#tomas halik

[considermycat]

Started reading Patience with God by Tomáš Halík

[rafaelofaria]

Reza a lenda que, na véspera da Batalha da Ponte de Mílvia, apareceu ao Imperador Romano Constantino o sinal da cruz no céu e ele ouviu a declaração: “Sob este signo vencerás!” Então, ordenou que uma cruz fosse presa aos escudos de suas tropas. Ele venceu seus inimigos e, como sinal de gratidão, concedeu à Igreja, até então perseguida, legitimidade e diversos privilégios. Mais tarde, o cristianismo se tornou a religião oficial do Império Romano.

Não me sai da cabeça a pergunta como a história do cristianismo, da Europa e do mundo teria transcorrido, se o Imperador Constantino tivesse compreendido aquela aparição extraordinária com maior entendimento.

Talvez a Igreja, sem os presentes de Constantino, não teria desenvolvido todo seu potencial cultural; talvez o cristianismo, se não tivesse tido a oportunidade de se expandir tanto no espaço público daquele reino no qual o Sol nunca se punha, não teria conseguido penetrar a sociedade com toda a sua força terapêutica. Ela não poderia ter construído instituições educacionais e sociais e não teria colhido a rica safra do fruto bem-aventurado de sua influência ao longo de milênios. Talvez. No entanto, é possível também que, nessa versão imperial do cristianismo, algo essencial tenha sido esquecido e não desenvolvido – que talvez até tenha sido traído e distorcido.

Tomáš Halík, Toque as Feridas

[erikvelema]

Bewogen in de wereld?

We mogen niet vluchten voor de wonden van de wereld of ze onze rug toekeren, schrijft Tomas Halik. We moeten ze zien, aanraken en ons door die wonden laten aangrijpen. Hoe kan ik mijn geloof en mijn liefde voor God, die ik niet zie, belijden, als ik onverschillig, onbewogen, ongewone blijf? Er is veel pijn, verdriet bij mensen. Er is veel zorg en dat zien we des te meer terug op het moment dat er…

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[mchmaj]

'Augustyn napisał gdzieś, że modlić się, znaczy zamknąć oczy i uświadomić sobie, że Bóg TERAZ tworzy świat.'

(Tomas Halik - Cierpliwość wobec Boga)

[newsdock]

Czech priest and intellectual Tomas Halik has won the 2014 Templeton Prize, joining the ranks of past winners such as Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, the organisers of one of the world's largest annual awards announced Thursday. The 65-year-old Roman Catholic scholar has scooped the £1.1 million ($1.8 million, 1.3 million euro) prize, the John Templeton Foundation announced at the British Academy in London. Halik was at the British Academy for the announcement but the prize will be formally awarded in London in May. Source: AFP

[utahgrace-blog]

Less Religion in the U.S.?

10.12.2012

The numbers from recent research by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life tell us that 1 in 5 people in this nation claim no religion at all.  This number has grown by 25% in just the last five years (which is when Lane Kiffin was head coach of the Raiders just to give us all perspective, though we don't think he or the Raiders have anything to do with this decline...)

No doubt, religion is declining in many ways in the U.S.  But what constitutes "religion" has never been more open to interpretation.  That being the case, one wonders how many people have faith in God, attend worship even occasionally, maybe even pray or do some other religious practice, yet don't affiliate with any church or religion, or call themselves religious.

Every Sunday night about 80 (give or take) young people, mostly in their 20's and 30's, come to Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church for The Mount.  My guess is (haven't had too many conversations on this as I am an "old" person and it's tough to get anyone to talk to me, which I do blame on Lane Kiffin) most of those people would not identify themselves as affiliating with any religion.  Some are unsettled in terms of faith and searching.  Some would definitely call themselves Christians.  Few would call themselves Raider fans, if any.

Back in early summer I blogged some things from Tomas Halik's book, Patience with God.  He writes,

But is it possible to measure belief solely according to the number of those who acknowledge membership in churches, attend church, or answer in the affirmative when asked by pollsters if they consider themselves to be believers - and regard the rest automatically as atheists?  How would we take into account all the "Zacchaeuses"?

Yes, what about all those hanging out in the trees, watching church and faith from a distance, uncertain of where they fit in today's kaleidoscopic religious landscape?  What about the Nicodemus' who come by night, undercover, so as not to be seen or identified?  They might not answer with "religious" when asked the question, yet they may have faith.

Halik speaks of "timid piety" which is a reserved attitude many people have toward ecclesiastical forms of Christianity.

I certainly think the Church needs to be more intentional in not only proclaiming the gospel of Christ, but also living it out, so that the message is heard and seen.  We have not helped the statistics which show more and more are not into religion.

But I also sense there is a lot more going on underneath the surface.  The Pew report tells some things, but not all.  It can't measure how God is at work.  It can't measure the questions, searching, and desires of the human heart.

I still think the fields are probably riper for harvest than we know.

And if people can believe in the Oakland Raiders, surely we can pick up the numbers when it comes to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I mean, please.

[utahgrace-blog]

Solidarity with the Imperfect

7.4.2012

I said that Tomas Halik's book, "Patience with God" is an evangelistic book in that it seeks to meet those who come with questions, skepticism or a feeling of unworthiness to the faith of Jesus Christ.  I end these reviews with one final quote.  It is God speaking to Zacchaeus long after the reformed tax collectors conversion in his meeting with Jesus.  Halik imagines, for the sake of a larger discussion, that Zacchaeus tried to continue in his new found faith with great religious rigor, becoming frustrated time and time again when he failed.  He just figured he couldn't cut it, so backed away.

And the Lord says,

You yourself insisted that you had to hear my voice in its absolute purity, with no human weaknesses, doubts, and searching mixed in.  But my voice has never been heard in that way in human history since the day I ascended into heaven.  My words, my legacy, and my name are entrusted to the lips of people who are never completely pure, to hearts in which love for me is always mixed with love for the self and for the things of this world.  I gave myself to the faith of my church, which is made up of sinners, not angels, and I was also in those who are still far from its visible gates, those who are grimy and sweaty from their seeking and wandering along paths full of questions and doubts.  They are the ones you should have listened to above all; it was in them above all that you should have sought me. (p.210)

God works through weakness, doubts, and the impurity of his churches.  He works through imperfection.  He can be heard in the objections, questions, and challenges of those who strike at the Christian faith.  Halik's point is to engage with those people, and not back away.  There is a field of harvest there, which takes great patience to work in, but if we can be as patience as God is with the seekers and "Zacchaeuses" in our midst, we might just see fruit.

[utahgrace-blog]

Skepticism and the Church

6.27.2012

I said that Tomas Halik engages the questioning and skeptical without giving up all ground of what it means to be Christian.  In another blurb from his book "Patience with God", Halik stands up for the church amidst those who point to it and see it as too imperfect and full of problems.

...faith divorced from the life of a specific historical church community can rapidly slip into the realm of personal fantasy and projections of our own desires.  (He quotes Ronald Rolheiser) "Away from actual, historical community, whatever its faults, we have an open field to live an unchallenged life, to make religion a private fantasy that we can selectively share with a few like-minded individuals who will never confront us where we most need challenge.  The churches are compromised, dirty and sinful, but just like our blood families, they are also real.  In the presence of people who share life with us regularly, we cannot lie, especially to ourselves, and delude ourselves into thinking we are generous and noble.  In community the truth emerges and fantasies are dispelled. (pp.74-75)

Commitment to a community of believers is a dying conviction in postmodern spiritual thinking.  Hence, a ton of fantasy thinking and faith is running about.  Without the church there is no form, no accountability, no, dare I say, truth.