Clergy Reading Group with Cn. Victor Austin
Thursday, September 27, 2018
September 27, 2018 Start Time 1:30 AM
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I have some news about two opportunities for you to read some theology and then meet with other clergy to discuss it.
First, bioethics. I think we (Christians in general) need to be able better to speak from our faith to issues that arise around "bioethics." For instance, we need to be able to draw lines of connection from basic Christianity to physician assisted suicide--a practice that Christians have generally opposed, but we need to be able to say more than that we're against it. There is a handy, brief, and well-received book that has taught many of us how to make those connections -- it's now in its 3rd edition, a sort of minor classic: Bioethics: A Primer for Christians, by Gilbert Meilaender. It's published by Eerdmans and available in paperback and e-book formats.
I'll meet in September to discuss this in several locations around the diocese. While I encourage you to get the book and skim all of it, our discussion will be focused on these chapters:
1) Christian Vision
2) Procreation versus Reproduction
5) Prenatal Screening
6) Suicide and Euthanasia
7) Refusing Treatment
8) Who Decides?
12) Sickness and Health
The structure of the book is straight-forward: chapter one sets out some basic Christian convictions about what it means to be human--what we call a "theological anthropology"--and then subsequent chapters consider particular matters. Chapter 12 then puts the particulars back in the context of the big picture.
This book, besides being worth our own discussion, is a good text for a parish study group that wants to be intentionally theological. It is truly a "primer," a nonspecialized first text.
Thurs, Sept 27, from 1:30 to 3pm, Incarnation, Dallas
THEN: for something different, I'll lead discussions of Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot in October. Dates & details to come.
Peace,
Victor
The Rev'd Canon Victor Lee Austin, Ph.D.
Theologian-in-residence
Episcopal Diocese of Dallas