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Online chat about Coffin's Credo |
PresbyNet online chat explores William Sloane Coffin's
thoughts on social justice and faith
by Alexa Smith, Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - April 7, 2004 - An online discussion of Credo, a
173-page compilation of quotes by the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, that is
climbing the country's best-seller lists, began this week on Ecunet, the
computer communication network that includes the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s
PresbyNet.
Now 79, Coffin was the voice of liberal dissent in the north for more than
40 years, achieving fame for being jailed as a civil rights Freedom Rider
and for opposing the Vietnam war from his pulpit in the Yale University
Chapel.
The book was released this spring by the Westminster/John Knox Press.
The Rev. Dr. Erik Kolbell, a longtime friend and colleague of Coffin, is
facilitating the conversation. Kobell is the former minister of social
justice at the Riverside Church in New York City, where Coffin served for 10
years and where he still occasionally preaches.
To sign up for the discussion, go to the Web site
www.ecunet.org/topic/credo.
Coffin's words in Credo address the social movements that defined Coffin's
times and the life of faith.* On the End of Life: There is a Zen paradox
whereby we may lack everything yet want for nothing. The reason is that
peace, that is, deep inner peace, comes not with meeting our desires but in
releasing ourselves from their power. I find such peace is increasingly
mine. It is not that I am withdrawing from the world, only that I am present
in a different way. I'm less intentional than "attentional." I'm more and
more attentive to family and friends and to nature's beauty. Although still
outraged by callous behavior, particularly in high places, I feel more often
serene, grateful for God's gift of life. For the compassions that fail not,
I find myself saying daily to my loving Maker, "I can no other answer make
than thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.
 | On Life in General: The worst thing we can do with a
dilemma is to resolve it prematurely because we haven't the courage to
live with uncertainty. |
| On War: Let us recall that wars begin in the mind. We
have first to think others to death. You can't kill a brother. You can't
kill a sister, a friend, a fellow human being. But you can kill a Marxist,
a capitalist, a terrorist. You can kill a Red Menace, or a "shark of Wall
Street." And we further prepare the mind to kill by using such juiceless
jargon as "collateral damage." |
| On Social Justice and Civil Liberties: I think we know
far more of God's heart than we do of the mind of God. It's God's heart
that Christ on the cross lays bare for the whole world to see. And 'God is
love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them' (1
John 4:16) - that passage suggests that revelation is in the relationship.
And a relationship with God provides more psychological certitude than
intellectual certainty. Faith is not believing without proof; it is
trusting without reservation. I think all belief systems that rest on
absolute intellectual certainty - be that certainty the doctrine of papal
infallibility or the doctrine of the verbal inerrancy of Scripture - all
such belief systems should go out the stained glass windows, for they have
no proper place in church. They induce Christians to sharpen their minds
by narrowing them. They make Christians doctrinaire, dogmatic, mindlessly
militant. To such absolute belief systems can be attributed all manner of
unchristian horrors such as inquisitions and holy wars, witch burning,
morbid guilt, unthinking conformity, self-righteousness, anti-Semitism,
misogyny, and homophobia. |
The book may be ordered by contacting the Presbyterian
Publishing Corporation at 1-800-227-2872 or by ordering from the website,
www.ppcpub.com.
You can also check out Gene
TeSelle's review of the book, and we hope you'll want to order the
book from the link on that page!
also
'Nothing to complain
about'
Social-justice firebrand
Coffin is anticipating a gentle, quiet death
Alexa Smith of Presbyterian News Service
writes a moving account of a visit with Bill
Coffin, as he nears the end of a full and active life in the struggle
for peace and justice.
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN
THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
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