Thursday, July 12, 2012
Needham P (1986) A Contemporary Theology of Social Service. Officer
God created heavens and the earth - dualism was denied. God weas creator of all, nothing was to be held back from his Lordship.
Incl in his Lordship were human social relationships. It is no accident that 6 of teh 10 commandments have to do with social relationships and that eht OT is replete with social imperatives about righting injustices, advocating teh causde of the poor, the outcasts and teh disadvantaged, and offering concrete support to the sojourner, the widow, the fatherless, the brother in need.
The prophets intensified awareness of this covenant of social responsibility, often contrasting it with self-centred religious piety
Sin brought alienationnot only from GOd but also from other persons, and th efuture to which God was calling his people included the healing of social wounds and the exaltation of social rejects 414
The Christians point of departure in the matter of social responsibility, therefore, is that in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, there is the restoration of teh social covenant and teh power to live by it. If in his death Jesus 'has made us both one, and has broken down teh diving wall of hostility (eph 2.14) then we have an unavoidable calling to reach out to the alienated and prove the whole truth of what the gospel of reconciliation is able tyo do 414
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Incl in his Lordship were human social relationships. It is no accident that 6 of teh 10 commandments have to do with social relationships and that eht OT is replete with social imperatives about righting injustices, advocating teh causde of the poor, the outcasts and teh disadvantaged, and offering concrete support to the sojourner, the widow, the fatherless, the brother in need.
The prophets intensified awareness of this covenant of social responsibility, often contrasting it with self-centred religious piety
Sin brought alienationnot only from GOd but also from other persons, and th efuture to which God was calling his people included the healing of social wounds and the exaltation of social rejects 414
The Christians point of departure in the matter of social responsibility, therefore, is that in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, there is the restoration of teh social covenant and teh power to live by it. If in his death Jesus 'has made us both one, and has broken down teh diving wall of hostility (eph 2.14) then we have an unavoidable calling to reach out to the alienated and prove the whole truth of what the gospel of reconciliation is able tyo do 414
Carpenter, G () An Approach to a Theology of Christian Social Service:2 Officer
Some social thinkers have criticised the apostle attitude in the mistaken belief that it exalts preaching and teaching above service, but to the apostles it was simply a matter of function. 'It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.' Preaching was their calling, their gift, their function. But to preach and teach well does not mean that you can organise and handle financial disagreements between hungry widows! The importance of caring is to be seen in those they chose. Apart from the Lord, no person in the NT received such unqualified admiration as the first Christian social service worker, Stephen. 553
relationship between holy living and tender, loving, pratcical social service.... the incarnation is the perfect example of living a holy life in society. Jesus saw, loved, was moved with compassion, served, was vulnerable and suffered. 554
A centralised, Army-directed special service programme could be liquidated overnight by decree....a spirit filled, spontaneous, neighbourhood ministry by the salvationist is virtually indestructible' 556
Whatever future there may be for our traditional social services, there is no better way for the army to play its part now and the turn of the century than for each salvationist to become actively involved in the apostolate of the Good Samaritan 556
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relationship between holy living and tender, loving, pratcical social service.... the incarnation is the perfect example of living a holy life in society. Jesus saw, loved, was moved with compassion, served, was vulnerable and suffered. 554
A centralised, Army-directed special service programme could be liquidated overnight by decree....a spirit filled, spontaneous, neighbourhood ministry by the salvationist is virtually indestructible' 556
Whatever future there may be for our traditional social services, there is no better way for the army to play its part now and the turn of the century than for each salvationist to become actively involved in the apostolate of the Good Samaritan 556
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Cain S (2012) Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking. Viking
Some psychologists map the two tendencies on vertical and horizontal axes, with the introvert-extrovert spectrum invent horizontal axis, and the anxious stable spectrum on the vertical. With this model, you end up with four uadrsnts of personality types: calm extrovers, anxious (or impulsive) extroverts, calm introverts and anxious introverts. In other words you can be a shy extrovert (streisand) larger than life and paralyzing stage fright; or non shy introvert bill gates 12
We dont need giant personalities to transform companies. We need leaders who build not their own egos but the institutions they run 55
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We dont need giant personalities to transform companies. We need leaders who build not their own egos but the institutions they run 55
Friday, July 06, 2012
Psychology for Christian Ministry (Watts et al)
Many different kinds of metaphors have been used to charactyerise religious development: images of inner revolution, a journey, horticultural growth, changing nutritional needs, rebirth and death, Different metaphors illustrat tyhe various characteristics involved in religious growth.... how do the metaphors translate into real lives? 101
Many people experience a yearning to develop, driven by what Paul Tillich (1957) called 'the urge to self transcendence', a dim sense of our personal incompleteness. Yet too many regard the dynamic change inherent in 'development' as a threat to 'solid' faith, ironically resisting growth on religious grounds. 101
Development psychology identifies the hallmarks of the adult intellect as an ability to think in abstract terms
Most people develop a general aptitude for logical thinking in readiness for adulthood. HOwever, regigious thinking does not always follow suit. For some people (or perhaps for all people, some of teh time), more elementary ways of thinking about religious matters may continue to be cherished. Despite having an ability to think in more 'absract' terms, it may seem safer to stay within the parameters of literal, or even more impressionistically emotional or sensory, kinds of thinking. 102
The transition from thinking about religion in concrete, lteral terms to a form more suited to the qualities of the adult mind can be a particularly awkward moment in religious development. Many adults seem frozen in a state of what Ronald Goldman (1962) called '11-year-old atheism'.... The awkward experience of recognising that an earlier perspective on religion needs to be discarded and replaced with something quite different, can be a spiritually instructive and refreshing experience in itself. 103
When religious thinking has acquired the qualities associated with an adult intellect, there are two ways in which adults can feel uncomfortable about this development. Some adults may recall the literalistic religion of their childhood as relatively stronger and more 'real'. They may feel guilty about having developed doubt, questions and alternative world views. Apprecieating that these developments are appropriate features of applying their adult intellectual abilities cab assuage the guilt. The shift away from the passion of emotionally governed 'thought' or literal certainties does not need to be interpreted as a withering of faith when seen in the context of the normal process of intellectual development.
For other adult, the revolution in religious undersatnding since their childhood may lead them to think that they did not have 'real' faith as children. For example, people may feel uncertain about teh validity of religious commitments they made to a God they understood in simple, literal terms, when subsequent understanding has fuelled an apparently much more complex, deeply infromed sense of God 104
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Many people experience a yearning to develop, driven by what Paul Tillich (1957) called 'the urge to self transcendence', a dim sense of our personal incompleteness. Yet too many regard the dynamic change inherent in 'development' as a threat to 'solid' faith, ironically resisting growth on religious grounds. 101
Development psychology identifies the hallmarks of the adult intellect as an ability to think in abstract terms
Most people develop a general aptitude for logical thinking in readiness for adulthood. HOwever, regigious thinking does not always follow suit. For some people (or perhaps for all people, some of teh time), more elementary ways of thinking about religious matters may continue to be cherished. Despite having an ability to think in more 'absract' terms, it may seem safer to stay within the parameters of literal, or even more impressionistically emotional or sensory, kinds of thinking. 102
The transition from thinking about religion in concrete, lteral terms to a form more suited to the qualities of the adult mind can be a particularly awkward moment in religious development. Many adults seem frozen in a state of what Ronald Goldman (1962) called '11-year-old atheism'.... The awkward experience of recognising that an earlier perspective on religion needs to be discarded and replaced with something quite different, can be a spiritually instructive and refreshing experience in itself. 103
When religious thinking has acquired the qualities associated with an adult intellect, there are two ways in which adults can feel uncomfortable about this development. Some adults may recall the literalistic religion of their childhood as relatively stronger and more 'real'. They may feel guilty about having developed doubt, questions and alternative world views. Apprecieating that these developments are appropriate features of applying their adult intellectual abilities cab assuage the guilt. The shift away from the passion of emotionally governed 'thought' or literal certainties does not need to be interpreted as a withering of faith when seen in the context of the normal process of intellectual development.
For other adult, the revolution in religious undersatnding since their childhood may lead them to think that they did not have 'real' faith as children. For example, people may feel uncertain about teh validity of religious commitments they made to a God they understood in simple, literal terms, when subsequent understanding has fuelled an apparently much more complex, deeply infromed sense of God 104
