967 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f6eb2e1878eaa6372f26ab1c9ba57b88.pdf 2112a69ab7ef73991b5607c0da8f5967 PDF Text Text The Quest for the Historical Jesus From the series: Q & Q: The Religious Quest and Question Text: Mark 3:20-21; Luke 4:23 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan January 24, 1999 Transcription of the spoken sermon The book, The Historical Jesus, by John Dominic Crossan, is rather thick, 500 pages, and it became a bestseller. In a conversation, Crossan said, "I never intended it to be a bestseller, for popular consumption. I was trying to get a discussion going in the scholarly world." But he said it became a bestseller, and he said, "I think all kinds of people didn’t really get it." So he wrote The Birth of Christianity to try to explain what he was trying to do in the last one. This has 640 pages. Since I won’t have an opportunity to speak with you prior to the weekend in which John Dominic Crossan is with us, the first weekend in Lent, February 1921, I want to take this opportunity to say a few words about him and about his work, and the importance of The Quest for The Historical Jesus, because we have a lecture series this year which really focuses there. Certainly, John Dominic Crossan is considered one of the, if not the preeminent historian and researcher in this quest. And a colleague of Crossan, Marcus Borg, is widely published in the quest. We have the Jewish scholar, Amy-Jill Levine, who will talk about the break between the Jesus Movement and Judaism, and, therefore, focus again in those early years of origination. Then, of course, Bishop Spong who will deal with the larger church and the larger theological issues in light of all the biblical research that is going on. We are very fortunate to have these people come to us, and I want to say a word about John Dominic Crossan this morning. Colette will follow up with that next week, as well, because I think it is important to set a context for someone like this. John Dominic Crossan is a preeminent scholar. He is brilliant. When I read his work, when I see the kind of material that he marshals, and how he handles it succinctly, communicating that breadth of study, I just cry and want to throw in the towel. I mean, he’s just one of those brilliant scholars. But he is also able to communicate with people in a very wonderful way, with a fine turn of phrase and memorable statements. Beyond that, John Dominic Crossan is a fine human being. I’ve only met him briefly, talked with him a couple of times, but others of you have been with him, and I want to say this to you as a congregation that, if © Grand Valley State University   �Quest for Historical Jesus Richard A. Rhem Page 2   you would expose yourself to this person, I am sure you will like him, because he’s not only brilliant, but he’s gentle. And he is a person of great integrity. That impresses me so much. In the scholarly debates, it can get rather heated at times. But Dom Crossan is a person of great integrity who seeks to set forth his presuppositions, put them on the table, set forth clearly the methods he’s following and then, on that basis, does his research so you know how he is going about what he does and, therefore, the conclusions that he reaches can be judged on that basis. He would not claim that his methods are infallible or that his conclusions are absolute. Those who work in the field of historical research know that there is always a degree of probability connected with it. We’ve known for a long time, and he is very quick to admit, that we will never get a photograph of the historical Jesus. From the documentation that we have in the New Testament, the canonical Gospels, and in the non-canonical materials that were written about that time, and other non-canonical gospels out there — from all of that study it is impossible to be absolutely certain that we have the exact contours of that mystical figure who stands behind it all. But, through that kind of research, it is at least possible to get a good feel for Jesus — that one of whom we confess, "the word made flesh," that one who, in the Christian story, is the concrete embodiment of God in our historical context, the Jesus who is our window to God, is the center of that story as a part of that Christian tradition for over 2000 years. John Dominic Crossan is, then, a brilliant scholar, a fine human being, and a person of great integrity who with great passion pursues his research of the birth of Christianity, a very important scholar, and we are very privileged that he would come into our midst. As he will share with us in greater extent, we are engaged at the present time in a very vital discussion and very vital research, seeking to find the contours of Jesus of Nazareth. A quest of the historical Jesus is going on with great passion and great intensity in our day, and it’s a very important engagement. The historical Jesus is that figure behind the Gospels, behind the Apostle Paul, behind the Christian communities, behind the Christian creedal tradition. Crossan and others have been criticized for engaging in this research by some who would say, "Well, you’ve got Matthew, Mark, Luke and John." There’s one writer who analyzes twenty such scholars and their research for the historical Jesus and says, "They’re all wrong." And they come to distorted conclusions because they never see the whole Jesus, they just look at parts, they fragment Jesus. Well to that, John Crossan would say, "The whole Jesus, which whole Jesus?" "The whole Jesus of Matthew, of Mark or Luke or John?" We know that those basic four canonical portraits differ considerably, not only in nuance; even within those Gospel records we know that Jesus makes some contradictory claims or contradictory claims are made about him. © Grand Valley State University �Quest for Historical Jesus Richard A. Rhem Page 3   You have heard me say before that, when I was going through college and studying Bible, we studied a course on the Harmony of the Gospels, and we meshed it all together. If there was a loose end dangling here, well, we had ways of getting rid of that, so we had one uniform portrait — the whole Jesus, so to speak. But when you really research the Gospels, you have varying portraits even within the Gospel. For example, within the same Gospel, Jesus will say, "The end is imminent," "This generation will not pass away before the son of man appears," and "The end is unknown, only the Father in heaven knows the time and season." Which did he mean? Did he say one thing one time, and one thing another time? Did he change his mind? Or did he say one thing and his interpreters say another thing? Those are the kinds of questions that are asked, but, as a matter of fact, you can’t just say, "Well, read Matthew or Mark or Luke or John and get the whole Jesus." You have to say, "Which whole Jesus?" So there’s work behind the scenes, because we recognize now that those Gospels are layered traditions, and each Gospel was written with a specific perspective to a concrete community in a concrete context in order to deal with certain things. What was needed to be said in John’s time, near the end of the first century, was not the same as what Mark needed to communicate around 70 A.D., all the Gospels being decades after the event itself, all the Gospels written reflecting a cumulative growing tradition, in various Christian locales, dealing with various challenges and crises. I don’t preach the same Jesus that I preached in 1960 when I came here the first time. And you can be happy about that! I don’t preach the same Jesus that I preached in New Jersey. I don’t preach the same Jesus I preached in 1971 when I came back. Part of that is my own growth and understanding, but part of that is the fact that you’re not the same, and the world is not the same. If preaching is to be in any sense relevant, the proclamation of the word of God to concrete people in the here and now, then it will be an evolving kind of message. It will be pertinent to the context, time and space, locale, community. The crises and challenges that any people face at any given time, that’s what draws preaching to its focus. And so it was with the Gospel writers, and so we have this canonical foursome that represent how that mystical figure back there was proclaimed in different places at respective times. But how do we get behind that? Well, that’s the purpose of this historical research. Why is it important? Because Jesus is our window to God, and the kind of Jesus we envision will impact the kind of God we worship, and the kind of God we worship will determine the kind of people we are. History has been replete with examples of what Crossan would say, "killer children of a killer God." If God is that way, then we are empowered and legitimized to be that way. So, it is a very critical thing. Those Gospels, when you consider them carefully and in a scholarly manner, will indicate those layers to those who are trained to do it. Colette didn’t read from Mark, but I have a text © Grand Valley State University �Quest for Historical Jesus Richard A. Rhem Page 4   printed in the liturgy from Mark 3, where the word is out that Jesus, in the blossoming of his Galilean ministry, is out of his mind, and his mother gets his brothers and they go to bring him home because he’s "gone over the edge," according to rumor. Well, that kind of material, those who research would say, "You know, that’s not really very complimentary." That must have been such a hard nugget in that tradition, that they couldn’t wipe it out, although Matthew softened Mark, and Luke doesn’t refer to it at all. Jesus’ mother going after him and saying, "Come home, boy. You’ve lost it." In the Gospel of Luke we have this wonderful inaugural sermon of Jesus in his home synagogue. There he reads from the prophet Isaiah. It was the reading of the day apparently, and he read those words of the prophet, which were read here from Isaiah 61, except he left out one phrase. He said, "To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." Isaiah said, as was read here, "To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, the day of vengeance of our God." Jesus was a teddy bear. He didn’t like to talk about God’s vengeance. That’s why he up and left John the Baptist. John the Baptist was talking about the day of vengeance, because the year of the Lord’s favor for the righteous was a year of God’s vengeance on the wicked. So Jesus left that out. (Selective, huh, Jesus?) Or did Jesus read it, but Luke left it out? We can’t really tell, can we? Somebody left it out. Isaiah said, "To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, the day of vengeance of our God." Either Jesus left it out because it was contrary to where he was going, splitting off John the Baptist, or when he was splitting off John the Baptist, impressed somebody enough so that in the growing tradition there was a sense that Jesus was not about vengeance. How do you tell? Well, you ask John Dominic Crossan. It’s difficult to tell. We probably can’t tell, but do you see what this is all about, trying to get back as best we can to that concrete historical figure in the misty flats behind those Gospels. But if the biblical text is a problem, even a bigger problem is the growing creedal tradition of the Christian movement. Dom Crossan will tell us that Jesus was one of the dispossessed and destitute persons of lower Galilee and that his movement gathered those who had lost everything. They didn’t have to give up everything to follow Jesus; they didn’t have anything. They were an itinerant group that went about to proclaim — and this was the amazing thing about Jesus, he was able to say to the destitute of the world, "You can be kings and queens, you can live fully human. If you lose your life you will gain it; grasping life, you lose it." Jesus had something about him that made people stand and walk tall, from the inside out. So, whatever started as a proclamation of good news to the poorest of the poor, it was a social movement; it had political and economic implications. Then three centuries go by and there is a Roman vying for imperial power, and his name is familiar to you all, Constantine. In 312, he said, "Give me victory, I give you the empire." He wins, and Christianity becomes the established religion of the Roman Empire. Absolutely amazing, isn’t it when you think about it? Three hundred years and a leap from a peasant movement by the dispossessed to © Grand Valley State University �Quest for Historical Jesus Richard A. Rhem Page 5   imperial power, the religious establishment of the Roman Empire. But there were strings attached. Constantine called a church council. This is the emperor, now, calling a church council in 325, the Council of Nicaea. And like with the MBA boys, Constantine locked up the bishops and said, "Come out with a uniform statement about the nature of this one in relationship with God," and the Council of Nicaea came out with a creed, the Nicene Creed. If you are from the Catholic tradition, it’s the creed recited at every Mass. On the 21st of February here, our choir will chant the Nicene Creed. It will give you goose bumps. "Light of Light, God of God, before all worlds." Now, to celebrate their victory by coming out with a creed, Constantine threw the bishops a supper. There is a marvelous statement from the Church historian, Eusebius, who shows how the bishops walk through the rows of armed soldiers, the legionnaires. They walk into the royal apartments, into the depths, into the dining room where they recline on couches and sup with the emperor. Well, that’s seductive! I mean, it would be for any of us. When Nancy and I were watching the movie version of that marvelous novel, Thornbirds, at the part where Father Ralph is all regaled in brilliant red robes and he prostrates himself on that shiny marble of St. Peter’s, with all of the gold and glitter. I said to Nancy, "You know, I was made for glory." I mean, it’s seductive. Here we are a bunch of nobodies, and somebody invites us to a royal banquet. Well, I could distort quite a few texts, as a gift in turn. The Church tradition from that point on continually elevated its Christological statements, because, if the emperor is going to bow a knee to Jesus, Jesus better be the Lord of the universe. So he became Pantocrator — the ruling, reigning Jesus Christ, Lord of the worlds. I can understand how that happened. If it hadn’t happened, where would we be today? I don’t know. Could a poor, peasant movement in lower Galilee have ever swept the world without achieving that escalation? I don’t know. But, can you see that you would lose something too? Wouldn’t establishment take the heart out of that movement? Seems just like common sense that that inevitably is going to happen. You see, you’ve got layers in the text. Now you’ve got creedal layers in the tradition. So, how are you going to get back there? Or, why should you? Well, let me suggest that it’s important because the triumphalism of an imperial established church isn’t going over so well in our world today. Don’t we have a suspicion that the Church is not going to be the triumphant institution of the world? Don’t we realize that the great religious traditions are vying to gain their own positions in the sun? Aren’t we recognizing the necessity, the importance, the enhancement and enrichment of the interfaith dialogue? Elsie and Hung Liang are back in town, having buried their dear daughter Priscilla, and Elsie called and told about how Priscilla, being Chinese, raised in America, then living in Singapore, was part of a network in an international community, and a young Indian was so upset with her death that he went off to Nepal for a month of prayer and fasting. Buddhist friends gathered their © Grand Valley State University �Quest for Historical Jesus Richard A. Rhem Page 6   community in prayers for Priscilla and for the rest of her soul. What would you say if your daughter was dying, or if your daughter had died and somebody from another tradition said, "We’re praying for you." Would you say, "Could I check your creed to see if it has any credence?" Of course, you wouldn’t. We know these things down here. We know that all of us in the great movements of religious faith throughout the world are reaching for rest in that ultimate mystery of things. So, we live in a time of dis-establishment. That’s what Douglas Hall said to us when he was here that weekend. The Constantinian era is over. We live in a global community, in a pluralistic situation where there is mutual interfacing between the great religious traditions and a triumphalistic church, and a triumphalistic Lord Jesus Christ isn’t going to do it in our world. But, Jesus still does. The great Albert Schweitzer, concert organist, brilliant biblical scholar, theologian, by the age of thirty years had written his classic Quest of the Historical Jesus, had written about Paul and the kingdom, had been a pupil of Francois-Marie Voltaire and studied with Franz Liszt, and was a leading pupil who could have played the organ around the world. He was an accomplished theologian and accomplished musician, and he goes to medical school at the age of thirty to learn to be a doctor to go to Africa, where he lived his life out in that humanitarian gift to those people. Why? In his Quest of the Historical Jesus, from which our hymn came, because it is his poetic words, "He comes to us as one unknown." He says that Jesus was wrong, dead wrong, he got it wrong. Jesus thought the end was near. Jesus thought he could get God to act. Jesus, in a desperate action, cast himself on the wheel of history and it didn’t budge . . . and then it began to move and it crushed him. Jesus, Albert Schweitzer said, was wrong. Dominic Crossan will tell that further research has said that probably Jesus did not expect an imminent end of the world, but that’s another story. For Schweitzer, Jesus was wrong . . . a marvelous martyr. But, did he leave Christianity? No! Instead, he emulated Jesus and went to Africa. He gave up promising careers in music and in theology and he became a doctor for people in Africa. Why? Because Jesus got to him, that Jesus who was the embodiment of God, by the Spirit of God, that same Spirit moving in a Schweitzer who says, "Jesus was wrong about that," therefore, certainly not this exulted creedal Christ. But, by God, he’s what being human is all about. It is what following God is all about. It is about using world communities, which is what Jesus was all about. Schweitzer followed Jesus, and I want to follow Jesus. And, I believe you want to follow Jesus. That’s why it’s so critical that we get the best take on it we can, because the closer we look, the better he looks. References: Albert Schweitzer. Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede. Dover Publications; Dover Ed Edition, 2005. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9707698d29a31212ad74d66c0b429689.mp3 6b8efa5c9e40c4959c8964f6c6ea3e12 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Epiphany IV Series Q & Q: The Religious Quest and Question Scripture Text Mark 3:20-21, Luke 4:23 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Albert Schweitzer, Quest of the Historical Jesus, 1906 2006 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19990124 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-01-24 Title A name given to the resource The Quest for the Historical Jesus Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 24, 1999 entitled "The Quest for the Historical Jesus", as part of the series "Q & Q: The Religious Quest and Question", on the occasion of Epiphany IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Mark 3:20-21, Luke 4:23. Historical Jesus Nature of God https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4925e741dd1be796201649fa2dbcb6a8.mp3 d107733bbc4825c3cfc56c56344731ca Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Midweek Lent Scripture Text Micah 7:18-20, I John 4:7-8, 12, 15, 19, John 1:1-5, 14-18, 12:20-26 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20030312 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-03-12 Title A name given to the resource The Question of God and Human Meaning Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 12, 2003 entitled "The Question of God and Human Meaning ", on the occasion of Midweek Lent, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Micah 7:18-20, I John 4:7-8, 12, 15, 19, John 1:1-5, 14-18, 12:20-26. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/95da6d57450014a47022f235252d9646.mp3 1b886c516419b8229d383d70a1ae608a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5f1364ad238a8f3fc7de4b605108324c.pdf 5a9ce24aac6bebdf54a03c202d5b3428 PDF Text Text The Question That Will Not Go Away From the series: The God Question Text: Psalm 42:2; Job 23:3; John 3:9 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan February 20, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon While away on vacation, I was so glad, although I celebrated my 65th birthday, that I did not retire because I am still wrestling with the God Question. It is the question that will not go away. I find the God Question more fascinating with every passing year - and I've been thinking about it again intentionally, reading and reflecting, knowing I would be engaging with you, on my return, in conversation about God. Conversation about God, not with God. Ah, that is the problem, of course. You come longing for the experience of God and I speak to you about God. There is a difference, of course, a vast difference, the difference between experience and thought. The one is existential, the other intellectual, and every time I attempt to deal with the God Question in a sermon, I am sharply aware of the dilemma. How can I speak so as to create the possibility of some experience of God, some brush with Grace, without simply engaging your mind, your intellect. Can we think our way to experience? Let me be clear; I am painfully aware of the dilemma, but yet would claim that there is an important place for thoughtful reflection on the God question, lest our experience be devoid of understanding. And further, I would contend that the experience of the sacred that we have from time to time cries out for understanding. And so, let us begin - acknowledging the difficulty, being clear that our aim is not simply knowledge, but experience, or experience illumined by understanding. Religion is the quest for God and the great religions of the world point to the Mystery beyond human comprehension - beyond the change and decay that marks our common experience, the shifting tides of human opinion and practices - the Mystery that is sought as the truly Real, the final resting place of the restless human quest, the source and ground of being and the goal toward which all presses. © Grand Valley State University   �The Question That Will Not Go Away Richard A. Rhem Page 2   This human longing for God is well documented in our story, the biblical story. The story of Job in the Hebrew Scriptures is a powerful and eloquent witness to the struggle to find God in the midst of human suffering. Determined not to yield to the popular theology and conventional wisdom of his day, Job refuses to accept the idea that suffering is the punishment of God for sin and wrongdoing. In the midst of his debate with those miserable comforters who visited him, he cries out, "Oh, that I knew where I might find God; that I might come even to his dwelling! ... I go forward – he is not there – or backward, I cannot perceive him. On the left he hides, and I cannot behold him." Oh, that I knew where I might find God. Indeed! Or the Psalmist, again one whose soul is cast down, suggesting that it is most often at life's extremity that the God Question obtrudes itself writes, "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?" Job is a drama, not an historical account; the Psalmist is a poet writing a hymn. This is the stuff of poetry and theater because we are dealing with the depths of human experience, the longing for some clue or glimpse or token that our human existence has meaning, some significance, that it is not simply sound and fury, a tale told by an idiot. But it need not always be triggered by suffering or threat. Sometimes life experience itself simply raises the question - what is the meaning of it all? Nicodemus was a religious teacher, a rabbi, and in his own spiritual quest and questioning, he came to Jesus to ask about the God Question, to which Jesus responded with the familiar, "You must be born again," or "from above," pointing, of course, to a spiritual illumination beyond the capacity of pure intellectual, rational thinking. And Nicodemus reflected what we must all feel at some time - "How can this be?" My soul longs for God. Oh, that I knew where I might find God. How can this be? Born from above? And while I am not naive enough to believe that we all awoke this morning with the thought, "Thank God it's Sunday! I shall arise and go to worship and have an experience of God," nonetheless, we have gathered here in this sacred space - we have prayed and sung hymns of praise and longing, and we place ourselves before the Word, the story and the sermon – and, so doing, indicate even if unconsciously our longing for some touch of Divine Grace. The God Question - the question that will not go away. What a fascinating quest is this quest for God, and this is a great time in which to be engaged in the quest © Grand Valley State University �The Question That Will Not Go Away Richard A. Rhem Page 3   and question - the God Question is alive and well. It will not go away ever for long, but it is my sense that there is more open discussion about God, about the spiritual life, than has been true in my lifetime, and with the vast communication networks of our world, the God question flourishes as never before. The excellent British news magazine, The Economist, has a regular feature at the end of every issue entitled simply "Obituary." It features the death of some significant person from whatever area of life. The last issue of the 20th century, dated 12-31-99, a special millennium issue, was given over to God. It began, When your friends start looking for proof of your existence, you're heading for trouble. That was God's situation as the millennium got into its stride. Under the portrait (of whose imagination it doesn't say), are the words, After a lengthy career, the Almighty recently passed into history. Or did He? And to let it be known that the editors did not really think they had written God's obituary, the piece suggests near the end that as the 19th century ended, Nietzsche announced God was dead, but the Superman Nietzsche promised never got born and the Communist promise was never realized - the people did not agree; and the corpse just wouldn't lie down. He popped up in the oddest places. A. N. Wilson, the English writer, published last year a wonderful work on the 19th century entitled God's Funeral, a review of significant thinkers, poets, writers, politicians, and churchmen of the 19th century who saw the exploding knowledge of the modern world work its acid of doubt into the form of traditional Christian faith and God talk. The title comes from a deeply moving poem by Thomas Hardy in which he portrays the funeral procession bearing away the God figure that had informed the Christian faith for 19 centuries and Judaism before that. The poem is full of sadness and longing expressing great loss. But Wilson knows, too, the suggestion of "God's Funeral" is premature. The opening words of the preface are, "The God-Question does not go away." Another 1999 volume, Working on God by Winifred Gallagher, is a sixties person's account of reaching her forties having "dismissed religion as anachronistic wish fulfillment - half Brothers Grimm, half Hallmark, dreadful at worst and limited at best - that failed to jibe with my accumulating knowledge and experience." Gallagher chronicles her search for God or for some spiritual reality, returning to investigate her Catholic Christian roots, the Jewish tradition of her husband, and the Buddhism to which she was attracted as a spiritual seeker. She coins the phrase neoagnostic for her kind - those who long since gave up on traditional, institutional religion, becoming modern super-achievers, super consumers, now repelled by blind ambition and workaholism. "Rugged individuals" who were living on empty with low-grade alienation. She describes what is a growing phenomenon in our time – “millennial religion” is her term for it - the spiritual quest of so many who have given up on church and synagogue, © Grand Valley State University �The Question That Will Not Go Away Richard A. Rhem Page 4   dogmatic claims and moral certainties, who yet recognize a void in their lives that can be filled only by an authentic spiritual dimension. Three big questions Gallagher suggests motivate such seekers -What is real? What do I feel? What are my choices? I am struck by the contrasting situation of our culture as we begin the third millennium to the culture to which I addressed my early preaching. Ordained in 1960, that early preaching was in the context of the breakdown of much that had marked western civilization and certainly the institutional forms of society in politics, religion and social mores. In the early 60s, Harvey Cox, Harvard Professor of Theology, published a bestselling volume entitled The Secular City, which celebrated a new day for our culture, marked by the secular. His intention was to find ways to find God in a secular culture that had thrown off traditional religious forms and practices. I took that book to Europe with me in 1967, arriving there on March 1. The Time magazine issue published just before I left for Europe had a black cover with huge red letters that asked "Is God Dead?" Harvey Cox was attempting to address that cultural situation. Now Cox has written again. There have been several volumes from his pen, but the latest is Fire From Heaven, a study of the world-wide phenomenon of Pentecostalism, in which he sees a global spiritual renewal. In the preface, he writes, Even before I started my journey through the world of Pentecostalism, it had become obvious that instead of the "death of God" some theologians pronounced not many years ago, or the waning of religion that sociologists had extrapolated, something quite different had taken place. Perhaps I was too young and impressionable when the scholars made those sobering projections. In any case, I had swallowed them all too easily and had tried to think about what their theological consequence might be. But, it had now become clear that the predictions themselves had been wrong. Cox writes that the prediction of eroding participation in "Mother Church" was right, but what was not foreseen was the disillusionment with the promise of secularism and science to bring in a new day. What emerged was a spiritual wasteland. A final sign of the spiritual landscape of our time: Upon my return last week there was a package in the mail, a book, gift of the author sent out by the publisher. It was Karen Armstrong's volume just now becoming available entitled The Battle for God, a study of the phenomenon of fundamentalism - Christian, Jewish and Muslim - in our present cultural-religious situation. I can hardly wait to get into it; maybe before this brief series ends I will have something to share from Karen Armstrong's massive research. © Grand Valley State University �The Question That Will Not Go Away Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Do you sense the vitality and the dynamism of the present discussion of the God Question? Do you not find it fascinating that this question that will not go away is so widely recognized and discussed in our time? Let me conclude by saying how privileged I feel to be in a community like this where we can live together the God Question, acknowledging the Mystery while recognizing that that Mystery will be experienced in wholly new circumstances by means of fresh insight offered by the ongoing explosion of human knowledge and experience. The great religious traditions have changed and evolved over the centuries to accommodate new human experience. It is so today and will be so tomorrow. And what pleases me and stimulates me is that we have moved beyond a certain dogmatic system and rigid biblical interpretation that disallowed a wide-eyed openness to the ongoing saga of the human story. We are a free people, serious in our engagement with the Ultimate Mystery of our existence, open to fresh winds of the Spirit, yearning for the brush with grace in this amazing cosmic drama. Oh, that I knew where I might find God! My soul longs for God, the living God! Hear this word of assurance - "You shall search for me and you shall surely find me when you seek me with all your heart." References: Harvey Cox. Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the 21st Century. Da Capo Press, 2001. Winifred Gallagher. Working on God. Modern Library Paperbacks, 2000. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Epiphany VII Series The God Question Scripture Text Psalm 42:2, Job 23:3, John 3:9 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Harvey Cox. Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the 21st Century, 2001. Winifred Gallagher. Working on God, 2000. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000220 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-02-20 Title A name given to the resource The Question That Will Not Go Away Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on February 20, 2000 entitled "The Question That Will Not Go Away", as part of the series "The God Question", on the occasion of Epiphany VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 42:2, Job 23:3, John 3:9. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Hunger for God Meaning Spiritual Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dca5b6012803d657d610ab5fbc57535a.pdf 3f33dfe5aa55610c41c235afad8bc53a PDF Text Text The Question: Q & Q, Not Q & A From the series: Q & Q: The Religious Quest and Question Scripture: John 23:1-10, Luke 4:1-13 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Epiphany, January 17, 1999 Transcription of the spoken sermon My Epiphany series continues. The theme, "Q & Q: The Religious Quest and Question," points to the vision of the Center for Religion and Life that we are inaugurating, as I announced last Sunday. That vision assumes a religious quest as intrinsic to human existence. That quest is triggered by the questions that confront our human awareness. The particular mark of our vision is that in our quest we uncover the questions that meet us in our human experience and that the clarifying of those ultimate questions is the purpose of the quest. As the title of today’s sermon indicates, at Christ Community we understand our human journey as one marked by Quest and Question, Q & Q, rather than Q & A, Question and Answer. I touched on this last week when pointing to the religious quest. Institutional religion has been in the Q & A model, not Q & Q. The very fact that a religious founding experience - such as Moses at the burning bush, or the life and death of Jesus – ever achieves institutional form is because answers are provided to the human questions. A picture is painted, a story is woven, a ritual develops to channel devotion, a way of living is prescribed, and a people is formed who shape a tradition and there emerges: Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam. If I were to put my finger on the significant transformations in my own faith understanding in recent years, one would be in the area of the nature of religion. I learned from my mentor Hendrikus Berkhof in The Netherlands 30 years ago that every religion has three aspects -a teaching or dogma; a ritual or form of worship; and, a moral code or way of life. More recently, I have come to understand that every great religious tradition begins in a founding experience - Moses at the burning bush leading to the Exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, Jesus’ life and death and the experience of his living presence still in the community. Professor Boyd Wilson, with us again for a few weeks, could relate such founding moments for all the © Grand Valley State University   �Q & Q, Not Q & A Richard A. Rhem Page 2   great traditions and he could go on to portray how those founding experiences led to the shaping of a tradition, a world view. Some of us are studying a work by Gordon Kaufman, In Face of Mystery, in which he demonstrates that a religious tradition, be it Christian or any other, is a creative, imaginative, human structure by which a people has gained orientation for life, a life-map for the human journey. Those life-maps answer the questions raised by our human experience, give a sense of meaning and purpose to human life, and reflect God’s being and intention. For me, that understanding has been liberating, for I have come to see our respective religious systems and institutional forms as human creations rather than Divine givens. This has been a great part of my freedom to examine critically my own tradition and to be open to the insights and values of other traditions seeing them not as false paths and a threat to the one true way, but complementary ways of responding to the Ultimate Mystery that is God. If my religion, the Christian religion, was the direct result of God’s structuring rather than human response to God’s revelation as the Ultimate Mystery of our existence, then I am struck with it so to speak, no matter what further unfolding of knowledge there is about the universe or further development of human history. Then I have a religious structure that arose in an ancient time as Divinely authorized but incapable of making sense of the exploding knowledge of the world, the human being and human culture. But, if I understand it as an authentic response to the experience of God in an ancient time with a developed story and developing tradition, then I can be part of an ongoing transformation of its insights and teachings. Then I stand within my religious tradition and seek understanding of the mystery of my existence before the face of the Ultimate Mystery that we call God. Then I come to realize that I must continue the quest because the questions are mine and I must live with them because that is the very nature of being human; we are historical beings. Our lives are lived in the unfolding story of history, which is part of the unfolding of cosmic history of billions of years of spatial dimensions beyond our capacity even to imagine. How will we find our way? Let me suggest that, given the nature of being human, that is, being historical, in movement into the future with further unfolding the constant experience, we can do no more than clarify the questions that drive our quest -Ultimate Questions – another way to describe religious questions, because when they are consciously faced, we are on the religious quest which is a quest for meaning. How, then, do we live in the dynamic movement that is our history? © Grand Valley State University �Q & Q, Not Q & A Richard A. Rhem Page 3   By faith, trust in God - trust which rests without knowing. It is not that we do not think nor that we are without knowledge which arises out of our thinking and experience. And we do not begin with a clean slate as though we are the first creatures to ask deep questions. But, it is precisely our human situation of being caught up in the stream of history that makes all our answers provisional, tentative, and open to critique. Faith is a gift and a choice. A gift - bestowed by the Spirit, but also a choice before the mystery of our existence. We are not dealing with that dimension of reality that is subject to verification through the scientific method. In light of experience, through serious thinking, a religious tradition develops and we are nurtured in it, find a place to stand within it, an attitude of trust grows and we find meaning, direction; we have a life-map which gives us a sense of orientation. We trust. We live by faith. But, knowledge grows, experience widens, new questions arise, and we bring new discovery and fresh experience to our religious tradition, causing that tradition to adjust to assimilate the new. Ultimate questions keep us on the quest. The quest raises new questions that challenge our belief system, forcing us to find a more adequate understanding of our human existence. There is an interesting dialogue going on at present in the Christian Church. Some weeks ago I mentioned an article in The Christian Century by the Sociologist of Religion, Peter Berger, who addressed the question of "Protestantism and the Quest for Certainty." Berger is a sociologist; he observes what is actually going on with people and social institutions. He expresses precisely what I have been trying to describe above - that history has brought us to a situation of pluralism where much that was taken for granted and never questioned suddenly no longer can be simply taken for granted because we become aware of alternative news and responses. That is our world. We are living with this every day. Recognizing there is within the human mind and heart the quest for certainty, at least on the most important question, there is tension set up in the human soul and we may be tempted to a radical relativism, even nihilism, denying any Truth accessible to human cognition, or, to fundamentalism and even fanaticism. References: Gordon Kaufman. In Face of Mystery: A Constructive Theology. Harvard University Press, 1995. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/48390cfb7bbaa87948a1a4968b2ff271.mp3 e47b2fd43102886009e43cc2970645e1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Epiphany III Series Q & Q: The Religious Quest and Question Scripture Text John 23:1-10, Luke 4:1-13 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19990117 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-01-17 Title A name given to the resource The Question: Q & Q, Not Q & A Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 17, 1999 entitled "The Question: Q & Q, Not Q & A", as part of the series "Q & Q: The Religious Quest and Question", on the occasion of Epiphany III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 23:1-10, Luke 4:1-13. Mystery Nature of Religion Religious Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b8dc508c0fee15c3e0389e8de4a497bc.jpg d232f69fe410faff4d127122daa121db Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Michigan Novels Collection. PZ7.F69 Ra 1905 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0232 Title A name given to the resource The Rainbow Bridge Description An account of the resource Binding of The Rainbow Bridge, by Frances Margaret Fox, published by L. C. Page & Company, 1905. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1905 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0883b4c97be1a70a2e3f09449413970a.mp3 fce42e29e3876f19f6ceb22d730def8d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/30881c2be670114fdf820cdd059c0fbb.pdf 7c5f3fecd36548018d9552e96bca5fca PDF Text Text The Re-Visioning of a Dream th 200 Anniversary of the Constitution of the United States of America Text: Exodus 2:23-24 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Independence Day Weekend, July 5, 1987 Transcription of the spoken sermon As we celebrate our nation's independence and the foundation of her freedom on the 200th anniversary of the Constitution, we must re-vision the dream that came to birth, rooted in God's purpose for the whole human family. To remember is to find the basis of hope, for in remembering our past, we discover anew who we are and what we are destined to be. On this Independence Day weekend, I would point you back, not only to 1776 and the Declaration of Independence, but also back to 1787 and the signing of the Constitution which has been the charter of the freedom we have enjoyed for two centuries. In doing so, I am not simply observing a national holiday, suspending for one Sunday our custom of listening to the biblical word. Rather, I am seeking to place what has happened in the American experience within the larger context of the biblical word, for I am convinced the measure of freedom, dignity and justice that has been achieved in our nation's history is reflective of God's revealed will for all God's children. My purpose then is not simply to celebrate the past, but to remember the past in order to find the pattern and the inspiration to bring the blessings we have enjoyed to an ever-wider circle of earth's children. In May 1787, 55 delegates from twelve of the thirteen states gathered in Philadelphia for a Constitutional Convention. The heady days of 1776 and newly won independence had finally been ratified in the Peace of Paris in 1783, but that newly won independence was by now severely strained. The new nation was a confederacy of sovereign states - thirteen sovereign states - not altogether unlike the present European Confederation bound together for purposes of trade. A confederacy is a weak instrument and the respective state legislatures wanted it to stay that way. States rights were the first concern, especially among the more numerous small states that feared being swallowed up by the larger states of Virginia, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. Each state was jealous of its own sovereignty and, without a common enemy to fight, Americans seemed incapable of preserving their union. “Lycurgus,” a pseudonymous writer in the New Haven Gazette complained that the union under the Articles of © Grand Valley State University   �The Re-Visioning of a Dream Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Confederation “is not a union of sentiment - it is not a union of interest; - it is not a union to be seen - or felt - or in any manner perceived." Antifederalists believed that the preservation of republican liberties won by the Revolution depended on maintaining the sovereignty and independence of the States. John Francis Mercer spoke for the Antifederalists when he declared that he was "persuaded that the People of so large a Continent, so different in interests, so distinct in habits," could not be adequately represented in a single legislature. Patrick Henry, the great orator of the Revolution, would have nothing to do with a central government; Virginia was doing just fine. There were other voices, however, representing a larger vision. George Washington came out of retirement to participate in the Convention, becoming its chairman; James Madison clearly articulated the urgency and critical importance of a strong federal government, warning that, without it, the 13 states simply would not survive. Indeed, in Europe there was little confidence that the fledgling nation would survive and Britain, France and Spain were simply waiting in the wings to move in. The initial years of independence were a sorry tale of weakness and incapacity to govern. Only that authority freely given by the States to the Confederate government could be exercised. There was no power to enact legislation or impose taxes. In the summer of 1786 farmers in Western Massachusetts determined to shut down the courts that were threatening foreclosure on their lands due to unpaid taxes. Shays' rebellion, as it was called, shocked the nation. The impossibility of governing under the present structure was recognized and a Constitutional Convention was called for May of 1787. One month before the Convention, Madison said the hurdles confronting any reform (of the Articles of Confederation) were so great that they ''would inspire despair in any case where the alternative was less formidable." The Convention was called for May 14; it actually began May 25 and serious discussion got underway on May 29. With only one recess, the Convention met for six days a week from 4 to 8 hours a day until September 17, when the document was signed. It was a steamy, hot, humid summer in Philadelphia. One breath followed another with difficulty. Windows had to be kept closed because of the swarms of stinging flies. Madison arrived eleven days early, drafting the Virginia Plan which became the Convention agenda. The smaller states were threatened and unyielding. On June 14, William Paterson of New Jersey submitted the New Jersey Plan as an alternative to the Virginia Plan, more to the liking of the small states. The Convention deadlocked. A committee was appointed to work out a compromise which was offered on July 5, debated until July 14 and finally affirmed on July 16. The compromise was approved by a five to four vote. From then on it was a © Grand Valley State University �The Re-Visioning of a Dream Richard A. Rhem Page 3   matter of working out the details. By September 17 our Constitution was signed, ready to be ratified by the respective states. Madison was disappointed. He felt he had lost on critical issues. It fell to Ben Franklin, 81, the wise elder statesman, to present the document for signing. He said, When you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudice, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly, can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of Babel ... Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. Franklin had himself made compromise. He asked that "every member of the Convention who may still have objections to it would, with me on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility." The Constitution of the United States is an amazing document that has served us well and has become a model for nations around the globe. Someone has said it is our most important export. What this document, hammered out in the oppressive heat of a Philadelphia Summer, has created and enabled is the highest achievement of human government and for our priceless heritage we offer thanks to the providence of Almighty God. The freedom envisioned, the human dignity recognized, the imperative of justice decreed is a reflection of the intention of the God we worship, our Creator and our redeemer through Jesus Christ. To support that contention, I point you to the Scripture lesson from the Old Testament, the Book of Exodus. The story is familiar. Israel is in the bondage of slavery in Egypt. In the oppressive situation of unbearable servitude, Israel cries to the Lord. In our text we hear that God hears, God understands, God is aware and God responds to a people in bondage and in darkness. God responds to that situation of His people in bondage because He is a God Who wills the freedom and the dignity of all His children. Consequently, He moves in a redemptive way to bring His people out of Egypt, and we hear that clarion call "Set my people free!" God is a God of freedom Who wills freedom for His people. God is the God of freedom Who wills that there will be justice in human relationships. God is the God Who is on the side of the marginalized against those who would oppress them, for God would have all God's children free, living with dignity, with justice for all. © Grand Valley State University �The Re-Visioning of a Dream Richard A. Rhem Page 4   In the story of the Exodus, we have the God of Israel, the God of freedom, the God of justice pitted against the Egyptian gods who were the gods of the empire. Egypt was a mighty empire. It had its Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh had his gods. Perhaps you've seen the old Cecil B. DeMille rendition of the Ten Commandments, and remember that story dramatized by Hollywood. Pharaoh had his gods, and the gods of Egypt, as the gods of all the great empires, are captive to the empire. The gods of that kind of given natural system of things conceive of a connection between the throne and the altar. The gods baptize the status quo. Pharaoh co-opted his gods. Pharaoh used his gods to keep order. The people of Egypt, under the tutelage of the gods of Egypt, became the compliant servants of the order of Egypt. And Pharaoh wanted to keep it that way. Things were going very well; the budget was being met and the bricks were being produced. And then, as so often happens in human affairs, Pharaoh becomes obsessed with the question of security and his greed demands greater productivity. He looks at the Israelites and he begins to imagine a threat there. He said to his advisors, "Let's put them down. They're valuable to us. They could become dangerous to us. If we are to maintain rule, authority and order in the land, the Israelites must be oppressed." Well, you know the story, one of the most familiar of all the scriptures. Pharaoh didn't recognize that his state cult gods were no match for the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God Who revealed Himself to Moses as the God Who said, "I am Who I am," or "I will be Who I will be," or simply, "I will be there!" The God of Israel, the Creator God, the Redeeming God, the God Who was for human freedom, Who was the advocate of human justice and compassion, overcame the gods of the Egyptians, and finally the mighty Pharaoh was brought to his knees, and Israel was set free! The early founding vision of our nation finds rootage in the God of the scriptures. The dream that was born here 200 years ago is a dream that was inspired by the God of the Bible. Don't hear me as saying that all of our founding fathers were great Christian evangelical believers. But they were rooted in the biblical tradition of the God Who creates and Who ensures human dignity and stands for human freedom. And consequently, our founding reflected a dream nurtured in the revelation of the biblical God. Now, I suggest to you this morning that 200 years later it's time to re-vision the dream. It's not enough to celebrate the past. It's not enough to give gratitude for the great blessings we have received. It is time for us, as the people of God, within this nation highly blessed, to recognize that we are called to be the gadflies in society, to raise the prophetic voice in the midst of our own nation, to remind Washington, the President, the Cabinet and the Congress that now the players have reversed their roles. Now we, as citizens of this nation, represent the established and entrenched power structure of the world. Now it is to us that the God of freedom would say, "As your dream was born 200 years ago, a dream nurtured in My Will for all My children, so now remember when you have come © Grand Valley State University �The Re-Visioning of a Dream Richard A. Rhem Page 5   of age and now that you are in power that I am as concerned for the freedoms, the human dignity and the justice of the Black in South Africa and the Latino in South America and Central America as ever I was for the slaves in America or the patriots of the Revolution of 1776. Now, America, that you have climbed to the place of power in the world, my challenge to you," says Almighty God, "is to use your power for the humanization of all of society and the liberation of all My children. It is for you, United States of America, on this your 200th anniversary of that great document, to become the liberator, not the oppressor. To move for the continuing change within society throughout the whole world, not the maintenance of the status quo." As I was reflecting on this, I thought about our Dutch Reformed cousins in South Africa who believe in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and who must wince when they read the story of the Exodus and they hear old Pharaoh say, "Look, folks, those people are becoming more than we. If we don't hold them down, one day they may rise up and take our place." And from pulpits in that land the doctrine of Apartheid has been advocated, although maybe there's just a little chink in the armor now. I think about those who are living in fear and poverty and darkness in Latin America. As one thinks of people around the world striving for freedom and human dignity, one realizes that we Christians in America have forgotten that there is a higher claim upon us than to be responsible citizens of a nation. There is a higher call, a prior claim; it is a claim to be a people of God in the midst of a nation concerned for the wellbeing of the whole world. Martin Luther King said it, "I have a dream!" The prophets were those who had dreams. Moses was one who could imagine something different. Do you think that in Egypt the average Israelite could even imagine anything different? He cried in his grief, but there was needed someone to speak the word of freedom and human dignity, to speak in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Who would set them free. The prophets were those who dreamed a dream, who created a vision and who stirred people to respond to the compelling call of the liberating God! So today, as well. How easily we get co-opted into believing that the ultimate questions are questions of national security or national preservation or national aggrandizement, or being No. 1 in the world, and we forget that the call to us as a people of God is to be responsible to Caesar and totally obedient to God Who is interested in all His children, black or white, Gentile or Jew, Protestant or Catholic, American or Russian; to know that we are called to be a people who continue to dream the dream nurtured in the Scriptures that reveals the God of freedom Who wills freedom for all His people. There is a group in this country spreading across the states in a network of concern called, "A World Beyond War." Can you even imagine it? If you had been in that hot, humid, fly-infested, steamy Summer of Philadelphia in 1787, you © Grand Valley State University �The Re-Visioning of a Dream Richard A. Rhem Page 6   would have gone to that convention convinced that it was impossible. Again, even James Madison said that the hurdles confronting any reform were so great that they "would inspire despair in any case where the alternative was less formidable." But, someone had a dream, and the dream became reality. We get too used to thinking in traditional ways; we get buried in a rut; we can't even dream anymore. But I tell you God calls us, as His people, to dream dreams and to see visions. Can you imagine a world beyond war? Can you imagine a world where all God's children could stand together in human dignity with justice for all? It's time, friends, to shed the posture of self-preservation, to stop worrying about our security, to become once again a pilgrim people under the Lordship of the Eternal God Who faithfully, as with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses and our Lord Jesus Christ, would lead all His children to freedom. It's time to revision the dream, to dream it all over again in all its radical newness! Amen. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Independence Day Sunday Pentecost IV Scripture Text Exodus 2:23-24 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19870705 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-07-05 Title A name given to the resource The Re-Visioning of a Dream Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 5, 1987 entitled "The Re-Visioning of a Dream", on the occasion of Independence Day Sunday, Pentecost IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Exodus 2:23-24. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Freedom History of the Constitution Independence Day Re-vision Vision https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/335b93ce5cf15ebbf6757e490e6dde09.jpg 70e172f86a78edaf33a7ce6e41aa5e89 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6b6c524727d3ae1df01c0995b761e784.jpg fbf48777b183f2c7748a480635862be8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The real Declaration of Independence Description An account of the resource Design shows the scene of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with "The Real Declaration of Independence which took place in Phila., July 4th, 1776." Design in blue on white envelope. Magee, 316 Checknut St. Phila. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-49_PE021 Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Postal service--United States--History Covers (Philatety)--United States--History Patriotic envelopes Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War patriotic envelopes, (RHC-49)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a5ff7fbc76d7d6b1d4e50bf2d387ee7d.jpg 147c520e62e1103b0de09c76e5bca3dc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_1986-Real-Inspector-Hound_004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986 Title A name given to the resource The Real Inspector Hound (theater production), 1986 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 1986 production of "The Real Inspector Hound," by Tom Stoppard. This image shows the actors on a small stage surrounded by audience members. The lighting is dark and smoke fills the air. In the center of the stage is a man dressed like a Sherlock Holmes style detective and holding a megaphone and a woman in an evening gown and grasping a long cigarette holder. A maid waits in the corner and a man in an old fashioned wheel chair watches them from across the stage. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 1986s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/280b71cc0ea37798c9dfc02f943dbe3f.jpg 1b66fadab290f93dd123b95bba1c3607 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_1986-Real-Inspector-Hound_007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986 Title A name given to the resource The Real Inspector Hound (theater production), 1986 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 1986 production of "The Real Inspector Hound," by Tom Stoppard. This image shows five actors on a small stage surrounded by audience members. To the right are a man in an old fashioned wheel chair and an elegant woman, to the left a man points accusingly, and in the back two women, one dressed as a main, look on in shock. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 1986s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c6985289dee24ead00485b135a6097ae.jpg 851287445067a60ea6cea297fcc7209d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_1986-Real-Inspector-Hound_008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986 Title A name given to the resource The Real Inspector Hound (theater production), 1986 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 1986 production of "The Real Inspector Hound," by Tom Stoppard. An image of the nine cast members arranged around a floral sofa. All are dressed in suits or evening attire. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 1986s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3939a4d33cc2432b65ace823ccf172a3.jpg a517e233427cd961b384665a73ffdd1c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_1986-Real-Inspector-Hound_019 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986 Title A name given to the resource The Real Inspector Hound (theater production), 1986 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 1986 production of "The Real Inspector Hound," by Tom Stoppard. In this image an elegant woman in pearls looks directly at the camera. On the right, a man in a sweater and suit jacket looks intently at her and raises his arm to point dramatically at the ceiling. In the background, out of focus, another man sits and looks into the distance. Behind the actors, the empty seats of the auditorium can be seen. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 1986s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6a58f7e51e417a0740de66226cab0a3a.jpg 6b66321cf433713df0802466b0dff8e8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_1986-Real-Inspector-Hound_022 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986 Title A name given to the resource The Real Inspector Hound (theater production), 1986 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 1986 production of "The Real Inspector Hound," by Tom Stoppard. In this image a woman dressed as a maid holds a feather duster and looks mischievously at the camera. The set behind her is dressed with houseplants and thick smoke. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 1986s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1620a3587c68d0f5bb3308ffcfb5b789.jpg 23b232dedb18f8c688fc45ec6e8cbfa8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_1986-Real-Inspector-Hound_025 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986 Title A name given to the resource The Real Inspector Hound (theater production), 1986 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 1986 production of "The Real Inspector Hound," by Tom Stoppard. In the foreground of this image a man holding the six of spades grimaces at the camera. Behind him are three other actors standing around the card table. The men are dressed in jackets and the women in evening gowns. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 1986s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f14c7d8627cd5668f13f7efe3dc3b544.jpg 901ddbb9467bbc34307e33e606e40340 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Michigan Novels Collection. PS3539.H985 R4 1903 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0005 Title A name given to the resource The Red-Keggers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bradley, Will (Cover Designer) Description An account of the resource Binding of The Red-Keggers, by Eugene Thwing, illustrated by W. Herbert Dutton, published by Grosset & Dunlap, 1903. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1903 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/662411871ef60c16f1d9f5af4bd78e30.jpg 040646ec349b2af3021195fde0ff70c9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS3513.O75 R44 1900 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0415 Title A name given to the resource The Redemption of David Corson Description An account of the resource Binding of The Redemption of David Corson, by Charles Frederic Goss, published by The Bowen Merrill Company, 1900. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1900 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a4ddfaf2c972dd9bcb48850bcbb93191.jpg 637ee3ddbffccf2dcf4e933ecc7b70d0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS1034 .R44 1900 c.2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0109 Title A name given to the resource The Reign of Law: A Tale of the Kentucky Hemp Fields Description An account of the resource Binding of The Reign of Law: A Tale of the Kentucky Hemp Fields, by James Lane Allen, published by Macmillan & Co., 1900. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1900 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a75ad276650f11b876b56e946e94ace0.pdf 211bc6703d7fd2c698b273368cf50f14 PDF Text Text 1 THE RELIGI ON OF N.Z:tZIS!Vl The religious qua lity in man is o n e of the things -r:.hctt distinguishes him from an ima l s . ,-:es h.im maJ There is something in man that seek for some Great Power, Perfect Being , or Autho r ity as an object of worship and a source of inspirdtion . Nazism was ab l e to satisf y these religious needs by establish in g the " racial sou l" as a higher power and by inspirin g the German people t o strive toward the atta.inme nt of purity and p e rf e ction . The appeal of t he Nazi religion is r ooted in the ego of ma n. Nazism is self-g l or i fy i ng . of a god . Man can rai se himself to the p o sition The attainment of perfection is within his reach . When beginning a study of the Nazi religion , it is important to real ize that, unl i ke oth e r rel i gions , Nazism did not hold to be liefs that transcended beyond th is world to some heavenly region . In fact, Nazism made no attempts to ide ntif y a re a li ty outside the bounderies of political power and social order. It was a se cul ar iz ed re lig i on. Nazism, however , like any religion, d i d have its own gods , but the god of the Na ~i religion was not some supernatural being . It was rather the natural (the German race) raised to a supernatural level. This transformation of the natural into the superna tural is exemplified by the deification of Nazi l e aders , the establishment of the will of the people , as it was expressed by the Fuhrer, as the divi~e wi ll, �2 and the Nazi belief that supreme truth and perfection would be reveale d by the purification and domination of the Arya n r ac e . In short, Nazism turned the human into the divine . Vol k becarne the object of worship. had become their own gods. The people or In a sense, the German p e ople The personal God that is revered by othe r relig ions as an all-powerful, supernatural b e ing is openly denied by Naz ism and regarded as a myth. Althou gh the seculari zed religion denies t he existance of the all-p owerful, supernatural being that other religions reve r e as God, Nazism.does contain many religious e l ements . We will n ow begin our ana lysis of the Nazi reli g ion by identifying s e vera l elements of Nazism that are comparable to those f ound i n other more familiar reli g ions. To beg in with, Nazism, like all other r e ligions, had its own ceremon i es , rituals, and sacre d meetings . The public ralli e s and mass-mee ting s were a time of inspiratio n and were ce l ebrat ed as sacred actions by the enthusiastic f o ll owers of thi s nationalistic religion. be minimized. The influence of these me e ti ngs must n o t They were instrumental in uniting the people to join in the p ursuit of a common goal. However, it mus t be emphasized that it was not the content of the spoken mes sa ge s at these me etings that was the critical factor; rath e r, i t was the way the messages were presented that caused the population t o take up the battle cry and r a l ly under ·c.he cornmon banner of a .... deified national soul. The atmos phere of the meeting s had almost mystical power t o inspire, excite, and uplift the spirits of the pe op le. �3 The Nazi religion also had its own "creed". Nazi f ol lowers placed their faith in themselves and in the power o f t h e i r ra ce In order to re ach to raise the world to a state of perfection. this ideal state, they had to overcome the opposing evil fo r ce which was the Jew. This conflict between the goodne ss , perf e ctio n, and purity of the German race and the e v il, d ecadent, a nd defiled Jewish p e ople was the basis around which all o the r Nazi beliefs revolved. Nazi doctrine exhorted the German s t o maintain racial purity and promote cultural rebirth. The followin g three fundamental Nazi beliefs, as presented b y Geoffrey Fie ld, adequately summarize the Nazi creed: An obsession with racial "purity," the conviction that the modern era was characterized by a worl d struggle b e tween Aryan and J·ew, and the belief t hat other nations had become miscegenated and decadent , l e aving Germany as the standard-beare r of Aryanism. ' 1'he principal element of any reli g ion, however, i s its go d. The god o f Na zism, which was identified a nd briefly discu ssed earlier in this paper, is now considered in greater detail as we examine how the German "racial soul 1 ' was spiritualized, the result o f this spiritualization, and the unwavering d e v o tio n of Nazi disciples. Volkisch nationalism and the conce p t o f the "racia l so ul" were necessary ingredients in the building o f the Nazi r e li g i o n. In a sens e they we re the glue or mo rter that he l d the who le structure together. Without nationalistic and racial pri d e the " Geoffrey G. Fie l d , Eva ng e list o f Race . Press, 1981), p. ~ 5 1. ( Ne w Yo rk: Columbi a Un iv e r sity �German peop le would never have been able to raise themselves up to a level of superiority and sovereignty. If nationalism was the mart.er of this religion, however, popular sovereignty was the foundati on . During the eighteenth century, the ideas of popular soverei g nty and the genera l will of the people began t o emerge and develop. This movement established the people as the essence of the nation. The rulers of the nation were not their masters but their s e rve nts. The power of the nation was no lon g er perceived as residing solely in one great prince or royal dynasty. Instead, the power of the nation was the po ssess i o n of the people. This power, however, could only be realized through unity. This is where nationalism played a key role. As common citizens and blood brothers the people were able to draw to ge ther and express a general will. It was the power of this will, the will of the pe o ple, that they believed would lift the world o ut of degradation into a new and glorious future. The development of the idea of popular sovereignty had led to the perception that the people were the source of go o dness, gre atness, powe r and glory . control. Their will was divine; it was they who would determine the future. 11 The nation's destiny was in their Here we see a transiti on from the monarch's claim of divine right" to the people's claim of divinity. However, this i dea of popular sovereignty alone co uld not build an activ e reli g ion. .... With all it's religious qualities, there wa s s till something missing. The idea of popular sovereignty prov ided the religi ou s ideolog y but not the a b ility to put that ideology into practice. The "power ", afte r all, �5 could not be realized by the individual. It was only wher.. individuals were acting together in unity that their power became functional. factor. Volkisch nationali sm , then, became the uniting Blood and race united the people so that they were no long er primarily seen as individuals but as members of some greater entity, namely their race. It was not personal identity but nati o nal identity that became the all important factor. Nationalism was us ed by the Nazis to modify the people's object of worship. "The worship of the people thus became the worship of the nation."· The destiny of the German nation and race, then, became the cheif conc e rn of the Nazi reli g ion. The perpetuation, purification, and progression of the German race was the "higher goal" tha t became the driving force of all Nazi actions. This "higher goal" became the supreme law which determined the Nazi plan of act ion. The role of this s upreme law for the Nazis i s perhaps comparable to the role that the law of love played in the French village of Le Chambon. ' ' All actions and response s were guided by one great principle. Alex Inkeles, who uses the term mystique to describe the idea of this "higher goal" and guiding principle, describes for us the effect that this Nazi principle had on the people's interpretation of what we today see as t he questionable morality of their leader. 'George L. Mosse, The Nationalization of the Ma s ses. :J;,ertig, Inc., 1975), p. 2. (New York: Howard ' 'The story of Le Charnbon i s recorded in Hallie, Philip, Le st Innocent Blood Be Shed . (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1979). �6 The mystique dictates their morality, indeed it stands above ordinary human morality and places its adherent outside the demands normally to be made of a man and leader. Hence the totalitarian may be cyn ical about and manipulate II law, 11 "truth," "honesty , 11 and so on. For as long as he manipu l2,t.es these in the service of the mystique, his action is beyond question--it is law, truth, honesty, loyalty, unto its elf. '· When dealing with Nazism, it is important to re alize that this religion had an altogether different idea of what is good , right, and true than our predominately Judea-Christian so c iety. Nazism had its own set of commandments which superceded all other "truths" and principles. Nazism determined the value of all other principles by evaluating the service they contributed toward the acheivement of the "hi gher goal ". For the zeal ous Nazi, achievement of this "higher goal" was the very purpose of life. The r e was no other moral principle great enough to justify any action that worked contrary to the attainment of this purpos e . Again Alex I~celes' words appropr iately describe such Nazi devoti o n: 'rheir consecration is not t o man, but to the myst.ical law which they seek to fulfill. If they be moved b y the hopes, the fears, and especially the pains of their fellow men, or be slowed in the execution of duty by the hatred of those fellow men , then they lack the qualities essential in a disciple of the leader. The sufferings o f ordinary human beings a re but temptations designed to deflect the elect fr om the pursuit of the true goal.···' The Nazi religion demanded the complete submission of its followers. Nazi goals were to be g iven top p riority over all i carl J. Friedrich , To talitarianism. 92 . :·· rbid., p. 96. (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 196~), p . �7 other goals and desires. An all - consuming , passionate l ove f o r rac e and nati o n we re expected to take first place in th e l ives of every good Nazi. 'I'his claim to preeminence and unqualified authority i s not unlike the claims made by other reli gions . Reve r e nce for and s u bmis s i on to a higher p ower are indeed a com."Tlon element among al l religions. In fac t , Leon Poliako v has identified this submission as one of the three necessary characteristics of a religion. Let us simply state that the three necessary c haracte ristics of a reli g i on--the perceptio n of a higher power, the submission to that . power, and the establisb.ment of relations with i t --were indi s putably a part of Naz ism. ' This s ubmission t o a "higher power 1 '' however' was n o t expressed through submission to the abstract ideas of blood and ra ce but through subm ission to the absolute power of the Third Reich. How d id Hitler and his totalitarian re g ime obtain t his almighty power? The answer to this question is f ound in the process of the deification of t he Nazi leaders . Since the Nazi movement was perceived as be ing the expression of the true will of the people, the established Nazi state was seen as an instrument us ed by the people to acheive the ir ends. power of the state was their own power (i. e . power). He n ce , the the people's This conception makes opposition to the state a bso lute ly ridiculous because the state is no l o nger some oppressing power. Rather, the state is merely the tool used to carry out the will of the people. Hitler was also able to obtain unque stionable • Leon Poliako v, Harv est o f Hate . (New York: Ho locaust Library, 1979), p . 5 . �8 authority. As Fuhrer, he was seen as their spiritual leader that brought them into fuller communion with the "Power" that was within them. Poliakov ·writes: "he alone was the high priest who knew how to express the divine will. 11 This adoration for the ' spiritual l eadership of the Fuhrer gave him virtually unlimite d power. "As the Nazi jurist, E.R. Huber, put it: the Fuhrer is the will of the people. The wil l of tt ; , The greatest threat to the absolute authority of the state was the presence of other human associations . Unlimited power could only be achieved through the subordination of all other organizations and institutions that may demand the loyalty of the individual. The presence of existing religious institutions, of Alfred Rosenberg , Hitler' s course, was a primary concern. philosopher, expressed his hope of transforming Christian bodies into "chapels of one racial church." The role of o ld religion was to be replaced by totalitarian ideology. religious groups would lose their independent identity but maintain an external existence. Freedom of religious confessions would remain as long as they did not imperil the stability of the state or "offend a gainst the eth i cal and moral senses of the German race. tt ::, This subjugation of the Christian church gave rise to what was known as "positive Christianity." The churches of "positive Christianity" obeyed the commands that :L .... Ibid. , p. 5 . ~' Carl J· . Friedrich, Totalitarianism, 120. '·'Ibid., p. 111. (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 19 64) , p. �9 were dictated by the state and accepted the state's ide ol ogy . These churches became instruments of Nazi propaganda. There was some resistance to this compromise, but all in all, the churche s of Germany, whose influence over the people and existing spiritual condition were already very weak, gave in to the demands of the Party and the State. They "were willin g t o f i ll the void created by their own disbelief with political enthusiasms. 11 i This subjugation of the Church alon g with "the subordination of the traditional human associations, the organizations and institutions, of which the individual is a member becan1e the chief tool for its [the totalitarian regime's] ultimate subordination of the individual to the state." · Individual loyalty was to be, first of all, for the nation (volk), and the value of all other associations were t o b e measured according to the service they rendered unto the all-embracing national power of the state. Once all other organizations and institutions had been subordinated, the totalitarian regime had the absolute obedience of the individual and the power to control and direct everything. The following passage from Alex Inkeles' essay paints a vivid picture of the devotion, loyalty, and complete submission that was demanded of the individual, I would like to pre s e nt this passage from Alex Inkeles' essay: No one is wholly, fully, one with the party and its cause until he in fact or in reasonable facsimile has '· Ibid., p. 111. ,::Ibid., p. 90. �10 smashed aga inst a wall the h ead of a baby of r acially in fe rior stock or denounced a close comrade to the secret police. Such unho ly acts of consecration are th e most important rites of p as s a ge into full status in the totalitarian movement. ' Inke les goes o n to show that once a totalitarian regime , like the one under Hit ler, i s in p ower, there is n o turning back . The regime has unchecked and unlimited power, and it will do anything to maintain that power and perpetuate the percep tion that it i s unassailable, almighty, omnipotent, and omnipresent. The use of terror to guarantee continued loyalty proved to be very effective for the Nazis. Immediately followin g the passage cited above, Inkeles writes these words: One wonders, futher, whether or not this demand o f the mystique does not figure prominently as an element in the logic of the purges, for so ofte n their victims seem to be sacrificed not so much for what they have done as for what they have not done. They are cast out not for bashing in the wrong head s , but for not bashing in enough heads. They are tried not s o much for acting incorrectly, but for inac ti on which is taken as a sign of waning d e votion and dou bt in the mystique. The terror i s most merciless with those o f its agents who have blanched at the execution of the mystical imperative. ; · The terror o f failing to meet the expectations that are set forth by this higher law (mystique), which is enf orced by the all-powerful state, forces men to conform and obey out o f fear and anxiety. The regime seeks to create in e very man the naggin g f e ar that he may have done something wrong , that he may have left s omething undone , that he may have s a id some impermissible thing .... The non-victim thus becomes the prisoner of a va gue uncertainty which ., Ibid., p. 97. c rbid., p. 97. �11 nags him. It is this nagging uncertainty in the non-victim which the terror se eks to create. For it is a powerful force in making every man doubly watch his every step. ,. In an analysis of the Nazi religion, Hitler's role can not be ignored. It was Hitler who became the central focus of this new religion. He, like Jesus and Muhammad, was attributed god-man characteristics and hailed as a divine instrument sent to rescue and restore his people. Hitler was the high priest, mediator, and savior of the Nazi religion. He, like Jesu s , was seen as a Messianic figure, especially by the f o llower s of the Houston Stewart Chamberlain, nationalistic cults like Wagnerism. who was perceived a,_s a and 11 spiritual father" of the Nazi movement a "prophet of Germanism" writes this concerning Hitler: This man has worked like a divine blessing cheering hearts , opening men's eyes to clearly se e n goals, enlivening their spirits , kindling their capacity fo r love and f or indignation, harde ning t heir courage and resoluteness. Yet we still need him badly. May God who sent him to us pre serve him for many years as a "blessing for the Ge rman fatherland. 11 ' ' Hitler became the idol of the German people. He was the object of hero-worship and adoration. The people were fully convinced that it was he who would save the world by leading them to victory and world domination. Hitler himself believed that he was a divine agent. He believed that he had been placed on earth to enlighten the people, make them conscious of their destructive foe, and lead ,... '· Ibid., pp. 106-107. •~Geoffrey G. Field, Evangelist of Race. Press, 1981), p. ~~2. (New York: Columbia University �12 them t o a b e t ter and more glorious future. His lif e was consecreted t o the f ulfillme nt of this task. "Thus Hitler i s , from this point of view, seen as re garding himself as destined by fate to secure the fulfillment of the histor i c destiny of th -2, German race. 11 ·' La stly , l e t us consider the eschatol ogy of Nazism . kind of h ope did Nazism offer for the future? ques ti on is rather s imple. What The a nswer t o this The Nazi promise was the s ame promise of fered by other religions, name ly, perfection. Nazi s m p r omised that the futur.e would be f ree fr om all the troubl es o f toda y . Beauty and order would replace corruption and chaos . c iviliz at ion would reach perfection. Huma n Thi s perfecti on , accord ing to Nazism, would be re a lized through the establishment of an Aryan dominated society . Nazi f o ll owe rs e nthusi ast i ca lly received this message believing that the end result would be a glorious one-thousand-year reign for the Third Reich. Knowing the promises of Nazi eschatology, one c an easily understand the appeal that this religion had t o a humilated people who were experiencing hard times . Unf ortunatel y, t he people were willing to overlook the imperf ections and sacrifices of the present for the sake of the promised future. They let the end justify the means. The claims for the future order ser ved as a justification f or the power abuse and absolute domination of .,,.. the Nazi regime. 'Carl Friedrich , Totalitarianism. 96. (New York: Grosset & Dunlap , 19 6 4), p . �13 In addition to the Nazi promise of a glor i ous futur e , there were also other factors of the Nazi religion that appe a led to the German people during the early decades of this century. These factors which enhanced the appeal of Nazism all seem to revolve around one central theme, namely, self-aggrandi zement . In short Naz i sm was self-exalti ng . It satisfied the e go o f ma n. This self-exaltation of Naz ism i s evident in the secular nature o f this religion. Naz ism, as a s e c ul a r religion, replaced God with nation. blood, became the ob ject of worship. Mankind, united through When seeki ng pro sperity, happ i ness , or vict?rY over unpleasant circumstances, Nazi followers d i d not need to seek the favor or assi s tanc e of s ome supreme being. within them . They only needed to mobilize the power that wa s By nature this power was theirs and by right victory , prosperity , and happiness belonged to them . The Na~i rel i g i on did not require its disciples to bow before a god; inste ad , it required others to bow before them and acknowledge their supremecy. The blamelessness and innocence that Nazism off e red the people was perhaps even more appeal ing. Nazism be lieved in a people that were good and pure by nature--not evil and d e prav ed. This l ed them to conclude that the difficulties, corruption, and degeneration that plagued their troub l ed world was not their fault. The sour ce of this evil was the work of a des tructive foe (the Jew) that had s ubtly attacked the unsuspecting people and pulled them down so that they could no longer experience the g l ory and success of the p as t generations . Furthe rmor e , in the �ll. Nazi religion one did not have to acknowledge their sins and imperfections to a holy God. required. Confession and penance were not The only things necessary to restore Germany to its former glory were the enlightenment of the people and the completion of a sanctifying and purifying process, and "[ t]he only virtues or sins recognized were those of social significance.";. Thus, the people were not accountable to anyone but themselves. A third characteristic of the Nazi religion that promoted self-aggrandizement is their "plan of salavation." Nazism, like other religions, did require that the German people acknowledge their need for deliverance. The method of their deliverance, however, differs from all other religions. The German people did not need to rely on divine favor because although they had allowed evil forces to taint and corrupt their society, they were not hopelessly degraded and helpless. Therefore, since the German people did not have to rely on divine favor, they neither had to humble themselves before the gracious God that offered them salvation nor earn the right to salvation by performing good deeds and expressing religious fervor. The source of deliverance, according to the Nazi religion, was the will of the people expressed through the Nazi movement. The Nazi movement, which had brought enlightenment to the German peop l e, had opened their eyes and made them aware of the subtle, destructive influence of their foe. By conquering and destroying this foe, J. L. Talman, The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy. A. Praeger, Inc., Publishers, 1960), p. 23. 1 (New York: Frederick �15 the German people would have successfully eliminated all evil and restored perfection and order. Thus , the destruction o f the Jew became their mission in order that they might not only lift their nation out o f degradation but also save the entire world. Thu s, Nazism e stablished the German people as their own s a viors. Nazism also appealed to the pride of the Germa n peop l e . It set up the Aryan race as superior to all other rac e s. Aryanism became the expression of perfection and divinity. t-Jhat a boost this must have been for the demoralized German people who still acutely felt the shame and disgrace of their l o ss in Wor ld War I. The world, blaming them for the war, had treated the m with scorn and derision. Their power had b een d estroye d, and their country had been stripped of its glory. This humiliati o n and disgrace was still fresh in the minds of the people. morale was at an all time low. Public This was the atmosphere in Germany when Nazism appeared on the scene. Nazism replaced the shame and disgrace of the Ge rman people with renewed national pride. It promised to remove the stain of humiliation, avenge Germany, and restore her former glory and power. To the humilated people of Germany, the prospect of glory and superiority was just too good to pass up. The people were ripe for Nazism. They were ready to do anything to attain the self-glorification that was at the heart of the Nazi religion. The loss of World War I was not the sole factor that contributed to the German environment in the 1930's in which the seeds of Nazism germinated. The economic, social, and p o litical �16 conditions of the day were perhaps even more important factors. During the early 1920 1 s, Germany experienced catastrophic inflation. The financial collapse of the Reich wiped out German savings and produced unprecedented chaos. Large-scale strike movements broke out, prices and unemployment rose, and increasing dissatisfaction with the government resulted in the rise of anti-republican coups. be forgotten. These crisis years were not to Even though the people experienced a brief period of economic recovery and relative political stability after 1923, they would never again restore their confidence in their government. Their government had failed them. It had folded in a time of crisis giving rein to chaos, disorder, and instability. It is not surprising then that the German people placed their hopes in Nazism when in the 1930's they were again faced with economic crisis (the Great Depression) and the political failures of the Weimar government. In addition to the economic and political conditions of the day, the German people also felt the "menace of modernity." They found themselves in 11 a society where old and new overlapped in an almost random fashion, a society where no one could quite be sure who he was, where he was, or where he stood in relation to those around him. of insecurity. 11 1 : This contributed to a general atmo s phere In this rapidly changing society, the people of Germany often felt as if they were helpless victims without any control over the future and their fate. ' Dennis Showalter, Little Man, What Now? p. 16. They were anxious, (Conneticut: Archon Books, 1982), �17 uncertain, and overwhelmed by feelings of powerlessness and insecurity. This feeling of powerlessness, more than any o the r, explains the enormous appeal of Nazism. Existential angst is produce d when the individual f e el s that he or she can no long er master vital facets of life. In this state of powerlessnes s the person feels trapped and the survival is threatened .... Existential angst motivates the se a rch for an orientation that will promise a more secure, predictable, and satisfying future. 1 Nazi promises of a healthy and happy world provided this sense o f a secure future as well as a feeling of permanence in the midst of a rapidly changing world. back in control. In addition, Nazism put the p e ople It replaced their feelings of frustration and anxiety with power. 11 Hitler offered power and rec og nition t o the disappointed who felt powerless, and ari s tocratic s tatus t o underdogs, who now became Nordic Aryans. 11 ' ·' The power that Nazism offered is probably the chief appeal of this religio n. Roles in the SS and the Nazi bureaucracy g ave individuals the opportunity to obtain power and prestige . These power roles offered to individuals were o ne of the important factors that motivated the perpetrators o f the Holocaust. Eicrunann is a prime example of this. greed and fear were also powerful motivators. In addition, The subject of individual motivation is an important consideration in the study of Nazism. However, a detailed discussion of that subject is beyond the scope of this paper . Instead, we shall look at the .,,.. ' Joel E. Dimsdale, Survivors. Victims and Perpetrato rs. Hemisphere Publishing Company, 1980), p. ~18. (Washing t o n: �18 p ower el e ment as one o f the attract ions of the Nazi reli g i on . The appeal of Nazi s m was its ability to eliminate the f ee l i n gs of powerl ess ness, isolation, and inadequacy o f the p e o ple by restori ng t h e ir co nf i d ence in their contro l over the f utur e . Nazi doctrines restored the peopl e 's confidenc e in the i r own p ower and c o ntrol by setting forth o n e simp le s olution f or a l l the troubles and anxieties of Germany. Nazisrn's one so lution to all the concerns, conflicts, and unpleasant circumstance s that faced the German people was Aryan domination and sub jugat i o n of that one inherently evil element o f society, namely th e J e ws. The J e ws were identified as the source of all t he evil that had b ef a ll e n Germany. By making the J e ws the sca pego a t , the people were able to avenge themselves of the wron g s t hey had suffered. They were able to v e nt their frustration s , anger, a nd bitterness at some definate object. They had turned their battle a g ainst evil into something t a n g ibl e . Opposing some abstract e vil forc e was impossible, but battling the J e w wa s something within their control. Whe n the Jews became the scapegoat, the evil foe became conquerable. Once the J e ws were conquered, beauty and order would be reestablished. The p e opl e who had been overwhelmed by their defeat in World War I, the followin g economic upheaval, political failures, and s oc ial c h aos would again be in control. By gaining absolute authority and control over the Jew, the German people could regain contro l over their fate. In summary then, the three factors that made Nazism attractive to the German people were self-glorification, pride, �and power. 19 At a time when the people felt that they had reached rock bottom, Nazism not only gave them hope for the futur e --an element which is also present in other religions--but it also made them feel better about themselves. The only probl e m is that when man allows his life to be motivated by selfish egotism, justice and compassion are neglected. All efforts become motivated by self-aggrandizement without any consideration for the sufferings and sacrifices of others. As this paper concludes, the following questions remain: Why is it important to realize that Nazism is a religion? What significance does it have on our understanding of the Holocaust? What role did religion play in the destruction of millions of lives? The appeal of Nazism is understandable. Considering the economic, social, political, and religious conditions of the day, it seemed reasonable that Nazism would attract quite a following. One is disturbed, however, by the fact that Nazism was able to lead the German people further and further down a road that would ultimately lead to mass killings while the people blindly followed them. leadership. There was little or no resistance to Nazi Why didn't the people raise their voices in protest? Didn't they see that things had just gone too far and that Nazism was requiring them to participate in actions that were obviously wrong? When answering these troubling questions, the significance of the fact that Nazism is a religion becomes clear. Since the Nazi movement and its leaders were deified, a �20 true follower would never question the "goodness" of the leader's Even when the actions and commands of their leaders actions . seemed questionable, the people never doubted the goodness of their guidance. They believed that their enlightened leader s were ab l e to see the needs of the nation more clearly than they could. Whatever conduct was required must be n e cessary, and in the long run, it would all work out for the good of the people. Were all the people such ardent followers of the Nazi religion? followers? What about those who weren't such dedicated Why didn't they speak up? Well, some did, but it didn't d o any good because criticism was viewed as heresy; who was going to liste~ to a heretic? Since Nazism was a religio n, i t allowed one party, one loyalty, and believed that here was only one "truth". To tolerate any expressions of criticism, would be to sanction blasphemy. Just as a Muslim or Hindu community will not tolerate the presence of a Christian, Nazism would not tolerate any oppossing views. If someone were to question or criticize the Nazi state, i t is certain that the entire community would have turned on him. His freedom and perhaps even his life would have been in danger. Religions become so fervent in the perpetuation and defense of their beliefs that one dares not propose a contrary view. was such a religion. Nazism Thus, the religious qualties of Nazism, which were instrumental in exciting and motivating the German people, also help account for the continued control that Nazi s m was able to maintain over these people. As a religion, Nazism was able to 1) raise up fervently �21 dedicate d followers consecrated to Nazi goals, 2) take o n infallible and omnipotent characte ristics in the eyes o f the p e ople, and 3) establi s h virtually unlimited and unque s t io n ed power. Furthe rmore, since Nazism invoked a reli g i ous r e s p o nse , it was able to establish its own moral code. Nazism so alte r ed the Germa n p e rcepti o n of the Jews that the y were able t o c o nvin c e thems elves that they were battling the devil, not destroying human lives. They were not doing evil. were destoying evil. On the con trary, t hey In the Nazi religion the people were not only not guilty of wrongdoing, they were commended f or t h e ir acts ' of "righteousness" which fulfilled the commandments of their go d. If Nazi s m had not h a d these reli g ious qualitie s, the r ever sa l o f German value s , a necessary ingredie nt of the Holoca ust, could no t have taken place. Re ligion seems to be the o nly s o cia l f or ce that has the influence to change lives by completely alte ring one's perception of the world, one's moral judgement, and o ne's response to his fellowmen and the various circumstances he fac e s . ... ,·, · , �" BIBu:x;RAPHY Dimsdale, Joel. SUrvivors, Victims aruf Perpetrators - Essays on the Holocaust. Washington: Hemisphere Publishing Compnay, 1980. Field, Geoffrey. Evangelist of Race - The Gennanic Vision of Houston Stewart Chamberlain. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981. Friedrich, Carl. Totalitarianism. New York: Grosset rvbsse, George. The Nationalization of the Masses. Inc., 1975.--- - Poliakov, I.eon. Harvest of Hate. New York: & Dunlap, 1964. New York: Howard Fertig, Holocaust Library, 1979. Showalter, Dennis. Little Man, What Now? - Der Sturmer in the Weimar Republic. Conneticut: Archon Books, 1982.-- - Talmon, J .L. The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy. Praeger, Inc., Publishers, 1960. c· ,,..,,_-,., -- - - '" "", -,.-- ----_---- . - . New York: Frederick A. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144_Termaat_WRI_Musings-Religion-of-Nazism-by-P-Termaat Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Pieter Title A name given to the resource The Religion of Nazism Description An account of the resource Essay by Pieter Termaat about Nazi beliefs and religion. Subject The topic of the resource Fascism Germany -- Social conditions Social conditions Germany Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cc46957a7be27b2d07ed9dfa2a8288f5.mp3 bff179546d0d46f649e51e58d90163d1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/abefcbee4b4e18dd729a4024b03a14a4.pdf acc79a074858906f63ca675e4dffb6cd PDF Text Text The Religious Question Pentecost X Micah 6:6-8; Luke 10:25-37 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 5, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon The religious question continues to fascinate me and to absorb my time and energy. Some of you, perhaps, have not had the misfortune I have had, and that is to have to go through a total revolution of one's understanding of what the religious question is all about. For me, religion had been packaged very neatly in a confessional statement, in a creedal form, in a community whose identity was created by a very definite set of beliefs and mores and ethical insights. The whole nature of religion in my growing up and maturing and even in my early ministry was so far from that which I understand it now to be. Some years ago someone said, “You know, as old as he is, you'd think he would have gotten some answers by now." But, for me, the pilgrimage was not from questions to answers, but rather, from answers to questions. And so, I want to think with you this morning and throughout this month of August a little bit about religion, the nature of it, the function of it, and the origin of it – and this morning, the religious question, the whole matter of this phenomenon in which we are fellow passengers and journey mates, the religious adventure, the religious life, the religious community. A lawyer came to Jesus one day and said, "Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" In the paragraph from the prophet Micah, we have the question raised, "With what shall I come before the Lord then, with what shall I bow down before the most high?" That sounds like a serious question. The lawyer's question may well have been an intellectual game, an attempt to trip up Jesus and expose him as something less than a significant rabbi. But, there was a night in Philippi when the earth shook and the jail was opened, and the prisoners set free, when the jailer cried out to Paul, "What must I do to be saved?" And there was a rich young man recorded in Mark's gospel – in fact, the text perhaps I should better have chosen than the one from Luke – in which the same question as the lawyer's is raised, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus suggested the Commandments, to which the young man said, "I have kept these from my youth up." And then Jesus said, "Sell all you have and give to the poor," and he went away grieved because he had great possessions. That, obviously, was a serious question. © Grand Valley State University �The Religious Question Richard A. Rhem Page 2 There are those questions, and religion, as a matter of fact, is a human response to those kinds of questions. For me, earlier on, it was a question of how one might live and die and find union with God in another time and place, in another sphere or dimension of reality. But, more and more for me, religion becomes the question of how to live here and now and what is the meaning of life. What is the meaning of human existence? We are the only animals, as far as we know, that have the gift of self-consciousness and awareness that causes us to wrestle with questions like that, for we become bonded to another and then we lose the other and there is grief and pain and separation and we wonder - what is life and what is death? And as we look about us, the record of human history is a record of very great suffering and tragedy, and we experience that in our own individual lives and the lives of those we love. There is pain and there is loss. There is confusion. There is so much ambiguity in our human situation. It is difficult to sort it all out. Finally, life is a question. Or, life presents us with a question. Maybe the ultimate philosophical question would be, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" It was very easy for me at one time to answer those questions because there was a revelation that came directly from God, a revelation that found expression through the prophets, culminated in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ recorded in the scriptures, which were inspired by God and therefore inerrant and infallible and, consequently, religion was a matter of having the answers in a book to the mysteries of life. But, life has a way of overturning those certainties and of putting the lie to much that seems so taken for granted. Human experience is very messy. It cannot be crammed into a system with all of the loose ends tied up. And the longer one lives, the more one lives with openness and reflection and thoughtfulness and attention and awareness, the more one recognizes that ultimately there are questions before which we live, and more and more I come to see religion as that attempt on the part of humankind to deal with those ultimate questions. For, as a matter of fact, what is your life, as James wrote. What must you do to inherit eternal life? What must you do to be saved? What does it even mean to be saved? What's it all about, this human existence we live day by day? That is the religious quest. I suppose the first thing that strikes me, as I think about it, is how I see the religious quest as so very normal and so very natural. I didn't always think so. At one time, I thought that the religious ones were a slim minority and that the foundations of even that which remained were eroding. And now, I realize that the only things that change are the forms of that religious expression, the institutional forms. I remember when I was in Europe in the 60s, the tumultuous 60s, there was a phrase, “Will the Church be alive in '85?” Well, the year is 2001 and the Church is still alive. And yet, if you look at the big picture, what is happening to the institutional forms of religion? I have come to see one really doesn't have to © Grand Valley State University �The Religious Question Richard A. Rhem Page 3 worry about that. I used to worry about it. I wondered if there would be a church in which I could continue to feed my habit. And now I know, whatever form it may be, to be human is to be engaged in that religious quest. Oh, I know one like me is a warped individual because I live it and eat it and sleep it. It is my profession. It is what I do, thinking about these things. And I know the rest of you have to make a living, and you really don't have the luxury I do of thinking and thinking and thinking some more. But as a matter of fact that is a luxury, because it does stop one in one's tracks, for one becomes aware of how life can just pass through our hands like sands through our fingertips, and how much we can live without stopping consciously to evaluate what we are doing and where we are going and why we are caught up in the frantic pace which marks so much of our days. I see it symbolically, for example, in television. Let me just point to the Today Show. Nancy always wants to see what the weather is going to be. But, you know, the poor weather forecaster hardly has time to give you the weather forecast. It is shoved in between all of the life-changing messages that come from all of the corporate sponsors. And so, finally, one is exposed to about ten minutes of commercials in order to get about 90 seconds of what the weather will be, and then it's wrong. But, the point is this - more and more of life is in your face, and less and less are we called apart simply to be and to contemplate and reflect on the meaning of it all. Such reflection and contemplation is really what religion is all about, and it is a normal and a natural and an inevitable human activity. However it may find expression, however it may work itself out in our lives, there is that religious dimension. I think we're made that way. I think we're created with a hole in our soul that longs to be filled with the sacred, the holy, with a sense of meaning and purpose, with understanding. So, religion isn't going to go out of business. We are going to be religious to the extent that we are human and the only question is what form or shape will that religious quest take. I learned that that quest takes place in all of the great major faith traditions. For me, that was also revolutionary. It is not revolutionary for me to say that here in this place, because we have dealt with it often enough. So, it becomes almost commonplace for us. But, if you were raised and trained like I was, you know that it is not commonplace at all. And if you were in most places of worship this morning, you would know that it wouldn't be commonplace at all. But to come to understand religion for what it is, that deep quest of the human spirit for meaning and for understanding, moves one to a place where one can move from exclusivism – as though we have the last and final word and the absolute truth – to a place of pluralism where we recognize that all those major faith traditions are doing exactly the same thing that we are doing. In all of those particular forms of religious expression, in all of those great traditions, there are these same questions that are moving it, motivating it, energizing the quest. © Grand Valley State University �The Religious Question Richard A. Rhem Page 4 The practice of religion, in all of its variety and forms, is finally an attempt to understand who we are, what does it mean, what do I do to inherit eternal life, what must I do to be saved, or to be human or whole, or at least on the way toward wholeness. We have come to understand here that all of those particular religions are human, creative, imaginative constructs. We build our religions. We create our religions. As someone has written, all of our present religions are the ossified remains of past ecstatic or prophetic visions: Moses at the burning bush, or Mohammed, or Jesus, or the Buddha and the experience of enlightenment. And from those momentary epiphanies or moments of revelation, that luminosity that opens up heaven and suddenly gives some sense and expression, there is a resonance which creates a community which then is bound together around that particular vision. Religion is a human endeavor. It is a creative, imaginative, human construct. So, all of this foolishness about my religion is better than yours, or my God is better than yours, or my religion is true and all of the rest are false is simply quite ridiculous. Every once in a while in my Tuesday noon luncheons at Duba's, my good friend, Duncan Littlefair, will look across the table at me and say, “How could you have stayed there so long?” And I say, “I wonder the same thing.” When once one sees the nature of the religious quest, and sees the respective religions as so many human attempts to engage in that quest, then it must be arrogance to say that I have it and you don't. I remember moments, don't you, moments in the past when it did flit through my head that that was hardly a reasonable assumption. And yet, how we in our respective religions are trained to look inward, are encouraged to build those walls and to affirm and assert the absoluteness of our positions. You know, when a pastor does what I do to you, you are going to go out there and get slaughtered out in main street because every other church in town is telling their people this is it. This is true. You have it, everything else is wrong. Stand for it. Fight for it. Witness to it. And you're going to go out there and say, "Well, on the one hand, and on the other, and in the meantime..." You don't have a chance. A nice, civil, humane discussion like this disallows you to get out there and win the battle of the religious wars. But once we see that our religion, as well as all the others, is a human response to the Divine, we realize that, even if a revelation has come from beyond, it can only find expression in human language, human thought forms. It can only take shape in human community. There is no other way. And once you see that you're drained of your absolutism. You must be done with your exclusivism, and arrogance is simply impossible. So, religion is a very normal, natural part of being human and the respective religions of the world are so many creative and imaginative constructs that seek to respond to that religious question. Someone suggested the image of a landscape that has many wells dug and some wells are just very simple and some © Grand Valley State University �The Religious Question Richard A. Rhem Page 5 are very elaborate, but all of the wells tap in to that great underground river of life. And so it is with the religions. Now, you may say, "Well, if all religions are the same..." (I didn't say that. I said all religions are attempting to do the same thing.)"... are true, then they are probably all false, and so why would anyone commit oneself to that which is not absolute and final?" Because it is only in that total commitment of oneself to the practice and the observance of one's own faith story that one will come to that spiritual peace, insight, and healing which is salvation. You can't run on many roads at once. You can't ride all horses at the same time. And we've all been given a story anyway. Our story is a beautiful, magnificent story. We stand as recipients of a grand tradition. Our Judeo-Christian heritage reflected in the scriptures, having shaped Western civilization - what a grand tradition that is. And it is our story. It is an unusual person who can move over into another story and there experience the holy and the sacred. Some rare individuals have been able to do that, but not many of us. Most of us have been given a story and it is our story and it denigrates not in the least to say that it is our story, our authentic story, although it's not the only story. It is not the only well in the landscape. But, for us, it is the source of the water of life and that, not simply as an intellectual articulation of what is true, but rather, the experience in community of that which is reflective of the vision of our faith story. With what shall I bow down before the most high? Shall I bring ten thousand offerings? Shall I bring the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? What shall I do? And the prophet, speaking the word of God, says, "I told you what you should do. Do justice. Love mercy. And walk humbly with your God." God is experienced, not in some mystical flight, some esoteric vision in splendid isolation, but God is experienced in our story in the doing of justice and in the loving of mercy and in the humility before the Mystery that is God. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said, "What is the summary of the law, but to love God and to love one’s neighbor as oneself?" Love. When the lawyer wanted to push Jesus a little further, he said, "Who is my neighbor?" bringing it down to earth, so to speak. And then, very interestingly, what did Jesus say? "Your neighbor is the one you encounter in need. Your neighbor is not the one who lives in proximity to you or the one who shares community with you. Your neighbor is the one who crosses your path who is in need." And so, he tells the familiar, beautiful story of the Samaritan who reached © Grand Valley State University �The Religious Question Richard A. Rhem Page 6 out to one who was of another kind, in his need, showing mercy and love and care. What must I do to be saved? I used to know a whole bunch of scripture verses which I could tell you about what you have to believe, what words you should use, how to be saved. I found a little tract the other day again. Someone placed a tract in a very convenient place in the Men's Room, kind of like having a captive audience. Once again, it was very simple, just one, two, three, and bingo, salvation. Nonsense. Salvation is in human encounter marked by justice, mercy and love. And the irony is that when Jesus would talk about gaining eternal life, or we could say encounter with God or experiencing the holy, Jesus didn't talk about anything this way at all. That’s the marvel of it. That’s the irony of it. God is experienced in the acts of justice and mercy and kindness and love to a concrete individual, human being. God is experienced in the horizontal relationships of life. God is experienced in human community. Compassion is the final test of every theology and of every religious expression. If religion is making us kind and true and loving and compassionate, it's good and it's true. If it leads to separation, hostility, judgment and damnation, it is false, according to Jesus. Now, that's our story. So, what must you do to be saved, to inherit eternal life, to fulfill your human being? What do you make of it all? And how are you doing? It is not really such a mystery. Good religion warms the heart, opens the mind, and enables us to embrace our neighbor. The religious question is quite a bit simpler and more difficult than I ever dreamed. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost X Scripture Text Micah 6:6-8, Luke 10:25-37 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20010805 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-08-05 Title A name given to the resource The Religious Question Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 5, 2001 entitled "The Religious Question", on the occasion of Pentecost X, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Micah 6:6-8, Luke 10:25-37. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Nature of Religionm Spiritual Quest Pluralism https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ab42243744de7aa4f102bba6fe6b338b.mp3 13ef245f26e5f15100586c57c285823c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e8b3c3ff971664ecf669c672f4e3c0c0.pdf 19daf1656f938ab3ecd7e3fe8ed54474 PDF Text Text The Religious War: Where the Battle Rages Pentecost XXI Scripture: Luke 19:45-20:8 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 21, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon A Reading From the Present: The God of a Diverse People, Alan Wolfe: The war now going on between Americans and forces of Osama bin Laden is not between belief and non-belief. It is, instead, about two different ways of believing, only one of which allows for individual conscience and freedom. The refusal of the other to make that allowance is what makes terrorism against non-believers possible. We live in interesting times, to say the least, and the situation facing our world, human society, is complex, indeed. You can analyze it from a variety of angles. There are so many factors that play into the situation through which we are now living as a human family, and I certainly am not competent to analyze all of those or pull them apart and disentangle them. Economic factors, Middle East oil, the Gulf War, support for Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Israeli-Arab conflict in the larger context, Cold War carryovers, political ideology, and of course, the religious factor. You can turn on your television any hour of the day and find talking heads trying to decipher what is going on from one angle or another, and you didn't come here this morning to hear my less than competent discussion about all of that, but there is one thing that I think as a faith community we must be clear about - it is that religious factor, because I do believe there is a religious war going on. Martin Luther said that you can be engaged with a whole lot of things across the whole spectrum of the Christian faith that you profess, but if you're not dealing with that issue where the battle rages, you are not being faithful to Christ. It seems to me in this present situation, the one thing that should be clarified is the nature of religion, its function, and how it holds the potential for the demonic, and that also, in the present situation with the vulnerability to which we are all exposed at this point, it is religion that can bring healing and meaning and some comfort. © Grand Valley State University �The Religious War: Where the Battle Rages Richard A. Rhem Page 2 There are two kinds of religion and there is a religious war going on. That is what I want to seek to clarify or to address this morning - that religious war, two kinds of belief, two kinds of religious commitment. The one is the traditional, the traditional kind of religious experience that is the consequence of a sacred text and a sacred tradition and an institution, a community of people gathered around a certain set of beliefs, a certain set of practices, a certain set of requirements. This has been religion traditionally: some founding vision, some story taking shape, gathering a community, building a tradition. And religion is a very powerful force. The reason that it is a part of the situation of our world today is not that the issue is whether the world is going to become Islamic or Christian or Jewish. It is not a battle of the religions. But, it is a religious war about two kinds of religion. The respective religions are all vulnerable to either kind of religious faith and experience. The traditional is most common; it is what we take for granted. It is an institution, a community, it is a set of beliefs, and that which marks the one kind of religion is an authoritarianism that claims absolute truth and demands absolute obedience to its moral dictates and defines a way of life. That authoritarian aspect of religion is what has marked religion for the most part, because in religion we are dealing with ultimate questions. We're dealing with deep existential issues. We're wondering about the meaning of life. We ask questions about God, the immortality of the soul, the possibility of eternal life. We ask the deep philosophical questions - "Why is there something rather than nothing," and all of these questions which are the deepest questions, which are part and parcel of being human in those moments of deep reflection, and those moments when we are confronted with the mystery of life, and those moments when we receive the terminal diagnosis or a loved one is taken from us, or some crisis in the midst of our day disrupts the whole plan of our life. In moments like that, we inevitably ask these questions of the meaning, and there is no answer. There is no verifiable answer. There is no answer that can come at the end of a mathematical formula or no answer that can be mixed together in a chemistry lab. We deal with those ultimate mysteries, and to be human means to be in history and it means to live without absolutes, to live without answers. Now, twenty or twenty-five years ago, if I had heard a preacher say that, I probably would have gotten up and walked out. Just hold your seats. I'll try to be honest with you this morning. The things that you and I deal with together, the whole religious thing, deals with questions for which there are not verifiable answers. We simply don't know. The best we can do is follow our intuitions, probe our insights. But, you see, for the mass of humankind, that is an exercise too difficult, too trying, too heavy, and so what religion has been historically has been a vision that has made sense, that has resonated in the minds and hearts of people. A story has been written, the tradition has been formed, the community forms an institution that finally refines and defines itself with carefully crafted © Grand Valley State University �The Religious War: Where the Battle Rages Richard A. Rhem Page 3 creeds and confessional statements, a clear word about moral and ethical issues, and, to the extent that the institution becomes powerful, the demand for submission to the intellectual statement and obedience to the moral way. Religion has been marked by authoritarianism. It is understandable because we deal with issues for which it is impossible to have clearly defined, verifiable answers. Now, we're in the stream of history. We move in the river of history. And we simply can't get out of the river and get up and survey the whole thing. There are people who have claimed precisely that. While they may not have claimed that they get out of the river, they have claimed that God has illumined them to the extent that what they have seen, what they understand becomes for them the word of God, and that word of God, to the extent that it can find resonance in others, becomes the founding vision, and then you have a religion. You have a story, a text, a tradition, and so forth. But, it is an authoritarian system because it is based on unverifiable claims. You believe it? Good. You don't believe it? Well, I may be able to write you out of the community, but I can't force you to believe it. You see it? Wonderful. You don't see it? You may be dull or obstinate or just a bit slow, but I can't do anything about that. This is the nature of religion and religious community. It has that authoritarian aspect, and it lives by people adhering to this vision, endorsing this vision, buying this vision, supporting this vision, believing its creeds, practicing its way of life. It s not all bad. In fact, it has been pretty good most of the time, for it has given people a sense of orientation. It has given them a vision by which to live, it has given them a map, and all of that. So, there's a positive aspect to that. But, I want you to see that it is based on an authoritarian claim and that goes for about 95% or maybe it is 98 and 44/100% of religion. Some religious groups push it hard, and some are soft around the edges. But finally, even those who are soft around the edges, if you say, "On what basis do you have this community, on what basis do you gather, on what basis will you preach?" They will say, "Well, we have this word from the Lord." And no matter how far the critical rationality has entered into the tradition, nonetheless, whether it be the Catholic Church with its infallible teaching office, or whether it be the Protestant Church with its infallible Bible, even an infallible Bible that has been examined critically, nonetheless, finally, still has an authoritarian claim, pushed either with great energy or rather apologetically. Do you see that? One kind of religion. That's one kind of religion. And it covers a huge spectrum of religion, but it finally makes its claim on having a word from God which is absolute. Now, there's another kind of religion. It's almost non-existent. It probably exists in those who are no longer a part of the church, in what Bishop Spong would call "The Church Alumni Association." It is a religious faith and experience that is grounded in one's own personal vision and personal conviction. © Grand Valley State University �The Religious War: Where the Battle Rages Richard A. Rhem Page 4 It is, as I said a couple of weeks ago, not that one starts out with a blank slate. Of course, one is already, from the womb, shaped and nurtured. Nonetheless, this other kind of religion is not a tribute to a text, to a tradition, to an institution, an ultimate kind of authority. It is an authority that will be received conditionally, critically, on the basis of one's own struggle and wrestling with the issues and the questions in order to come to a place to stand which may very well be within a community, but a community that allows for diversity of opinion, a community that has no party line, a community that encourages conversation and discussion. That is a different kind of religion and it is almost non-existent in our world in terms of any institutional manifestation. Now, you might say to me, "Richard Rhem, you are an arrogant..., for you are calling in question the absolute authority of the Bible which is your storybook, the Christian Church and its tradition which is your people, your community. You are arrogant in that you are saying you will not believe what you cannot inwardly affirm in your own mind and heart, what you cannot be passionately engaged with," and I'll have to plead guilty. And I want to say it just that bluntly so that you don't miss it, because if there's one thing the pulpit is very good at, it is fudging so that everybody goes out thinking they heard what they wanted to hear. Well, you probably won't really want to hear what I am saying today because I am saying to you there is no authoritarian claim on you that should be greater than your own inward conviction, your own intellectual commitment, your own passionate involvement, that which has gone through the filters of your mind and your heart, giving you a place to stay. You may say, "Well, the Church has been around for two thousand years and what you are saying makes institutional existence questionable. Don't you worry about that?" Yes and no. It is true that what I am saying does not make for strong, vibrant institutions. But, what I am suggesting is not without precedent. Have you ever heard of Jesus? Have you ever heard of Jesus who came to Jerusalem and started overturning the furniture of the temple? Think about it now. The temple is the symbolic, geographical, concrete center of the Jewish nation. The temple with its sacrificial system, with its priesthood, with its worship - all of that, the very heart and center of the Jewish nation, and Jesus took it on. Jesus took it on because Jesus was convinced in his context and history, where he saw imperial Rome occupying a land in which the people were being driven off their land, driven into hopelessness, despair and poverty, saw the collaboration of the whole temple system, saw the temple system as putting everybody in its place, saw the temple system as having become so institutionally honed that it had lost its heart and soul and was disconnected from the actual human experience of the people for whom the temple was to exist. And Jesus took it on. Jesus had the audacity, Jesus had the arrogance to say, "This which is the very heart and center of this nation is wrong!" © Grand Valley State University �The Religious War: Where the Battle Rages Richard A. Rhem Page 5 And his action was a prophetic action that spoke about the destruction of the very center of that nation. Thereby he was in good standing with the prophet Jeremiah, who said, "Say not the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." Or, Isaiah, who said "You've made this temple of mine, this house which is to be a house of prayer for all people, into a den of thieves." But, Jesus, in his prophetic action was actually speaking about the destruction of that which was the center of the religious life of his people. Now, you can say, "Well, of course, he was the son of God. Who are you? The son of Effie.” And if you want to get away with it that way, if you want to say, "Well, Jesus could do that, but you can't do that, Dick Rhem," go ahead. But I want to suggest to you that the watershed of history which was fomented by Jesus was no more serious than the watershed through which we are walking, and what has happened is that traditionally conceived religious establishment has to be exposed for what it is, and its potential for the demonic, because finally, once again, one has to make one's choice. There is a great gulf fixed between those two kinds of religion, those two kinds of faith. Now, if you'd been on the Board of Trustees of the temple, what would you have done? You are a responsible person, you love the tradition, you love your neighbor, you love your people, you love the temple, you love the priesthood, you love the smell of incense, and now this itinerant preacher, this prophet comes to town and throws all the furniture around, what are you going to do? You're going to call a meeting, of course. And you're going to begin to strategize because you are good people, reasonable people, respectable people, you have risen to the top of your community. You're a member of the Sanhedrin, perhaps, or a member of the priesthood, or whatever, and you begin to say, "What are we going to do?" Because what this man has said, what this man has done undercuts the possibility of a future for this institution as it is, and so you begin to figure the inevitable. What they were doing was not wrong. They had scripture for every practice of the temple that Jesus challenged. They had long, historical tradition for all of the practices that were still taking place. They were the authentic embodiment of that whole Hebrew faith and, being responsible people, they had to figure out how to react. So, what is the question? Well, the question is the question we have been talking about this morning. They came to Jesus and said, "By what authority do you do this?" They knew they were in trouble. The people were hanging on his words. You see, the people outside the institution always know first, because it makes sense to them. People out there all over the world outside of the churches know that the institution's claim of authority is only as strong as it is compelling to those who hear its message; there is no possibility to verify what is claimed. And so, they will put Jesus on the spot - by what authority do you call in question the very heart and center of our tradition? © Grand Valley State University �The Religious War: Where the Battle Rages Richard A. Rhem Page 6 Responding with a question of his own, Jesus asks them about John the Baptist, a recent prophet who also ruffled official feathers, "Was John's authority from heaven or from men?" Now the temple authorities were on the spot because if they answered that John's preaching was from God, Jesus would counter, "Then why did you not believe him?" But, if they accorded him only human authority, the people would stone them because in the eyes of the people, John was a prophet from God. They are stuck; they cannot answer without betraying themselves. They simply decline to answer. And Jesus declines to answer, as well. Why do you think he was not going to tell them? Was he playing a little cat and mouse game? Was this just one-upmanship? I don't think so. I think Jesus was simply saying, "Look, this is a matter of authority and you either see it or you don't. You want to know my authority? You either feel it or you don't. Do you think I want to say this has nothing to do with God? You're crazy. Obviously, this is the word of God. This is the word of God filtered through me. My whole life is hinged on this vision, this passionate commitment. But, can I verify that? Can I prove that? Of course, I can't. Either you see it or you don't. Either you understand it or you don't. Either the Spirit of God causes lights to go on and bells to ring, or you can just sit there and stew and get angry, and there's not a thing I can do about it." You see, there are two kinds of religion, and I hope this present moment of history will help us to see that, for all the potential good that religion traditionally conceived has done, it also has that awful potential for the demonic, for someone with charisma to say, "God said," and pound the book, point to the tradition, show the temple in all its glory and cause people en masse to come mindlessly on to execute the wrath of God according to me. That's been the story. It is the story, and the only religion that has the possibility of giving a human future is that weak religion which is the word of God according to me, and you, and you, and us together as we wrestle together, struggle together, think together, open our hearts and minds together, and move together into a humane future. There's a religious war going on, friends and, if you would believe what I said today and join me, you would be in an extreme minority position, but then, just think what a pinch of salt or a bit of yeast can do. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XX Scripture Text Luke 19:45-20:8 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20011021 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-10-21 Title A name given to the resource The Religious War: Where the Battle Rages Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 21, 2001 entitled "The Religious War: Where the Battle Rages", on the occasion of Pentecost XX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 19:45-20:8. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/76103b6159545760782e39fafb1bca9d.mp3 9ee34311324fdea7b3e3d6e22b433a86 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3ac85dba6dbb6525931730aca58b2d6b.pdf 724df275527e8febf799d0364a326afc PDF Text Text The Revolution Then and Now Independence Day Weekend Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 33:10-17; Matthew 5:38-48 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 7, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon On this Independence Day weekend, I invite you to think with me about our nation, especially in the present circumstance of our post-9/11 world. It is always appropriate to reflect on the good fortune we have enjoyed - the privileges that we have enjoyed together as a people, as a nation. What a heritage we have entered into. What marvelous freedoms and liberty have we lived with. What advantages have we had. What a glorious vision was that vision that founded a constitutional democracy and all of those things that down through the last two centuries and more have made the American experiment. And an experiment it is. In that heroic document with its great language, the Declaration of Independence, we read of self-evident truths and of inalienable rights. But, as a matter of fact, the truths of the vision upon which this nation was founded are not at all self-evident, and the rights that we claim are not at all inalienable human rights. As a matter of fact, only a small minority of humankind has ever enjoyed them as we have, and those rights as documented in our founding documents are rights that even, at the time of their affirmation, were affirmed and appreciated by only a minority. But what a marvelous nation this has been in which to be able to pursue our happiness. And how grateful we should be for that privilege that has been ours. I did a little rummaging around this week thinking about this moment in order to understand how such a nation could have been born, and it is all the stuff that we learned in American History 101, but we forget, and so I had to refresh my memory. It was about ten years before the Revolutionary War ever began that the difficulties between Mother England and these colonies began to heat up. It is so typical, such a typical human story: England of empire, England of king and crown, and these thirteen bedraggled colonies with no national government, no army, no legislative body, really a confederation of colonies, and Mother England began to twist the arm just a bit. They had been rather exhausted emotionally and financially through the French and Indian War. They had not paid a great deal of attention to these colonies. These colonies became rather independent-minded, and when England caught its breath and began to feel that it should maintain © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 2 certain situations and conditions here, and to raise enough finances to enhance the imperial treasury, of course, the sparks began to fly. These were people from a common tradition, they spoke a common language and, as you go back and read about those events, one wonders that there wasn't someone there able to sit them down together and to talk together, because it was obvious that the human ego was flying high, that there was a battle of wills that was building up, and, human animals that we are, someone will either back down and submit and become submissive, or the clash is inevitable. So, the sugar tax, three pennies on every pound of molasses imported, a very costly tax for these colonies that were apparently importing a lot of molasses to produce a lot of great rum. And the tea business, the East India Tea Company, unhappy about the fact that tea was not being consumed as it should have been with a boycott at work. It all comes down to rum and profits eventually, doesn't it? And so, we have that sterling episode of the Boston Tea Party and all of those great events, and as you read it, you can remember, perhaps, if you are as old as I am, how those old history books used to make you thrill to the story of the Revolution. I suppose it is fruitless at this point to raise the questions as to whether or not it ever should have happened, but I think it is important for us to be reminded of the fact that there was a time when this nation was being born, that Mother England, the King and the Crown, were calling us terrorists and that we became violent in our pursuit of freedom and liberty. And it is good for us to remember that, as someone has said, one person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist. At that time, we were weak and poor and ungoverned, and so we didn't have a great deal to lose and let it all go, and when you are fighting for your homeland and for a future, when your blood is running fast, then, of course, what can the imperial forces do against you? But we did get involved in war and thousands of lives were lost and there was tragedy in thousands of homes, and from all of that has emerged this great nation and it is fruitless, as I said a moment ago, to contemplate the question as to whether or not it was a good thing. Certainly it would seem that it could have been settled in some other way without bloodshed, but that is the human story, isn't it? So, we have a great heritage and we have enjoyed great privileges beyond comparison. But, there was a time when we did resort to violence in order to realize our dream. And it is probably important to remember that. I entitled the message "The Revolution Then and Now" because, although it was a local contest, geographically limited, happening in a small corner of the world, nonetheless it was a revolution and the revolution today is a global revolution, and all of the dimensions of it have changed drastically. But, as a matter of fact, that dream in the human heart which we pursued even with violence is a dream not so far from the human heart of earth children around the globe. The times have progressed © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 3 and technology has progressed and the world has become as small as a grapefruit, and we live in a global village today in which it is no longer possible for something which happens in one little corner not to affect the whole. And so, what do we do in this moment of our own crisis? This moment when our freedoms and our way of life and our peace are being challenged and disturbed? How well are we reacting to the revolution now? Well, if we were still those thirteen colonies without any power or prestige or position in the world, it would be a very simple thing for me to preach to you today. I would remind you what the Psalmist said, although his conception of God is one which I cannot adopt anymore: God looking down and sort of smiling at the machinations of humankind. Nonetheless, there was an insight way back there, millennia ago, when the Psalmist said, "An army cannot save and a warhorse is vain hope for salvation or victory." Even then the Psalmist knew that that which is effected by force affects nothing, finally. If we were just the thirteen colonies and a nondescript people on the face of the earth, I'd point you to Isaiah 42. It is one of the servant songs. In those middle chapters of Isaiah, there are several poems called the Servant Poems. One of them is Isaiah 53. But the one read a moment ago in chapter 42 is about the servant who will bring justice to the land, and he will not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. In other words, with tenderness and compassion, the servant of the Lord will work at justice. The 53rd chapter of Isaiah speaks about this same servant who, as a lamb to the slaughter, is led away to die. You say, "Nice image. Great hope. Happy motivation for us to follow in his steps." But, Jesus followed in the steps of the servant. We feel that it was those servant songs that shaped Jesus, and if we were just thirteen colonies of a nondescript people, I would preach from the Sermon on the Mount about moving away from that system of justice that said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, moving away from the natural animosity and hostility against the enemy to a love for the enemy, an emulation of God who causes the rain to fail on the garden of the just and the unjust and causes the sun to shine on all God's children. Because, you see, in God's view there aren't any enemies. We make enemies one of another, but God has a problem. God is the God of all people, and so what does God do? Rain falls on the gardens of both sides. Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address, brought an uncharacteristic humility to the office of the presidency, an uncharacteristic sensitivity and spirituality, and in his second inaugural address, he recognized the fact that both sides in that bitter struggle in the Civil War read the same Bible and prayed to the same God. So, Jesus said love your enemies, be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect, but perfect is not a good word. A better word is mature. Or, in Luke's rendering of the Sermon on the Mount, it is be compassionate as your father in heaven is compassionate. © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 4 If we were just ordinary folks like the rest of the world without a great deal of power or responsibility, I could preach those things and you could hear those things and say, "Sure, that's good." Obviously, might does not make right. Obviously, military force does not create heaven on earth. Obviously, the world needs justice and it ought to be done with compassion and tenderness. And sure, loving one's enemies is a better way to go, Jesus. Even though it did lead to a cross. But, you see, the problem is that is not who we are. I've never particularly cared for Jesse Jackson. The last time I confessed that publically, somebody gave me a book by him, so you don't need to do that. But, one of our alumni from Christ Community, Jim Dykehouse, sent me this from a Chicago paper, Jesse Jackson to Yassar Arafat, an Open Letter. It’s one of the finest things I've read on this whole situation. Speaking about the PalestinianIsraeli situation, Jesse Jackson writing to Arafat says, Terrorist attacks can destroy, but they cannot build. They can generate fear, but not hope. They can revenge past injury, but cannot rebuild future prospects. In the end, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves everyone blind and toothless and bloody." A little later, he says, "Non-violence establishes the moral legitimacy of your cause. Nonviolence requires discipline and training. It speaks to hope for the future, not hate of the past. It engages the young, not in individual acts of despair, but in collective actions of hope. Terror bombings appall the world community. Non-violent resistance will engage that community and force it to respond. Palestinian statehood and Israeli security are two sides of the same coin. The one cannot exist without the other. Terror bombings generate hatred, fear and distrust and insecurity. Non-violent resistance recognizes the humanity of your opponents. It challenges their moral sensibility, but not their military capacity. It forces them to recognize your humanity and because it demonstrates your discipline, your commitment, your love of life, it lays the basis for co-existence rather than coannihilation. Non-violence is not passive suffering. It is an action strategy. It actively resists repression. It actively challenges the occupier. It actively disrupts business as usual. Non-violence is not a coward's path. Nonviolent demonstrators must face anger, violent responses, beatings, jailing and worse, and be disciplined enough not to respond in kind. For the Palestinians, non-violence may be the only road to statehood now. It would demonstrate the nobility of your people and the justice of your cause.” If we were just thirteen colonies, without cutting a great swath in the world, I could preach Jesse Jackson's advice to you. If we were just an ordinary people, I © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 5 would know what to say to you. But, we're not. We're the world's one super power. We're the greatest nation on earth in terms of our military might. We can act unilaterally. We can force our will. We can devastate any nation we choose to. We are limited somewhat by world opinion, of course, but not by what we can do, if we would do it. We use the Bible often in our political rhetoric, but won't you have to grant me that most of that appeal to God and the scriptures is simply that - political rhetoric? And isn't it ironic that those who pledge the greatest allegiance to the Bible are the very people who are marked by a militant spirit, by some kind of sense that this nation is God's chosen vessel for the evangelization of the world and, therefore, we can do anything in God's name for God's cause because it is bringing in God's kingdom? Somehow or other, the game has changed on us. Even as recently as World War II, a great evil could be confronted and dealt with. But, the game has changed. The enemy has become almost invisible and the ability to attack insidious, and our most visible and powerful weapon systems are impotent against the crisis we face today. If we were just an ordinary people, I would recommend the way of Jesus. But, it's really foolish preacher talk to recommend that way to the most powerful nation on earth for, in spite of the fact that we claim the scriptures as the source, the vision of our Western civilization, we know there are limits. And so, what do we say to ourselves as this great nation that we are? I really believe in the American people. I believe in the goodness of the American people. I believe, if you scratch the surface of the average American, you will find a good heart and a good intention and a desire for peace and well-being. But, we get all caught up in empire. We get all caught up in our economic prerogatives. We get all caught up in the privileges of being number one, and when you are on the top of the heap, why in the world would you give your life away? When you are ruling the world, why would you yield up your authority and your power? If you are the United States of America, the last thing in the world you want to do, if you're smart, is tangle with Jesus, because it just does not make sense. It cuts against the grain of our animal nature. And so, I don't know what to preach if I can't preach Jesus. Or, should I assume that there really is that goodness down beneath the surface of the vast majority of our country's people? Should I assume that if someone should rise up and suggest that what we really need is not the reorganization of our security system, because in all honesty, there is no security, that what we really need is not the enhancement of our defense budget, for a military response is a vain hope for victory, to paraphrase the Psalmist. Would I dare believe that if someone arose who dared to suggest that what we really need is a new national vision and a new national purpose, that the people might follow? To my knowledge, what we did after the Second World War was unprecedented, and the nations of Germany and Japan were re-created as strong and vital and © Grand Valley State University �The Revolution Then and Now Richard A. Rhem Page 6 healthy societies, because, in a sense, we loved the enemy. What would happen today if, rather than declaring our independence, we acknowledged our interdependence with all earth children? And rather than declaring the superiority of our way of life, of our religious perspective, we acknowledged that all peoples and traditions have their identity and their pride, and if we invited all together to sit down at the table in order that we might understand one another's traditions and discover the sources of violence and injustice that are there, in order that in all traditions we might come to see that, at base, all of them point to God as the source of life, of humane existence. What would happen if, rather than mounting our power and asserting our rights, we really followed Jesus? © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Independence Day Sunday, Pentecost VII Scripture Text Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 33:10-17, Matthew 5:38-48 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20020707 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-07-07 Title A name given to the resource The Revolution Then and Now Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 7, 2002 entitled "The Revolution Then and Now", on the occasion of Independence Day Sunday, Pentecost VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 33:10-17, Matthew 5:38-48. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Global Community Non-violence Way of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c062828c05461539cdb9dafe3b5074e3.mp3 507fa4a7ea2e4a365802043d5cfab969 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d43757fdd130d16af9258f78f7247004.pdf 3237d13538c0d3afcc7853f603ad2d59 PDF Text Text The Rise of Easter Faith From the series: Credo Text: I Corinthians 15:8; Acts 26:13 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan April 22, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon For some reason or other (I suppose it is my age), I am beginning to reflect back over the way that I have come, and Easter brings me back to my European experience. I was very, very fortunate that, after seven years of pastoral ministry, I was able to take four years for study and reflection in the European setting. I had come here in 1960 and I had all the answers, and after seven years of pastoral experience, I began to learn what the questions were, and for the first time in my life I wanted really to know, I wanted to understand as best I could, wherever it might lead me or leave me. That European experience was precious, and it has continued to bear fruit in my life ever since. When I got there in the late 60s, the theme was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everybody was talking about it; the scholarly world was abuzz with talk about the resurrection. There had not been much talk of resurrection for over one hundred years. The leadership of theological investigation was pretty much centered in Germany, Holland, England, and the Continent, and the impact of the Enlightenment had sent shockwaves through the Church and its academic establishment– that Enlightenment of the 18th century, the birth of critical thinking when our knowledge of the world exploded, when we entered what has been called the Age of Reason. One could do one of two things if one was a believing person in the light of that Enlightenment - one could either run for shelter in orthodox creed, batten down the hatches, build the walls high and refuse to allow the critical thinking and the knowledge that was coming to light to have any bearing on one's faith, or one could try to take it in and then see what kind of adjustment to faith or what kind of new understanding of Christian tradition might be forthcoming. I grew up and was nurtured in a tradition which shut itself against critical thinking, critical rationality. There was a great liberal establishment that sought to come to terms with the new knowledge that was coming to the fore, trying to understand the Gospel in light of that new knowledge. That liberal establishment, in my experience was the enemy, very threatening. They had given up on God and the Gospel. But, when I got to Europe, there was a point of sufficient maturity © Grand Valley State University �The Rise of Easter Faith Richard A. Rhem Page 2 whereby I began to see that those who were trying to interpret the Gospel in light of emerging knowledge, were not enemies of the faith but, rather, were trying desperately to give testimony to the faith in an entirely new world situation, an entirely new world view. I came to see that, as a matter of fact, that is what every generation must do, because the world keeps changing, the situation changes, and so new knowledge coming to light calls for a new translation or a revisioning of the faith in light of the reality which everybody is living. There was a phrase I learned at that time, the climate of opinion, and I came to understand for the first time how every period and every epoch has a climate of opinion. It is that overwhelming sense of what is; it is that unquestioned view of reality which is conscious or unconscious, but shared generally, and I came to see that the great liberal attempt to articulate the Gospel was really an heroic attempt to speak the grace of God in a totally changed situation, and that these people were not to be scorned but to be respected and listened to, and valued for that attempt to move the Gospel into another key. It was not that in the rise of critical rationality we were becoming more intelligent than our forebears or those who formulated the early creeds or wrote the Gospels. I was thinking about that last evening. We still go back and read Plato and Aristotle. We still converse with Socrates and the Golden Age of Greek philosophical development. Five hundred years before Jesus Christ the Greeks were wrestling with ultimate human questions about the meaning of life and the human experience, and we still study them today. We still read with profit those discussions. I got a depressing thought when I realized that 500 years from now, no one is going to be looking at my sermons. So, you get my point. It is not that suddenly we have become so brilliant in contrast to those earlier generations who were benighted. We probably have lost a dimension of depth which they possessed. But, as a matter of fact, the world has changed. Just the knowledge of the world in which we live has changed, the nature of our human experience has changed, the nature of the human person comes to light, the whole of reality breaks open in a new and fresh way, and now what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? Such discussions had been going on in Europe. There was a great New Testament scholar, Rudolf Bultmann, who had a project of demythologizing the Gospels. He said if you turn a switch and the light goes on, if you turn a dial and you hear voices from the ether waves (and what would he say about the Internet), that experience of modernity demands of us some fresh understanding of the meaning of the Gospel, and so he suggested a program of demythologizing the stories of the Gospel. At the time I arrived, his students were around, as well as the students of Karl Barth, and about that time they were investigating again the centrality of the resurrection to the Gospel story, and it was becoming evident that you couldn't understand the New Testament witness without the resurrection. It was absolutely central. It was the resurrection that had created everything else, and so, there were attempts to explain and to understand the meaning of resurrection in those New Testament documents, particularly in the Gospels, and it was quite an enterprise. Understand that I was going over to © Grand Valley State University �The Rise of Easter Faith Richard A. Rhem Page 3 Europe ready to learn but still scared to death I would go home with nothing to preach. There was a contention at the time that Easter was the rise of faith in the hearts and minds of the disciples. Jesus didn't arise in terms of a body coming out of a tomb, but Jesus arose in the understanding of the disciples. That was rather threatening to me; I was trying to find somebody who was looking for at least a faint footprint of God's action in the sands of time. Have you ever been there? Have you ever said to God, "If You'd just give me something tangible to hold unto?" I desperately wanted to believe. I desperately wanted to preach good news, but I didn't know if I could, and that possibility of resurrection being the rise of faith in the minds and hearts of the disciples looked like a possibility, although it wasn't quite enough for me. But, I think I heard myself last Sunday on Easter Sunday suggest that very thing - that Easter was the rise of faith in the minds and hearts of that intimate circle around Jesus who were crushed in his crucifixion, but who came to realize in their community together that what he was could never die, and so they shouted, The Lord has risen!" Now, what happened, I don't know. I did read I Corinthians 15 in which Paul deals not with a corpse coming out of a tomb, but with a vision of the living Christ. I even went to my Greek Bible and I made sure that the word he used in that second paragraph of I Corinthians 15 is the same word throughout. He says that "Jesus appeared to Peter, to Cephas, he appeared unto James, he appeared to the twelve, he appeared to 500 at one time and many of whom are still alive, and finally, as one born at the wrong time, he appeared also to me." That is the clue, of course. "He appeared also to me," and the same word is used, the same seeming substance as to the appearance to Peter and James and to the twelve and to the 500. We know when he appeared to Paul, according to Paul's own testimony. In the Book of Acts going on the way to Damascus to rub out any sign of the followers of the Way, he is confronted with a light and a voice and he's knocked off his horse and his life is transformed, inwardly transformed, turned around, according to his own expression. And so, apparently, it wasn't necessary to have an Easter experience. It wasn't necessary to have an Easter experience by touching a corpse revived. It could happen inwardly in the imagination, in the mind, in the heart, in the being. It could happen in a visionary manner of one sort or another. In fact, if you would go on in that 15th chapter, you would find Paul trying so hard to figure out what in the world was going on. He talks about the physical body and then he talks about the spiritual body. Well, what is a spiritual body? Whatever it is, Paul contrasts the physical body, the flesh, with that spiritual body, and he goes on in another place in that same chapter to say, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven." Obviously, he was saying it is not Jesus come back in flesh and blood that is present, that is appearing, that is experienced. © Grand Valley State University �The Rise of Easter Faith Richard A. Rhem Page 4 Probably my favorite Easter story is the story of the Emmaus Road: two companions making their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and another joins them along the way. They don't recognize him and, to make a long story short, they invite him to come because it is nearing eventide, to break bread with them and he comes into their home and instead of being their guest, he acts as the host. He blesses the bread, breaks it and gives it to them, and they say, "My God!" and he is gone. What kind of an experience is that? It is an experience of a presence, of a spirit, of a reality, experienced in conversation, in communion, at table, breaking bread. It is the experience of a presence, so they speak of a burning heart and suddenly their eyes are opened and, of course, when their eyes are opened to recognize him, he's not there because that is not the point. Now, if you go on to the next paragraph, Luke is a bit nervous about the fact that we might get the impression that that is all there is and that is enough, and so he has them coming to the disciples that same night and he sits down with them and they look at him horrified and he says, "What's the matter? I'm not a ghost. Anybody got a boiled fish?" Well, that really runs counter to that earlier experience. I am sure Luke, the Gospel writer, is trying to say, "Look, this wasn't an hallucination. This was not just an illusory, momentary experience. This thing is real. Jesus lives. The God-presence that was present with us in Jesus is present with us still. He can still create a burning heart. Across the table, bread broken, something happens between us." In various ways, some contradictory, those gospel writers are trying to say that the one who was crucified is still present in conversation, in community, in the breaking of bread, God with us, Spirit with us, that which was present when we were with Jesus did not die, crucified though he was, for we are still the community of the burning heart, for we experience the reality in the presence from God. What was the result? Credo. In Latin and Greek, it means "I believe." Credo, the first word of the Apostles Creed, the first word of the Nicene Creed. Credo. Credo in God. I believe in God. That was the consequence of the Easter experience, of the Easter faith. The Church went on to confess its faith. It did it in its own conceptuality, in its own world and life view, it did it in the only language and understanding available to it. But, it was trying to say there was something real here. I believe in God. What God? God the Creator. What God? The God of whom Jesus spoke. What God? © Grand Valley State University �The Rise of Easter Faith Richard A. Rhem Page 5 The God whose Spirit is here in the midst of us. They said, "I believe." For us, belief has become a difficult thing because we think post-Enlightenment, post-scientific method, post-empiricism. We think that belief has to do with the things that we can verify scientifically, and there is a lot that we cannot verify scientifically, and so belief comes into trouble. But, in its origin, initially, in the study of "to believe," it was "to love." In German, Beleven. The beloved. The creed also originally meant not that which I believe intellectually, but that which I give my heart to, that in which my heart rests. This is the trust of my life. I believe. I rest. I trust beyond anything that I intellectually can take apart or empirically verify. It is the tone quality of my life. It is who I am. I believe because I have experienced that which is beyond fathoming, and I continue to experience it now and again with another in conversation, in community, in the breaking of bread, with a companion along the way, the one who comes to dinner. Last Tuesday night, Rabbi Sandy Sasso was here and I had the privilege of being at the table with her and breaking bread with her. She is the author of those marvelous children's books, and she was the guest of our Worship Center and some other supporting groups. A lovely person, a wonderful human being, this woman Jewish Rabbi who writes children's books about God. Nancy and I, after her wonderful lecture, bought one hundred dollars' worth of books for all the grandchildren. On the next morning, I took those up to my loft and I read them and I cried. One of them entitled, In Between, tells about a village where there are no streets, with rocks and weeds, and most of the houses have no windows. Only two houses have windows, and the man and the woman who have each a window in their house, are commissioned by this village, stumbling around, stammering, to go out and to search whether or not there is a God. And so, she goes and climbs the highest mountain and reaches for the clouds and searches in the depths of the ocean. He goes across the desert, around the world. Each of them in search of God finally come back together. Neither of them has found God. She touches his sunburned arm and he wraps his blanket around her, and they return to the village where everything is the same, except they begin to build windows in all of the houses. The villagers say to them, "Did you find God in the desert?" "No." In the mountains?" "No." "In the ocean?" "No." © Grand Valley State University �The Rise of Easter Faith Richard A. Rhem Page 6 "See? We told you there is not God." "Oh," they said, "we found God." "Where, then, is God?" They looked at each other and they said, "God is in-between." Now, if you can't cry at that, then you need to pray for eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to understand, because, my God, I believe. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Eastertide I Series Credo Scripture Text Luke 24:31, I Cor. 15:8, Acts 26:13 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20010422 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-04-22 Title A name given to the resource The Rise of Easter Faith Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 22, 2001 entitled "The Rise of Easter Faith", as part of the series "Credo", on the occasion of Eastertide I, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 24:31, I Cor. 15:8, Acts 26:13. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Nature of God Resurrection Transformation https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/14c6046eeb6c5da758ba80e369e333ed.mp3 b6ed7f73a32fc7fb0eb874d5f840acd9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Advent III Scripture Text Philippians 2:1-11, Luke 2:8-14 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20021215 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-12-15 Title A name given to the resource The Risk of Love Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 15, 2002 entitled "The Risk of Love", on the occasion of Advent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Philippians 2:1-11, Luke 2:8-14. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/73dce6593e0d79003b0f950d02238edb.pdf ff50b5a75862ea9b3913e1472e89c6fe PDF Text Text The Risk of Seeing Too Soon Text: Matthew 23:37; Acts 7:54-55 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost II, June 13, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon …Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! Matthew 23:37 When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Acts 7:54-55 The early chapters of Acts document that beautiful community that the Spirit created. A community of harmony. A community of sharing and caring, of praying and praising. Such an idyllic period. So pregnant with the presence and the power of God. But it didn't last very long because that community of the Spirit was also a community of people. The Spirit doesn't just float ethereally out there somewhere but always indwells God's people. So where there are people, there are problems. The Spirit that creates community is always a Spirit that tends to push and nudge towards newness, eliciting from that same community resistance and conflict. There are sparks that fly. We find that, after the portrait of that initial harmony and wonderful beauty that characterized the apostolic community, we have a serious conflict that centered around Stephen. Stephen was appointed to administer the community, to take care of some of its details, some of the necessary things that had to happen in that growing community. But before long he went to preaching. Stephen was probably the outstanding leader of that early community. We hear of other names, Peter and James and eventually Paul, that are more familiar to us. None of them were earlier and none of them had more insight into the universality of the Gospel and the promise of Pentecost than did Stephen. So before long Stephen became the spokesman of the truth that came to expression in Jesus and he found himself following dead in the tracks of Jesus. He elicited the wrath and the hostility of that Jewish community that had not yet gotten over its reaction to Jesus. The criticisms and the condemnations sounded very much the same. That Stephen and his ministry of the Gospel was © Grand Valley State University   �The Risk of Seeing Too Soon Richard A. Rhem Page 2   undercutting the centrality and the sacredness of the temple, that Stephen was playing fast and loose with the law of Moses and the customs that came through that law. So they called him before the council and asked him whether the charges, (that had been trumped up, and yet that had an element of truth in them) were indeed true. Stephen's defense was most unusual. He took them on a rather lengthy survey of the history of God's people. He was characterized by Luke as a man full of the Spirit, powerful, and full of grace. As he stood before the Sanhedrin Council, the leadership group of Jewish people, they looked upon him and (it is recorded), they saw, as it were, in Stephen the face of an angel. With great persuasiveness and power he reviewed that history which was a history of stubbornness and obstinacy, disobedience and rebellion. Stephen was a Samaritan. We know that from an analysis of the history course that he gave them in that address. He had the Samaritan bias. If you had heard the history of Israel from St. Paul, a Hebrew of the Hebrews with blue blood in his veins, you would have heard a different nuance to that history. But Stephen being a Samaritan reflected the Samaritan bias. Interestingly he brings the story to a conclusion by a reference to the building of the temple. You see, the Jews and the Samaritans had this ongoing conflict because the Samaritans never really yielded to the fact that Jerusalem was the city of God. It was the tabernacle, the tent, the moveable sanctuary that accompanied Israel through the wilderness that was brought into the promised land and was placed first at Shechem. Shechem was in the vicinity of Mt. Gerezim. Then David who came to power as the second king of Israel, in order to unite the south and the north, conquered the fortress of the Jebusites and founded Jerusalem as the new capitol, a very clever political move. Of course, David being king, all of the court preachers exalted this wonderful move on David's part as though it was all of God's doing that Mt. Zion should be exalted forever. But the Samaritans, the northern tribes, never really bought that. Remember the woman at the well, the story that we looked at last week? She said to Jesus, “I foresee that you are a prophet. Now where should we worship, here at Mt. Gerezim in Samaria, or there in Jerusalem?” Jesus said to her, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshiper will not worship either here or there, but in Spirit and Truth.” Maybe Stephen was a convert to Jesus through the testimony of that woman. In any case, he had the Samaritan bias that didn't really “buy” Jerusalem as the only site where God dwelled. It probably is true as they charged that he slighted somewhat the temple and all the accouterments of that sacred shrine. He saw before the rest of them what Jesus was really talking about. He understood the promise of Pentecost, the breaking out of those narrow ethnic national limitations and structures and forms, and the universalizing spirit that was now poured out on all flesh. As he concludes his history lesson, he brings it to this © Grand Valley State University �The Risk of Seeing Too Soon Richard A. Rhem Page 3   contrast between the tabernacle that was the moveable tent of meeting, the worship center for pilgrim people, contrasting it with that fixed temple in Jerusalem. His charge, the thrust of his history lesson, the point he's trying to make, he says with conciseness, “You do always resist the Holy Spirit! You like your forbearers do always resist the Holy Spirit. What you really want is a fixed temple, a solid form, when the Spirit prefers the tent and the tabernacle that can be folded down, mobile, free, fluid.” As he brings his point home using that image, they can't miss the point. They are those who have it all wrapped up - in a solid temple, in a thick liturgy, in established priesthood, the last word, the final form. Stephen, from Samaria, through the eyes of Jesus says, “You're doing it again. You are doing what our forbearers have always done. Always resisting the Holy Spirit.” Reflecting the words of Jesus as he addressed the leaders of his own people, confronting them with a paradox, the irony that they bring wreaths to the tombs of the prophets that their forbearers killed, knowing that they will soon kill him as well. He proclaims to them the irony of the religious who lust for certitude and fixed forms and always resist the Spirit that would break the forms, that would create newness, that would move God's people into God's open future. It's a risk to see too soon. Stephen paid for his early vision with his life. He saw as Jesus saw and he died as Jesus died. It is a risk to see too soon. Let me play a little game with you this morning. One of the best ways to hear the word of God in the biblical story is to put oneself in the story, to identify with one or another of the characters. I know when we come to church, we may take for granted, presume that we are a part of the people that wear white hats, the good guys. So you might say to me, “Obviously I can identify with Stephen as I would have identified with Jesus over against those obstinate, blind, stubborn, rebellious Jewish leaders, who were always resisting the Holy Spirit.” But, wait a minute. The story isn't about blind, obstinate, stubborn Jews of a former day. This is our story. I ask you, “With whom do you identify?” Might you image yourself pulling a chair up to the council table as a member of the Sanhedrin, checking this man Stephen out? As a guardian of the tradition and, therefore, examining, interrogating this preacher of strange creed. Or there are a couple of other possibilities. Saul, who was to become Paul, we are told, was standing by, holding their coats as they stoned Stephen. Maybe you sense that you might be one of those, standing on the sidelines, seeing what's going to happen. Or I suppose there might be one or two of you here that might honestly see yourself joining the lynch mob, taking up the stones. Where do you see yourself in the story? Because the story is not an ancient tale of days gone by. It is as fresh as © Grand Valley State University �The Risk of Seeing Too Soon Richard A. Rhem Page 4   today. What Stephen was talking about was simply the phenomena of human religion. You say, “Religion? I thought religion was divine?” Well certainly, in the sense that it is a response to God. I believe that human religion is not generated out of the human person. I believe it is the response of the human person to that encounter from beyond. The response takes a form. The response takes shape. The response takes a certain institutional character. What Stephen was talking about in his review of Israel's history was a review of the people who served the true living God, the creator of heaven and earth. They had true religion, but it was religion constituted by human shapes, and human forms, and human formulations. It was those human shapes and forms that they wanted fixed and final. The whole point of Stephen's speech was: We were better off when we were a pilgrim people in the wilderness than when we got it all together here in the promised land. We were better off when we needed occasionally a charismatic leader to come in and lead us rather than when we got this monarch, this king, this established palace and this established temple, where everything was fixed and final. Oh dear friends, we people love to have it fixed and final. Make it simple. Make it clear. Give it to me easy. Let me get my hand around it. Don’t leave any loose ends. Don't leave me dangling. The human situation is a situation that isn't neat. It's messy. It always has loose ends and dangling participles. Stephen was saying, “The Spirit of God is the Spirit that always pushes us to newness. We who are religious always resist the Spirit of God.” Jesus said, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem.” (Stephen's image too for that which is solidly fixed) “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft’ would I have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but she would not.” Jerusalem that kills the prophets. Not Mecca, not some place in the oriental kingdom of the Far East Jerusalem. All the blood from Abel - Genesis, to Zechariah - II Chronicles, the end of the Jewish canon. The whole Jewish canon from beginning to end, from A to Z. You killed the prophet, the one called by God to speak God's word. You resist the Holy Spirit.” So Stephen paid for seeing too soon, for seeing through, seeing the promise of Pentecost which Jesus had pointed to, the era of the Spirit. I was thinking about this this week because I had lunch with a friend of mine, a very dear friend of mine, a friendship that goes back over decades. We were in college together and seminary together, and a pastorate overlapped. We studied in Europe at the same time. But in the last twenty-five years I've only seen him three times. We had lunch this week. We started out together. We manned the same “foxhole” in the theological wars of our youth. He is still faithfully manning © Grand Valley State University �The Risk of Seeing Too Soon Richard A. Rhem Page 5   that post, and I have gone off the charts to the left of him. Now if he didn't love me so much he would never sit down to break bread with me. But the reason we had lunch was because, after a quarter of a century of being separated, he has just accepted a call to pastor a congregation in Grand Rapids - the most conservative congregation in the Reformed Church in America. Intentionally, deliberately so. When he called me for lunch he said, “You aren't thought of very well in my congregation.” (Laughter) I said to him, “I know.” He said, “When we have lunch maybe we should both go in disguise.” (Laughter) But there we sat. Loving each other still. Respecting each other deeply. He, standing where he has always stood, responsibly, passionately. I, with equal passion and seriousness, believing that in order to serve the same cause that he serves so well, I must do it otherwise. Is he right and I am wrong? Am I right and he is wrong? It’s not that simple really. I believe in him. And I know that we worship together the same good and gracious God even though we are poles apart. What is it with this community of faith, which is always being nudged by the Spirit into newness? Where do you take your place? You see, we are in the era of the Spirit trying to realize the promise of Pentecost. Now it seems to me that if we would move toward the Messianic Age, Shalom, and the Kingdom of God that we have to find that form to which the Spirit is inviting us. We call Jesus, Christ. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. Messiah is the Hebrew word for the anointed. The Messianic Age is the age of anointing. We have identified with Jesus. Jesus Christ. But Jesus was simply the instrument. The instrument. The one who was anointed and promised the anointing of God's people. I wonder if, in the history of human religion in response to the true God, Israel was a stage issuing in Jesus, issuing in the Church. But I am wondering if the Church hasn't gotten locked into Jesus, forgetting that Jesus is the one anointed, promising the anointing of us all, leading us into the next stage whatever shape it may take. I don't know. There is a certain risk of seeing too soon, of getting a sense of something. There is a peril of seeing too soon. But there's a greater peril for the people of God in not seeing soon enough. Where is the Spirit of God leading us? What is the Anointing Age, the Messianic Age, the Age of the Spirit? What form will it take, and what place will we play in it? Would you stand with Stephen? Or do you sense now, pulling a chair up to the council table, feeling called rather to be a guardian of the tradition? Or maybe you are sort of on the periphery with Paul holding the coats of those who are slugging it out. Pray God you're not reaching for a stone. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9ea9fb09f3140ad0091c52bcd7e89b45.mp3 0fa9b69427b77ebddd803535e275ecb4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost II Scripture Text Matthew 23:37, Acts 7: 54-55 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19930613 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-06-13 Title A name given to the resource The Risk of Seeing Too Soon Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on June 13, 1993 entitled "The Risk of Seeing Too Soon", on the occasion of Pentecost II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 23:37, Acts 7: 54-55. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Faith Inclusive Pentecost II Spirit of God Universality https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9730f8320e38d5a0881508321367022e.jpg d0411ad94ba880e01e6a95ae60188654 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PQ2218.D13 F613 1899 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0349 Title A name given to the resource The River of Pearls Description An account of the resource Binding of The River of Pearls, by Rene de Pont-Jest, published by L.C. Page and Company, 1899. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1899 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives