Circle for Dangerous Thinking - Perth Uniting Church in the City, Wesley, Trinity, Ross Memorial - Ministry Afrikaans,Youth, Hospitality,Seniors, Worship

The Circle for Dangerous Thinking 

This is an exciting new ministry that started in 2009

On 5 July 2009 a very diverse group of readers met in the UCIC Centre (1st Level, 97 William St) to explore what form this new ministry might take. We invited those who might be interested to join us dream about the possibilities. We've decided on a discussion group, meeting at 11.30am, on the second Sunday of every month, and to discuss provocative and challenging publications! Chris and Irne du Plessis have agreed to help coordinate this group. Please send us an email at the UCIC to let us know if you're interested admin@ucic.org.au

 

 It is an open minded group!

We've decided to create a list of books (and the occasional video) that we all agree to read beforehand and to then discuss. 

A few rules apply: 
1. Be open minded. Do not come if you're worried about being challenged and even a bit rattled from time to time. 
2. Only come when you're interested and wanting to contribute. Please do not come out of loyalty. Skip coming in months that don't interest you.
3. Come prepared. Please do not come if you haven't read the book/done the homework. 
4.Be open to others. We don't judge others and don't want to convert others to think as we each do.

 5. If you borrow a copy of a book on a Sunday, you have to bring it back the following Sunday for the next person to read.

 6. You can keep a book for longer if you borrow a book that is only due to be discussed in a few months' time.

    
We hope to be of service to the wider church! 

 

Some of the 27 members

Thanks for all who voted in the first round. We've just had our second round. This is an exciting journey. We will be buying a number of copies of selected books for “sharing around” at future meeting for those not able/wanting to buy every book. These can be borrowed from Harold Coppock at Wesley or Yvonne Herft at Trinity.

 The next 6 books/DVD's (in terms of votes) to be discussed over the next few meetings, are:

  Books and dates for our coming meetings in 2010  

 

 

12 September 2010 "The Black Swan - The Impact of the Highly Improbable"

The Black Swan: The impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Taleb
The most thought provoking book I’ve read in at least a year. This one is not a theological one, more philosophy. This book makes you anxious and excited - all at the same time. Before the discovery of Black Swans in Aus, all swans were thought/assumed to be white. One sighting changed our whole understanding about swans. How do we deal with the “Black Swans” in our lives? That is, how do we deal with unexpected events that change everything?!! An example: I was shocked at how he warns about a possible global financial crisis prompted by the collapse of Fannie Mae bank in the US, ONE YEAR BEFORE IT HAPPENED! The book touches on how to prepare for negative black swans AND howto live in a way prepared for the positive possibility of black swans in our lives. (Chris Crause) Read book review    

 

10 October 2010 "Like Catching Water in a Net" 

Like catching water in a net: Human attempts to describe the Divine by Val Webb
I’ve not read the book yet, but I’m hoping to soon. She was the guest speaker in Perth at a recent conference. She was also one of the most popular speakers at the Common Dreams Conference (in Sydney), a Progressive Theology Event. (Chris Crause)

 

  

 

14 November "The Case for God" by Karen Armstrong

The Case for God by Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong is one of the handful of wise and supremely intelligent commentators on religion. Her targets are religious fundamentalism on the one hand and militant atheism on the other: in other words, al-Qaida as well as Richard Dawkins. In plain language, and nowhere more eloquently than in this new book, Armstrong accuses both factions of misunderstanding the nature of God and, interestingly, of doing so in similar ways. (Yvonne Herft) I will send a small summary from home, but she presents both an historical perspective and addresses some of the issues of today ie science, and presents a positive message rather than the negative ones which are popular at the moment, particularly from science writers. (Karen Sloan)

 

 

 

12 December 2010 tba   

 

 

Past discussions:

 

9 August 2009. 

 A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle (± $25). This book is a follow-up to the author’s The Power of Now. In this book he describes a spiritual framework that goes beyond the ego. This book is one of those reads that makes you see yourself, the impact of your attachment to ego, and your experience of life with clarify and simplicity. You don’t read this book, it reads you! (comments from group member that recommended the book) Read book review

 

 

 

 

 

13 September 2009.

The Sermon on the Mount - According to Vedanta - Swami Prabhavananda. We are used to the interpretations of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, from a traditional Christian perspective. This author interprets this Sermon by Jesus from a non-Christian and often surprisingly fresh perspective (he is a Hindu). When Christians read this, they become more aware of the universal applicability and wisdom of Jesus, as well as the unity his message brings. (comments from group member that recommended the book)  

 

 

 

 

 

11 October 2009.

Jesus - Uncovering the Life, Teachings and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary - Marcus Borg. I’ve read several of Borg’s books and I believe this to be his best so far. (comments from group member that recommended the book) Read book review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 November 2009.

Jesus - Uncovering the Life, Teachings and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary - Marcus Borg. We continue the conversation.

 

 

 

13 December 2009.

I'm reading at the moment a book by Song Choan Seng titled Jesus and the Reign of God. It's a very provocative book about the Gospel and social-political struggle in Asia. (comments from group member that recommended the book)

 

 

 

 

 

 

14 February 2010.

We started the new year by discussing a recorded interview that Andrew Denton had with Richard Dawkins. Arguably he's more well known for being an atheist than his achievements as a scientist. But does he have something to say to Christanity that we need to take seriously? Read the interview here.   

 

 

 

14 March 2010 "Jesus Christ Superstar"

We kick off with something quite unusual (that's what we do!) This is the "Month of Music" at Trinity and we're focusing on the musical Jesus Christ Superstar! (14, 21 & 28 March) After the service on the 14th (with three live performances in it) we're going to discuss it. Plan to stay a bit longer than usual (we'll grab lunch and bring it with) if you plan to come to this one.  

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

11 April 2010 "Meditation"

Frequently Asked Questions about Christian Meditation: The Path of Contemplative Prayer. Paul T. Harris
Ok, and this one is more risky and I think would divide people more, but is one I have really valued. I practice Christian meditation (sort of, try to) most days, have done so for the last 9 months or so, and the book I have found this book very helpful. I have actually only read the on-line version which I think is cut down from the book but is pretty substantial all by itself, it is found at: http://www.wccm.org/images/PDF/harris.pdf (and has the advantage of being free!)
Paul Harris writes clearly and lucidly, he deals with all the main objections and common questions, and he seems to understand the evangelical tradition well because they are all the questions I had (and my mother still has!). He refers to lots of amazing Christian writers and I found I spent the whole time I was reading stopping to write down quotes. I think even if you were not to find meditation a helpful way to pray, or were to actively oppose it, the book and the ideas it raises would still found a brilliant discussion about prayer and different ways to pray. (C.K.)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 9 May 2010 "The First Paul - Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon"

by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan  

 

 

 

Two of the world’s top Christian scholars and bestselling authors of The Last Week and The First Christmas expose the church’s attempt to silence Jesus’ most faithful disciple, the former Pharisee Saul, known to the world as Paul. Borg and Crossan take seriously the research that have concluded that not all the "Pauline Epistles" were written by the "First Paul". What does this mean? Could it be that there are differences between the theology of the first, second and third Paul? (Chris Crause) Read review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 August 2010 "Doubt"

DVD: Doubt (Meryl Streep & Philip Seamor Hoffman)
This movie got 5 Golden Globe and 5 Academy Award Nominations. It is provocative and challenging without being depressing. Main issue is about our predisposition to judge others. Other issues: Doubt, the church’s identity, paedophilia, lack of joy in the church, etc. (Chris Crause)   

 

 

 

The future 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please make new suggestions on more books so we can keep having rounds of voting. The group might on occasion be too big already to have one (single) conversation. We’ll then most probably need to split into two groups. We will keep evaluating our experience. This is a learning journey and we’ll keep working on a system that works for all!  Meanwhile. if you want to suggest a book (or DVD) for the next round of voting, please send it to us (plus a short discription) and we'll add it to the list!
Hope to see many of you there!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris & Irne du Plessis & Chris Crause

Why don't you look at our book reviews on these and other books of interest on our Links and Resources page