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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: What do you admire most about other people's traditions / Traditions
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Right, Gamaliel follows through on another thread promise ...
I'm sometimes accused of gratuitous side-swipes at evangelicalism. To some extent, I'll hold up my hand and say, 'Guilty as charged ...' but with the caveat that it's my impression that I don't do this as often as I used to as I was sloughing off my traditional evangelical skin and morphing into a post-evangelical / paleo-orthodox / 'pre-catholic' / whatever I am now ...
But perception is everything and if I'm perceived that way - as is apparent on the 'Our Lady's Marriage' thread - then it's a perception I will now redress.
I'd like Shippies to list things they particularly admire about traditions / Traditions other than their own - or traditions / Traditions they've been involved with and now, for whatever reason, appreciate whilst not necessarily engaging as fully as they once did.
I'll start and to get the ball rolling, here are things I greatly appreciate and admire about the evangelical tradition that has been so formative in my own spiritual development (if I can put it that way):
1) I admire evangelicalism's commitment to the Gospel. To the God who is there.
2) I admire the democratisation' that can come with evangelicalism - although it can lead to extreme individualism and subjectivity.
3) I admire the commitment and grit of many evangelicals. They run deep. They keep going even when the going gets tough. The tradition isn't as facile as some of its critics suggest.
4) I admire the activism that many evangelicals display. 'If you want to get something done, ask an evangelical ...'
5) I like the biblicism - although I feel it should and could be contextualised more and that evangelicalism can only gain from interaction and insights from other traditions / Traditions.
6) I admire the intentionality.
I'm sure I could list more. I won't damn with faint praise by listing what I consider to be down-sides. You know my views on those already.
There.
Who's next?
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
I'll go for this.
I admire...
1) the holiness groups for their zeal and energy. I profoundly disagree with them on so much, but this is awesome.
2) the CMA and similar types for their huge effort in evangelization. Also for self-sacrificing efforts on the mission field.
3) The Roman Catholics for their stuff in the field of meditation/contemplation, and for some awesome music (confession: I'm a classical and older nut)
4) Episcopalians/Anglicans for mostly being able to keep yourselves together while being at opposite ends of the spectrum. Any spectrum. My folks tend to get direly dour and divisive about the position of the chancel chairs.
more later...
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
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Pangolin Guerre
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# 18686
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Posted
I don't have the time at the moment to do justice to the post, but I think that you raise really good questions, although I also see that, as framed, this could (probably will) go badly off the rails in an incendiary manner.
Quickly - I have serious problems with just about everyone, but here's the biggie: Until we accept all Christians to the table of Our Lord's Supper, we are being base hypocrites when we have any discussion of ecumenical issues with Jews, Hindus, Muslims, whomever. If I cannot take communion in a RCatholic or Orthodox church, how are we, as a community of Christians, going to have a meaningful engagement with anyone outside our faith community? We have to get our house in order, and stop making a fetish of the small differences. And then we can be intellectually and spiritually honest in our outreach to other faith communities. Until we do that, it's all cant and blather.
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
This is less "what do you appreciate about" and more "what have you gotten from".
Evangelicals: love of, and perhaps more importantly knowledge of, the Bible. The vast majority of the knowledge I have of Scripture (such as it is) I gleaned whilst sojourning with the Evangelicals, and the rest using the methods, and because of the love for the Bible, I found there.
RCC: Love of the saints, contemplative prayer, understanding of holiness, sense of awe/numinousness.
Charismatics: Love of, and enthusiasm in, prayer.
Episcopalians: Love of the Sacrament. Self-forgiveness. Belonging.
Methodists: John Wesley. Nuff said.
Brethren (Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship): Simplicity. Ecumenicalism. Evangelism.
Presbyterians: Sense of awe/numinousness. Christian feminism. Religion and the Bible as something near and personal rather than distant and formal. Also, they baptised me.
Baptist (ABC): Theology as something to debate about rather than swallow whole.
Paganism: Food as interpersonal communion.
Taoism: The danger of striving.
Buddhism: Contemplative prayer/meditation.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Cool.
I like the responses so far.
My intention isn't for this to become incendiary. I don't think it is smouldering so far and if it did then I'm sure we have sufficient hose-pipes and buckets of water handy.
I've listed my points about evangelicalism and would add a 'ditto' to the point Mousethief has raised about love of and knowledge of the scriptures.
I'd also add ticks and comments to the following:
RCC: Lectio-divina, contemplative prayer, sense of awe/numinousness.
Charismatics: I know I've often been critical but I do still value the enthusiasm, zeal and 'hwyl.'
Episcopalians: I don't know a great deal about US Episcopalians but as for the CofE - the 1662 Prayer Book, Evensong in country churches, Compline, eccentricity.
Methodists: John Wesley. Indeed. Charles Wesley too. Some great hymns and some good preaching too in my experience.
Brethren: One for Kaplan ... love and knowledge of the scriptures.
Salvation Army: Sleeves rolled up. More to the music than oompah-oompah.
Presbyterians: Not had a lot of contact with them in real life but I've been impressed by their thoughtful and considered approach, both in real life and online.
Baptist (BUGB): congregational emphasis (when it works), democratic principles, willingness to listen and to learn.
Buddhism: I admire the discipline.
Orthodoxy: Sense of longevity and tradition, iconography, chant, sense of the numinous - but with a grounded earthiness. Great line in beards and hats.
Liberals: Emphasis on social action and equality.
Quakers: Silence. Reflection. Social emphasis. Simplicity.
Pagans: Emphasis on nature, sense of place, environment.
Jews: Sense of antiquity and tradition, humour, long-suffering.
Muslims: Strength of devotion.
Have I left anyone out?
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
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Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
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Posted
MT:
Well said. As a foodie, I especially liked your comment about pagans. It reminded me of the Ethiopian "gursha", in which you feed a guest or loved on by hand. Strangely, beautifully, meaningful. (I once was subjected to this in an Armenian restaurant, though I don't think that it was so much a matter of tradition as enthusiasm.)
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mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
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Posted
I don't admire anything about other people's stupid ways. You're all heading to hell anyway, I suppose, so it doesn't really matter anyway. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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arse
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cliffdweller
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# 13338
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Posted
Love this thread. I want to think more about this, but here are two that occur to me off the top of my head:
re Catholicism:
1. Contemplative spirituality: lectio, Examen, etc.
2. Consistent pro-life ethics: not the knee-jerk "no baby killers!" kind, but a consistent, well thought-out ethic based on a deep value of every human life, born and unborn, and an unflinching commitment to living that out the implications of that re health care, poverty, capital punishment, etc. Consistency and thoughtfulness.
re liberal Christianity
1. Commitment to justice and human compassion
2. In particular, commitment to justice on LGBTQ+ issues. I owe an enormous personal debt of gratitude here.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
Cool.
Have I left anyone out?
Since you've included Islam, Buddhism and Judaism you'd have to include all the other religions as well.
Some might argue that even atheism has its own traditions by now. Perhaps agnosticism also.
As for Christianity, you didn't include the Pentecostals. Without them you don't have the Charismatics.
[ 30. June 2017, 17:05: Message edited by: SvitlanaV2 ]
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Sure, and I didn't mention the Lutherans either.
As for other religions, I've not come across Hinduism or Jainism in sufficient 'detail' to form an opinion.
In the same way that I don't have much to go on when it comes to Lutherans, other than what I've seen online.
To redress an imbalance, though, I'll mention the Pentecostals.
Pentecostalism: I admire the rootsiness and the 'hwyl' (I'm from South Wales) and the fervent commitment to evangelism.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
What do I admire about atheism and agnosticism?
Atheism: Its certainty.
Agnosticism: Its uncertainty.
![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Jay-Emm
Shipmate
# 11411
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Posted
On the Christian side, there's a lot of really pretty churches. Particularly European Catholic ones interiorly (and probably native Orthodox ones too).
And again in most of them, definitely across denominations and scales. There's clear signs of activity and commitment and outworking and working together.
This also would apply across religions, except it's harder to see.
Particularly on the lib/evo/trad/cent (& subdivisions) often you can see the stereotype weaknesses of each (in a depressing way), but just as often you can see it working out as it should, and enough times you see something else it working out in a way that breaks it's stereotype (which is always exciting).
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
Sikhism doesn't proselytise, which from a secular perspective is admirable. It's also fashionable to praise Sikhs for their ability to assimilate relatively easily into Western culture.
Confucianism = respect for the elders and parents? Mastery over one's emotions?
Hinduism = highly able to absorb outside influences? Flexibility?
Hinduism and related Eastern religions seem to offer a strong spirituality, and creative traditions of asceticism. I should think they're very useful outlets for people who don't fit into everyday society.
Some argue that certain animistic religions (e.g. in South America) have a very strong sense of the supernatural. The whole environment they represent is an enchanted space.
Many African religions seem to have a quality which modern Westerners could relate to; they envision God as a creator but not as a lawgiver or judge. He doesn't cramp anyone's style. (OTOH, African communities were once small and tight-knit, and a law-giving god wasn't necessary for shared values of behaviour to be enforced.)
Various 'traditional' religions posit a chief goddess as equal with or even above or instead of a god, hence discouraging certain aspects of patriarchy.
And local religions anywhere emphasise roots, connections with the land, with ones ancestors. This may explain some of the modern appeal of Druidism, Wicca, Thor-worship, etc., in Northern Europe. We live in a de-racinated modern world. But by extension, it's easy to leave such religions behind when you move on. The gods don't seem to mind.
[ 30. June 2017, 17:59: Message edited by: SvitlanaV2 ]
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Ethne Alba
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# 5804
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Posted
Lutherans.....they taught me/ still teach me that there is so much more to Advent than i realised.
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Arethosemyfeet
Shipmate
# 17047
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Posted
I'm learning from Presbyterians to value the psalms more, and at least from some of them how to disagree and live with disagreement well.
I admire our local Baptists and independents for their willingness to help others, and being unashamed about stepping in and offering where I might be willing but too embarrassed. I admire the evangelical willingness to share what they believe.
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Kaplan Corday
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# 16119
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Posted
Jehovah's Witnesses.
I am currently reading and reviewing Laurence Rees's The Holocaust: A New History, and have been reminded that they withstood Nazism more consistently than any other section of Christendom.
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Yes, that's often over-looked, Kaplan. The Witnesses were pretty consistent on that and suffered the consequences ... ![[Tear]](graemlins/tear.gif)
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
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Wulfia
Apprentice
# 18799
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Posted
Evangelicals--knowing the text of the Bible. Even the boring bits. Making sure I (in my youth) learned the stories, the building-blocks of Christianity.
Catholics--systematic theology. Working out theological ideas to their final consequences. Teaching me to follow my own thoughts and evaluate where they led.
Anabaptists--"put not your hope in princes." Not conflating religion and politics. Taking responsibility for what I personally can do to help a situation (or not participate in an evil), before I start complaining about/coercing others about what they are doing/not doing.
Muslims--public witness. Not being ashamed to be seen as believers publicly by distinctive dress, diet, or prayer habits.
Jews--community life. Religion not just as a silo in life, but as a living culture passed down through the generations. The boldness to argue with God, without insolence or faithlessness.
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Comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Quakers - for their consistent peace and social justice testimony. In addition I have attended a number of meetings in two different cities and was quietly made to feel welcome.
Orthodox for the richness of ritual, the colours and the smells.
The Salvation Army, for being one of only 2 organisations that door knocked the remaining houses in the east of Christchurch after the 2011 quake to offer support ( the other was the electric lines company). Other churches were involved in different ways, but the Salvos were more immediately organised. Also their public apology for their stance on the Homosexual Law Reform Bill (and later, law).
The Presbyterians of the church I started attending around 12 years ago for their love and support.
Buddhism for the practice of Mindfulness.
Probably lots more too - but this is what sprung to mind immediately,
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
The CoE. The church of my infant baptism. Literally the same building. It took me back after 51 years during a frightful time which got worse. It carried me through the next seven years and my meeting my final wife. We've left behind all the claims and institutionalized injustice, but I keep going for the social activism.
Oh, and EVERY tradition on the Ship for nearly 20 years. Embodied in you all.
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Love wins
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Erroneous Monk
Shipmate
# 10858
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Posted
I love the Book of Common Prayer and lots of Anglican church music.
After my father's funeral, at which my Muslim cousins had their heads covered, I started wearing a mantilla at Mass. I'm not sure why - maybe to feel close to the traditions of my father's family, now that he isn't around to keep us close (though he was about as secular and humanist as they come, despite being brought up Muslim), maybe to share in the many ancient traditions of head-covering, many of which are cultural as well as religious.
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And I shot a man in Tesco, just to watch him die.
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
When I say the CoE, the four congregations I've been part of, due to work-life, were on a spectrum dominated by the charismatic evangelical. So I've had to learn! How to swim in those waters.
On visits to high churches the welcomes have always been good by the clergy. And the encounters I've had with URC and Baptist clergy have been wonderfully surprising: one of each, both post-conservative.
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Love wins
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
The Quakers for not sweating their numbers, but keep on keeping on who and what they are, a Light to the world. I think of them whenever I hear other denominations cry out, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) when they consider their falling attendance.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
Oooh, and the emotionally warmest place I ever entered was Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The middle of a weekday and it was busy. The most sublime will always be St. Paul's over Easter.
And I love going in empty little Anglican churches and having them all to myself or with my wife. I used to write prayer requests for my previous situation all over rural Warwickshire.
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Love wins
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Empty little Anglican churches which you can have to yourself for a few quiet minutes are one of the best features of living in the UK, I think.
Sadly, not so many of them are as open these days as they used to be, but our countryside is full of them.
I hope the Good Lord preserves a few of them for an eternal British Countryside theme-park in heaven ...
Alongside a few pubs with traditional hand-pulled ale ...
Meanwhile, @Lyda Rose ... agreed on the Quakers in that respect as well as many others.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
Empty little Anglican churches which you can have to yourself for a few quiet minutes are one of the best features of living in the UK, I think. ...
Alongside a few pubs with traditional hand-pulled ale
Something like this, then? From their website: "The Chequers is an award winning inn serving several real ales and wines by the glass as well as a range of drinks one would expect. With real fires in the cold and a sunny patio when warmer it is the perfect place to relax or socialise which ever suits".
[ 05. July 2017, 12:25: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
A bit posh, but yes ... that'd do me ...
I know plenty of similar places ...
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
At the risk of tossing gasoline on the "Does The Ship Hate Evangelicals? wildfire raging away elsewhere on this forum, I will say that I've never been especially enamoured of Pentecostalism.
But that particular denomination did build what, architecturally speaking, I consider to be my hometown's most interesting church. Yes, it's a direct quote of the Egyptian pyramids, with an allusion to the Eye Of Providence at the top. (I'm guessing this freaked out more than a few of the more occult-phobic congregants.)
Unfortunately, the church sold the land to developers, and the architect's family and their supporters failed to get the church a heritage designation, so that building is no more.
[ 05. July 2017, 15:10: Message edited by: Stetson ]
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
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moonlitdoor
Shipmate
# 11707
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Posted
The situation may be different in the USA but in the UK I think most people will never have met a Quaker or have any idea what they are about. It's easier to be some sort of light if you have bigger numbers, just because more people will come across you.
The only Quaker I have met ( that I know of ) is the shipmate Welease Woderwick.
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We've evolved to being strange monkeys, but in the next life he'll help us be something more worthwhile - Gwai
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
OTOH once a group's reputation is secure, as is the case with the Quakers, it's not really a matter of numbers.
Indeed, you could argue that a small group does better at controlling its public image than a large one, because the former doesn't have to worry so much about individuals who go off message and project the 'wrong' vibes. You always know where you are with a small sect, which I suppose is something to admire.
On a related point, I'd like to make a case for congregationalism as a form of church structure that goes back a long way. It's flexible, entrepreneurial, and is free to react and adapt quickly to local conditions. Success or failure will be very much down to the congregation itself, and its leadership.
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
I feel a bit bad that I’ve been too busy over the last week to think through this one. Other shipmates have said some really interesting things and now the thread seems to be going to sleep.
My own tradition is cradle CofE, parochial, MoR to low, sort-of-evangelical in a CPAS way rather than Reform, PBS or New Wine, and theologically fairly orthodox. So the reason I don’t comment on any traditions close to that isn’t because I haven’t got anything from them, but because they’re not different enough. And there are some other traditions, like Lutherans, I’ve too little experience of. So here goes.
Orthodox:-
- Worship;
- The Jesus Prayer;
- Taking monasticism seriously;
- Treating classical statements on the Trinity as vital theology to build on rather than something incomprehensible from the distant past to make excuses for.
Roman Catholics;-
- St Ignatius;
- Benedictines and Lectio;
- Vatican 2;
- The theological rigour of their modern catechism and many recent encyclicals.
Baptists and URC;-
- Simplicity, the benefits of informality;
- Independency;
Moravians:-
- Simplicity of doctrine as well as practice.
- Settlements.
Methodists;-
- Hymns
Brethren:-
- Quality of congregational life and support for one another;
- ‘Full body ministry’ before anyone thought of the phrase even though hindered traditionally by excluding half the body from an important part of it;
Penties and Charismatics;-
- Believing and living on the basis that God is genuinely active now, here, today;
And as a sort of footnote (So far without realising I was doing it, I've put these in chronological order. Although the Moravians go back to Hus, they didn't arrive in England until the mid C18)
Old fashioned CofE from my childhood:-
- Yes, it could be complacent, dull and bland, and in both its high and low church variants could be obsessed not just with secondary but tertiary issues - where the celebrant stood or what he (always ‘he’ then) did with his hands for example - but it often had a self discipline now all too rare.
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Thanks for reawakening this thread, Enoch. I hope it doesn't entirely nod off to sleep, not just because I started it but because the posts have been interesting and a respite from conflicts and conflagrations elsewhere
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
Anglican choral tradition: a love of beautiful music (albeit with some modern horrors!); decent liturgy; an aesthetic welcome of beauty; a sense of the numinous; the feeling that it's been done this way for centuries. At its best, choral evensong in an ancient Anglican cathedral is utterly glorious.
But ... it can become too consciously "beautiful" and music-centred or too remote from real life.
URC and Methodist: at their best, a good and thoughtful Christian perspective on social issues coupled with meaningful liturgy. At their worst, wordy,worthy and dull.
[ 07. July 2017, 14:49: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by moonlitdoor:
The situation may be different in the USA but in the UK I think most people will never have met a Quaker or have any idea what they are about. It's easier to be some sort of light if you have bigger numbers, just because more people will come across you.
The only Quaker I have met ( that I know of ) is the shipmate Welease Woderwick.
If I have met any Quakers IRL, I did not know it. I know the location of a building that claims to be a Society of Friends Meeting House, but I don't know how many, if any, attend.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by moonlitdoor:
The situation may be different in the USA but in the UK I think most people will never have met a Quaker or have any idea what they are about. It's easier to be some sort of light if you have bigger numbers, just because more people will come across you.
The only Quaker I have met ( that I know of ) is the shipmate Welease Woderwick.
If I have met any Quakers IRL, I did not know it. I know the location of a building that claims to be a Society of Friends Meeting House, but I don't know how many, if any, attend.
We have several Quaker fellowships, both large and small, in Southern California. I know many Quakers, but that's because of the circles I work/fellowship in.
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
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Laurelin
Shipmate
# 17211
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Posted
I'll speak of what I've experienced.
Anglicanism: beautiful choral music. The Anglican form of the Eucharist is the most deep and meaningful form for me (and I'm very low-church evangelical). We owe much to Cranmer. I don't get on too well with Elizabethan language in worship myself, but I do know we owe much to him.
Roman Catholicism: plainchant, contemplative prayer, Ignatian spirituality, the deep Catholic thinking on the nature of evil, the profound awareness of the communion of saints. And some gorgeous churches. Also for making me think hard about the place of the feminine within orthodox Christianity.
Orthodox Church: the singing gives me shivers. Their strong Trinitarian emphasis. Their monastic wisdom.
Brethren: I owe to them a life-long love of the Bible. Also thanks to them for making me an evangelical feminist. The strong emphasis on the priesthood of believers (although more in the ideal than in the practice, since the Brethren quickly began restricting women. Sigh.) That Dissenter spirit has never quite left me though, and I'm grateful for that. The Church needs it.
Judaism: I love that Jews have no theological qualms about struggling with God and throwing hard questions at Him.
The Vineyard stream of charismaticism: although I have issues with aspects of Wimber's theology, there was a quite extraordinary quality to the worship produced by the Vineyard churches in the mid 80s to early 90s. There was a purity and simplicity, even a strongly contemplative quality, to the worship that I think can partly be traced to Wimber's Quaker roots.
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"I fear that to me Siamese cats belong to the fauna of Mordor." J.R.R. Tolkien
Posts: 545 | From: The Shire | Registered: Jul 2012
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Kaplan Corday
Shipmate
# 16119
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
Empty little Anglican churches which you can have to yourself for a few quiet minutes are one of the best features of living in the UK, I think.
Sadly, not so many of them are as open these days as they used to be, but our countryside is full of them.
I hope the Good Lord preserves a few of them for an eternal British Countryside theme-park in heaven ...
Along with a few Philip Larkins to drop in and write poems about them.
Posts: 3355 | Registered: Jan 2011
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Yes, but the one he wrote about wasn't much to write home about, which was partly the point ...
But perhaps he'll be more appreciative in a 'heavenly' Platonic version ...
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
I like the tradition of four part harmony acapella singing among the Mennonites.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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VirginiaKneeling
Apprentice
# 18414
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by sabine:
I like the tradition of four part harmony acapella singing among the Mennonites.
sabine
If you like that, you should hear the 4 part harmony in the US Church of Christ congregations. It'll blow you away! They do not believe in instrumental music in worship, and kiddies learn their parts early on.
Mennonites hereabouts in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia do use Instruments, at least the less conservative ones do. The Old Order ones may not.
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Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me..
Posts: 11 | From: Virginia, USA | Registered: May 2015
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by VirginiaKneeling:
quote:
Originally posted by sabine:
I like the tradition of four part harmony acapella singing among the Mennonites.
sabine
If you like that, you should hear the 4 part harmony in the US Church of Christ congregations. It'll blow you away! They do not believe in instrumental music in worship, and kiddies learn their parts early on.
Mennonites hereabouts in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia do use Instruments, at least the less conservative ones do. The Old Order ones may not.
I've heard that the Church of Christ singing can be very powerful.
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
I've heard that too. Funnily enough, I heard a country singer from Alabama sing one at a gig I attended last week. It gave me a bit of a flavour as to how it might sound. She'd been 'raised Church of Christ' as she put it.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Galilit
Shipmate
# 16470
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Posted
The Jews: for maintaining themselves so long (even when I don't agree with some of what they are maintaining) and for their casual attitude to God
The Presbyterians: for my childhood and giving me a sense of My Moral Self (even when they were so bland). And for letting me read my Very Own Bible to myself
The CofE: for Choral Evensong (and gin)
The Muslims: for spreading out their little mats or even just a jacket and praying any-old-where
The Orthodox: for the Jesus Prayer
The Buddhists: for techniques for daily survival
The RC: for devotions to Our Mother and for Contemplative Orders (who prayed for me even when I didn't ask)
Some Atheists and Old Time Communists: who showed me some people CAN live exemplary lives without religion
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She who does Her Son's will in all things can rely on me to do Hers.
Posts: 624 | From: a Galilee far, far away | Registered: Jun 2011
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
As a former Catholic, I maintain a pretty strong affection for the doctrine of purgatory.
Traditional binary, either/or salvation seems like a bad game show. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, but you did NOT accept Christ as your lord and personal saviour, so into the fiery pits you go."
And universalism is like graduating with a beautiful, gold-trimmed diploma from an open-admissions college that gives you full marks just for applying in the first place.
Purgatory strikes a nice balance between the two. Granted, some might argue it relies too much on human notions of justice, and if I were a true believer I'd understand that God has his own reasons for eternally burning a 5-year old who was never told about Jesus(for example). But I think I subscribe to the view that man's justice seems the most rational precisely because it corresponds with what God wants.
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
As a former Catholic, I maintain a pretty strong affection for the doctrine of purgatory. <<snip>> If I were a true believer I'd understand that God has his own reasons for eternally burning a 5-year old who was never told about Jesus (for example)
You're not confusing purgatory with limbo, are you? The nuns taught us that limbo is where you go if you were basically a good person but never baptized; that it was sort of a never-never land where you were not eternally burned, or burned at all for that matter, but didn't see God either.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
As a former Catholic, I maintain a pretty strong affection for the doctrine of purgatory.
Traditional binary, either/or salvation seems like a bad game show. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, but you did NOT accept Christ as your lord and personal saviour, so into the fiery pits you go."
And universalism is like graduating with a beautiful, gold-trimmed diploma from an open-admissions college that gives you full marks just for applying in the first place.
Purgatory strikes a nice balance between the two. Granted, some might argue it relies too much on human notions of justice, and if I were a true believer I'd understand that God has his own reasons for eternally burning a 5-year old who was never told about Jesus(for example). But I think I subscribe to the view that man's justice seems the most rational precisely because it corresponds with what God wants.
I'm a Piskie that has a liking for Purgatory, too. The thing is that I don't see it as the lock-up to where we pay for venial sins but as a place (state of being?) where we work out the quirks in our characters that don't fit into heaven. I guess the usual Protestant thought on this is that when we are saved and "die in the Lord" that along with a glorified body we get a glorified character automatically. To me it makes more sense for it to be a process I would participate in.
Fr. Andrew Greeley wrote a book called "Contract With an Angel" where his main character had a NDE, and went to Heaven and spoke with God. In his book Purgatory was in Heaven. The recently dead were in Heaven but they were pretty confused by the whole thing and it took a while to adjust to existing in a place without sin and all the problems of life on earth so they couldn't immediately enjoy Heaven in its fullness.
I also like "The Great Divorce" where Heaven/Purgatory was a beautiful place hard and sharp, more real than reality, where you became more real yourself with heavenly helpers who supported you on the journey towards the more complete Heaven. And yes, I know that Lewis was using this as a metaphor of our journey of faith on earth, but it was still cool.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
As a former Catholic, I maintain a pretty strong affection for the doctrine of purgatory. <<snip>> If I were a true believer I'd understand that God has his own reasons for eternally burning a 5-year old who was never told about Jesus (for example)
You're not confusing purgatory with limbo, are you? The nuns taught us that limbo is where you go if you were basically a good person but never baptized; that it was sort of a never-never land where you were not eternally burned, or burned at all for that matter, but didn't see God either.
I always thought limbo was for unbaptized BABIES specifically, not just anyone who didn't get dunked.
But maybe a 5 year old would qualify for limbo as well, I dunno. In any case, I was trying to create a situation where we can understand the person's reasons for not accepting Jesus, but the protestant binary view would still be that he should be damned. Another example...
As a kid, you are sent to an orphanage where you are subject to physical and sexual abuse, AND preaching about the need to accept Jesus. For obvious reasons, the negative stuff that experience there might make you unlikely to accept the teachings about salvation("If THESE are the kind of people who get to heaven, no way do I wanna go there.") But the traditional protestant view would damn you to hell anyway, because you still heard the message but made a(not entirely irrational) decision to reject it.
[ 13. July 2017, 16:48: Message edited by: Stetson ]
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
Lyda wrote:
quote:
I guess the usual Protestant thought on this is that when we are saved and "die in the Lord" that along with a glorified body we get a glorified character automatically.
Which, as some have pointed out, comes perilously close to salvation-through-good-works. Because, while yes, it's technically the faith that is saving you, that faith is always going to be accompanied by good works.
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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