Church – Peter D. Snow, Author

The Gospel Also Belongs to Those Outside The Church

August 15, 2018August 23, 2018
by peterdsnow

Most of the people not in the church don’t believe a word of what the church has to say. This erosion of the church’s viability has been going on at an ever accelerating rate since World War 2. Now in this era of technological expansion and interconnectedness there appears less space for the church in people’s minds or lives. That may not apply to Jesus of Nazareth’s message. Maybe his teaching is just what we need, after all the church teaches this is all His world.

Most doctrine offered by the church is suspect. Formed by Neo-Platonist thinking, medieval superstition and the churches’ need to project power, control and hold a monopoly of the truth, the church, including every denomination speaks to a smaller percentage of the population every decade. However, its power and political control tempts churches into unholy alliances which further corrupt the so called people of God. An Example of this is the number of Christians who support a lying, philandering, manipulative, fraudulent human being as President because he promises them he will support an attack on Women’s rights to control their own bodies. These same Christians will turn a blind eye to the needs of the country to gain an advantage for their ideology.

The church has for the last 2,000 years turned out some extraordinary people. Members of the church, (of any denomination) have built schools, hospitals, universities and so much more. The History of the church is full of great people and great works. Maybe in this century, the church will be called upon to once more do great things, but is it ready to face the issues?

Now in this 21^st Century the human race is up against its own end times. The population has topped 7 billion, climate is changing world wide, masses of people are on the move seeking relief from disastrous environments of one kind or another, our population is more susceptible to new diseases, and from our study of evolutionary history we know we are at a tipping point. Life on this planet could blink out. That would not be the end of creation, for other worlds, other planets and other species will go on. None of us will be there. We cannot get there to those distant worlds, despite the sci-fi genre’s assertion such a thing was possible. At best no more than a dozen or so could escape the gravity of our world and risk their future in the emptiness of space. The rest of us have to make this planet work for everyone. There is no alternative. We all have a massive job to do.

The teaching of Jesus of Nazareth could be our salvation, not in the church’s meaning of the word, but by re-thinking how we belong, and how each of us as individuals have a destiny, a purpose of becoming. The Red Sock Ministry wants to grasp the essential truth of Jesus of Nazareth’s teaching, and make it the property of those outside the church. It may be our collective best bet. One thing I do know is if you study Jesus’ teaching as found in the gospels it will change you. You will have found a window into the heart of the divine whether you are inside the church or outside.

Red Sock Reflections

August 13, 2018August 28, 2018
by peterdsnow

I am often asked why I wear red socks on Sunday. I have to admit I don’t really know. Maybe it really began with my Dad. He prayed every night beside his bed, was a man of moral integrity, generous but wouldn’t think of entering a church on principle. On learning I intended to be ordained he banged on the dining table, made all the pots dance, and shouted, “Why the hell should a son of mine want to go into the bloody church?” (Maybe the whole thing was a kind of divine joke.)

The idea of red socks starts there. In a way he was right. The churches of all denominations are very much human organizations and with any success become corrupted by power and money. How much ego is on display on any Sunday in any number of worshipping congregations? Hypocrisy hovers over the church always, as standards of perfection preached can never meet the reality of our human condition. The only thing we can say is that hypocrisy in the church is not as brazen as in political entities and other centers of power and money.

So every Sunday I turn up at church but wear red socks as a subversive reminder. This is not me being arrogant, although that is always a possibility, but me expressing my own guilt, my struggle with the Christian message in contrast with my own capacity to be much different.

Here is the problem: The church, any church, pick one, always suggests you should be different and would be if you bought their package. In my years as a priest, I saw nobody change and become that ideal the church pushes. Lots of people got a better handle on life, grew up and found freedom, but I’m glad to say they could only grow by totally ignoring the idea, “People should be different.”

That idea is not only found in the preaching but buried in our doctrine. We are supposed to preach that everyone is born in sin. We all start off corrupted, and only by the grace of God are we saved from the great barbecue at the end of time. Baloney! Then we turn around in the pulpit and explain how much God, the loving father, wants for us to be perfect. Double baloney! When my children were born, there was nothing wrong with them, in fact, their innocence took my breath away, and I felt for a moment I shared with God the joy he finds in each of us. What now? They have grown up in our imperfect world of people with all the imperfections of our society. All I can say of them is they are better people than I am, with no thanks for my screw-ups.

So here is the dilemma. On the one hand is the organized church with its flawed doctrine, but on the other hand, I can attest to the wonders at the heart of life. Red Socks is somehow a kind of expletive in color. It’s saying, “I don’t buy what you are selling but I want to join with all the other people who constitute the Church, the spiritual community in which even my Dad would have felt at home.”

Maybe that gets me a little closer.

Church and Science

February 18, 2018August 10, 2018
by peterdsnow

History is full of instances of the church opposed to scientific discoveries, but whilst one part of the church persecuted would be scientists, other whole churches were encouraging advancement. Rome may have opposed the printing press, but in northern Europe, the church embraced it. New thought was welcomed, Newton’s theories were by no means decried and mapping of the earth and so many other enterprises in astronomy, chemistry, and biology pressed forward. Here is a picture from a church in Rome, St Maria Degli Angeli.

This is a picture of a meridian laid out along the length of the aisle of the church.

In 1702, Pope inaugurated a sundial on the floor of the church, the so-called Linea Clementina. It was designed by Francesco Bianchini, and its function was to check the validity of the new Gregorian calendar. This was especially important as regards the date of the Spring Equinox since the date of Easter depended on it. The new science of astronomy and mathematics was used to design it.

Time we embraced within our churches and our liturgies, some of the current spectacular discoveries and scientific thought. How about a litany for all the stages of evolution and the critters on whose lives our development rests? After all, we already have the theology in place, as Paul said to the Athenians, “For in him we live, and move and have our being.” In other words, we are not separate from the creator, but an expression of Him/Her. Evolution is not over, we are part of the story. From inanimate to conscious, from conscious to self-conscious and from self-conscious to spiritual being. That’s quite a story to be told.