Feminary linked to this excerpt from a book by Matthew Fox (the theologian, not the actor of Party of Five and Lost fame), The New Reformation. The excerpt is a list of “95 Theses: Articles of Faith for a Christianity for the Third Millennium.” I really love lists, have I mentioned that?Go read the list for yourself (the page also provides German translations for each, I can only assume as some sort of Lutheran historical reference). I picked out a few of my favourites, as well as some that were severely thought-provoking. Here they are, along with my responses.

3. God is always new, always young and always “in the beginning.”

I love thinking about the non-linear nature of God. There’s something fun about making your brain hurt by trying to comprehend the incomprehensible and paradoxical. The idea that there is a being, a force, a spirit that exists independent of time. That just because our existence is linear doesn’t mean all existence is.

OK, I admit, it’s also a very sci fi concept and maybe that’s why I like it.

After all, with me, it goes something like this:

THINGS I LIKE
1. Lists
2. Sci Fi

15. Christians must distinguish between Jesus (an historical figure) and Christ (the experience of God-in-all-things).

This is a really intriguing notion. I have nothing else to add.

25. There is a priesthood of all workers (all who are doing good work are midwives of grace and therefore priests) and this priesthood ought to be honored as sacred and workers should be instructed in spirituality in order to carry on their ministry effectively.

I think of the people I know who fill this definition, Christian or not, religious or not. Some of the people I know who embody this definition of priesthood are definitely not religious, since religion has a tendency to curtail their practice of grace-giving.

46. The human psyche is made for the cosmos and will not be satisfied until the two are re-united and awe, the beginning of wisdom, results from this reunion.

I have no idea what that means, but it sounds really good. And very science fictiony.

49. God is experienced in darkness, chaos, nothingness, suffering, silence and in learning to let go and let be (via negativa).

I’d like to engage this idea more. So many of us grew up with the teaching that “God is with you in the valleys as well as the mountain tops” (Which, by the way, always struck me as a strange metaphor, but that may just be me being a acrophobic prairie girl who prefers solid, flat ground to precarious peaks). But I want to know what kind of relationship God has with the darkness — i.e. is God part of the darkness? Is the darkness part of God? What kind of darkness are we talking about, anyway, because there are different kinds. I mean, there’s depression, heartbreak, the stuff that makes for angsty ballads and then there’s the stuff that’s unquestionably evil, like child abuse and sexual abuse. It’s easy to get poetic about darkness when you’re suffering from seasonal affective disorder. It’s another thing entirely when a young child is caged, starved, and beaten to death (as in the case of Phoenix Sinclair, a young girl whose death has rightfully garnered a great deal of media attention in my city, lately).

55. God speaks today as in the past through all religions and all cultures and all faith traditions none of which is perfect and an exclusive avenue to truth but all of which can learn from each other.

This is a statement which evangelical Christians are trained to greet with suspicion and even derision. I tend to believe it anyway.

86. Chaos is a friend and a teacher and an integral part or prelude to new birth. Therefore it is not to be feared or compulsively controlled.

This speaks to what I was rambling about in my last entry and what Steve touched on in the comments. This might be something I need to work on accepting on a personal level — that chaos, a lack of understanding, or whatever, is not something to be feared.

P.S. Matthew Fox has a blog. He’s also one of the folks behind the Cosmic Mass. You may have seen, as I did, a television news story about the mass, multimedia interactive event involving lasers, DJs and lots of dancing. I myself could get all snarky on the Cosmic Mass (like the fact that for $450 YOU TOO can learn to put on the Cosmic Mass! Or the fact that there’s a cover charge [$12, $15 at the door]), but I’m not really in the mood tonight. I’m just going to let Dr. Fox’s theses stand for now. Light show or no, they’re worth thinking about. Check them out and let me know what you think.

post-modern faith, christianity, religion, cosmic mass, matthew fox

technorati tags: post-modern faith, christianity, religion, cosmic mass, matthew fox

Things in which I am interested:
• In-depth discussion of theological concepts
• Questioning the “fundamental” tenets of Christianity (but not with the implicit precept being that in the end we’ll all discover what we believe was Right All Along)
• Entertaining the thought that maybe there is not just one “right” way to practice Christianity

Things in which I am not interested:
• The same old religion repackaged in a fancier way, either with orgiastic worship or lots of ancient rituals and shit
• Pithy responses to serious questions (”Just trust in Jesus.” “God will win in the end.”)
• Christianity that agrees with political and economic conservatism

Tonight I had a discussion with a man who believes that our society is built around Christian concepts and believes, in terms of the legal system and such. I said no freakin’ way. We live in a capitalist society, and capitalism requires inequality and explotation to function. Inequality and exploitation are completely in opposition to the teachings of Christ. Capitalists say that the market can provide for all, but obviously that doesn’t happen. Our society is built around our economy, and the economy is not Christian in its values. Yes, philanthropy and humanitarianism is valued in our Western culture by Christians and others alike, but no amount of philanthropy that is currently done is enough to balance the inequalities, and certainly is not enough to prevent those inequalities from occuring in the first place.

But then again I am a young woman and he is a middle-aged man; both of our positions in life cause us to lean towards leftism and conservatism, respectively. And don’t get me wrong, I love this man. He is a wonderful person and a valued member of my faith community. He also works in upper management at a bank. (Heh, I feel like right-wingers who say, “Some of my friends are homosexual.” Now I can say, “Some of my friends are conservative capitalists!” And he is a really great guy, you’d love him.)