Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Beliefs Yesterday and Today
One of the books I read over the holidays was entitled The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot by Bart Ehrman, a noted scholar of early Christianity and Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. It is an intriguing book that reviews the growth of the Christian church after Jesus’ death and explains the various points of view that existed among early Christians and Jews from approximately 35 AD until 300 AD when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The ancient papyrus document, The Gospel of Judas Iscariot, has been carbon dated to about the middle of that time. It contains comments and views, many that are not in concert with the beliefs which were adopted by Constantine, and later, the Catholic Church in Rome. If you are interested in this sort of thing, I recommend the book to you.
It reminded me of the strong and passionate views that people throughout the years, from 2000 years ago to today, have about their beliefs. Sometimes, as in ancient days, this passion can lead to violence. (Just last week, I read a newspaper story about Coptic Christians who were killed in Egypt by a suicide bomber. Interestingly, Coptic is the ancient language in which The Gospel of Judas Iscariot was written.)
However, two recent events in St. Cloud illustrated for me most clearly how vital and important religion beliefs remain today:
The first is my membership in St. Cloud School District’s Religious Task Force. The general purpose of the Task Force is to determine if a rewriting of the District policy is appropriate and, if so, what should be included in the new policy. This task force is made up of members of various faiths: Jewish, Christian, Islam.
In our two meetings thus far, I have been impressed with the openness, honestly and passionate beliefs of each Task Force member. They understand that we are here together in the same community and need to value and respect each other in order to make the learning environment of our school district an appropriate, comfortable and good place for all kids to learn—no matter what their religious views and customs.
But an even more personal event played out before my eyes on New Year’s Day. I attended the memorial service of a Tech alumnus who graduated in 2007. Sean Osterman was a Marine that was killed in Afghanistan last week by the Taliban—a group that has radical religious views. It was his second tour of Afghanistan. I remember Sean as an honest and good kid who cared about everyone. All through high school, his goal was serve his country after graduation.
It was a beautiful “Marine” memorial service at Atonement Lutheran. There were many uniforms, American flags and deeply felt religious moments. The chaplain’s sermon was wonderful. One comment that I remember is that he said most young people “die of something.” In Sean’s case, “he died for something.” The importance of Sean’s ultimate sacrifice was underscored by the attendance of Governor Palenty, Governor-Elect Dayton and Senator Klobuchar.
Driving home on that very cold first day of a new year, I reflected on how my life as the Principal of Tech and our lives as citizens of St. Cloud are tied to our religious ancestors and the regions of the world from which our religious ancestors originated. It may not be a straight line from the Middle East through Professor Ehrman’s book to Atonement Lutheran. But the lines do create a web of religious beliefs from 35 AD to 2011 AD that link and hold us.
The ancient papyrus document, The Gospel of Judas Iscariot, has been carbon dated to about the middle of that time. It contains comments and views, many that are not in concert with the beliefs which were adopted by Constantine, and later, the Catholic Church in Rome. If you are interested in this sort of thing, I recommend the book to you.
It reminded me of the strong and passionate views that people throughout the years, from 2000 years ago to today, have about their beliefs. Sometimes, as in ancient days, this passion can lead to violence. (Just last week, I read a newspaper story about Coptic Christians who were killed in Egypt by a suicide bomber. Interestingly, Coptic is the ancient language in which The Gospel of Judas Iscariot was written.)
However, two recent events in St. Cloud illustrated for me most clearly how vital and important religion beliefs remain today:
The first is my membership in St. Cloud School District’s Religious Task Force. The general purpose of the Task Force is to determine if a rewriting of the District policy is appropriate and, if so, what should be included in the new policy. This task force is made up of members of various faiths: Jewish, Christian, Islam.
In our two meetings thus far, I have been impressed with the openness, honestly and passionate beliefs of each Task Force member. They understand that we are here together in the same community and need to value and respect each other in order to make the learning environment of our school district an appropriate, comfortable and good place for all kids to learn—no matter what their religious views and customs.
But an even more personal event played out before my eyes on New Year’s Day. I attended the memorial service of a Tech alumnus who graduated in 2007. Sean Osterman was a Marine that was killed in Afghanistan last week by the Taliban—a group that has radical religious views. It was his second tour of Afghanistan. I remember Sean as an honest and good kid who cared about everyone. All through high school, his goal was serve his country after graduation.
It was a beautiful “Marine” memorial service at Atonement Lutheran. There were many uniforms, American flags and deeply felt religious moments. The chaplain’s sermon was wonderful. One comment that I remember is that he said most young people “die of something.” In Sean’s case, “he died for something.” The importance of Sean’s ultimate sacrifice was underscored by the attendance of Governor Palenty, Governor-Elect Dayton and Senator Klobuchar.
Driving home on that very cold first day of a new year, I reflected on how my life as the Principal of Tech and our lives as citizens of St. Cloud are tied to our religious ancestors and the regions of the world from which our religious ancestors originated. It may not be a straight line from the Middle East through Professor Ehrman’s book to Atonement Lutheran. But the lines do create a web of religious beliefs from 35 AD to 2011 AD that link and hold us.
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