Opportunities at Hope for Adult Learning in the Evening Tuesday Night Study Pastor Brad is teaching The Heart of Christianity,
Rediscovering a Life of Faith, based on the book by Marcus Borg beginning at 7:00 PM each Tuesday. An excerpt from the book reads, "What is the "heart" of Christianity? What is most central to Christianity and to
being Christian? The question arises in each new period of Christian history. It is especially important in our time. A new way of seeing Christianity and what it means to be Christian is emerging in the church in
North America. Because this vision of Christianity is quite different from the dominant way of seeing Christianity over the past few hundred years, our time is also a time of conflict. In our context of change and
conflict, what is Christianity's "heart"? Like all good metaphors, heart has more than one nuance of meaning. To begin with, it suggests what is most central. What is the core of Christianity, the "heart of the
matter"? What is the essence of Christianity and the Christian life? If "core" and "essence" suggest something too abstract, too lifeless, heart is also an organic metaphor, suggesting something alive, pulsating, the
source of life. What is the heart, the animating source or driving force, of Christianity without which it would cease to live? Furthermore, as in the phrase "head and heart," heart suggests something deeper than the
intellect and the world of ideas. What is it about Christianity that is deeper than any particular set of Christian ideas and beliefs? And what is it about Christianity that reaches us at our "heart" level – at a level
of ourselves deeper than the intellect? The heart, this deeper level of the self, is the "place" of transformation. What is it about Christianity that gives it power to transform people at the "heart" level?" Join the discussion on Tuesday nights. The book is available at www.Amazon.com. Call the church office if you have questions. |
