Beyond Theism
BEYOND THEISM: Guild & Jesus Seminar
For the past 25 years the work of the Guild for Psychological Studies and the work of the Jesus Seminar (Westar Institute) have been traveling on parallel tracks. Now I see a convergence in real time as both move beyond Theism.
The timing is extraordinary and the location the same: Santa Rosa. During the 25th Anniversary meeting of Westar October 13-16 at the Flamingo Hotel the topics include, “What is (are) the God question(s)?” and “Thinking Ahead: Religion in America in 2935.” Check out the complete program at www.westarinstitute.org
The very next day, Sunday, October 17, Richard Naegle and Clare Morris host “A Sacred Conversation - Beyond Theism” at the friends House also in Santa Rosa.
Sharman, Jung, and Howes have led the way and we keep running the race before us with both the historic and the archetypal Jesus running ahead of us.
As concepts of “God” drop away, we have fresh opportunity to become even more fully aware of the awesome Mystery within, between, around, and beyond us. Freed from obsolete creeds and belief systems, we can do the work in seminars, retreats, writing, and more. We can join with others who are ready to embody the same Mystery known to Jesus and Mary Magdalene as the TAO breathes freshly through us. These can be exhilarating times!
What do you all think?
- John Beverley Butcher
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Beyond Theism
I'm looking forward to this event as well. It and "Is There Life in These Old Bones?" are complementary, dealing with the future of God concepts/images and the Records respectively.
The title contains an interesting distinction between any given "God" and "theism." The death of "God" was proclaimed by some many years ago, and the "rehabilitation" of God has been a going concern in some theological quarters ever since. That is, for some, theism (the concept of some sort of supreme or superior entity) has remained alive and has enabled the creation of new God-images--even though the "God" of liberation theology, process theology, or nature theology would probably not have been recognizable to traditional theists.
The step "beyond theism"--beyond personification, anthropomorphic images, privileged entities--can be a difficult one. Indeed I know "God" (in a psychologically sophisticated form) remains a living image for many of us. We are fortunate in having the psychological, mythological, and poetic/imaginative resources of Richard Naegle and Clare Morris available to us for this exploration.