The Circle for Dangerous Thinking

A challenging ministry that started in 2009

History: A 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! Please send us an email at the UCIC to let us know if you're interested admin@ucic.org.au. We will add you to our mailing list and you can then decide monthly if there is a discussion you'd like to participate in. 

 

 It is an open minded group!

We've decided to create a list of books (and videos) 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! 

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

Books/DVD's and dates for our coming meetings in 2013

Unfortunately the Circle for Dangerous thinking has gone into recess until further notice. Rev Chris is awaiting a call for a new placement soon. With four new minister to be called in the near future, we hope to have this ministry up and running again soon. 

Watch this space!

 

 

 

Past Meetings

6 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)     

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 2010 "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 "The Book Thief" 

Markus Zusak 
This book has been translated into more than 30 languages and sold more than a million copies. The storyteller is ... death! And the story is about a young girl that death is fascinated with ... in 1939. (Chris Crause)

13 February 2011 "God" (Embracing an Adult Faith)

Marcus Borg 
Short DVD introduction followed by discussion. 

13 March 2011 "Jesus" (Embracing an Adult Faith)

Marcus Borg 
Short DVD introduction followed by discussion.

10 April 2011 "Salvation" (Embracing an Adult Faith)

Marcus Borg 
Short DVD introduction followed by discussion.

8 May 2011 "Practice" (Embracing an Adult Faith)

Marcus Borg 
Short DVD introduction followed by discussion.

12 June 2011 "Community" (Embracing an Adult Faith)

Marcus Borg 
Short DVD introduction followed by discussion.

14 August 2011 Rudely Interrupted

We watch an inspiring music video and documentary on this gifted Australian band. The members of the band have numerous disabilities, but truly inspire though their lives and music. Visit their web page and listen the hit "I close my eyes"

11 September 2011 Vision for the Church of Tomorrow.

We watch a stimulating DVD on the future of the Church by Tom Bandy. Part of a conference that got the whole of WA talking. Only 30 minutes, leaving with with a good half an hour to discuss.

9 October 2011 Backyard Theology

Conversation starters about faith. life and leadership.

13 November 2011 The man who planted trees.

We watch a very moving animated Oscar-winning film by Frederic Back about a man who transforms a desolate land. Only 30 minutes, but profoundly touching.

12 February 2012 Saving Jesus from the Church - How to stop worshipping Christ and start following Jesus by Robin Meyer

From One of America's Leading Pastors, a Bold Call to Restore Christianity's True Mission: Following Jesus The marriage of bad theology and hypocritical behavior by the church has eroded our spiritual lives. Taking the best of biblical scholarship, Meyers recasts core Christian concepts in an effort to save Christianity from its obsession with personal salvation. Not a plea to try something brand new, but rather the recovery of something very old, "Saving Jesus from the Church" shows us what it means to follow Jesus's teachings today

11 March 2012 DVD Oscar winning "Crac!" by Frederic Back

We watch (30 mins) and discuss the award winnig animated movie. The industrialization of Montreal, as seen from the point of view of a rocking-chair.

8 April 2012 "Where the Hell is God?" by Richard Leonard

What a question to ask on Easter Sunday? Combines professional insights along with the author's own experience and insights to speculate on how believers can make sense of their Christian faith when confronted with tragedy and suffering.

13 May 2012 DVD Oscar nominated "The Mighty River" by Frederic Back

We watch (30 minutes) and discuss the Oscar-nominated film by Frederic Back. A richly animated film wondrously recreates the grace, beauty and tragedy of nature, presenting a passionate lesson about human impact on our fragile waterways.

10 June 2012 "Speaking Christian - Why Christian words have lost their meaning and power and how they can be restored" by Marcus Borg. 

Modern Christians are steeped in a language so distorted that it has become a stumbling block to the religion, says internationally renowned Bible scholar Marcus J. Borg. Borg argues that Christianity's important words, and the sacred texts and stories in which those words are embedded, have been narrowed by a modern framework for the faith that emphasizes sin, forgiveness, Jesus dying for our sins, and the afterlife.

Here, Borg employs the "historical-metaphorical" method for understanding Christian language that can restore for us these words of power and transformation. For example, "Redemption" now narrowly understood as Jesus saving us from sins so we can go to heaven, but in the Bible it refers to being set free from slavery.

"Saviour" now refers to Jesus as the one who saves us from our sins, but in the Bible it has a rich and wonderful variety of meanings having nothing to do with the afterlife.

"Sacrifice" now refers to Jesus's death on the cross as payment for our sins, but in the Bible it is never about substitutionary payment for sin. In "Speaking Christian," Borg delivers a language for twenty-first-century Christians that grounds the faith in its deep and rich original roots and allows it once again to transform our lives.

8 July 2012 "The Shack" by M.A. Philips 

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless question, 'Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?'

12 August 2012 "Darwin, Divinity and the Dance of the Cosmos" by Bruce Sanguin 

In March 2005, the United Nations released its Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Among the findings: 2/3 of the world's ecosystems are seriously degraded; 90 percent of the world's fish stocks are depleted; and climate change is not just something that might happen, it is already upon us. Many people, including many Christians, will hear this and delude themselves into thinking that technology can and will save the day.

A wiser and more helpful response, especially for Christians, is to find a way to step back into the flow of nature from which we have extricated ourselves. In "Darwin, Divinity, and the Dance of the Cosmos", Bruce Sanguin shows us the way.

Sanguin draws on the latest scientific understandings of the nature of the universe and weaves them together with biblical meta-narratives and frequently overlooked strands of the Judeo-Christian tradition to create an ecological and truly evolutionary Christian theology - a feat few theologians have even attempted.

This book - and more importantly the work of integration it suggests - represents a fundamental challenge to our theological and liturgical models. But for those who are ready and willing to embark on an exciting theological journey of discovery, it also represents a rich opportunity to become reacquainted with the Spirit of God moving in and through the very dynamics of an unfolding universe.

In "Darwin, Divinity, and the Dance of the Cosmos", Sanguin draws on the latest scientific understandings of the nature of the universe and weaves them together with biblical meta-narratives and frequently overlooked strands of the Judeo-Christian tradition to create an ecological and truly evolutionary Christian theology.

10 September 2012 "The Power of Parable" by John Dominic Crossan

The world's foremost Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan shows us how the parables present throughout the New Testament not only reveal what Jesus wanted to teach but also provide the key for explaining how the Gospels' writers sought to explain the Prophet of Nazareth to the world.

In this meaningful exploration of the metaphorical stories told by Jesus and the Gospel writers, Crossan combines the biblical expertise of his "The Greatest Prayer "with a historical and social analysis that harkens closely to his "Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography," creating an illuminating and nuanced exploration of the Scripture that fans of Marcus Borg and Bart Ehrman will find fascinating and essential.

11 November 2012 "Living the Questions" by David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy 

Bringing together the voices of top Bible scholars and church leaders --including Marcus Borg, Diana Butler Bass, John Dominic Crossan, Helen Prejean, and John Shelby Spong--pastors David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy present a lively and stimulating tour of what it means to be a "progressive" Christian. Based on the bestselling DVD course of the same name, "Living the Questions" explores matters many churches are afraid to address including the humanity of Jesus and homosexuality, and examines in a new light traditional faith topics such as the Bible, atonement, salvation, the rapture, and more.

10 February 2013 Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks – an Australian now living in Martha’s Vineyard 

In 1665, a young man from Martha’s Vienyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College.  This is a work of fiction telling of the interaction between an English Puritan Calvinist minister who feels called to convert the Wampanoag to his own faith and some of the conflict involved.

It raises the question of how do we follow Jesus' call to make disciples of all nations and yet respect the spirituality of people whether they be indigenous or of one of the main world faiths or of no particular religion.

Discussion to be led by Rev Marie Wilson.

10 March 2013 The Challenge of Jesus – The world of Jesus - DVD and discussion

Renowned historical Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan presents his life's work developing the unexplored matrix of Jesus' unique time and place in this provocative new educational resource fro small groups discussion. Presented in a multimedia format, each video is only 15 minutes long, enabling in depth understanding and discussion. Today we watch the short introduction and two videos:

Peace through victory & On stone and marble. Understand why it is critical to understand the Romans Empire and time of Jesus, to understand the person and message of Jesus.

No homework neeeded! Come if you're interested in understanding the (background) world of Jesus

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 Crause