Home    Beer    Pub Theology Topics April 12

Pub Theology Topics April 12

Beer, Philosophy, Pub Theology Comments are closed

A good group at the ol’ pub last night.  The Firestarter Chipotle Porter was quite enjoyable, as was the conversation…  Did you miss it?

Here were the topics:  (it was a full sheet!)

1.    What is your favorite day of the week?

2.    How do you nourish yourself spiritually?
What is a spiritual experience?

3.    What does the church look like at its best?
At its worst?

4.    “There is a time when it is right to explore many religions.  One often has to do this in order to find what grasps one at a level deep enough to permit at least initial commitments to be made.  But those who stay merely students of religion into middle age become dreary.  They know facts and doctrines, and laws and rites, but they know nothing of Mystery.”  Thoughts?

5.    Is there a difference between respect for a person and respect for his/her ideas?
Are we what we stand for?

6.  Resurrection:  literal, mythical, mystical?

7. Should everyone be allowed to ‘stand their ground’ ?
Is the right to bear arms a ‘God-given’ right?

8. Does the separation of church and state mean churches should be silent on issues of justice?

9. What role does the state have in determining whether or not people have healthcare?

10.  “we allow ourselves to believe in a sovereign god not because we really believe in a sovereign god, but because (much like western politics) we need to somehow justify our need to be power-dominating people who quite literally ‘lord’ ourselves over other people…”   Anyone agree?

11. Some religions emphasize the endless cycles of history (Hinduism) where an individual seeks to eventually merge into oneness with universe.   The Christian religion is linear, envisioning a culmination in the return of Christ – an escape from the cycles of history.   Is our culture inclined toward the linear model for some reason or is it just chance that we are a predominantly Christian society?

– – –
Love to hear some thoughts on any of the above.  Post below! 

You may also Like

Pub Theology Topics April 19

A nice, low-key evening at the pub last night. In the cask was the Aztec Gold, a porter with chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, and chipotle... a spicy delicious combination. What was on the sheet?

Common Sense Jesus?

Some fun in light of a recent politician's statement about Jesus as the "perfect" conservative: "For over 2,000 years the world has tried hard to erase the memory of the perfect conservative, and His principles of compassion, caring and common sense." So here we've collected some brilliant portraits of Jesus employing such 'common sense'.

Pub Theology Recap – St. Patty’s

We began the night with a toast to Saint Patrick, that giver of good tidings and slayer of snakes: Saint Patrick was a gentleman, who through strategy and stealth Drove all the snakes from Ireland, here's a drink to his health!
 But not too many drinks, lest we lose ourselves and then
 Forget the good Saint Patrick, and see them snakes again!

Pub Theologian’s Best of 2013

To new and old readers of this blog, to those who I've been able to lift a pint with, and to those gathering everywhere to enjoy a good brew and engage in thoughtful discussion, here's to 2013! It was a good year! Cheers. YEAR-END GIVEAWAY - I'm giving away a signed copy of Pub Theology along with a $25 gift certificate to your favorite brewery. Entry details below. Read about my Top Ten Beers, Top Posts of the Year, and more!

To Explain God as Unexplainable

"Quia de deo scire non possumus quid sit, sed quid non sit, non possumus considerare de deo, quomodo sit sed quomodo non sit." This is St. Thomas Aquinas' introduction to this whole Summa Theologica: "Since we cannot know what God is, but only what God is not, we cannot consider how God is but only how He is not." At different points in my life, I've been pretty sure that we can know exactly who and what God is. We can define him quite precisely. We can come up with a list of attributes. We can name a bunch of names written in an old dusty language: "Jehovah Jirah," "Adonai," or "Yahweh." We have only a vague idea what those words mean, yet we feel quite confident using them. We pulled out the good book and felt we had not just a good handle, but a definite handle on who God is and what he is like. Yet the further I travel on the road of faith, the more I learn about the divine mysteries, the more I realize it is just that: mystery. Anthony de Mello recounts how the great Karl Rahner, in one of his last letters, wrote to a young German drug addict who had asked him for help. The addict had said, "You theologians talk about God, but how could this God be relevant in my life? How could this God get me off drugs?"

Close