Visions of God: Sept-Oct, 2020

For more information, or to sign up, email dan.solomon.45@gmail.com. 

FACILITATORS  

Bob Mesle is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy & Religion at Graceland University, where he taught for 36 years.  His books on process relational philosophy and theology have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Japanese.  He has been a keynote speaker at conferences at many leading Chinese Universities, and has taught the summer Process Philosophy Academy in China on several occasions.    

Dan Solomon is coordinator for Adult Religious Education at UCE.  A retired software engineer, and a lifelong student of  religion, history, and philosophy, he has led classes on religious history and philosophy at UCE and other congregations. He is secretary of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS). 

GOAL OF THE CLASS  

This class aims to help people explore a range of important visions embracing or rejecting “God,” and to share personal journeys with each other. We hope class members will learn some new ideas, clarify familiar ones, make new connections, and enrich in their own thinking.   

The question, “Do you believe in God?” is not productive unless we can get some clarity about what a person mean by “God.”  But for us, the question certainly raises interwoven questions of both REALITY and VALUES. It asks about what exists and how the universe works. Talk of “God” also raises important questions about what values “God” stands for and what feelings are invoked.  Geneticist and religious naturalist, Ursula Goodenough, notes that religion is about both “What is, and what matters.” –i.e., truth and ethics. Religions, including atheistic secularism, propose visions of reality coupled with claims about how we should treat each other given those beliefs.  This class will explore how some concepts of “God” engage us in those reflections.   

CLASS OUTLINE  

• September 15: INTRODUCTION & DISCUSSION: WHAT DOES “GOD” MEAN TO YOU/US?  – What does the word “God” mean for us, in this class?  To what vision are you, personally, saying yes or no?    Looking ahead: Some preliminary questions, categories, and vocabulary.  Leaders: Bob & Dan
• September 22:  GOD: TRUTH AND VALUES: If cattle, sheep, and fish had gods… – Good thinkers have long recognized that we “create God in our own image.” But since humans and our communities are filled with diverse and often conflicting values, it should not surprise us to find people’s gods expressing equally complex and conflicting values, like compassionate love and xenophobia. Leaders: Bob & Dan
• September 29: RELIGIOUS NATURALISM – Leaders: Jerry Stone  
• October 6: CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION – What is worthy of our Ultimate Commitment in a naturalistic framework?   H.N. WIEMAN (UUA  Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Liberal Religion, 1975.)    Leader: Bob Mesle
• October 13: SPINOZA,  PANTHEISM – Leader: Dan Solomon  
• October 20: EXISTENTIALISM: BUBER, TILLICH, et al. – Leader:  Dan Solomon.   
• October 27: GODS: A HINDU PERSPECTIVE – V.V. RAMAN, Guest Speaker