Expressions of Faith is a virtual exhibition by the British Library which features the favorite sacred manuscripts of some well-known Britains. At left is a page from the Alphonso Psalter (late 13th c.), one of the choices made by Pamela Tudor-Craig, committed Christian and art historian.
Visit the exhibit to view and learn about other sacred texts from Christianity and other world religions.
I'm a person whose belief structure is faith-based. I remember absorbing the story of Doubting Thomas early in my childhood and deciding that I'd try to believe in and love God without human proof. Nonetheless, I always find myself intrigued by science which seems to support my faith. I have a love-hate relationship with such scientific findings: part of me revels in them, saying, "Ha! I knew it!!" while another part of me refuses to become emotionally invested--that way, I figure, if further investigation shows the science was faulty my relationship to God won't come tumbling down.
This week my husband, Rob, pointed me to the article "Can This Black Box See Into the Future?" from RedNova News, a science news web site. According to this article, Princeton University's Global Consciousness Project (GCP) has discovered some preliminary and tentative evidence that suggests all of humanity is joined through connections we don't understand--a global consciousness which some might call the mind of God.
As the article explains, scientists have discovered that a random event generator (REG--a computer which generates a random series of oughts and ones) spikes in a distinctly unrandom way just prior to large world events, such as 9/11, international Olympics events, Princess Diana's funeral, or the deep sea earthquake which caused the Asian tsunami. Furthermore, prayer and meditation groups are able to influence the pattern of events, too.
The effect is real, although no one knows quite what it means. It may mean "all of humanity shares a single subconscious mind that we can all tap into without realising" . . . that the "concentrated emotional outpouring of millions of people [may] be able to influence the output of [the main investigator's] REGs" . . . or it may be scientific foolsgold.
The Global Consciousness Project (GCP)--the chief investigating group--"is an international effort involving researchers from several institutions and countries, designed to explore whether the construct of interconnected consciousness can be scientifically validated through objective measurement." Princeton's webserver for the project is the aptly named noosphere. The concept of noosphere--or nousphere--refers to all of consciousness on earth interacting, the sphere of human thought, if you will.
I prefer to think of the noosphere as another way of describing what Jesus said: we're all connected and we all need to love and take care of each other. What we do for the least among us we're also doing for Christ because--ultimately, and in ways we don't understand--we're all in this together. The Golden Rule makes practical, good sense because what we do unto others we really are doing unto ourselves in the realm of the noosphere.
In May, Harper's Magazine ran two stories on the rising political power of the Christian right, entitled "Soldiers of Christ." Both articles are available online now and make for fascinating reading.
"Soldiers of Christ I: Inside America's Most Powerful Megachurch," by Jeff Sharlet, profiles New Life Church in Colorado Springs, which is led by "Pastor Ted" Haggard, a man who, according to the article, " talks to President George W. Bush or his advisers every Monday" and is president of the National Association of Evangelicals.
The second article--"Soldiers of Christ II: Feeling the Hate with the National Religious Broadcasters", by Chris Hedges--describes "the rising power of the evangelical political movement" in America and discusses Dominionism, which is
a call for Christian "dominion"” over the nation and, eventually, over the earth itself. Dominionists preach that Jesus has called them to build the kingdom of God in the here and now, whereas previously it was thought that we would have to wait for it. America becomes, in this militant biblicism, an agent of God, and all political and intellectual opponents of America's Christian leaders are viewed, quite simply, as agents of Satan. Under Christian dominion, America will no longer be a sinful and fallen nation but one in which the Ten Commandments form the basis of our legal system, Creationism and "Christian values"” form the basis of our educational system, and the media and the government proclaim the Good News to one and all. Aside from its proselytizing mandate, the federal government will be reduced to the protection of property rights and "homeland"” security. Some Dominionists (not all of whom accept the label, at least not publicly) would further require all citizens to pay "tithes"” to church organizations empowered by the government to run our social-welfare agencies, and a number of influential figures advocate the death penalty for a host of "“moral crimes,"” including apostasy, blasphemy, sodomy, and witchcraft. The only legitimate voices in this state will be Christian. All others will be silenced.Needless to say, both of these Harper's articles are interesting and provocative. I recommend them both.
As we suspected, 47% of new worshipers first visit a church because someone invited them. But why do new people return to a church after their first visit? The May 2005 issue of Presbyterians Today answers this question with some researched-based* facts.
Three reasons outstrip the others:
Union Presbyterian Church awards attendance pins to children who have attended Sunday School faithfully. Here are the pin awards for 2004-05:
1 year pins
