God + Language Recap
We offered a course in February to explore the language that we use to understand and express our concepts of God. Conversations were thoughtful and rich, and we want to share a recap of the sessions for those of you who were unable to attend.
Week 1: Jimmy used the story of the golden calf from Exodus 32 to illustrate the concept of idolatry and how tools for expressing our faith often become idols—the embodiment of God for us—rather than simply tools intended to help us express, represent, and access God.
Week 2: Brian focused on language itself, exploring how even simple words conjure both common understanding and diverse meaning, feeling, and response for each of us. It was a great lesson in both how beautiful and how insufficient language can be.
Week 3: Travis led a conversation about theology and orthodoxy, which led to a conversation about the Nicene Creed. While he placed the Creed into a time and context—words and concepts that a group of men at a particular time and place could agree on about the Christian faith—it is still a place of tension for many, while for others it is poetry.
Week 4: Mary drilled down deeper on the Nicene Creed, bringing 12 modern interpretations of the Nicene Creed.
We broke into small groups to discuss how these alternative Creeds made us feel. It helped some of us to see and understand the traditional Nicene Creed differently opening our hearts. This is just the beginning of a conversation. When we gather again to discuss God and Language, we hope you will join us.
