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Monday, June 13, 2005

Northcott, M. (ed) (1998) Urban Theology: A Reader 

Joppa – story witnesses to the new things that the spirit of God is doing in the church and the world after the coming of Christ , and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ in those empowered and called by the spirit to challenge exclusion, to transform division into communion and to draw the marginalised into the heart of the community of the people of God. Pp2

We need a church of the poor not for the poor pp5

Walter Brueggemann ‘ a sense of place is a primary category of faith’ Space becomes place only when there are stories and hopes lodged there. ‘ the central problem is not emancipation but rootage, not meaning but belonging, not separation from community but location within it. Pp9

The geographical location, the encounters and the teaching of Jesus in the gospels all point to the marginal as key to the coming and presence of the kingdom of God. 3 stories of children of Abraham – woman in the synagogue, zac Laz – all point to a concern to include those who are denied full participation in the society to which they rightfully belong pp10

In order to do theological reflection…we have to develop methods of bringing into juxtaposition our present life experience and the treasures of our Christian heritage, to check one against the other, to let each talk to each other, to learn from the mix and to gain even more insight to add to the store of Christian heritage pp14

Perter Sedgwick God in the City

Ballard and Pritchard – Practicall Theology in Action

The God of Exodus is a God who redeems a poor and marginalized people from slavery, and who demonstrates divine opposition to oppression and persecution of one group of people by another.

…Nehemiah insists that the restoration of the physical city and the temple must also be accompanied by the recovery of social justice, and the liberation of all the people from debt-slavery and hunger. The vision of Jerusalem restored is a vision of a society which has recovered the priority of kinship and the fear of God over monetary gain and rebuilt a divinely shaped community in which every family and household experiences the dignity and freedom which is the just expectation of all God's people who share kinship of the nation of Israel.

Pp33


The Christian vision of the potential of every person, made in the image of God, to be indwelt by the creator Spirit of God, and empowered with the gifts of the Spirit to serve the people of God, is a vital corrective to the postmodern exclusion of the new poor from the good life of the restored city (Warren).

Pp36


Isaiah 65:17-24

Pp59


To struggle with the oppression of the poor, the powerlessness of the powerless and the marginalization of the stigmatized, is to struggle with the forces of evil. To be sure, there will be times and events which cause ambiguities in such a struggle, but confronting such ambiguities may lead us on to a path not only towards the liberation of the oppressed, but towards a simplification of the very life of the Church itself. In other words, the Church's act of transcendence in existing with, acting with and suffering with the oppressed, is its moment of purification. This is to be found not only in Its prayer, its penance, its pilgrimages, but in its identification with the prayer of the powerless, the suffering of the powerless and the journeying of the powerless towards a better life. One cannot leave the latters' demands of life to reports, sermons and specialized apostolates.

Pp92

Poverty is an offence against the dignity of persons because by denying the poor an adequate income the poor are excluded from relationships of respect and recognition – this is why Jesus’ offer of recognition to those whom hgis own religion excluded was so important. 106

Zechariah 8:2-5

The breakdown in relations between young and old and the failure of the rich and powerful to respect the poor and vulnerable, the widow and the elderly is viewed by the Hebrew prophets as the consequence of the failure of the Israelites to worship God in truth, and to follow God's law which enjoins respect for elders and care for children, widows and the weak as fundamental features of the justice the Lord requires. Micah identifies alienation between the generations as direct consequence of the idolatry and greed of the wealthy and Israel's rullers The text from Zechariah sees this alienation being reversed as the worship of true God is restored in Zion. In an evocative image of social harmony and justice in the city, the prophet envisions the old sitting, and the young playing freely. in the streets of jurusalem

Pp 163-4

Worship of the true God is the essencxe of what it is to be the people of God...the church can never be satisfied with becoming just another social work or development agency. The church exists firsts and foremost not to change the world but to worship the God who is in the rejected Jesus.

pp 222

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pp 240
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In commiting themselves to a community ministry approach, church leaders have to be alert to the tension within the model, and the possible tension within themselves. Community ministry requires people to achieve sufficient control over their ego to appreciate that the reward is in heaven or not at all.

pp243

1 cor 1:25-31 --- mere nothings to over throw...

the church that ceases to exist as a distinct loving fellowship of salvation, worship and action is a church which has lost its vocation to be the visible body of Christ in the world (Wallis)

pp286

Those who would limit Jesus to teh saving of souls and those who see him merely as introducing new ethical principles are both wrong. The purpose of God in Christ is neither simply to redeem individuals nor merely to teach the world some new thoughts. Gods purpose in Christ is to etablish a new community that points to th eplan of God for the world...the living witness of teh Chritian community is intended both to demonstrate and to anticipate the future of teh world that has arrived in the person of JC. (Wallis)

pp 304

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