| La traduction d'Évangile et liberté |
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Catégorie : English
| 15 Janvier 2013 | | The Liberal Programme
Traduction, Mardi 15 Janvier 2013 à 00:12 - English
By Vincent Schmid
Translated by Jack McDonald
In Liberalism there is liberty. To my mind, this means an approach of spiritual and intellectual liberty much more than a specific set of doctrines. Freedom in faith makes room for the needs of the heart at the same time as giving rise to questioning and a thirst for understanding. This approach to faith belongs historically to Protestantism, even if it has now spread largely beyond Protestantism's borders. Evangile et Liberté is nourished by this vein of thought, which we can characterise under these headings:
Liberals want to think their faith through by building bridges between religion and the world which surrounds religion. Our times are marked by a tangible decline in a sense of reason, which now has to capitulate before collective emotion, fundamentalism and identity-aggressions, whereas scientific development and technology have never made such spectacular progress as they now do. It has become necessary to think through what we believe to avoid sliding into schizophrenia and obscurantism.
Liberals support the separation of Church and State. Church-State separation is a historic victory as well as a deep wisdom, which owes something to the genius of Protestantism. No one has found a better way of facilitating the peaceful coexistence of those who believe in heaven and those who don't. The need for Church-State separation lies not just on the State's side but on the Church's. The frame of mind of this separation should act as an inner critical tool to counter the temptation inherent in organised religion to trespass onto the State's domain.
Liberals are robustly tolerant. The Gospel idea itself of God becoming human implies a wide variety of spiritual approaches. The signs today are all of the rise of absolutisms, and tensions run high. Tolerance passes for a weakness. But we call for a firm tolerance, strong in its own virtue and resistant to manipulation by others.
Liberals are concerned about the spiritual needs of their neighbours today. Each generation aspires to its own authentic expression of faith. We are experiencing changes today as far-reaching psychologically as those which occurred at the Renaissance, the period when the Protestant Reformers responded to the anguish of the humanity of their day. Today we need to have the same will to formulate spiritual responses to the anxieties of our contemporaries caught up in the whirlwind of change at every level. The true place for Church fathers and teachers is the street.
Liberals think that the Reformation is still happening. The Church is an instrument of service for spiritual life and for those who come to her. If the Church's ways of being are no longer appropriate, we must reform them. We need to think change and put it into practice.
Evangile et Liberté has been a laboratory of ideas and experiences of open Christianity for a century. We hope that this continues for the next century!
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| 07 Décembre 2012 | | Dogmatics
Traduction, Vendredi 07 Décembre 2012 à 17:02 - English
André Gounelle
Translated by Jack McDonald
I was a professor of dogmatics for 28 years. People sometimes remarked that it was strange for a liberal Protestant reputed to be hostile to dogma to be asked to teach it. I always used to reply that we need to draw a distinction between dogmatics (the right use of dogma) and dogmatism (the wrong use).
In classical Greek, dogma means one’s opinions and ideas, and those taught by different philosophical schools. Christians also formulated these dogmata. This was legitimate and necessary, because they had to think through their faith, explain it and put it into words (“You shall love the Lord your God… with all your mind” says our Lord’s Summary of the Law). A stupid, pointless or voiceless spirituality would not honour or witness to the Gospel.
As it began to dominate society, the Church lent to some of its own pronouncements an absolute and unalterable value. Dogmas became supposed to express “the very content of revelation”; they were imposed on the faithful who were obliged to subscribe to them. As Auguste Sabatier (1839-1901) put it, “Dogma has become a teaching which the Church has turned into a law.” And so we slide into dogmatism, which is an idolatry of Church teaching, in the sense that we ascribe divine status to what human beings say about God.
Dogmatics, on the other hand, has the task of the critical examination of dogma. Dogmatics asks questions about the meaning of dogmas, assesses their strengths and weaknesses, searches for other possible formulations of the truth, which are better or more appropriate. Dogmatics undermines dogmatism by showing that dogmatism’s pretensions are false. Conversely, dogmatism makes the work of dogmatics impossible, because dogmatism turns dogmas from being reflective expressions of faith into being the object of content of faith itself.
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| 06 Mai 2012 | | Charter of the Protestant Church San sebastian de los Reyes (Madrid)
Traduction, Dimanche 06 Mai 2012 à 22:35 - English
Rev. Julian Mellado
What type of church do we want?
1. We want a church where God will never cease to be a mystery, the Indescribable One; where nobody can limit or restrict Him to any human dogma or concept; where everyone can approach Him with true freedom and share their experiences, however unique these may be, without fear of being ridiculed or despised.
2. We want a church where God can be identified as a Presence of Love, Compassion, Freedom, Justice and Truth.
3. We want a church where God can be experienced in the whole fullness of His Grace; where everyone can feel accepted as a whole person; where each member of the congregation can accept others fully as persons.
4. We want a church where Jesus of Nazareth is the focal point of both faith and thought, the unique model to follow; a church which demonstrates the values of the Master and His commitment to a new humanity; a church where the Gospel freely lives within us and in the midst of our society.
5. We want a church where every person finds a meeting point, a haven to reflect, a space for solidarity, a place of acceptance; where each one can freely share their experiences of faith and their points of view; where all can take part to discern Jesus’ Voice together.
6. We want a church where the right of every person is respected with regard to a Free Interpretation of the content of their faith and their individual forms of expression; when everyone is protected from those “authorities” that wish to impose their faith and criteria upon other people’s consciences; where the right of everyone to share freely and openly whatever they consider appropriate for the mutual edification is upheld; where every member has a desire to share their experiences with the rest of the congregation, but without wishing to impose them on others.
7. We want a church where each member openly welcomes everyone who wishes to take part of the congregation, without discrimination for reasons of sex, status, ethnic background, economic situation or culture.
8. We want a church where any strict and overbearing dogmatism is removed in favour of the pluralism and acceptance, in accordance with Jesus’ testimony.
9. We want a church that encourages both men and women in our culture today; which shares the true principles in which the faith and the culture of the Apostles was based, so that it serves also as a foundation in our days and in our culture.
10. We want a church which promotes fellowship with people and organisations that follow our Lord’s steps or which are committed by peaceful means to a better, fairer and more egalitarian world.
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LES NOTES RÉCENTES
A propósito de la Trinidad
La tumba vacía
El Espíritu hace vivir al cristianismo
Il mito : volto nascosto della scienza e della fede ?
Il racconto del sepolcro vuoto ci lascia senza risposta
La Biblia en el metro
Alcuni dicono: “La mia Chiesa è Internet”
Se Adamo ed Eva non avessero mangiato la mela, dove sarebbero ora?
Le tre dimensioni di una vita completa
Le Chiese ci preoccupano, senza dubbio!
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