Newbury Group Article for June 2013
Thursday 16th May 2013
NEWBURY GROUP Our last two sessions have been on ‘Faith’. In April, Howard led a session based on Harvey Cox’s book The future of faith. We discussed the difference between Faith as belief and faith as trust. And also what happened to faith over the centuries: (1) The Age of Faith: the first three centuries of Christianity, when the early church was more concerned with following Jesus’ teachings than enforcing what to believe about Jesus. (2) The Age of Belief: marking a significant shift between the fourth and twentieth centuries when the church focussed on orthodoxy and ‘correct doctrine’ (3) The Age of the Spirit: a trend that began fifty years ago whereby Christians are ignoring dogma and breaking down barriers between different religions – spirituality is replacing formal religion. In May Robin’s theme was: What is Faith and How can we do it? First he shared something of his personal search on this as a Baptist Minister. He then took us through discussion on Faith as found in various parts of the bible: The Synoptic gospels, the letter to the Hebrews, Gospel of John, Paul’s writings, and James’ letter and as a body of doctrine. We have made a virtual library booklist, where each member has written down the books of PCN interest that he/she owns and is happy to lend: - over 200! Next session, being prepared by Maria, will be on ‘Silence’, a subject with more content then first meets the eye (or ear)! We enjoy using the website, even though still learning how various parts work. I try to update our group page on our sessions, in case new members have a look to see what is happening. I think it is a great resource! Lastly, Anne-Marie was absent this month. Congratulations. She has had a baby! Maria Grace