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St.Mark's Adult Education Spring 2007
April
2007 Adult Ed Recap
We’ve been discussing Dave Goetz’s book “Death
by Suburb” throughout Lent. The author lives in Wheaton
and he joined us during one of our Sunday discussions. Although
I didn’t poll the group, our reaction to the book seemed
to be as mixed as that of the Amazon reviewers. One reviewer
called it “a brave and eye-opening masterpiece”
and another said “it is offensive as it is legalistic
in its own self-righteous, pejorative stance.” A third
summed it up as “a somewhat glib, largely confessional
devotional set of spiritual exercises directed to yuppy evangelicals.”
Despite (or because of?) the book’s flaws, it prompted
lively discussion.
February 2007 Adult Ed Recap
We continued our series on “Christianity and the Arts”
with a fascinating talk by Dr. Christina Bieber Lake on postmodern
literature. What is postmodern literature? Dr. Lake likened
it to postmodern architecture, where the architect “takes
a little of this and a little of that and mixes it together.”
(Remember the controversy over the ATT high rise in New York
City with that roofline that looks like the top of a Chippendale
highboy?) The postmodernists doubt that there
is any objective truth or universal good or even any real meaning
to life. (I’m making a hash of her excellent talk. Go
to the source and read her blog: www.drchristinascorner.blogspot.com/
)
In February we also tried a daring experiment — we had
a panel discussion. The topic was“Wheaton College: A school
of bigoted, judgmental conformists or a nationally ranked liberal
arts school devoted both to faith and the life of the mind?”
Panelists included faculty and current and past students. It
was illuminating and fun, with plenty of lively discussion.
January 2007 Adult Ed Recap
Ah, Christmas in merrie olde England! A time of Yule logs,
eggnog, caroling, peace and plenty and good will toward men,
with the focus firmly where it should be — on the birth
of our Savior. Many people yearn for an old-fashioned Christmas
like great great great grandmother used to have. Unfortunately,
as Lynn Wollstadt showed us in Adult Ed in December, this isn’t
the real story. For centuries, Christmas was a time of drunken
feasting and debauchery. The quaint custom of “wassailing”
actually was an act of home invasion, when the village poor
would descend upon the rich, demanding money. Hmm — “Rudolph
the Red Nose Reindeer” doesn’t sound all that bad
any more.
In January, we explored Christian themes in modern films with
parishioner David Funck. David showed clips from three films:
Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,”
a highly acclaimed Danish film called “Breaking the Waves,”
and “Bruce Almighty”. The films vary in production
values, authenticity, and tone but each reflects a spiritual
reality of the filmmaker.
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