Adult Religious Education
Current adult study: Our Adult Religious Education (RE) class is currently studying Misquoting Jesus by Dr. Bart Ehrman. The author is the distinguished James A. Gray Professor of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill and has been featured on NBC, A&E, the History Channel, CNN, NPR, the New York Times as well as having worked with National Geographic on special projects dating ancient texts and translating ancient Biblical documents. He has been featured in Time and other magazines. We are supplementing the book discussions with the Teaching Company’s video lecture series taught by Ehrman entitled The History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon, alternating book discussions with videos.
What comes next? Speaking of Faith: Why Religion Matters – and How to Talk About It by Krista Tippett (of NPR’s Speaking of Faith weekly program) will be the topic of the next adult discussion series. This will be followed by discussions on environmental issues and conservation. One book being considered as guide is Treading Lightly: The Joy of Conservation, Moderation and Simple Living by David Anderson, Paul G. Blazer Professor of Economics at Centre College in Kentucky. Anderson holds a PhD from Duke University.
Previous studies: Last year we discussed Being Liberal in an Illiberal Age: Why I am a Unitarian Universalist by noted Unitarian Universalist minister Jack Mendelsohn. It served as an introduction for newcomers to the denomination and a refresher for our members, encouraging participants to develop and articulate their own personal beliefs and values as well as explore the meaning for religious liberals of traditional religious concepts.
Other topics discussed were other religions selected by class members, ranging from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to Native American Spirituality. Class participants shared what they had learned about those religions to the class. A local Imam talked to us about Islam. Not only does discussion of other religions not harm our beliefs...it helps us learn about religions of others and to build better relationships with neighbors of differing faiths.
From time to time we explore current events which catch someone’s attention. Lively discussions usually follow. Topics discussed have ranged from the Right to Die for people suffering from terminal illness following the death of persons such as Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Walter Cronkite to special holidays or events and current newscasts.
One particularly popular series used recently was Saving Jesus: Living the Questions produced by two Progressive Christianity ministers in the Methodist denomination. The description of the series is: “Ever feel like Jesus has been kidnapped by the Christian Right?” Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, Matthew Fox, Amy-Jill Levine, James Forbes and a host of others presented 15-20 minute exploration videos with discussions following. It was very interesting and informative seeing Jesus in a new and more realistic light.