Friday, August 26th, 2005
Noting that the next Catholic World Youth Day is to be held in Sydney, locals are starting to ask about the cost and who will bear it.
According to the World Youth Day 2005 blog, German organizers recently estimated the costs for the 2005 production at roughly 100 million euro ($120.7 million). Even in prosperous Canada, the last World Youth Day in 2002 left behind a debt of $23.8 million.
One of the problems faced by the Toronto and Cologne organisers was that only about half the attenders registered and paid for the events.
The question here in Australia… is there room for an ecumenical approach to “World Youth Day”?
Tags: Australia, Catholicism, Social Justice, World Events, World Youth Day
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Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
Someone’s asked me about the origins of intinction as a practice. (Dipping the bread into the wine during communion).
From my research, intinction was introduced in the Eastern churches and is still the norm in the Maronite Church (originally based in Antioch, Syria). Many Eastern Orthodox churches use intinction. The practice there is for the priest to break the bread into pieces which are put into the cup. The mixture is ladled into the mouths of participants with a spoon/ladle.
Intinction must have been a common innovation in the Western church, judging by the number of condemnations of the practice from Rome.
From Pontifications, a Catholic blog:
“In 675 the Fourth Council of Braga prohibited the dipping of the holy bread into the chalice:
“The practice of giving the people eucharistic communion by means of intinction has no authority in the gospel, where he gave his disciples his body and blood: the bread was given separately and the cup was given separately. We read that Christ gave intincted bread to no one except to that disciple whom he revealed as a traitor by offering him a morsel that had been dipped.”
This prohibition of intinction was reiterated in the Middle Ages by the Councils of Clermont (1095) and London (1175).
“This use is not authentic,” Bernold of Constance wrote, “for it is contrary to the institution of the Lord” (11th c.). Pope Pascal II denounced the intinctio panis as a human innovation that violated the command of Christ (12th c.)”
Intinction has been allowed again in the Roman Catholic Church, but only by the priest.
So does anyone know about the development of intinction as a practice in Protestant churches? When are your first memories of its use?
Tags: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, sacraments, Worship
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Monday, June 27th, 2005
So what do you think about online quizzes on theological worldview? Here’s the one currently being used as a public quick self-diagnosis, created by Steven Harris from the UK, known online as Sven.
(See Sven’s blog at the World of Sven,
on which he’s pictured in his hoodie (see picture to right). See Sven’s list of quizzes at Quizfarm.)
I’d take issue with the limits of this online quiz. What about the contemplative side of theology? Or the Eastern orthodox? I suspect the question on icons is used for measuring Catholic theology. How about ‘non-realist’ theology - not that I’d score very highly in it! Fascinating to have the photograph of Brian McLaren tied with the quiz. I’d like to include a few other people there too.
Ok - the test does align me with the Emergent/Postmodern slice of faith. But also with the Evangelical and NeoOrthodox slices, with a twist of Catholic. In the graph below you can chart my journey of theology towards being postfundamentalist, post Evangelical, post charismatic, post Catholic, post liberal.
- Started off as a teenager surrounded by fundamentalist, Evangelical and Reformed leaders in a hybrid Presbyterian church. Signed up with creationism and last days doctrine. Learnt all about Calvin’s tulip. Heard that the spiritual gifts have ceased and pentecostals are of the Devil. Didn’t buy it.
- Dived into the charismatic movement as a sixteen year old.
- My fundamentalism/creationism fell apart during Anthropology 101. Went through an intense phase of rebuilding faith on a relational base.
- Joined a charismatic Catholic covenant community in my third and fourth years at Uni.
- Campaigned for nuclear disarmament as an expression of commitment to the future.
- Engaged in contextual and relational approaches to evangelism and social justice as a youth worker.
- Gave up the end times anxiety as a husband and father.
- Linked up with the Vineyard movement at Wimber conferences in Auckland
- As a theology student discovered theologians who expressed what I’d be intuiting: Barth, Moltmann, Torrance alongside Matthew Fox, Karl Rahner and Hans Kung.
- Developed a kingdom of God missional paradigm for ministry.
- Worked ecumenically in youth ministry in New Zealand and around the world.
- Linked up with alt worship scene
- Found postmodernist writers expressing the world view I’d come to hold.
My Quiz Results
| |
You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don’t think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.
| Emergent/Postmodern |
|
82% |
| Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan |
|
71% |
| Neo orthodox |
|
64% |
| Roman Catholic |
|
46% |
| Classical Liberal |
|
39% |
| Modern Liberal |
|
36% |
| Charismatic/Pentecostal |
|
29% |
| Reformed Evangelical |
|
29% |
| Fundamentalist |
|
7% |
What’s your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com
Emergent/Postmodern Brian McLaren
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Tags: Brian McLaren, Calvinist, Catholicism, charismatic, fundamentalist, Internet, NeoOrthodox, postcharismatic, postmodern, reformed, Theology
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