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Theology Update for the Week of May 19

Theology Class: “The Land and Its Loss.”

On Sunday May 19th, at 10 am, our Theology Classes will continue. The next two classes are entitled “The Land and Its Loss” and in them we will tour this great theme that runs through the Bible to culminate in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This week, we will look at how four different groups of Jews at the time of Jesus responded to the loss of their land, the return of the Israelites to the land after the exile, and then its virtual loss once more under the Romans. The groups will be the Pharisees, the Essenes, the Zealots, and the Sadducees. Paying attention to these four responses will teach us more about the nature of the land in the Jewish experience. It will also set the scene for Jesus’ mold-breaking relationship to the land as a sacred legacy.

As a rule, our primary reference text will be the Authorized Version of the Bible, which will be available at this class.

Everyone is welcome to join us on the Fifth Floor of the Parish House for the class. Coffee and tea will be provided.

If you have any questions, or suggested material that I could read about our topics, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Grace and peace to you,

Matthew Moretz+
Associate Rector

Evening Theology Classes with Fr. Spencer: “Tongues of Fire.”

God spoke and Creation happened. Jesus spoke and the sick were healed. The Apostles spoke and the church spread. And we too are sent to preach the Gospel, to share the Good News. Author Jonathan Merritt, in his book “Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words Are Vanishing–and How We Can Revive Them,” argues that the language of faith is an endangered form of speech in our culture. As our society has become more secular, it can be difficult to talk about our faith with others. The meaning of and premises behind religious words like “grace” and “sin” and “salvation” can no longer be automatically assumed in conversation. We may also have our own personal reticence about “speaking God.” Jonathan Merritt’s book provides a starting point for a conversation about what we mean when we say these sacred words and how we might speak more comfortably about our faith in our everyday lives.

Please join Father Adam Spencer for an Evening Theology Class, on the Fifth Floor of the Parish House for three Tuesday nights, May 21, 28, and June 4, from 6:30-8:00pm as we explore Jonathan Merritt’s book and our own language(s) of faith together.

“Learning to Speak God from Scratch” will be available for purchase in the Saint Thomas Church Bookstore.