CST 12/3/06 "Living Isaiah 58"

on: 12th March 2006 @ 8.30pm

at: Favorit (Teviot Place) (view map)

Seed Thoughts and Questions on Living Isaiah 58
(with thanks to Wes White)

• Biblical hope has the power to effect change, since God is involved in effecting it. We have too often limited this hope in the arena of justice-seeking.
• The kingdom of God is a political image with reference to the whole of creation. It is an eschatological vision demanding localised anticipation.
• "Religion is the opiate of the people" (Marx) "What distinguishes the Christian from other honourable people? At most a pious face and parted hair" (Feuerbach) "Eat shit now, pie-in-the-sky when you die" (Bono) Are we to blame for these misunderstandings?
• Isaiah 58 calls us to an approach to theology meaning "an end of theology as conceptual representation; it is farewell to spectator theologians." (Kuno Fussel)
• "Religious fervour is well and good as long as it is likewise convenient" (Wes White)
• "It is to these- the poorest, those with no power or influence, the wretched, the neglected- to whom God has given priority in the kingdom, not only for their own sake, but also for he rest of us who can enter the kingdom only alongside them." (Richard Bauckham, cf. Zaccheus in Lk 19)
• "What might be the outcome if communities of faith were empowered to energize spirituality to such a degree that a rhetoric of force were countered with demonstrations of service?" (Wes White) How does Isaiah answer this question?
• How can we fast in a way that pleases God?

Other texts for consideration
Amos 5:21-24
James 1:27
Luke 19:1-10
Matthew 25:31-46
Revelation 21:5