My journey to a doctorate has been circuitous. I have wanted to study academic theology since I was an undergraduate at the University of Idaho. But life intervened. A career in the US Army Chaplaincy continually took me to remote locations without the kind of specialized educational facilities where I could earn a doctoral degree in theology or religious studies. Then I retired--to a church in Augusta, Georgia, which I quickly learned was the only city in the continental USA without a theological seminary. Well...that's not true. There are plenty of cities without seminaries, but it just felt like another isolated tour of duty. After thirteen years in Georgia, I took a church in Sacramento, California. Surely here would be an opportunity for advanced study!
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Nope. The closest theological seminary with a program I could enter was at San Francisco, three hours and many light years away from my small church in Sacto. And then it happened. Unity Institute decided to become a fully accredited theological seminary, and it advertised for Unity people to fill teaching positions--people with their doctorates in religious studies.
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Okay, that wasn't me. I had a only Master of Divinity albeit from a respectable graduate school, Lancaster Theological Seminary of the United Church of Christ (1976, Magna Cum Laude, first in class). I read the blurb asking for applicants with doctoral credentials in religious studies to Carol-Jean, my lovely wife, and added, "I wish them good luck. We don't have anybody."
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Well, that was an exaggeration. Of course, we have people with advanced degrees in Unity, but the statistical universe of a small denomination like ours means that the number of Unity people with those extremely specific, extremely high-level qualifications will be very small.
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A little while later, a subsequent blurb squeaked a plea for anybody with Masters degrees. I applied, and the desperate nature of our academic situation became apparent when they hired me for the job of upgrading theological education in Unity. One bright spot: A condition of employment was that I would seek and obtain a doctorate as quickly as possible. Since St.Paul School of Theology in KCMO offers a top-notch D.Min. program. After so many years of tailgating outside the academic arena, the game was finally ON.
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I joined the faculty at Unity Institute in August 2005 and began my studies for the Doctor of Ministry degree that January, 2006. If all goes well--and if my D.Min.project, Lyceum 2008, doesn't bomb--I should be getting my Doctor of Ministry degree in May 2009. One month short of my 63rd birthday. Better late than never. (It is a sobering thought that by the time the great medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas was my age, he had been dead 12 years.)
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The paper below is the last paper for the last regular class. It is a rewrite, because the first draft was not acceptable to the professor. (And I say: Good for her!) The paper talks about prophetic ministry, Unity's understanding of social and theological critique, and the place that Lyceum 2008 might play in awakening our people to the possibilities which may present themselves when we open scholarly dialogue with other denominations and other traditions. Anyway, here it is...not exactly deathless prose, but some of you will slog through it and perhaps find some good ideas folded into the completed assignment. (Some of my astute readers will note that this is a much longer version of the Blog written 08-21-08.)
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Note to my students: The next major writing I'm required to do will be my doctoral praxis thesis, a research/practicum document which may reach 150 pages. So, this is the last "short" assignment. Now, doesn't that make those itty-bitty 20 pp. papers I assign seem acceptably brief?
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CHS 515 Prophetic Ministry
POST-SEMINAR FINAL PAPER
Lyceum Project as Prophetic Ministry
Thomas W. Shepherd, M.Div.
August 31, 2008
Saint Paul School of Theology, June Term 2008
Dr. Patricia Beattie Jung, Instructor
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Lyceum Project as Prophetic Ministry
Walter
Brueggemann’s central theme in his book The Prophetic Imagination (2001) is the identification of an ongoing conflict between prophetic consciousness and royal consciousness, the antiphonal struggle between the dominant political and economic institutions of society and the spiritual consciousness of a
covenantal sub-community.
Brueggemann defines this sub-community by four characteristics. 1) It would be a repository of deep memories which, through story and song, link the events of today with this long struggle for justice and fidelity to God. 2) It would share a sense of pain when interacting with the world, empathy grounded in Christ-like compassion. 3) It would be grounded in hope, a sense of the trustworthiness of God. 4) Finally, the prophetic sub-community would understand the need for generation-spanning discourse to reinforce its members in times to come.
[1] “The prophet must speak metaphorically about hope but concretely about the real newness that comes to us and redefines our situation.”
[2] .
At first reading, the specific thrust of his argument, indeed the argument of all the writers studied in this course, seems to be a rather Marxist view of the gospel in which the prophet calls for progressive confrontation of the wealthy and powerful with the aim of socio-political liberation and the redistribution of wealth and resources to the poor and weak. However, Brueggemann is sophisticated enough to see that biblical prophets were not merely calling for social action but for a truly radical transformation in the consciousness of their target audiences, Israel first, and later the world. He writes:
I believe that Moses did not engage in anything like what we identify as social action. He was not engaged in a struggle to transform a regime; rather, his concern was with the consciousness that
undergirded and made such a regime possible.
[3]
Brueggemann sees the prophetic call primarily as a summons to spiritual maturity and personal responsibility, which must predicate any specific redress of societal ills. Indeed, the danger for those who hasten to the prophetic call is not found in explicit acts of accommodation to royal consciousness; the hazard to prophetic authenticity is found in this ongoing tendency of religionists to move toward compromise and accommodation itself.
…prophetic ministry has to do not primarily with addressing specific public crises but with addressing, in season and out of season, the dominant crisis that is enduring and resilient, of having our alternative vocation co-opted and domesticated.
[4]Religious zeal too easily drifts from kneeling before
YHWH at Mount Sinai to groveling at the feet of Pharaoh. From a pragmatic view the temptation to accommodation is enormous; the Establishment offers the most rewards to a royal prophet, not the least of which is a sense of all-rightness with the world.
Brueggemann rightly sees that the chief danger for the prophet is not destruction but domestication, and he declares we will never truly understand The Prophetic Imagination “unless we see the connection between the religion of static triumphalism and the politics of oppression and exploitation.”
[5] Social action alone, without a keen sense of this domesticating tendency in our religiosity, is inadequate.
Brueggemann is effectively standing the Epistle of James on its head: works without faith is dead, and faith must be clear about for Whom it works.
However virtuous a program of socio-economic activism may be, one could just as easily argue that humanity actually needs spiritual liberation, a universal rise in consciousness from a self-image of “weak and poor” to “powerful and wealthy”, to unleash the potential of human creativity and transform this planet in a way that contributory, patronizing schemes of redistribution have never imagined. Brueggemann touches on this in his third characteristic, i.e., a prophetic sub-community maintains hope despite appearances to the contrary because God’s promises are trustworthy. Yet, he also knows that a self-defined, covenantal community is not automatically identifiable with the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Dangers of Ethical Monotheism
Indeed, virtually every religious assembly sees itself as the authentic, modern expression of the primordial faith. Roman Catholics trace their institutions back to Jesus’ commission to the Apostle Peter, yet Mormons celebrate the restored, biblical priesthood. Baptists proclaim the primitive gospel of Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God; Unitarians reason they have re-discovered the radical humanity in the man of Nazareth. Even my denomination, Unity, falls into step with this drum beat to exclusivism by claiming to teach the religion of Jesus instead of the religion about him. Yet, this kind of theological one-upmanship is ineluctable. The central Truth of the Christian faith must be found in the doctrine of one’s home church, or why stay home?
The conviction of the theological rightness of one’s faith is more-or-less required for all who profess a religious view of the world. All too easily this sense of rightness morphs into conflict with other viewpoints, especially when fueled by ethnical monotheism’s demand for justice and its metaphysical dualism between good and evil. If there is only one God, Who rewards good and punishes evil, it rapidly becomes necessary to identify and suppress all other points of view as not simply erroneous but as evil itself. My friend Bhante Wimala, the traveling Buddhist monk who is engaged in world-wide relief activities for the desperately poor or all faiths, has said to me that no army has ever marched to convert the world to Buddhism because Buddha saw humanity as one and the struggle to reach enlightenment as taking many different routes. It is an idea which the dualistic West has not yet embraced.
Royal Consciousness and the Challenge of Jihadis
With the passing of time this tendency toward stabilization and standardization slides smoothly into royal consciousness, ministering to the status quo and accepting the oppressive world order as divinely given. This movement toward cooperation between secular power and religious authority is the tendency against which prophetic imagination must struggle, Brueggemann insists.
If accommodation is a temptation for establishment religion based on ethical monotheism, radical religious organizations have their own set of dangers. Writing just before the momentous events of 9-11, Brueggemann had no way to anticipate the shock which Western religionists would experience after the United States was attacked by terrorists who thought they were doing God’s Will. Five years later, Harold J. Recinos reflects on the irony of a profoundly religious nation like the USA being attacked by self-sacrificial believers who think of our country as the Great Satan:
Mainline Christians who counted on religion to summon moral power for the good of all people find themselves today sitting at the foot of the cross grappling with silence. Who can believe that pious people motivated by religious belief can use violence and murder to promote their cause?
[6]The model which emerges when the thoughts of
Brueggemann and
Recinos merge looks less like a tug or war between the forces of royal and prophetic consciousness than a three-sided conflict with royal consciousness at one corner, prophetic at the other, radical
pietism at the third—all pulling their way. Not only is the battle between prophetic insight and status
quo, the third factor of violent activism threatens both
covenantal prophetic community and chapel of the King. The events of 9-11 have shaken Western
religionists profoundly. Some Christians and Jews appear simply unable to believe the murderous conspirators were men of faith. Yet, the undisputed fact remains that when the hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center and plunged to earth in Pennsylvania, the hijackers were praying, “God is great!” As a result of these tumultuous
socio-political events, any theological work must consider the dangers of religious zeal when formulating a theory of prophetic ministry.
[7]What is Prophetic Ministry?Brueggemann’s definition of prophetic ministry requires active verbs: “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.”
[8] (Italics original.) He rightly observes that prophets must not simply criticize but has an obligation to provide alternatives.
.
However,
Brueggemann says that establishment religiosity prizes harmony above all. Regardless of how well intended the prophetic propensity to sing solo may be, it invariably causes prophets to be plucked from the Temple choir and thrown in the Lion’s den. Status
quo religion is “grossly uncritical, cannot tolerate serious and fundamental criticism, and will go to great lengths to stop it.”
[9] Royal consciousness is tone-deaf to the psalm-like
hymnody of well-phrased critical thought, even when the prophet sings of positive alternatives. Good temple musicians stroke their harps and puff into sonorous horns to summon and soothe the faithful; they are not shrill trumpeters or whistle-blowers.
Prophetic Ministry: Response and Servanthood
In his book Where Have All the Prophets Gone? (2006) Marvin A.
McMickle describes prophetic preaching as that which shifts the attention of a congregation from what they are doing in the local church to what is happening outside the sanctuary.
Prophetic preaching then asks the question, “What is the role or the appropriate response of our congregation, our association, and our denomination to the events that are occurring within our society and throughout the world?”
[10] McMickle is helpful in expanding the definition beyond criticism to response. He drives this home later in the book when he talks about the standard, old church sign which reads, “Enter to Worship, Depart to Serve.” Too many American Christians,
McMickle says, are comfortable with worship but have done little about
servanthood in the world beyond the church building.
McMickle identifies this lackadaisical attitude— prayer-and-praise without subsequent action in the real world—with Bonhoeffer’s category of cheap grace. He argues that Christians using a local church for the priestly functions of ministry, i.e., as their private prayer chapel or as a place for personal rejuvenation, runs contrary to the prophetic vision of a transformed people moving forward to transform the world.
[11] The servant model of Christian life requires an understanding of the issues which the people of God must face in their lives.
McMickle wants parishioners to experience prophetic preaching that will follow the lead of Robert
McCracken and 1) kindle the mind, 2) energize the will, 3) disturb the conscience and 4) stir the heart to action.
[12]Method or Message?Although and specific content of the prophetic message presented in the books we have studied is profoundly liberal and progressive, one could argue that the method of the prophetic ministry is a separate consideration from any message which the prophet delivers. Who among us does not approach the themes discussed in these books with an embedded theology? Perhaps this is a critique of prophetic ministry in general. It is one thing to speak one’s truth with love; it is another order of magnitude to make the claim to be speaking the truth of God.
An example of misplaced prophetic energies might be Oral Robert’s infamous declaration that God told him so much money had to be raised by such-and-such a date or the Lord would call him home. The Rev. Mr. Roberts arguably fulfilled all four of McCracken’s categories. The “prophetic” message: 1) kindled the minds of his parishioners to the possibility that God was alive and active in their midst; 2) energized their will to contribute to Oral Roberts’ ministries; 3) disturbed their consciences when confronted with the idea that Rev. Roberts might actually die for the faith if they were inactive; and 4) stirred many hearts to action—they gave money, and we are still talking about it years afterward!
Permit me a personal example. During my twenty years as a US Army Chaplain I worked with ministers, priests and rabbis representing a cross section of American life. One memorable character I met while stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, was Chaplain Billy Goodwin, who at that time was an ordained Assembly of God minister on active duty. He was an excellent counselor and an energetic speaker, but he had a tendency to make claims for special revelations from on high. Not surprisingly, he felt perfectly comfortable communicating theses divine bulletins to the worshipping military congregation. One day he showed me a letter he was about to send to soldiers and families who had been attending our chapel. It began: “God has directed me to write to you and say…”
Apparently, this was typical language for his home church, because he was surprised when I flinched at the wording. When I asked why he was telling them the message was from the Almighty, he said, “Well, because I believe God wants me to write to them!” I suggested another tactic. “Tell them, ‘I believe God wants me to write to you and say…’ That way, if they don’t like your suggestions, they are just disagreeing with you, not with God.” He smiled and said he would do that. Billy was an amiable fellow.
When I tell this story, it always occurs to me that every clergyperson faces the same problem as Chaplain Billy: How does anyone summon the audacity to stand before a group of people and with integrity tell them what you believe God wants them to know? In a larger sense, every sermon—perhaps every instance of pastoral interaction with a member of the congregation—is a form of prophetic ministry.
Bonhoeffer and King: “Finding Themselves” in Different Circumstances
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was also a chaplain; he ministered and preached to believers in German prison camps because that is where he found himself. One could argue for a double meaning to the previous sentence: Bonhoeffer found himself a prisoner and found himself in the role of chaplain to the helpless. Bonhoeffer’s journey to Grenzfall (tyrannicide) could be seen as an ultimate rejection of royal consciousness in favor of a total embrace of the prophetic mantle.
[13]Indeed, the buoyant optimism of nineteenth century American Transcendentalism and its European counterparts could not float in the turbulent seas of the twentieth century. Theology and Philosophy had moved beyond Absolute Idealism long before Bonhoeffer made his move. Idealism had died a generation earlier, summarized by the immortal words of a Canadian medical officer after the Battle of the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915:
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
[14]Yet, even in the pessimistic, existentialist twentieth century, not everyone responded to bloodshed by preventative killing. Although Martin Luther King, Jr., was sober realist, a man who had seen violent acts against his people, King never conceded the need for the prophet to take up arms and become a purveyor of violence. He found comfort in the same prophetic vision as Brueggemann, that of a covenantal community which joins hands to oppose the tendency toward royal consciousness:
As Christians we must never surrender our supreme loyalty to any time-bound custom or earth-bound idea, for at the heart of our universe is a higher reality--God and his kingdom of love--to which we must be conformed.
[15]As a young scholar King had become skeptical of what he saw as liberalism’s “superficial optimism” and undo emphasis on the perfectibility of humanity. He nevertheless continued to believe that people were made in the image of God and had the capacity to rise above their limitations.
[16] King urged people to be wise in worldly affairs yet tender-hearted in their dealings with one another. He wanted people to become “disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace, and brotherhood.”
[17] For King, this meant following the “Father, forgive them” model of Jesus and eliminating one’s enemies by transforming them into friends.
[18]
Both men were aware of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s work, but events in Nazi-dominated Europe pushed Bonhoeffer to reject Gandhi’s demand for absolute nonviolence. One might ask if a conspiracy with fellow Christians to murder Adolph Hitler constituted an authentic act of prophetic consciousness or an inverse form of royal consciousness, i.e., did Bonhoeffer’s zeal to return Germany to its peace and stability cause him to act de facto for the State, albeit an idealized state, as he conceived it to be? Was Grenzfall an act grounded in biblical prophecy, Christian jihad, or power politics?
Martin Luther King, Jr., found himself in an entirely different set of circumstances. He had no single demonic figure whose removal might right the balance in the world. Furthermore, although King stood in prophetic opposition to an oppressive political and social order, the people of the Jim Crow South saw themselves as fundamentally moral and upright. They were good Christians. His task was to bring public attention to the actuality of suffering and oppression under segregation, but this would only have positive results if there were moral values which would be moved by the cognitive dissonance produced when “Christian” whites turned police dogs and water hoses on non-violent Civil Rights protestors. Using the biblical imagery of Moses and the Children of Israel fleeing Pharaoh’s chariots, King did not hesitate to label the segregationist practices of his white Christian neighbors with that fine old Anglo-Saxon word, evil.
[19] Here he is one with Bonhoeffer, perhaps with most prophets in history. Naming the specific ills of the day seems to be a hallmark of prophetic ministry, even though Brueggemann insists this is ancillary to identifying the root cause of injustice in the power structures of society and the religiosity which supports them.
Critique of Confrontational Model for Prophetic MinistryHowever, one could argue that as on-target as Brueggemann’s observations are, he is aiming at the wrong target. Certainly, religious systems which have successfully articulated their values to a given society are inclined to support the social order which they have in a large part helped to construct. How could it be otherwise? What is missing here is not the voice of a John the Baptist decrying Herod’s marriage to a brother’s widow, nor even the cry of a Jesus who momentarily, understandably, loses his customary broadmindedness, takes a whip, and drives the money-changers from the Court of the Gentiles. What is missing is a change in the value system of the larger society, which can only be brought about by changing one person at a time. I am not arguing for conversion or anything resembling a traditional decision for Christ. I am also not arguing that Bonhoeffer and King were wrong for taking decisive action in the world in which they found themselves; quite the contrary. Specific instances of social ills must be met with specific remedies: tyrannicide for Bonhoeffer, nonviolent protest for Martin Luther King., Jr.
I am arguing that prophetic consciousness, as described by Brueggemann and the other authors we studied in this course, can only reach its goal of a just society under God if it moves beyond confrontation to transformation of the individual. What is required, to borrow Brueggemann’s terms, is a radical transformation in consciousness and not just regime change within the Establishment.
[20] In this sense, I would define consciousness as the emotional-intellectual-social weltanschauung of a postmodern, twenty-first century society.
Less than such a transformation can only spawn a new sense of injustice as those in power are ousted and become the new oppressed. This is the silent rage felt by suburban whites, who tend to vote against their best economic interests year after year because the Republican Party tells sends them subtle messages about returning to Ronald Regan’s vision of a white-dominated, middle class, suburban, post World War II America. Until the vision changes to that of a new generation, Israel must wander in the wilderness.
Idealism Re-visited
Despite wars and rumors of wars, Unity never relinquished the optimistic, monistic, idealistic vision of Transcendentalism. Our writers and theologians still affirm the divine nature of humanity, taking seriously the imago Dei regardless of appearances to the contrary. The prophetic tradition within our movement aims at calling people to the higher vision of their potential as sons and daughters of God. We see all sentient beings as fully divine and fully human, to include the main example of this indwelling divinity, Jesus of Nazareth. Such a prophetic word from our tradition, properly explored by theological reflection and communicated via modern networking, has the potential to transform the consciousness of humanity, one person at a time. The outrageous possibilities of such a claim remain unexplored today because the potential apologists for Metaphysical Christianity are unequipped to play in the major leagues of theological dialogue. In fact, one could argue that Unity’s longstanding aversion for intellectual discourse indicates we have yet to show up for spring training. To communicate a prophetic vision today requires an understanding of contemporary issues and their antecedents, plus the ability to translate one’s insights into the common language of Christian theology.
Means to the Goal: Lyceum and Journal
Therefore, I hold that establishing an annual academic conference open to religious scholars from around the world (“The Lyceum at Unity Village”) and offering its proceedings in a new publication, the Unity Institute Journal of Theology (UIJT) will, over time, contribute to New Thought Christianity’s fuller participation in the ongoing theological dialogue, increase Unity’s involvement with the wider Christian community, and measurably affect the consciousness of society at large. Such involvement will allow the powerful insights of New Thought to flow outward from Unity while the circulating exchange of ideas will bring new possibilities to us from thinkers and spiritual leaders of other traditions. This is my thesis project; this is also the center of my life’s work. There are, however, some major obstacles to overcome in the consciousness of the Unity Movement before two-way communication with religious scholarship beyond our borders can commence.
Anti-Intellectual, Anti-traditionalist
Historically, my home denomination, the Association of Unity Churches International, has been rather anti-intellectual and anti-traditionalist, so the insights, ideas and tools available to clergy and religious scholars from mainstream Protestant and Catholic traditions have seldom found their way into Metaphysical Christianity. Even among the ordained Unity clergy, there is almost no tradition of theological reflection, no widespread understanding of modern biblical scholarship, little sense of church history, and an appalling lack of awareness about the very tools required to make our gifts available to a wider Christian world. The intellect has been described as inferior to, and often in conflict with, intuitive insights gleaned in personal meditation.
Again and again, Unity foundational writings take a swipe at the intellectual approach to religion, like this supposedly objective question in the study guide of Fillmore’s 1939 book, Jesus Christ Heals: “Is it better to seek understanding through intellectual reasoning or through divine inspiration?”
[21] Since dialogue among biblical scholars and theologians provides a context of continuity for the Christian community, it is precisely this juxtaposition of intellectual reasoning over and against divine inspiration which has perpetuated Unity’s isolation; we have been an archipelago somewhere over the horizon, far from the mainland of Christian thought.
Prophetic Possibilities: Mystical ConsciousnessNevertheless, the kind of prophetic ministry which Unity practices could be understood in the classical model of a call to righteousness, if such a call were expanded to include teaching and healing ministry aimed at introducing people to the imago Dei, which we identify as their inherent divine nature. Of course, few people reflect this in a developed way in this world, but as the process of spiritual education of humanity goes on the more Christ-like people will become. This hopeful vision coincides with the central goals of New Thought Christianity, i.e., to examine and demonstrate those categories of spirit which transcend apparent lack and limitations, to take seriously the power of God working in and through the Cosmos, and to develop specific, practical techniques for releasing such spiritual power into the real world.
[22] Like Paul addressing the Athenians on Mars hill, Unity needs metaphors with which to translate the exciting, empowering insights of New Thought Christianity into the symbolic language of the twenty-first century Christian world.
Lyceum and Theological Journal as Prophetic Ministry
An established program of theological conferences and the publication of an academic New Thought Christian journal has the potential to mitigate some of the historic, anti-intellectual tendencies of the Unity movement, to inspire its scholars to explore and develop more fully Unity’s contribution to Christian thought, and to encourage ministers and laypeople to join the discussion about the role of the Church in service to humanity. Consequently, the title of my praxis thesis will be Converting Full-Length Mirrors into Open Doors: Offering New Thought Christianity a Lyceum for Theological Dialogue by Creating and Publishing a Unity Institute Journal of Theology.
If we see prophecy the way Walter Brueggemann does—as an ongoing, reappearing, God-intoxicated voice who speaks revolutionary truth to power and gathers a community around this new vision—then Unity does have a prophetic voice, especially in the area of spiritual development. It also seems unmistakable that this prophetic vision will be better served if people in my home denomination learn how to dialogue with scholars and pastors of other Christian denominations. An annual academic conference with its proceedings subsequently published in a new theological journal—targeted at Unity ministers, paraprofessionals, and college-educated members—could provide a venue for theological reflection and give our people a place to advance new ideas, perhaps encouraging greater involvement with progressive Christians wherever Unity people live.
Benefits of Lyceum and UIJT for Unity Movement
The work of prophetic ministry has a precursory educational component. People must be alerted to the need for change and given the tools to begin their great work, whatever the project may be. If we see prophecy the way Walter Brueggemann does—as an ongoing, reappearing, God-intoxicated voice who speaks revolutionary truth to power and gathers a community around this new vision—then Unity does have a prophetic voice, especially in the area of spiritual development. It also seems unmistakable that this prophetic vision will be better served if people in my home denomination learn how to dialogue with scholars and pastors of other Christian denominations. It is my hope that the Lyceum series and the ongoing publication of a Unity Institute Journal of Theology will provide a venue for the prophetic vision of Unity to interact with the wider Christian community for the mutual benefit of both.
A bonus effect of an annual theological symposium and ongoing publication of a theological journal would be to further the goal of upgrading Unity Institute’s Master of Divinity program to a fully accredited status. To be true to its calling, a graduate institution should offer the world a forum for unfettered, scholarly conversation about important issues. The special province of a theological seminary is to provide such a venue for religious and spiritual discussion at a higher level than is ordinarily found in other church-related gatherings or publications. Such a gathering of the brightest and best in New Thought Christian theology can inspire, encourage, challenge and empower serious discussion of the Unity message in academic settings across the world. I suspect this kind of transformative interaction is a goal of prophecy to which all the authors we studied could subscribe.
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Notes:
[1] Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2001), xvi.
[2] Ibid., 67.
[3] Ibid., 21.
[4] Ibid., 3.
[5] Ibid., 7.
[6] Harold J. Recinos, Good News from the Barrio (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 71.
[7] Debra Burlingame, “On a Wing and a Prayer,” Wall Street Journal, 12/06/06, online source: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009348 (accessed: 08-23-08)
[8] Brueggemann, 3.
[9] Ibid, 4.
[10] Marvin A. McMickle, Where Have All the Prophets Gone? (Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 2006), 2.
[11] Ibid., 85-86.
[12] Ibid, 90-93.
[13]Larry Rasmussen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Reality and Resistance (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2005), 122.
[14] John McCrea, “In Flanders Fields” (Arlington National Cemetery Website: online source http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm), accessed 08-13-08.
[15] Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love (NY: Harper & Row, 1964), 11.
[16] Ibid. 166.
[17] Ibid. 15.
[18] Ibid. 47.
[19] Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love (NY: Harper & Row, 1964), 78-79.
[20] Brueggemann, 21.
[21] Fillmore, Jesus Christ Heals (Unity Village, MO: Unity Books, 1939), 202.
[22] “New Thought” and “Metaphysical Christianity” refer to a theological tradition flowing from nineteenth century idealism, transcendentalism and the “science of mental healing” movements. Christian Science is the best known example from that era, but New Thought theology differs significantly from that of Mary Baker Eddy, who denied the reality of matter. Unity is probably best described as a Christianized form of monistic panentheism.
