Your comment posted on 21 May (N.T. Wright Overview) Schweitzer I find
important and insightful and indeed a critical criticism.  .  Your comment
reflects, it seems to me, well thought-out theological and political views
implied in other of your postings. That said, I would in this instance stand
strongly beside Wright and Schweitzer.  I am not saying that your analysis
is wrong, but  that I disagree with your value judgment.   As a law school
professor might say, you address the issue.  You wrote:   "In regards to the
first chapter, I have to grouse a bit, but this is not a serious criticism
as it relates to Wright's evaluation of a modern scholar, not of St. Paul or
Jesus.  N. T. Wright gives extravagant praise to Albert Schweitzer as 'a
lonely and learned giant amidst the hordes of noisy and shallow theological
pygmies' during the first half of the 20th century.  ...While there is no
doubt that Schweitzer was a genius, I have always thought since he stopped
Biblical research and writing while in his mid thirties, he was a little
less than mature as a Biblical scholar.  ... The emphasis at the end of
Schweitzer's quest seems to me more on the individual's emotional response
to a perceived call of a shadowy Christ than to a more substantial
recognition of  the Reign of God."
    I I find those words to have profound implication.  Perhaps I can
explain by reference to Francois Fenelon, "the good Archbishop of Cambry"
(1651-1715).  I ran across one of his sermons a couple of years ago while I
was preparing a sermon of my own.  Fenelon's advocacy of "Semi-Quietism"
brought him much persecution, culminating in 1699 with condemnation from
Pope Innocent XII, at the insistence of King Louis XIV.  Fenelon promptly
submitted to the Pope--a prudent decision--so as to continue as archbishop
and begin work on a complete study of mystical theology never before that
time undertaken.  Strictly speaking, Quietism, as I understand it, is the
doctrine of Miguel de Molinos, that Christian perfection may be approached
by internal contemplation available to anyone with divine assistance.
Quietism was at first approved in Rome, then condemned as heresy by Innocent
XI.  In extreme form, Quietism would avoid any activity to improve the world
through the "Reign of God"-- to repeat your words, Father Scott.  Quietists
would not be concerned about salvation, perfection, or anything else, but
should leave everything to God. It is not necessary that they perform
ordinary exercises of piety.  Since they worship God in spirit and in truth,
they should exclude the use of all pictures and images, icons and statues.
I am reminded of Henry David Thoreau, no doubt some sort of a Quietist on
Walden Pond:  "I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place
to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad."  On the other hand,
there's Don Quixote of La Mancha, no Quietist he, about in the world,
tilting at windmills.
    For me, not Quietism, but the Semi-Quietism of Fenelon rings true.  I
used an excerpt from his sermon on Rogation Sunday:  "Of all the duties
enjoined by Christianity, none is more essential, and yet more neglected,
than prayer. Most people consider this exercise a wearisome ceremony, which
they are justified in abridging as much as possible. Even those whose
profession or fears lead them to pray, do it with such languor and
wanderings of mind, that their prayers, far from drawing down blessings,
only increase their condemnation. God alone can instruct us in our duty. The
teachings of men, however wise and well disposed they may be, are still
ineffectual, if God does not shed on the soul, that light which opens the
mind to truth. .A thousand suspicions, jealousies, fears, and prejudices
preventing us from profiting, as we might, by what we hear from men; and
though they announce the most serious truths, yet what they do weakens the
effect of what they say. In a word, it is God alone who can perfectly teach
us. .To pray is to say, 'Let Thy Will Be Done!' .under all circumstances we
have need of prayer. We find in our temperament, or in our habits, or in the
peculiar character of our minds, [discordant] qualities. One person is
[married] to another [of such different temperament] that life becomes a
perpetual warfare. Some.exposed to the contagious atmosphere of the world,
find themselves so susceptible to the vanity which they inhale
that .their .desires [warp]. Others have solemnly promised to renounce their
resentments, to conquer their aversions, to suffer with patience certain
crosses, and to repress their eagerness for wealth; but nature prevails, and
they are vindictive, violent, impatient, and avaricious. Why are our
resolutions are so frail? It is because our own strength and wisdom, alone,
are not enough. .It is at the foot of the altar that we must seek for
counsel and must lay our plan. Let us then pray, that we may learn what we
are and what we ought to be.  [The whole purpose of prayer] Do not devote
all your time to action, but reserve a certain portion.for meditation upon
eternity. We see Jesus Christ inviting his disciples to go apart, in a
desert place, and rest awhile, after their return from the cities, where
they had been to announce his religion. So must we sometimes turn from the
busy scenes of life. Look upon prayer as the remedy for weaknesses, the
rectifier of faults, [a mind or soul cure, in my phrasing] Jesus prayed
constantly; how much more should we! God listens to the heart, not the lips.
. How can God grant you, says St. Augustine, what you do not really want?
How can you utter sincerely, Thy will be done when you prefer you own will
to His? If God at this moment were to offer to give you a new heart, willing
to bear your cross, would not your pride rebel and you reject the offer; or
make reservations?"
    The "Reign of God" for me--and I suspect for Albert Schweitzer--is an
individual, internal matter that nevertheless affects my behavior in the
world, as it did Schweitzer's.  In the words of the hymn,"Our heart's desire
is our perpetual prayer, and it is always answered, always!  I believe that.
(Later, I'll send along later a sermon I did on that theme.)  I do not fret
that I-- or any religious or secular organization to which I am
connected--may not save the world or bring about the Reign of God.  What I
can do-- and I think it's quite a bit-- is to do the best I can, as God
gives me the light through prayer and study,  accepting those "imposters,"
failure and triumph, with some detachment. I think my life is important, but
only a small part of God's plan for the universe, a scenario that my faith
tells me was laid out "at the foundation of the world."  I ran across the
following prophetic words from an Austrian psychoanalyst, Alfred Adler
(1870-1937), who from his name,  I "pre-judge" to have been a Jew:  "There
is a law that man should love his neighbor as himself.  In a few hundred
years it should be as natural as breathing or the upright gait but if he
does not learn it, he must perish."  Is this not "all the Law and the
Prophets, spoken at our service of Holy Communion?" As a teacher, I never
"taught" anyone anything.  I've helped quite a few to learn, and I've done
an awful lot of counseling.    I submit that learning takes place only on an
individual basis.  Speaking to the article you posted on  "religious
prejudice"  ("The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice"),
have I not heard in this chat room much that would at least suggest
prejudice directed toward PROTESTANTS.  Have I mistakenly detected a
distinct taste of RC cola, if you will allow the metaphor? (I prefer Coke
myself, having sampled R.C. as well as Pepsi!)   Prejudice, of course,
implies "pre-judgment."  (See reference to Albert Adler, above.)  Suppose
someone has diligently tastes various name brands and comes strongly to
prefer one cola, or maybe a mixture.  Is that prejudice?  For me, the
aphorism--"Reasonable minds can differ!"--ultimately derives from the
Reformation.  (Debating an interpretation of Scripture invites scholarly
research.  Infallible pronouncements do not.)  No amount of advertisement, I
 am afraid, can get me to swallow the notion of the Magesterium, "hook,
line, and sinker."  Now,  I agree with John Paul's words a few years back on
Heaven and Hell--but I reserve my "Reformed" right to disagree as I see fit
with other pronouncements, e.g.,  on Iraq, Mary Ever Virgin, Pio Nono, etc.

      On a much lower level--reminiscent of "beating a Puritan like a
dog"--please note as an example only, the"Irish Humor," sent by my cousin,
Ann  MURPHEY, an IRISH Reformed Catholic (Anglican).  Somewhere my "poor
benighted cousin" no doubt picked up the canard that Roman Catholics are
prejudiced against Protestants!   In charity, maybe the e-mail should be
titled:  "Protestant strikes back!"  (From the hash marks, I conclude that
the joke has been around the block a time or two.)

----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Ann Murphey
> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 3:49 PM
> Subject: Irish Humor - Corrected Copy
>
> > >>>>>>A young Irish woman went to London to work as a secretary, and
> > >>>began
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>sending home money and gifts to her parents. After a few years
> > >>>they
> > >>>>>>asked
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>her to come home for a visit, as her father was getting frail
> > >>and
> > >>>>>>elderly.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>She pulled up to the family home in a Rolls Royce and stepped
> > >>out
> > >>>>>>wearing furs and diamonds.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>As she walked into the house her father said "Hmmm - they seem
> > >>to
> > >>>be
> > >>>>>>paying secretaries awfully well in London." The daughter took
> > >his
> > >>>>hands
> > >>>>>>and
> > >>>>>>said "Dad - I've been meaning to tell you something for years
> > >but
> > >>I
> > >>>>>>didn't
> > >>>>>>want to put it in a letter. I can't hide it from you any
> > >longer.
> > >>>I've
> > >>>>>>become
> > >>>>>>a prostitute."
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>Her father gasped, put his hand on his heart and keeled over.
> > >>The
> > >>>>>>doctor was called but the old man had clearly lost the will to
> > >>live.
> > >>>He
> > >>>>>>was
> > >>>>>>put to bed and the priest was called.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>As the priest began to administer the sacrament of extreme
> > >>>unction,
> > >>>>>>with the mother and daughter weeping and wailing, the old man
> > >>>muttered
> > >>>>>>weakly
> > >>>>>>"I'm a goner --killed by my own daughter! Killed by the
> > >shame
> > >>of
> > >>>>>>what you've become!"
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>"Please forgive me", his daughter sobbed, "I only wanted to
> > >have
> > >>>>>>nice things! I wanted to be able to send you money and the only
way
> > >I
> > >>>>>>could do it was by becoming a prostitute."
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>Pushing the priest aside, the old man sat bolt upright in bed,
> > >>>>>>smiling."Did you say prostitute?.... I thought you said
> > >>>PROTESTANT!!"
> > >
> >
>
>