Janis Joplin and Reinhold Niebuhr...
Sitting in the New College library, reading Niebuhr, and listening to Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits. Met with Capt. Supervisor on Tuesday to discuss the 8-page research proposal I had written and the outline I had submitted for all of the chapters of the dissertation. At the end of the meeting, he sent me out with the benediction, "Go start writing." Of course, to start writing, one has to read a lot first. Moreover, he wants me to write the fifth chapter before anything else, so I'm having to jump ahead a bit in my research. The fifth chapter is entitled, "American Pragmatism, Ethical Naturalism, and Christian Realism." So, I'm reading an essay by Niebuhr about the role of the Church in war. I won't give the title, for fear of giving away his position (and mine). Before disclosing that information, here is a poll for you to take. No need to elaborate at this point, just a simple "yes" or "no" will do. Is the Christian church pacifist? Don't Google Niebuhr on this, for the title of his essay answers the question right off.Yes or no? I'll give my answer later.
posted by John and Mag @ 7:12 AM
9 Comments:
For the record, Margaret has lodged her vote (via email) as "yes."
I would vote "no", but it should be!
CamoKHB
Off the cuff I'm going to have to choose "no", although I look forward to our nouveau Niebuhr's explanation one way or the other.
-- Ed
Actually, I think the real question should be "Is the Christian Church wired at 220 VAC?" or in layman's terms, "How many budding Neibuhr scholars does it take to plug in a speaker?"
-- Anonymous insulting relative
Thank you, Ed and camoKen. And thank you for the insult, Ed. I had a conversation today with a professor of medical physics at the University while he and I drove around the city to drop off goods at the Bethany House (long story) and he told me that most outlets around here operate on 230-240 VAC. Consequently, I can plug in the hard drive, but the monitor doesn't support that kind of power, so I'm at a loss about what to do. I think I'll try a transformer, if it's not too expensive, or I might try to hook up the laptop to the desk top hard drive, but again, have no clue about how to accomplish that task. I guess the other option would be to search for a cheap monitor somewhere (and speakers to replace those I've already blown out).
Oh, is the Church pacifist? Well, I'll wait to see if anyone else has a vote. You all may be swaying my vote!!!
It depends on what you mean by the "Christian church". I don't think the Christian churches agree on lots of things--it would be hard to get a consensus. If the Christian church means Christians as a whole, currently living, I don't think most are pacifist. What is your definition of the Christian church? Wooed
Good question, and it's the point that is my primary beef with Niebuhr's essay, which I'll get to in a different post. What I mean by the question in this post is whether the body of believers that constitutes the church of Jesus Christ is, in its makeup, inherently pacifist.
What thinks ye?
No, not pacifist for any church I've been in - all Christian, I hope. My hunch is that Niebuhr and I agree on that one. When do we get the answer?
SLB
me thinks no. although, at first thought, i think it should be. :D
love, sister siblingness
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