EMT ~ the Bible

Ephesians 6:17 says, "Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."  That sounds like the Bible ("the word of God") is supposed to be a weapon.  Rachel wrote:

"For as long as I can remember, the Bible has been compared to a weapon, and for as long as I can remember, it has been used as one" (p. 187).

Have you ever seen or experienced the Bible being used to clobber someone or cut someone down?  How do you feel about that?

EMT ~ Judgment Day house

"Give 'em hellfire and damnation!" my Uncle Jeff said over the phone, when he learned about seminary and ordained ministry.  I replied that wasn't how I saw it.  He repeated himself, "Give 'em hellfire and damnation!"  Nope, never did, and now I'm retired.  I consider the dogma of hell as a place of eternal torment to be an appalling idea about a God whose main attribute is supposed to be love.  So I was totally floored by the idea of a Judgment Day house in chapter fifteen of Evolving in Monkey Town.

"Every October, as the days grow shorter and the hills light up with color, talk in East Tennessee revolves around two things:  football and soul-saving.  While communities across the region open corn mazes and host bluegrass festivals to draw tourists from the city, churches in Dayton and nearby towns prepare their annual Judgment Day houses.  In contrast to regular haunted houses designed to scare teenagers into one another's arms with trap doors, fake blood, and miorrored hallways, Judgment Day houses are designed for a higher purpose:  to scare people into getting saved" (p. 161).

What?!?  I live in East Tennessee — unless we say something odd, like Chattanooga is in SOUTH Tennessee — and I have never in my life heard of a Judgment Day house.

"Most Christians I know have had some kind of Judgment Day experience.  It might have been a skit at summer camp, a puppet show at vacation Bible school, or a dramatic encounter with someone ... in a chapel service or on a street corner" (p. 166).

Activities in this chapter seems grotesque to me, with the new "converts" soon getting bored because all that's left is to wait around until you die and go to heaven.  Just as I said above about a loving God, Rachel wrote:

"My own doubts about Christianity centered around conflicted feelings about heaven and hell as I struggled to reconcile God's goodness with his wrath" (p. 170).

So tell us your thoughts about this chapter or pick a question or two or three.

1.  What do you think about Judgment Day houses?  (pp. 161ff.)
2.  Is salvation something that kicks in after death?  (p. 173)
3.  Was Jesus "born to die"?  (p. 173)
4.  Was Jesus's purpose simply to alter the afterlife?  (p. 174)
5.  Do you agree with Rachel that "Jesus also lived to save us from our sins"?  (p. 175)
6.  What's the difference between that and "Jesus died to save us from our sins"?  (p. 175)

EMT ~ traditions and beliefs

Rachel at the old courthouse in Dayton, TN

MaryZorro provided this discussion question:

I want to visit Dayton, TN, on one of my trips to Tennessee.   Although "Inherit the Wind" is fictional, it shows us the deep, old-time religious beliefs of the people of the region, Bryan College, and the family of Rachel Held Evans.

"Bryan College is a Christian liberal arts college in Dayton, Tennessee, United States.  It was founded in the aftermath of the 1925 Scopes Trial to establish an institution of higher education that would teach from a Christian worldview."

RHE is making a courageous break with those traditions and beliefs.  How has she had the courage to take on these changes so publicly?

EMT ~ teaching evolution

Arrows show the vestigial structure called Darwin's tubercle.***

Thanks to Shirley for our next discussion questions to ponder.  In the introduction (pp.16, 17), the author states:

"I was told that belief in evolutionary theory and belief in a personal, loving Creator are mutually exclusive ... I have a feeling that if Darwin turns out to be right, the Christian faith won't fall apart after all. ... faith can survive just about anything as long as it's able to evolve."

The strong belief by many fundamentalists that evolution did not occur creates a problem when confronted with evidence to the contrary.  Many school districts still refuse to teach evolution.  Should schools comply with the insistence of their constituents, or should science be presented in accordance with current research?

This cartoon spoofs the idea of evolution.
__________
***  The muscles connected to the ears of a human do not develop enough to have the same mobility allowed to monkeys.  The photos above show Darwin's tubercle, also called Darwin's point.

EMT ~ evolution

MaryZorro said, "If we do choose to read Evolving in Monkey Town, I recommend that we also read the play 'Inherit the Wind' and watch the Spencer Tracy movie.  Although this gives a fictional account of the Scopes Trial, it is a metaphor for what we face in our schools and communities today with religion/science conflicts.  This is the year in Texas that we review the new science textbook adoptions and the battle is raging again as it does every time they come up.   Creationism vs. Evolution is as strong a conflict as ever."

"Inherit the Wind" ~ the play, available in book format

"Inherit the Wind" ~ the movie, starring Spencer Tracy

MaryZorro asked our first question a couple of weeks ago:

"I'll start the discussion by saying I don't think RHE is referring to biological evolution in her title or in her explanation of changes that she experiences."

Evolving in Monkey Town ~ by Rachel Held Evans

Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions ~ by Rachel Held Evans, 2010, memoir

Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith.  Growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, Evans asks questions she never thought she would ask.  She learns that in order for her faith to survive in a postmodern context, it must adapt to change and evolve.  Using as an illustration her own spiritual journey from certainty, thought doubt, to faith, Evans adds a unique perspective to the ongoing dialogue about postmodernism and the church that has so captivated the Christian community in recent years.

Some of us have recently completed this book, and one of us (Bonnie) has it checked out of her library.  So let's go ahead and discuss this book.

Rachel Held Evans ~ blog
Article in the Nashville Tennessean
"Inherit the Wind" ~ the play
"Inherit the Wind" ~ the movie
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• Evolution
• Teaching Evolution (Introduction)
• Traditions and Beliefs
• Judgment Day house
• The Bible