This post is from the JMBzine Blog Vault, which means it is a very old blog post that I wrote at a very different time of my life. My views on religion (I’m now a Humanistic Jew), politics (today I’m a democratic socialist), and many other subjects (LGBTQ+ inclusion, abortion rights, etc.) have drastically changed over the years, so please bear this in mind when reading this post.
I’m back in class. The Christian Studies Seminar class ended up having enough folks, so I am back in class. The seminar is on Christianity & Philosophy. I think it will be somewhat interesting, but I am dreading having another 3 hour monster class.
At the point that I left off on from last entry: I was up until 4 am finishing my Exit stuff. I then fixed me a couple of sandwiches, and then went to sleep around 5.
I then woke up around 10, and made some tea. (Some of my last of my Republic of Tea – Glenburn Darjeeling stash) I then went to chapel at 10:30. Then, I got online for awhile, and then grabbed lunch at the LFC Thursday lunch. Then I took off to catch the mass at the Catholic Center.
The mass was really neat. I decided to go again after the service last night, and I really am glad I did. It is still very foreign to me, but in many ways I am liking the liturgical approach and the ingrained patterns of worship. I think I might try to make a habit of going to Mass a few times a week. In general, I just yearn for more “ritual” in my life. (In a sense, what Nouwen talked about when referring to the “Spiritual life.”
On the subject of Catholicism and Ecunemicism in general, I have been thinking a lot about how far I should go in reaching out to Christians of other religious traditions. While I think there are lots of things that can be compromised, there are just some non-negotiatbles.The question is, what are the non-negotiables?
First and foremost, the kerygma, the gospel message is non-negotiable. (Jesus came in the flesh, he was crucified, and he rose from the dead.) Past there, I’m not sure. I have a few serious disagreements with Catholic theology, yet they would not diagree with the kerygma. I’m not sure on this issue, but I will be praying and thinking about it.
Editor’s Note (2023): I was a student at this time at the Institute for Christian Studies in Austin, Texas.