There were 5 of us at Dessert and Dogma tonight. We got through the first 4 questions. We had a great time.
Response to D+D questions:
1. Everyone was for female pastors. We talked a little bit about the Timothy quote in context of what was going on in that time period. I mentioned how the pastorhood has changed since women have entered it. I have heard that since women have become pastors the job of the pastor has become “Word, Sacrament, and Social work.” Some people also mentioned women feel better talking to a woman pastor, but on the other hand men would feel better talking to a male pastor… I don’t know, quite a quandary… Some of the people in the group thought it might be a bit of an overestimation to say, “when it allows women to become priests.”
2. There was not quite as much conversation about this as I had thought when I wrote this question. I mentioned my worries about the Athanasian creed’s view that “One cannot be saved without believing this (the idea of the trinity) firmly and faithfully," which wasn’t directly about the question, but we got talking about it.
3. Oh man. This was kind of crazy. I guess it isn’t stealing if you steal from a Multi-national company… Or something like that. It ended up that the males viewed file sharing and burning CDs as theft but the females didn’t.
4. Peter denied Jesus to show us that the Apostles were very mortal and fallible. Even Peter the rock needed Jesus’s saving grace.

It was a good time. Joel (one of the D+D crew) is a self proclaimed graphics/format geek on the side and he wants to help me out with Believe’s format.
Man, it’s almost the end of the 8th week! That means I only have 3 more weeks in Eugene before I go back to Cheyenne for the summer. I’m having mixed feelings about that. On the one had it will be nice to see my parents, my friends and my Dog, but on the other hand I’ll miss the freedom of Eugene. I wonder if my parents will freak if I wake up around 2 AM, hop on my bike, and go somewhere for a bite to eat. I hope my parents respect my autonomy, realizing that once a baby eagle spreads it’s wings the nest will always be too cramped for it.

D+D

1. Female pastors? Need I ask more. I guess I do. What special skills do the female gender add to the ministry in comparison to a male? What about Timothy? What will happen to the Catholic church when it allowed women to become priests?
2. If we are saved by “grace” what need have we of the Law, and how far should we take the law? Do we go kosher?
3. What should a Christian do about “burning” CDs? Is file sharing morally wrong?
4. Why did Peter have to deny Jesus?
5. Will prophecy only come true if the prophet speaks the prophecy?
6. Up until the 17th century the Bible was not taken literally, people accepted some stuff as allegorical. Is that appropriate since JC is the Word of God?
7. Rabbis accept a dual torah, or an oral torah as well as a written one. Other Jewish groups disagree. Is apostolic succession similar to this concept?
8. Is “Love your neighbor as yourself” redundant because of “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all you’re your strength.” (Mark 12:29-31)?
9. What the heck is really going on with the book of Revelations?
10. How is Jesus present in the Christian church today? (Theory of the book of John)
11. Slavery seems to be condoned in the Bible, in fact if a thief can’t pay for what he has stolen he is to sell himself into slavery. What the hell do we do with that? Do we just chock it up to the context of the times? If we do that then can’t this be a slippery slope? AKA everything exists only in the context of its time, so say the cross isn’t relevant, switch it with the electric chair etc? What about God being King? Should God be president? Hmm?
12. A. God is all powerful B. God is good. As we look around we notice bad things happen. If God is God can God be good? If God is good can God be God?
Hey check out this search engine, they will be putting my site on their website (or so they say)
I have a big midterm on wednesday, but I'll try to Blog again after that.