June meeting

Is it possible to know God? Is it possible to say that "THIS" is true about God but "THAT" isn't? Does God even like me? How can I know? Let's discuss these and more questions at the June meeting of the Sidewalk Theology Society, to be held at Delaney's in Denver (near 18th & Blake), Thursday the 17th, at 7 p.m.

This month's patron is St. Barnabas. His given name was Joseph, but the church nicknamed him "Barnabas," meaning "son of encouragement." His day is June 11.

December meeting, 2009

Sorry this is so late! The Sidewalk Theology Society will meet at 7 p.m. at Delaney’s (18th & Blake) on Thursday the 17th of December. That’s two days from today. The topic will be “Why Celebrate Christmas?”

Our patron saint for the meeting will be St. Luke the Evangelist.

I hope you will be able to attend.

John Yates, presenter.

The Sidewalk Theology Society will meet at 7 p.m. at Delaney’s (18th & Blake) on Thursday the 19th of November. The topic will be “The Nature of the Atonement.” I.e., when Christ reconciled us to God by his death, what was happening?

By the way, the format for the meetings has changed SIGNIFICANTLY. Instead of starting with a 20 minute paper, we start with about 5 minutes of “Introduction to the Idea,” followed by a question and discussion. Then the speaker states another question or brief comment, and we discuss that. The comment-question-discussion pattern repeats 3 to 5 times. This format allows more discussion and more participation by more people. Instead of having one or two people shape the discussion with the rest merely observing, everybody pitches in. We have been having more fun with this, and we all learn more.

Our patron saint for this meeting will be Louis Berkhof, an early 2oth century theologian who was in the Christian Reformed Church.

I hope you will be able to attend.

John Yates, Presenter

October 2009 Meeting and Format Change

The Sidewalk Theology Society will meet at 7 p.m. at Delaney’s (18th & Blake) on Thursday the 22nd of October—yes, this will be the 4th Thursday instead of the 3rd one, but the month started on a Thursday, and The League Pipe Club postponed their meeting to the 3rd Thursday, and I didn’t want the conflict. So there it is.

The topic will be “The Nature of the Atonement.” I.e., when Christ reconciled us to God by his death, what was happening?

By the way, the format for the meetings has changed SIGNIFICANTLY. Instead of starting with a 20 minute paper, we start with about 5 minutes of “Introduction to the Idea,” followed by a question and discussion. Then the speaker states another question or brief comment, and we discuss that. The comment-question-discussion pattern repeats 3 to 5 times. This format allows more discussion and more participation by more people. Instead of having one or two people shape the discussion with the rest merely observing, everybody pitches in. We have been having more fun with this, and we all learn more.

Our patron saint for this meeting will be St. Anselm of Canterbury, who wrote Cur Deus Homo? on this topic.

I hope you will be able to attend.

John Yates, Presenter

September Meeting

The September meeting of the Sidewalk Theology Society will discuss the Doctrine of the Trinity at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17, at Delaney's Tavern, next door to the Celtic Tavern at the corner of 18th St. & Blake.

Visitors welcome.

The patron saint for this meeting is St. Patrick! The prayer called "St. Patrick's Breastplate" celebrates the doctrine of the Trinity, and is worth a read.

JY

Report on the August Meeting

The meeting went much better than I expected. Eight people attended. We tried a new format: Instead of reading a 20 minute paper and then having a discussion, I described a problem for 3-5 minutes, gave a discussion question, and opened the floor for discussion. Then another question, and so forth. Notes are below. They do not represent the discussion very well, because it went in lots of directions, but we stayed mostly on topic, with appropriate forays into adjacent territory.

I highly recommend the article by Wright, by the way, as a starting point for discussion and thought. The questions and the title of Wright's paper, by the way, could appear to some readers as saying that the Bible can't have authority. He does quite the opposite. He does call into question some of the 20th century conservative and liberal ideas of biblical authority, and then goes to the Bible to see what it has to say about authority. It's a very chewy, Bible-centered, profitable read.


The Bible and Authority:
Some Questions for Discussion

This material is largely drawn from “How Can the Bible Be Authoritative,” an essay by N. T. Wright, a New Testament scholar and the bishop of Durham in the north of England. You can find the essay online at http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Bible_Authoritative.htm.

1. What does “authority” mean? What do we mean when we say that the Bible is authoritative?

2. (a) How can any text function as authoritative? (b) How can any ancient text function as authoritative? (c) How can an ancient narrative text be authoritative?

3. Do we turn the Bible into something else, and give that the real authority?

4. Mt. 28:18. If Jesus has “all authority” how does the Bible fit into that picture?

5. What is God using his authority to do? How does God’s authority work?

6. The Bible is not mostly creeds or rules for living, although it contains those, and more can be inferred from it. The Bible consists mostly of narratives. How can stories have authority?

August Meeting

The August meeting of the Sidewalk Theology Society will take place this coming Thursday night, Aug. 20, at 7 p.m., at Delaney's Tavern, 18th and Blake in downtown Denver. The topic will be "What is the Bible?" Short answers accepted. Those not bringing a Bible with them may buy me a drink.
JY