Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Thank you for the thoughtful contributions to the blog this week. Please keep them coming. They're wonderful!

I know some have found the mechanics of posting your thoughts difficult. I've asked Sonya Guice (someone who knows how to converse with computers) to post some instructions to help us.

Thanks are due to Amy Jonakin for the brown sugar pound cake (with brown sugar icing no less) this week. And to Darrel Washington for the coffee. And thanks to Linda Ghignone for volunteering to provide something to munch on on the 12th.

Please consider the following things in preparation for the Book Club meeting scheduled for Monday, November 12............

Death On A Friday Afternoon -- Chapter Two -- Judge Not

1. Study the following fascinating (at least to me) statements and tell what they mean to you: "Whatever else (he) had stolen in (his life), .....the 'good thief' stole at the end a reward he did not deserve." (p. 35). "Traveling in the ragtag company of those on the way to paradise and seeing Dysmas up there in the lead, we .........." (p. 43).

2. In what sense does Neuhaus, following the lead of Dorothy Sayers play, The Man Born to be King, say of Jesus and Dysmas, side by side on their crosses, that "in some strange way, each is bearing the pain of the other."? (p. 37).

3. What point does this chapter make, based on the story of the "good thief", about the quality of faith necessary to enable Jesus to enter our lives and to bring wonder to us? (2nd paragraph, p. 38). See also the following related statement on p. 42: "Look at him with whatever faith you have and know that your worry abvout your lack of faith is itself a sign of faith."

4. "The Church, the community of faith, is the people ahead of time." (p. 39). How does this iluminate the discussion began on p. 38 about the "disputed sovereignty" of Jesus?

5. "Paradise" (perfection) is what Jesus promises the good thief. Neuhaus says that must be our goal too, that we can settle for nothing less and that perfection is that for which we all long withing a longing marked by "hunger and dissatisfaction." Put in your own words the meaning of the following statement from p. 39: "What we long for is touched in our exaltations; in our devastations it is known by its absence."

6. What does the imagery in the following statement mean to you? "A new tree of life, the tree of the cross."

7. Neuhaus speaks of the "very old and attractive idea ...... that in the end, everyone will be saved" (p. 43) What in the story of the good thief leads to that idea?

8. How do you feel about the following question, based on the assertion in I Timothy that God "desires all to be saved"? --- "Is it possible that God's purpose will be thwarted?" (p. 44)

9. We cannot be like God and not "desire" that all will in the end be saved. But what is the difference between "desire" and "hope?"

10. On the subject of universal salvation the author argues (as I believe he would on a myriad of subjects) that we should possess a certain "cognitive humility." (p. 50). What does he mean? ("It would seem to be the unanimous experience of Christian thinkers and mystics that, the farther they travel on the roads of thought and contemplation, the more they know that they do not know.") (p. 53).

11. "Given the evidence of Scripture and tradition, we cannot deny that hell exists. We can, however, hope that hell is empty." Share your thoughts on that statement.

12. If hell is and shall remain empty, what is the purpose of all the Bible talk about it. Neuhaus says it is "admonitory, cautionary, a warning and alarm." What are your thoughts?

13. Spend some time with the long paragraph on p. 70. Be prepared to share your thoughts.

11.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Chapter Two—“Judge Not”--Discussed on 11/12/07
1. How do we react to this chapter? Is he thoughtful and comprehensive?
a. We may not agree with him, but he needs to be considered.
b. Let’s form our own thoughts on the issues here.
c. Don’t be offended, but challenged.
2. Book is about the things Jesus said on the cross.
3. Tonight the thief on the cross.
a. What have we been told?
i. One good thief that asked for a place in heaven with Christ.
ii. Good thief went to heaven that day.
iii. Bad thief went to hell for eternity.
b. They may have been partners.
c. One makes fun of Christ, one honors Him.
d. Good thief was not baptized. Churches of Christ have had problems with this passage.
e. Why is it just for 2 thieves getting their “just due” and one goes to heaven and one to hell forever.
f. What are the assumptions in this situation?
i. Good thief understood that Christ is something that the thief is not. A more righteous person than the thief was.
ii. Some times the “feeling” moves us to act in a different way than at other times
iii. Thief may have known Christ before the cross
iv. Small town, Christ had entered with an entourage.
4. Discussion questions on blog.
5. Book is hard to read and requires a slow read and deep thoughts.
6. Is there a hell? Does Neuhaus believe that anyone will go there?
a. He believes there is a hell.
b. We can’t know who is going or not going to hell.
c. We need to posses a “cognitive humility”
7. Three positions
a. There is no hell
b. There is a hell and well populated
c. There is a hell and no one in it
8. Edward Fudge has written a book on hell
9. Who determines the good and the bad?; Us or God
10. Singular arrogance about thinking about heaven because we are the recipients of grace.
11. Who are the “good guys”?
12. Hordes of humanity striving toward heaven with the help of God with the thief at the front.
13. Was the saving of the good thief an act of charity on the part of Christ, or an expression of faith on the part of the thief?
a. The only thing we know for sure is he was a thief.
b. What if God accepts the last ditch, “Hail Mary”, end of the game?
c. Page 37 in the book---Jesus does not reject anyone
14. We sometimes only want to pass judgment; Neuhaus says there is more than justice.
15. Yancey says “if there is a catch to grace---it has to be received”
16. We must desire that hell will be unpopulated if we have the heart of a true believer. We will be disappointed if one does not make it to heaven, not that someone is there that we think should not be there.
17. Go to video on UTube or Google; “Abide With Me” sung by a boys choir in German concentration camp. Look at the eyes of the little girl.
18. Sayes play, did thief do a favor for Christ?
a. Did he comfort Christ? Was this a mockery?
b. Christ recognized the pain of the thief and saved him.
19. See questions on this blog for this chapter.
20. The core of the Gospel is a gift from God that is costly. Not to earn anything, but a response to the gift.
21. Go see the movie Bella.