Saturday, December 3, 2011

Gordon Kaufman's God As Creativity (Adult Sunday school class for the winter quarter 2011-2012)

Two books by Kaufman, "In the beginning ... Creativity" and "Jesus and Creativity," will be discussed by one of the adult Sunday school classes. Kaufman's goal in these two books is to re-envision God and Jesus within the contemporary scientific worldview. In the first of these two books Kaufman suggests that God be conceived of as serendipitous creativity instead of the more traditional image as creator. He explains how this change illuminates our understanding of the creation of the universe, the cosmic evolutionary process, and human symbolic creativity. He then explores how living with faith in this God will help believers cooperate with the divine in meeting the pressing global challenges. In the second of these two books Kaufman, building on his view of God as creativity, describes the meaning of Jesus' salvific story within an evolving universe and a threatened planet.

Gordon D. Kaufman was an ordained Mennonite minister who became an influential theologian during a 32-year career at Harvard Divinity School. He died earlier this year on July 22.

The following is a link to a good review by Phyllis Bixler of these two books by Gordon Kaufman.
LINK TO PHYLLIS BIXLER REVIEW.  I found it to be a good review.  In case you're interested in my review I have also provided the following two links:
LINK to Clif's review of Jesus and Creativity.
LINK 2 to Clif's review of In the Beginning ... Creativity.

The following is a list of assigned reading assignments.  Links are provided (as they become available) to the referenced text to be read.
IBC -- refers to "In the beginning ... Creativity"
JC -- refers to "Jesus and Creativity."

December 4, 2011 -- No Reading assignment

December 11, 2011 -- IBC Epilogue, The Development of My Theological Thinking: Two Themes (pages 107 to 127) LINK TO TEXT

December 18, 2011 -- IBC Preface (pages ix to xv) and IBC Prologue, The Word "God" (pages 1 to 32) LINK TO TEXT

January 8, 2012 -- IBC Chapter 1, Today's Evolutionary/Ecological World and the Theological Structure of Christian Faith (pages 33 to 52).  LINK TO TEXT

January 15, 2012 -- IBC Chapter 2, On Thinking of God as Serendipitous Creativity (pages 53 to 70) LINK TO TEXT

January 22, 2012 -- IBC Chapter 3, In the beginning ... Creativity (pages 71 to 106) LINK TO TEXT

January 29, 2012 -- JC Preface (pages ix to xvi) and JC Chapter 1, Reconceiving the Jesus-Trajectory (pages 1 to 26)  LINK TO TEXT

February 5, 2012 -- JC Chapter 2, Christology: Jesus as Norm (pages 27 to 61) LINK TO TEXT

February 12, 2012 -- JC Chapter 3, Humans as Biohistorical Beings: Historicity, Creativity, Freedom (page 63 to 88) LINK TO TEXT

February 19, 2012 -- JC Chapter 4, Creativity as Good News! (pages 89 to 114) LINK TO TEXT

February 26, 2012 -- General discussion, no reading assignment

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