Theme for July THEOS

As promised we said we would announce what would be happening at THEOS in July.

As it's the end of our year considering subversive ethics we wanted to bring the various subjects of the year together. In July we will briefly consider the message of the book of Revelation, one of the most ethically subversive books in the New Testament, then we will have an open discussion of all the subjects we've covered this year.

So if you've still got any thoughts or questions from any of the THEOS sessions you've attended this year, then this will be the time ti discuss them. If you want to help us out, feel free to post your questions as a comment here.

THEOS, Tuesday 14th July 7.30pm @ Nazarene Theological College, Dene Road, Didsbury.

Questions from THEOS - Subversive Sex

Following on from the session Subversive Sex (THEOS 9th June), here are some of the questions we discussed in the forum. Many of these questions build from discussion in Walsh and Keesmaat's Colossians Remixed.

Discuss
1 – What is the difference between betrothed commitment and animal instinct?

2 - Has sex become a commodity like everything else in the Empire? What effect does this have?

3a - Both marriage and community require trust, patience, respect, mutual help, forgiveness - in other words the practice of love, as opposed to the feeling of love. This practice is rooted in the respect of the other, mutuality, self-sacrifice and responsibility for the consequences of sexual love.
3b - Like any industrial or commercial enterprise, industrialised and commercialised sexuality seeks to conquer nature by exploiting it and ignoring the consequences.

4 - An ethic of sexuality rooted in community and fidelity subverts the fragmented world of cold economic efficiency by embracing the ridiculously inefficient life of committed love.

5 - Is there anything more offensive to consumer society than the word ‘enough’?

6 - If we live in a disposable, instant culture, what happens to our sex lives?

7 – Is it just sexual idolatry that we face today?

8 - Can the church proclaim a counter-cultural message of sexuality when it embraces culture in most other areas? (ie. wealth - ownership - equality - prosperity - war and violence - globalism - commercialism - celebrity - politics)

Post your thoughts and comments...

The economics of sex in an instant culture

I've been thinking about how we've been telling ourselves the same lie for some time now...

"You can build real community in a self-gratifying culture."

The reason we struggle to build community is nothing to do with our community values, it's to do with our individual values. If my happiness, fulfillment and enjoyment is more important than any other's then community won't work.

Will it?

Does community work in economic terms, where I invest and expect interest on my return?

What about relationships? What if we assessed their potential on similar economic terms - 'what's in this for me?' If we did that we'd need legal documents and agreements about how to know if someone was in breach of contract...that wouldn't work, would it?

Would these words bring restoration to a self-gratifying culture...
For richer...
For poorer...
In sickness...
In health...
from this day...

A self-centred culture doesn't like the word 'forever', does it?

Subversive Sex, THEOS, Tuesday 9th June 7.30pm @ Nazarene Theological College, Dene Road, Didsbury.

Subversive Sex - THEOS in June

Can the church proclaim a counter-cultural message of sexuality when it embraces culture in many other departments?

wealth
ownership
equality
prosperity
war and violence
globalism
commercialism
celebrity
politics

Your thoughts?

Subversive Sex, THEOS, Tuesday 9th June 7.30pm @ Nazarene Theological College, Dene Road, Didsbury.