“Belief in God — understood as a supernatural spiritual being who created the universe and continues to sustain it — has long been assumed to be the irreplaceable foundation of the three monotheistic religions. But just as the bible ceased, in the nineteenth century, to be convincing as the repository of divinely revealed knowledge, so the twentieth century witnessed the death of the conventional image of God.” (from the intro to Lloyd Geering’s “Christianity without God”).
Does this scary-sounding “death of God” mean the demise of the whole Christian tradition or is it a necessary step in transcending conventional Christian doctrine and moving to a broader understanding of the Divine?
This discussion group for non-theistic, post-Christian seekers (and those who are still trying to figure out what they are), will explore the proud heritage and history of Christian Humanism, including such thinkers as: Desiderius Erasmus, Søren Kierkegaard, Blaise Pascal, Dorothy Sayers — PLUS, the growing wave of contemporary practitioners of non-Theistic Christianity: Greta Vosper, Lloyd Geering, Don Cupitt, Rex Hunt, and many others.
7pm on Tuesday Nights in Lent. Call the office or check our Facebook page for locations (we’ll be meeting in different folks’ homes).
Participants will be asked to read and be able to share with the group regarding the details of at least one of the following texts:
Lloyd Geering: Christianity without God
Greta Vosper: With or Without God
Bruce Sanguin: If Darwin Prayed
Online Resources include:
St. Stephen’s College, Edmonton, Alberta: Non-theistic liturgy resources (scroll to bottom of page for link)
Rex A E Hunt: Post-liberal and non-theistic liturgy resources with an Aussie flair
TED talk by Alain de Botton:
What aspects of religion should atheists (respectfully) adopt? Alain de Botton suggests a “religion for atheists” — call it Atheism 2.0 — that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence.
Other resources will be identified and shared along the way.
Possible goals:
- an ongoing discussion/affinity group
- a quarterly gathering of like-minded seekers for what would have been called “worship” in the past and what has yet to be shaped in the future.
For more information and for location, contact 480.837.7627