Every year I try to do one bible study that is intentionally challenging for my folk, a bible study that will stretch ‘em. This year I did one I call “Smart People, Wise Faith”. I figured I’d share a long form version of it with my readers, as they might want to be stretched in similar ways.
At base,
Smart People, Wise Faith is a smorgasbord of theologians, giving people a taste
of 15 different thinkers. I frame each session with a different way of
interacting with a bridge (for example crossing or rebuilding) and connect
those actions with a scripture or two.
The whole project
is a little convoluted, but with it I’m able to offer a table full of
theological tapas, a varied tasting of Christian thinkers. Below is the menu
for each session:
1. CrossingBridges (Preaching)
-Barbara Brown Taylor, Paul Scott Wilson, and Luther
2. TheDivide (Existentialism and Neo-Orthodoxy)
-Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Tillich, and Barth
3. Burning
Bridges (Post-Modernity)
-Descartes and John Caputo
4. Bridgingthe Gap (Race)
-Isaac Asimov, Howard Thurman and Cornel West
5. RebuildingBridges (Theology of Crisis)
-Augustine, Simone Weil and Chris Halverson
