When
I joined the church as an undergraduate I was appalled by the disconnect
between my college philosophy and theology courses and my “adult
confirmation class” at church. In theology class we read
the Fathers and doped out the details of the Christological controversies;
in confirmation class we got sentimental drivel. In philosophy
class we asked whether postmortem survival was logically possible;
in confirmation class we learnt it wasn’t—and the priest
glossed “the resurrection of dead and the life of the world
to come” as “not pie in the sky when you die but life
in depth and fullness here and now.” My adult life in the
church was more of the same. The sermons I heard and adult education
events I attended had no connection to the literature or the ongoing
discussion of the issues in philosophy of religion and ethics that
I studied and taught: in church, it seemed, I and other educated
adults were supposed to suspend disbelief and accept the intellectual
leadership of clergy who were living in a parallel universe.
I’m
not sure how things got this way—why there is so little
dialogue between laypeople and clergy in the church engaged
with theological and ethical issues and academics who address
the same concerns. As a member of the Society
of Christian Philosophers, an organization which is not restricted
to professional philosophers but welcomes membership from all who
consider themselves Christians and wish to engage in critical reflection
on their Christian commitment, I have tried to promote conversation
between those of us engaged in this reflection in the academy,
the church and the wider community. On February 16 – 18,
the philosophy department at my university is sponsoring the regional
conference of the Society of Christian Philosophers, Selves,
Souls and Survival. The conference is open to everyone and
information about the event, including links to most of the papers,
is at the conference
website.
In addition to sessions on the conference theme, the nature of
personhood and the possibility of post-mortem survival, the conference
will include Saturday morning sessions that will be of special
interest to the general public on the tension between secular and
religious law, abortion, and the current controversy concerning
evolution, intelligent design and creationism.
H. E.
Baber
University of San Diego
San Diego, California, USA
baber@sandiego.edu
23 January 2006
Through
the years I have learned that
our world has many sects, perhaps heretical, perhaps not
even Christian. Once in Western Canada some Dhoukobors
came to visit us internees, selling us chicken meat and
eggs. They had religious convictions which forbade them
from eating meat but they had no hesitation in selling
such produce to us. Besides that they were conscientious
objectors and among them were some extremists who called
themselves the “Sons
of Freedom”.
It was, to my mind, riddled with sensationalism, but
they were kindly people, distributing food we needed.
When
we moved to Southern Alberta after the end of WW II, we met other
conscientious objectors, Mennonites (followers of Menno Simons)
who had emigrated to parts of Canada and the United States to flee
from religious persecution and avoid military conscription in Europe.
It was an irony to discover that many of their descendants, as
a mark of patriotism, had signed up for military service during
WW II!
We
discovered Mormons, a religious group who called
themselves “The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints”. It was curious to
discover that they were a kind of North American indigenous believers
who followed of teachings recorded by Joseph Smith. Their "stakes" were
similar to our diocesan structures. Brigham Young had
led pilgrims across the USA to Utah, and in turn a group had come
to settle in Southern Alberta. Besides alcoholic
beverages, they forbade coffee and tea as “strong drink”,
used a Westcott & Hort Anglican Bible, and followed additional
scriptures of their own called “The Book of Mormon”.
They denied belief in the holy Trinity, and their experiences
of the rigors of life on the frontier encouraged them
to believe in a human Jesus more than a divine one.
Such accretions to the traditional Canon of Scripture
put them beyond the pale of orthodox Christianity,
indeed, some would call them anti-Christian.
We
discovered another group. Periodically we would
be visited by people who came in pairs, who
would knock on our door to distribute newsprint pamphlets,
brochures and books published by the “Watchtower
and Bible Tract Society”, sharing
their warnings of doom and telling about their faith promulgated
by Pastor Russell and Judge Rutherford. I learned that this
sect began when they were forbidden to have any assemblies, and
had changed their name several times. At one time they were known
as “Millenial Dawnists”. Today they meet in “Kingdom
Halls”, meet on Saturdays and
visiting people on Sundays to promote their doctrines as “Witnesses
of Jehovah”, forbidding their members from “eating
blood”, obeying dietary rules based on the interpretations
of the Old Testament, and decrying the observance of
any day as more important than another, except the
Sabbath. Thus they disapprove of such observances as
Christmas, Good Friday, or Easter.
My father,
a missionary Priest of the Missionary Society
of the Church of England in Canada, serving in the Diocese
of Calgary, was hard-pressed to educate the newly converted Anglican
Christian Japanese Canadians about the proliferation of these various
religious movements, explaining these things in Japanese as well
as in English. At one point among many self-published books, he
produced one in Japanese about heresies exposed.
As I
get on in years I feel some nostalgia for the days when the exclusive
claims of Christ seemed clearer. Inclusive understandings may seem
more profound, and are more congenial in our time. The all-inclusive
love of God, welcoming us, and inviting us to welcome others in
turn, is so important in our fractured, polarized, and divided
world. My confession of faith compels me to acknowledge that my
faith in God has been made known in Jesus the Christ, the Messiah
of God, in the presence of the uniting power of the Holy Spirit.
May we be united by God and in God. Amen.
The
Reverend Timothy Makoto Nakayama
St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle
Seattle, Washington, USA
frtim@yahoo.com
23 January 2006
