jesus and the New Age:
Exploring the Relationships Between Christianity and the New Age
Leader: Walter Tanner
Session 1: What is the New Age? How Old is the New Age?
If you have a particular New Age teaching or practice that is or was important to you, please bring to the first session to share with the group. As a group, we will try to get some idea of what this very contentious term New Age means. Several short texts from different historical periods containing themes that may be called New Age will be available, hopefully spurring conversation about the value, or danger, of New Age teachings, and preparing us for the next session’s texts.
Session 2: The Church’s Engagement with the New Age
The main text for this session will be the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate of the Holy Father Francis on the Call to Holiness in Today’s World, especially Chapter Two: Two Subtle Enemies of Holiness. Francis clearly lays out the theological issues involved with most New Age teachings and will definitely provoke discussion. The entire Exhortation is excellent and I encourage you to read as much of it as you can. If you wish to further drill down into the specifically Roman Catholic criticism of the New Age, also available on the Vatican website is the Pontifical Councils for Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue’s Jesus Christ, The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the “New Age.”
The Apostolic Exhortation is available at:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20180319_gaudete-et-exsultate.html
or just search for “ Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate” in your favorite search engine. Jesus Christ, The Bearer of the Water of Life is also available on the Vatican website.
Session 3: Developed Topics of Concern
There are many aspects of the New Age that are uncontroversial to orthodox Christianity, just as there are many New Age beliefs widely held by laity that are not strictly acceptable to doctrinal Christianity. Depending on the group’s own interests we will discuss and develop particular topics that may arise, such as:
• Reincarnation
• Angels
• Healing
• Divination (Astrology, Tarot, I Ching, etc.)
A Mini-Course on the Resurrection of Jesus and Christian Faith
Leader: The Rev. Dr. Scott Gambrill Sinclair
This course on the resurrection will consist of a preface, three main parts, and an appendix.
The preface will note that the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of Christianity and also a basis for skepticism among some. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation for the Christian theology that Jesus is the incarnation of God and the theology that there is life after death. However, the claim that a human being rose from the dead as lord of the universe has been a source of skepticism about Christianity even among many otherwise committed Christians.
The course will then examine the various explanations for the origin of the claim that Jesus rose from the dead and the bases for each claim. All explanations from Christian Fundamentalist through hostile non-Christian will be entertained. The underlying philosophical assumptions and weaknesses of each position will be detailed.
Next the course will consider the historical evidence for the resurrection. There will be a careful weighing of the evidence for both the empty tomb and for the reliability of the resurrection appearances.
The overall conclusion will be that the historical evidence is that probably the tomb was empty and that probably the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples. However, historical certainty is not possible, and, therefore, the question remains whether Christians can have a secure faith in the resurrection of Jesus.
The course will then look at the spiritual and theological evidence for the resurrection. There will be a discussion of Christian experiences of the Spirit of the risen Jesus and of death and resurrection in the lives of believers. There will also be a discussion of the theological consequences of resurrection faith and whether they make better sense of human existence.
The conclusion will be that belief in the resurrection of Jesus is secure.
An appendix will consider whether the bodily resurrection of Jesus is compatible with near-death out-of-body experiences. And the conclusion will be that it is compatible if we take the resurrection of Jesus as a sign that there is life after death rather than an exact model for how we will rise from the dead.
Three Restorative Stories of Mary and Jesus
Leader: The Rev. Christopher H. Martin, St. Paul’s, San Rafael
“As in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive” I Cor. 15:22
Picking up on Paul’s suggestion of reversal, St. Iraneeus suggested that, as Eve and Adam’s actions tied us in knots, Mary and Jesus’ actions can reverse the knots and restore simplicity. In the three weeks of this class we will look at three stories of reversal and learn to make them a part of our daily life.
Week one is Eve desires while Mary beholds.
Week two is Adam sulks while Mary sings.
Week three is Eve and Adam consume while Jesus pours out.
We are the children of all four of these people. Which do we most resemble as we walk through our days?
Sitting Zazen with Jesus
Leaders: The Rev. Carol Luther, St. Aidan’s Bolinas and Rose Scarff, Our Saviour, Mill Valley, St. James, San Francisco
“The Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all.” Karl Rahner
Through an experience of meditation and reflection upon Christian and Buddhist texts, participants will explore how interfaith study has the capacity to deepen and transform our understanding of what Jesus came to teach, help us appreciate how culture shapes us and begin the work of non-dual understanding.
Week one begins with two foundations: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Buddha’s Four Noble Truths
Week two explores “the one who loses their life will find it” through Philippians, Chapter 2 and the Buddhist Heart Sutra, Saints and Bodhisattvas
Week three takes up Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of God, and Buddhist views on the Nature of Reality