Quotes & Sayings


We, and creation itself, actualize the possibilities of the God who sustains the world, towards becoming in the world in a fuller, more deeper way. - R.E. Slater

There is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have [consequential effects upon] the world around us. - Process Metaphysician Alfred North Whitehead

Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem says (i) all closed systems are unprovable within themselves and, that (ii) all open systems are rightly understood as incomplete. - R.E. Slater

The most true thing about you is what God has said to you in Christ, "You are My Beloved." - Tripp Fuller

The God among us is the God who refuses to be God without us, so great is God's Love. - Tripp Fuller

According to some Christian outlooks we were made for another world. Perhaps, rather, we were made for this world to recreate, reclaim, redeem, and renew unto God's future aspiration by the power of His Spirit. - R.E. Slater

Our eschatological ethos is to love. To stand with those who are oppressed. To stand against those who are oppressing. It is that simple. Love is our only calling and Christian Hope. - R.E. Slater

Secularization theory has been massively falsified. We don't live in an age of secularity. We live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity... an age of religious pluralism. - Peter L. Berger

Exploring the edge of life and faith in a post-everything world. - Todd Littleton

I don't need another reason to believe, your love is all around for me to see. – Anon

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all. - Khalil Gibran, Prayer XXIII

Be careful what you pretend to be. You become what you pretend to be. - Kurt Vonnegut

Religious beliefs, far from being primary, are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. - Jim Forest

We become who we are by what we believe and can justify. - R.E. Slater

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. – Anon

Certainly, God's love has made fools of us all. - R.E. Slater

An apocalyptic Christian faith doesn't wait for Jesus to come, but for Jesus to become in our midst. - R.E. Slater

Christian belief in God begins with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, not with rational apologetics. - Eberhard Jüngel, Jürgen Moltmann

Our knowledge of God is through the 'I-Thou' encounter, not in finding God at the end of a syllogism or argument. There is a grave danger in any Christian treatment of God as an object. The God of Jesus Christ and Scripture is irreducibly subject and never made as an object, a force, a power, or a principle that can be manipulated. - Emil Brunner

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means "I will be that who I have yet to become." - God (Ex 3.14) or, conversely, “I AM who I AM Becoming.”

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. - Thomas Merton

The church is God's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the Eucharist/Communion table to share life with one another as a new kind of family. When this happens, we show to the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be. The church is God's show-and-tell for the world to see how God wants us to live as a blended, global, polypluralistic family united with one will, by one Lord, and baptized by one Spirit. – Anon

The cross that is planted at the heart of the history of the world cannot be uprooted. - Jacques Ellul

The Unity in whose loving presence the universe unfolds is inside each person as a call to welcome the stranger, protect animals and the earth, respect the dignity of each person, think new thoughts, and help bring about ecological civilizations. - John Cobb & Farhan A. Shah

If you board the wrong train it is of no use running along the corridors of the train in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's justice is restorative rather than punitive; His discipline is merciful rather than punishing; His power is made perfect in weakness; and His grace is sufficient for all. – Anon

Our little [biblical] systems have their day; they have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, and Thou, O God art more than they. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

We can’t control God; God is uncontrollable. God can’t control us; God’s love is uncontrolling! - Thomas Jay Oord

Life in perspective but always in process... as we are relational beings in process to one another, so life events are in process in relation to each event... as God is to Self, is to world, is to us... like Father, like sons and daughters, like events... life in process yet always in perspective. - R.E. Slater

To promote societal transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework which includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace. - The Earth Charter Mission Statement

Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles. - Scott Postma

It is never wise to have a self-appointed religious institution determine a nation's moral code. The opportunities for moral compromise and failure are high; the moral codes and creeds assuredly racist, discriminatory, or subjectively and religiously defined; and the pronouncement of inhumanitarian political objectives quite predictable. - R.E. Slater

God's love must both center and define the Christian faith and all religious or human faiths seeking human and ecological balance in worlds of subtraction, harm, tragedy, and evil. - R.E. Slater

In Whitehead’s process ontology, we can think of the experiential ground of reality as an eternal pulse whereby what is objectively public in one moment becomes subjectively prehended in the next, and whereby the subject that emerges from its feelings then perishes into public expression as an object (or “superject”) aiming for novelty. There is a rhythm of Being between object and subject, not an ontological division. This rhythm powers the creative growth of the universe from one occasion of experience to the next. This is the Whiteheadian mantra: “The many become one and are increased by one.” - Matthew Segall

Without Love there is no Truth. And True Truth is always Loving. There is no dichotomy between these terms but only seamless integration. This is the premier centering focus of a Processual Theology of Love. - R.E. Slater

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Note: Generally I do not respond to commentary. I may read the comments but wish to reserve my time to write (or write from the comments I read). Instead, I'd like to see our community help one another and in the helping encourage and exhort each of us towards Christian love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. - re slater

Saturday, July 16, 2011

NYT Review - "Half the Sky," Kirstof and WuDunn






http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/books/review/Manji-t.html

By IRSHAD MANJI
Published: September 17, 2009

An ancient Chinese proverb goes that women hold up half the sky. Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn want that to be appreciated — on the ground. In the opening pages of this gripping call to conscience, the husband-and-wife team come out swinging: “Gendercide,” the daily slaughter of girls in the developing world, steals more lives in any given decade “than all the genocides of the 20th century.” No wonder Kristof and WuDunn, whose coverage of China for The New York Times won them a Pulitzer Prize, declare the global struggle for women’s equality “the paramount moral challenge” of our era.

HALF THE SKY

Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide

By Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Illustrated. 294 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $27.95

Related


Times Topics: Nicholas D. Kristof

The Book’s Web Site

Multimedia


Their stories in “Half the Sky” bear witness to that bold claim. Kristof and WuDunn describe Dalit women, Indian untouchables, who swarmed, stabbed and emasculated a serial torturer and murderer — in a courtroom. Further north, Mukhtar Mai, the victim of a Pakistani gang-rape, did the unthinkable for a Muslim village woman. Not only did she expose her assailants, but she incurred the wrath of her country’s president, Pervez Musharraf, endured abduction by his henchmen, started a school and even made an ally of her resentful older brother.

“Half the Sky” tackles atrocities and indignities from sex trafficking to maternal mortality, from obstetric fistulas to acid attacks, and absorbing the fusillade of horrors can feel like an assault of its own. But the poignant portraits of survivors humanize the issues, divulging facts that moral outrage might otherwise eclipse.

Men, for example, aren’t always the culprits. “In Meena’s brothel,” Kristof and WuDunn report of an Indian girl forced into prostitution, “the tyrant was the family matriarch, Ainul Bibi. Sometimes Ainul would beat the girls herself, and sometimes she would delegate the task to her daughter-in-law or to her sons.” The narratives respect nuance, revealing both the range of barriers and the possibility for solutions.

Throughout, Kristof and WuDunn show faith in the capacity of ordinary citizens, including Americans, to initiate change — gutsy at a time when many Westerners who voice concern are ritually accused of interfering. Mingling tales of woe with testimonials to people power, the authors explain how tragedy can spawn opportunity. Their hope: “To recruit you to join an incipient movement to emancipate women.”

Little-known Westerners — doctors, teachers and students — serve as role models. Harper McConnell is a University of Minnesota graduate. Fresh out of college, she broke up with her boyfriend and entered the dating desert of Congo to oversee her church’s relationship with a hospital for women. “At the age of 23, Harper became the principal of her own school,” Kristof and WuDunn write about this young American who “jabbers away in Swahili.”

But “Half the Sky” prescribes some tough medicine: To be effective on behalf of invisible women overseas, Americans must “bridge the God Gulf.” That is, secular humanists will have to forge common cause with religious believers, emulating an era “when liberal deists and conservative evangelicals joined forces to overthrow slavery.”

Kristof and WuDunn repeatedly invoke the abolitionist project. Besides stirring emotions, the antislavery lens permits Americans to see an urgent obligation. When the West cares as much about sex slavery as it does about pirated DVDs, India “will dispatch people to the borders to stop traffickers,” they predict. “We single out the West because, even though we’re peripheral to the slavery, our action is necessary to overcome a horrific evil.” As proof, they detail how American diplomats and Congress spurred the Cambodian police to crack down on brothel owners. “Simply asking questions put the issue on the agenda.”

So it comes as a disappointment when Kristof and WuDunn seem to cut short their own questions. They entitle one of their chapters “Is Islam Misogynistic?” Their answer: Because ultraconservative Saudi Arabia has outlawed slaves, the Koran must be open to progressive interpretations on other human rights issues, like women’s equality.

The trouble is, laws ring hollow if they’re not enforced, something Kristof and WuDunn robustly recognize about female genital mutilation in Africa. Why not acknowledge the same about Saudi Arabia’s often appalling treatment of female domestic workers, whose condition Human Rights Watch has deemed ­“slavery-like”? Could their silence be traced to the “scolding” that Kristof received from a group of Muslim women in Riyadh?

One of them insists to him that Saudi Arabia’s ban on female drivers, and the related effects of a profoundly patriarchal culture, “are our problems, not yours.” Kristof doesn’t appear to question her. Yet later, he and WuDunn link “the boom in Muslim terrorists” to “the broader marginalization of women,” recalling that the ringleader of the 9/11 hijackers cited a teaching about well-endowed virgins awaiting male martyrs in heaven.

Clearly, a connection can be drawn between global security and certain cultural customs in the Middle East. In that case, Muslim women’s problems are everyone’s problems. Despite all their reminders of our interdependence as humans, Kristof and WuDunn miss an excellent chance to help fellow progressives build backbone.

Perhaps a different encounter should be arranged for the two authors — with a Muslim woman in Sweden who hides immigrant Arab girls threatened by honor killings. She told me that many Western feminists condemn her because, she believes, they care more about looking tolerant than about saving lives. In confronting the failings of multiculturalism, secularists could move forward with evangelicals, as abolitionists did almost 200 years ago. Imagine the potential for progress.

Irshad Manji, a scholar with the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, is the author of “The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith.”

Friday, July 15, 2011

Christian Imagery in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One

The Lord of the Hallows
Christian Symbolism and Themes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Narnia

I have seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One twice now–first on opening day and again yesterday–and there is something that has been bothering me about the film for a week now. I am profoundly disappointed by the absence of the two Biblical quotations Rowling included in the novel and which were left out of the theatrical version of the film. The first was from Matthew 6:21.


Harry stooped down and saw, upon the frozen, lichen-spotted granite, the words KENDRA DUMBLEDORE and, a short way below her dates of birth and death, AND HER DAUGHTER ARIANA. There was also a quotation: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows page 325)


This inscription is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verse 21, which should be examined in the context in which it appears in the Bible: This quotation is from Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount.”


Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19-21, NRSV)


We know that the tomb of Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore was designed for the film; a photo of it was published in the book Harry Potter Film Wizardry.



The quotation from Matthew 6:21 is visible at the bottom of the tombstone.


In an earlier blog post I explained the significance of the quatrefoil and the IHS which appear at the top of this grave marker. Here’s a quote from this earlier post:
http://phoenixweasley.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/christian-imagery-in-deathly-hallows-film-photos-of-godrics-hollow-churchyard/

 
Quatrefoil: ubiquitous in Gothic architecture, the quatrefoil symbolizes the four evangelists, as do the Winged Man (Matthew), Lion (Mark), Ox (Luke), and Eagle (John) — the four beasts of Ezeckiel and the Apocalypse.
IHS: dating from the 8th c., this is an abbreviation for “IHESUS,” the way Christ’s Name was spelled in the Middle Ages (despite popular belief, the monogram stands neither for “Iesus Hominum Salvator” –”Jesus Saviour of Men” — nor for “In His Service.”) Popularized by St. Bernardine of Siena, the monogram was later used by St. Ignatius of Loyola as a symbol for the Jesuit Order.

I really missed seeing this Christian imagery in the theatrical version of the film. I also wanted the film makers to include more information about Dumbledore’s background and personal tragedies. Perhaps this need for more exposition in the film is the reason that the tomb of Kendra and Ariana was not shown in the theaters. Dumbledore felt a great deal of guilt about their deaths, a burden that he had to bear for the rest of his life.

I think that Dumbledore learned a lesson that Voldemort had not been able to comprehend: his “treasures” were not possessions or objects of power, but the people that he loved. If they had included this Biblical quotation in the film, it could have been made to tie in nicely with Ron’s return. The light from Dumbledore’s deluminator went into Ron’s heart and then guided him back to the one he loves most: Hermione. Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

The “heart” can also serve as a metaphor for the human soul. Where Voldemort’s “treasures” (the Horcruxes) are hidden is where Harry, Ron, and Hermione will find the Dark Lord’s “heart”– that is, the fragments of his torn and mutilated soul. They will be the thieves that break into Gringotts to steal the cup Horcrux in order to destroy it in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.

The tombstone with the quotation from Matthew 6:21 is discussed briefly in the video game based on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One. (Harry remarks that he did not know that Dumbledore had a sister.) You can see a video of this part of the game in the blog post that I made yesterday: http://phoenixweasley.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/deathly-hallows-part-one-video-game-walk-through/ The Biblical quotation from Matthew 6:21 is not visible in the game walk-through however.

In the video game, Harry reads aloud the words inscribed on his parents’ grave marker–the second Biblical quotation Rowling included in the novel.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

This is a quotation from 1 Corinthians 15:26. The quote can be seen on the Potters’ tomb in the theatrical version of the film but it is not discussed by Harry and Hermione as it was in the novel.



These photos of the Godric’s Hollow churchyard are from the Panini sticker book.


This is Rowling’s description of that scene which was omitted from the film:
Harry read the words slowly, as though he would have only one chance to take in their meaning, and he read the last of them aloud. “ ‘The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death’…” A horrible thought came to him, and with it, a kind of panic. “Isn’t that a Death Eater idea? Why is that there?”

“It doesn’t meaning defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry,” said Hermione, her voice gentle. “It means…you know…living beyond death. Living after death.” (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows page 328)


The theme of death and of life after death was one of the most important themes in the Harry Potter series. The omission of these lines from the film was a huge thematic flaw in my opinion.

II.

Christian Symbolism in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One: What They Got Right

The theatrical cut of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One did have a certain amount of obvious Christian imagery, which was very well done. Early in the film, when Hermione has erased her parents’ memories of her and leaves home, she walks down the street in the direction of a building which may be a church. (This is a scene that was not in the novel.)


When Harry and Hermione arrive in Godric’s Hollow, the sound of a church bell tolling can be heard as they walk down the street. When they arrive outside the graveyard we do hear the sound of singing inside of the little village church. The congregation is celebrating Christmas Eve. When Harry looks through the iron fence at the church graveyard and asks Hermione if she thinks his parents are in there, she assures him with confidence that they are. Once inside the churchyard there many are cross-shaped gravemarkers that are visible. There is no mistaking it: James and Lily Potter are buried in hallowed ground.



Then there’s the Sword of Godric Gryffindor:

The scene is as I described it in The Lord of the Hallows: Christian Symbolism
and Themes in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter.

It is on the day after Christmas that Harry and his friends begin to make real progress in accomplishing their mission to defeat Voldemort. Just as King Arthur’s knights followed the white stag through the forest to find the Grail Chapel, Harry followed the silver doe to a frozen forest pool where he saw a shape like “a great silver cross” (DH 367). It was the Sword of Gryffindor hidden beneath the ice. The sword is one of the most fundamental Christian symbols:

The Cross is God’s sword, held at the hilt by the hand of Heaven and plunged into the world not to take our blood, but to give us His. (Kreeft 224)

Harry, while wearing the locket, tried to retrieve the sword, but the Horcrux around his neck began to choke him. It was when Harry began to drown that Ron returned to save his life. Proving himself to be a true Gryffindor, Ron pulled the sword from the water and severed the locket’s hold on Harry.

Voldemort, like Satan the Father of Lies, made a desperate effort to claim Ron as his own, and Ron, like the weasel who strikes against the venomous serpent, was able to strike the first fatal blow against Voldemort by destroying the locket Horcrux with Gryffindor’s sword.

This quote was from page 81 of The Lord of the Hallows. The quote within the passage above which describes the Cross as God’s Sword is from Peter Kreeft’s wonderful book Catholic Christianity. J. K. Rowling herself described the Sword of Godric Gryffindor as being shaped like “a great silver cross” in the novel on page 367, (emphasis mine).

I gave chapter 8 of The Lord of the Hallows the title “Belief in God in the World of Harry Potter.”

Here’s an excerpt:

“How in the name of heaven did Harry survive?” asked Professor McGonagall at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. (SS 12) This is the first of many examples of how the language of Christianity is used throughout the series.

In book one there is a reference to the concept of sin in the warning given to those who would steal from the Gringotts goblins: “Enter stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed.” (SS 72) Harry, Ron, and Hermione even manage to escape from a deadly plant called the Devil’s Snare. (SS 277-278)

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Mr. Weasley asks, “Good lord, is it Harry Potter?” (CS 39) Draco refers to Harry as “Saint Potter, the Mudbloods’ friend.” (CS 223) Dumbledore even leads the Hogwarts students and faculty in “a few of his favorite carols” at Christmastime. (CS 212)

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban the manager of Flourish and Blotts says “thank heavens” (PA 53), Draco Malfoy says “God” (PA 113), Hagrid utters “Gawd knows.” (PA 274), and Remus Lupin says “My God.” (PA 363) Lupin also helps Harry learn the difference between losing one’s life and losing one’s soul. (PA 247) In these numerous references and in many others, there is evidence of a belief in the Christian God in the world of Harry Potter. (The Lord of the Hallows pages 69-70)

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling’s use of Christian references and images becomes more obvious than in the previous novels. Good wizard characters say “thank God” (Harry on page 74, Molly on page 78, Ron on page 142), and there are jokes about a wizard being “saint-like” or “holy” (George on page 74). That George Weasley would call himself “holy” (“hole-y”) refers to his missing ear, which was cursed off during a battle with the Death Eaters. St. George was a Christian saint, who, according to pious legends, was a dragon slayer, taking up arms against Satan, who appeared to him in the form of a mighty serpent. (The Lord of the Hallows pages 72-73)

George’s “holy” joke is in the film, in a particularly well-acted scene between the Weasley Twins. I also noticed two exclamations of “Oh my God!” in the movie. The first was uttered by Ron Weasley when he is in disguise as Reg Cattermole at the Ministry of Magic. The second exclamation was made by Hermione Granger in the tent when she makes the realization that the Sword of Godric Gryffindor can destroy Horcruxes.

The Deathly Hallow known as the Resurrection Stone is also mentioned by Xenophilius Lovegood after Hermione reads aloud “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” I loved the animation which accompanied her narration, particularly the appearance of the Angel of Death who ascends to Heaven with the third brother at the tale’s conclusion. We have seen the Angel of Death in a Harry Potter film prior to this one, in the graveyard scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.


Yes, there are action figures.
Is this the “Harry Potter and the Angel of Death” playset?

I am eagerly looking forward to the Christian themes and imagery that inevitably will be present in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two. If you are interested in the topic of Christian symbolism, imagery, and themes in the Harry Potter series, please consider reading my book, The Lord of the Hallows, which is available from www.outskirtspress.com/thelordofthehallows.




Five Things We Can Learn from Severus Snape

 
 
[Spoiler Alert: If you've not read Deathly Hallows
or watched the final movie, you should go and do that,
and then come back and read this post.]



http://newwaystheology.blogspot.com/2011/07/5-things-we-can-learn-from-severus.html

by Mason Slater
posted July 15, 2011



Last night, as I sat waiting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to begin, I was looking forward to one character's story more than any other.

It wasn't Harry's, or Ron and Hermione's, or even Voldemort's.

No, the story I wanted to hear was the story of Severus Snape.

By the end of movie 7 part 1, the audience has been set up to hate Snape, and with good reason. Always a shadowy figure with questionable loyalties, in Half Blood Prince Snape kills Dumbledore. Soon after, with the rise of the Dark Lord, he is placed in charge of Hogwarts. As headmaster he oversees a brutal and oppressive school which lacks any of the light and magic of earlier years.

Yet things are not as they seem, and in Deathly Hallows we learn the true story of Snape. The story of a man who was tormented by lost love, who played his role for the greater good, and who was in the end one of the greatest heroes of the story.

Didactically, I think Snape's story provides a sort of traction that some of the others do not, and I want to look at five things we can learn from Severus Snape.
__________________

1. Our judgments about people are often wrong. In almost every book Harry and his friends suspect Snape is in on whatever evil is threatening them, all the more so after he kills Dumbledore. As it turns out he was on their side all along, and did more to protect and aid Harry than almost anyone else.

2. Rough exteriors are not the whole story. Admittedly, Snape is my favorite character in the Harry Potter series [so I was glad to see him vindicated when I read book 7]. But that isn't to say I find him to be a pleasant person, quite the opposite really. We learn some of why that is later on, but from beginning to end Snape is cold, short tempered, and at times rather cruel. Yet this exterior hides a person who dedicated his life to defeating the forces of evil.

3. Sometimes heroes are silent. At the moment of his death, the only person who ever knew how good Snape really was, was Dumbledore, who Snape had killed. He died as an enemy of all that is good in the world of Harry Potter, and it was only after he could no longer be thanked that the true story was revealed - why he betrayed Voldemort, how he did the difficult thing no other wizard could have done and deceived the Dark Lord, how he gave his life selflessly for people who might never know what he had done for them.

4. True loyalty comes at great cost. Sure, we all want loyalty and put forth some effort to be loyal to others, but we rarely consider the cost. For Snape, loyalty to Dumbledore meant living a double life, sacrificing everything he held dear, and even killing Dumbledore when Dumbledore commanded him to. In the end we find out that he was never a traitor, but instead had played his part perfectly to the very end.

5. Love changes everything. Snape was originally a Death Eater, a true servant of Voldemort. We learn in these last chapters that what drove him to Dumbledore was love, love for Lilly Potter. He had loved Lilly since childhood, and though his personality and obsession with the dark arts had driven her away, he never stopped loving her.

When he learned that Voldemort was searching for the Potters, he went to Dumbledore in an effort to protect Lilly. When she died, he spent the rest of his life ensuring her son was safe. The redemption of Severus Snape was, like so much in Harry Potter, because of love. In the end his one request was to look into Harry's eyes, because he had his mother's eyes.
__________________

- Have you seen the final film? What did you think of it?
- Who is your favorite Harry Potter character? Why?
- Be honest. Did you trust Snape?

__________________




The Bravest Man I Ever Knew






Severus Snape's Farewell







Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Requiem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLozcBo8TxY&feature=related










 
 

Pastor: Clergy can love Harry Potter epic tale of good vs. evil

J.K. Rowling’s tale correlates to Ephesians  6
Friday, July 15, 2011

It seems as if the whole world has been holding its breath in glorious expectation until they could once again enter into the magical world of Harry Potter. Advance ticket sales for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two, reached more than $25 million.

It seems as if the only enemies in the world that Harry has are Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters. But that hasn’t always been the case. It wasn’t all that long ago when not everyone was wild about Harry.

When the first Potter movie came out, The Augusta Chronicle was flooded with letters to the editor denouncing the Boy who Lived. Why? Because there was concern that reading or watching Harry Potter would lead countless scores of people into the dark arts.

The movie was denounced as anti-Christian and a bad influence on children with its portrayal of magic and sorcery. Passages from the Bible were quoted to bolster the argument that to enter the world of Harry Potter was to enter the world of the devil. It’s hard to imagine now, but whether a Christian should see the movie or read the books was a real controversy in evangelical circles.

Fast forward 10 years and the biggest controversy is to decide whether to brave the opening-weekend crowds or wait a few days to see the final film.

So, what has changed? For those of us who have always loved Harry, even amongst us clergy, there was always the understanding that this was an epic tale of good vs. evil.

At one point in The Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry asks his godfather, Sirus Black, if he (Harry) is a bad person. Sirus replies that Harry is a very good person to whom bad things have happened. It’s the goodness and courage of Harry in the face of evil that has made him so attractive.

Not long after The Sorcerer’s Stone was first released, America faced pure evil with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. You didn’t need to enter a magical world to face a power that did not wish us well; it was right here in our own back yard.

For many, especially children, Harry was the face of resistance against evil; it didn’t matter how young you were, you still had the power to fight darkness and win.

Ephesians 6 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against … the powers of this world … against this present darkness. Therefore take us the full armor of God that you may be able to resist in that evil day.”

That was the fight of Harry, Ron and Hermione and remains the struggle for each of us today.

What might be the biggest controversy with Harry today? That it is the last installment and the deep wish that J. K. Rowling would go to her keyboard, unleash her talent and once again lead us into the magical world of Harry Potter.

The Rev. Cynthia Taylor is pastor of Church of the Holy Comforter, an Episcopal congregation in Martinez.











Things I Have Learned from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

A film publicity image release by Warner Bros. Pictures showing
Daniel Radcliffe in a scene from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."



















[SPOILER ALERT]

That J.K. Rowlings writes wonderfully and that her movies were enjoyable good fun;

That J.K. Rowlings has a wonderful imagination;

That movie goer geeks love to dress up for a good movie;

That there will always be evil in the world to stand up against;

That sometimes evil wins but sometimes it can be defeated;

That childhood is a traumatic event for children;

That childhood responds enthusiastically to respect and love, challenge and wrong;

That childhood requires the closeness of friends in order to get through it;

That our darkest days and our most light-filled moments can be found in childhood;

That there are cowards in life, and those with weak wills, who can easily be influenced by fear and uncertainty;

That those seeking world power and domination get killed;

That those lusting for world power and domination are ruthless and always want more;

That those who hate and do bad things harm not only themselves but everyone around them;

That the concept of justice is an untiring theme in the world in which we live in;

That might does not make right;

That survival is the most right thing that can be imagined in times of evil;

That Harry Potter has two very good friends;

That Harry Potter was both severely misunderstood and doubted, but never doubted himself;

That Harry Potter later proved to be a tremendous inspiration to many;

That an eighth book by J.K. Rowlings was mercifully never written because its too hard to wait for it to be published;

That all sagas begin with good, a struggle with evil, and have a big war in the end;

That Disney has played this plot line for 75 years from cartoons to movies and has made a lot of money from it;

That light and darkness, truth and lies, pure hearts and evil spirits are always a constant;

But, personally, I liked J.R.R. Tolkien's Hobbit & the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) series infinitely better (my excuse? It was read earlier in my youth and I loved the legends and complexities!);

And, that I personally like the ending of the Hobbit and the LOTR infinitely better (though J.K. Rowling's series conclusion was quite acceptable);

And finally, that J.R.R. Tolkien's sagas, like J.K. Rowlings series, were both influenced by Christian themes and large world events (sic, WW2 and world-wide terrorism respectively).

(Oh, and great fictional saga authors use multiple initials in their names, and that their first names always begin with the letter "J" ! ).

- skinhead
[SPOILER ALERT]







J K Rowling: 'Christianity inspired Harry Potter'

by Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
Breaking her silence on the much-debated question as to whether religious themes permeate her books, Rowling confirmed that they echoed her personal struggle with faith.

Speaking in America this week, she was open about the Christian allegories in her latest book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The author said that she had always deflected questions on the issue in the past to avoid disclosing the direction in which the books were heading.

"To me, the religious parallels have always been obvious," Rowling said. "But I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going."

At the end of her latest and final installment in the series, there are specific references to Christianity and themes of life after death and resurrection.

At one point Harry visits his parents' graves and finds two biblical passages inscribed on their tombstones.

"They are very British books, so on a very practical note, Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones," she said.

"But I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones ...they sum up, they almost epitomise, the whole series." (for more see - http://relevancy22.blogspot.com/2011/07/christian-imagery-in-harry-potter-and.html)

However the author, who was brought up an Anglican and is now a member of the Church of Scotland, said she still wrestled with the concept of an afterlife.

"The truth is that, like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes that my faith will return. It's something I struggle with a lot.

"On any given moment if you asked me if I believe in life after death, I think if you polled me regularly through the week, I think I would come down on the side of yes - that I do believe in life after death.

"But it's something I wrestle with a lot. It preoccupies me a lot, and I think that's very obvious within the books."

Christians have been divided about the books, with some claiming that their popularity should be exploited to spread the Christian message.

Others, however, have demonised them for what they claim to be occult content, and Pope Benedict XVI described them as "subtle seductions" capable of corrupting young Christians.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

RE Slater - The Lost Sight of Transcendence


Narcissus in the Garden of Malcontent
Too often we get caught up in the machinery of living, of working, of studying, and a thousand other big and small things that would keep us from seeing the beauty of life that God has given us each day we are alive. Each moment we experience. Each breath that we take. There are so many seeming constraints and obstacles, so many problems to solve, so much ugliness that is seen, read, or heard each and every day. Each callously sucking the very breath of God out of the beauty he has placed all around us. Causing us to simply stop looking, or feeling, or even wishing to find, a spiritual transcendency or dimension to the days that blur by, one-after-another, in dizzying finality and array.

 
Narcissus in the Garden of Malcontent
http://www.artprize.org/artists/public-profile/18923
I am reminded of all the things that we have been given and must see again with renewed eyes and hearts and senses that would deeply intoxicate us if we were but to focus on God again. And in so many ways this has become true when discovering God through the Scriptures, through his Son Jesus, even the people and events that God has placed upon our paths that would perhaps cause us to stop and look and feel again.

For when this happens we slowly begin to understand just how much of our world God has renewed for us - as if we are seeing it for the very first time all over again! Whether through prayer and devotions, fellowship with friends, communion with fellow believers. A simple walk down the street or through a park. A small discussion with a stranger. Or an activity we play or work at. In many ways this very web blog is trying to recapture the essence of God through the lives of others who at one time or another had felt that they too had been robbed of the spirituality of life. The essence and provocation of life.

God will do that with us when we let him. He'll give us new eyes to see, new ears to hear, new hearts to feel the things he feels. New senses to more fully participate within his creation so that we are no longer hardened to all the hatreds and harms and cries that we endure each day in a world spinning from morning to evening, day after empty day, like a mad carousel refusing to give up its whirling dervish.

For the Spirit of the Lord has come to anoint us with God's holy oils of redemption, of transformation, of enlightenment and revelation, before the holy days of the divine. Receive these deeply, with thanksgiving. Breath in their elixirs and let them stir our hearts but for a moment or two, so that we may look around again and learn to see God's world as he sees it - with hope and love and faith. And then pass it on in as many ways as it can be passed on to all those around us!

RE Slater
July 14, 2011

More on Corey Van Duinen:
The Lost Sight of Transcendence



"Art does not reproduce the visible,
but makes visible the invisible"




Meadowlands

I had been happy in my ignorance and in my service
But am grown old and no longer happy as I once was
birthed so long ago upon those careless days of froth and wonder.

The burdens of the day have spent me
and have caused my steps to seek again the favor of the sun
that once shone so warm, so brightly, across springtime meadows fair.

Flashing day's dews of a wiser, more carefree youth
amid dreamscapes held fast glistening solitary marvels
nestled snugly within the craggy wildernesses of heaven’s grand peace.

For it was there in the frothy streams of discovery and conscience I wandered
considering man and beast, wind and muse, upon day's hand
knowing not whither purpose or end each was sent by the warming rays.

Then whilst tending to many gardens did the waning day grow long and cold
leaving its earlier peace but a foundling memory warm and alive
somberly promising all paths forever blessed, whither they led, each fulsome soul.

R.E. Slater
December 21, 2011


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Documentary History of the King James Bible

Linking today's modern artists with the viewing and contemporary understanding of the Bible by Makoto Fujimura continues the work of past publishers, authors, historians and linguists in interpreting the Bible for all to read and enjoy. Here is a brief recount of the Bible's recent 400 year journey....

- skinhead
**********

A beautiful video on the convergance of modern art and
Christian worship, in the work of artist Makoto Fujimura.



Makoto Fujimura - The Art of "The Four Holy Gospels"

 The King James Bible

by Scot McKnight
posted July 11, 2011

Last weekend Kris and I were in NYC, in Manhattan, to participate in a wondrous event commemorating the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. The event was sponsored by the American Bible Society, and their office is on Broadway, and the invitation came from my old seminary friend, Phil Towner, who is now Dean of the Nida Institute at ABS. Splendid event.

The Reception Friday night began with meandering through an incredible museum-display of English Bibles, beginning with Wyclif and Tyndale and Coverdale and Whitchurch and the Geneva Bible and The Bishops’ Bible to the King James. I had not seen most of these Bibles and here they were — originals — beautifully displayed. Perhaps more attention should be given to Wyclif but I was overcome with excitement to see Tyndale. There it was, probably 83% of the King James, done by a man on a mission, a man on the run, and a man who was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English. None of us failed to mention this in the events that followed. 



William Tyndale stands against religious authoritiesin order
to present the word of God to the common people.



Though an obscure figure in history Tyndale did more to impact
the English language and English people throughout the world
than would William Shakespeare through translating the Bible,
the most widely read book in English history.

The reception, attended by more than a hundred, finished up with a brief talk by the world’s expert on the King James Bible, David Norton, a professor of English at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. (He didn’t fail to show us his office, a room with a view!)

We had a full day Saturday: it began with a full presentation by David Norton, who strolled through the history of the King James Bible with visual slides to complement his talk. My talk was on the theology of the New Testament translators of the King James as I have been trying to discern specific theological agendas in the KJB, but alas I find very little.

What most don’t know, and it is always worth emphasizing, is that the KJB was a revision, and mostly conservative, of The (already existing) Bishops’ Bible. The KJB sought to find common and acceptable ground between the Bishops’ and the Geneva Bible (the Reformed read this one happily), with some glances at the Catholic Bible (Rheims NT). It did, and that is why we are talking about its 400th anniversary.

My presentation was followed by a splendid sketch of the historical context of the KJB by Euan Cameron, a careful and judicious historian at Union Theological Seminary. Then a stimulating reminder by Marlon Winedt, a native of Curacao, on the significance of the KJB for non-English natives of the Caribbean — so significant I might add that sometimes they say the new translations are in the KJB tradition! KJB means authoritative and original.

The afternoon involved a video on the KJB, and I’d urge you to rent it or get it for your church: KJB – The Book that Changed the World.
(view here)

And the evening meant a special banquet with an oral performance of some KJB passages by Max Maclean and then a stimulating, motivating talk to remind us of the value of Bible translations by Roy Peterson. We were honored to be there, and again reminded of the importance of supporting Bible translations today.

Sunday morning meant a special service, which we were not able to attend, at Calvary St. George’s, with Tom Wright giving the homily on God’s living Word. (Hidden in this was that Tom Wright’s own translation of the New Testament is soon to be published.) On Saturday Tom sat near us and I found him frequently peering into the KJB he was given at confirmation as a youngster. I, too, grew up on the KJB and my first (Scofield notes) Bible sits atop a bookshelf in my library.

**********

History of the KJV - Part 1

History of the KJV - Part 2

History of the KJV - Part 3

History of the KJV - Part 4

History of the KJV - Part 5

History of the KJV - Part 6

History of the KJV - Part 7

 



*To view a historical timeline of the biblical texts and bible translations -