The Wisdom Jesus

Lenten Book Study 2013

The Wisdom Jesus

By Cynthia Bourgeault

A Prayer Before Reading and Reflecting

God, you have made known your love through Jesus’ life and words. Help us to receive his teaching, to find the fullness of love, and share its power with others. Amen.

A Prayer After Reading and Reflecting

Jesus, receive our love and worship. Show us how to give what we have, for nothing is too big or small for us to offer, or for you to use. Amen.

Session 1: Chapters 1 - 3

1. In the gospels, Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” The author suggests that this is the “crucial question.” How would you answer Jesus? Has your answer changed over time?

2. At the end of Chapter 1 the author writes that it’s only the people who stick with Jesus are those “who have met him in the moment: in the instantaneous, mutual recognition of hearts and in the ultimate energy that is always pouring forth from this encounter.” Do you think this is true? Has it been your experience and the experience of faithful Christians you have known?

3. What do you make of the author’s description of “sophiological” Christianity? Have you seen, read or heard Christianity presented this way before? Is it more or less appealing than “soteriological” Christianity? Why?

4. How would you summarize the author’s “revisionist” take on Jesus? How different is her view from what you have known or considered before?

5. The author offers several ways Christians have understood “the Kingdom of Heaven.” What do you think Jesus meant by “the Kingdom of Heaven?” Does this understanding change how you love out your Christian faith?

6. What do you think of what the author writes about metanoia and repentance? Do you agree that this is what Jesus meant? Why or why not?

7. So far, do you find Bourgeault’s description of Jesus as a wisdom teacher appealing, intriguing, puzzling, infuriating…?

Session 2: Chapters 4 - 7

1. After the reading the opening of Chapter 4 do you think about the Beatitudes differently now? Are you more or less convinced of the author’s thesis?

2. Have you thought of the parables as “subversive” before? Does this make Jesus’ teaching more or less meaningful for you? Why?

3. What are the major differences between the Gospel of Thomas and the four canonical gospels? Do the sayings from the Gospel of Thomas presented in Chapter 5 “sound” like the Jesus you know?

4. Bourgeault claims that for Jesus “the center of gravity” is kenosis. Why is this so unusual and counter-intuitive? Do you think kenosis really is the heart of Jesus’ teaching and life? Have you seen examples of kenosis in your own life?

5. The author writes, “The Trinity, understood in a wisdom sense, is really an icon of self-emptying love.” Do you find this notion helpful in grasping the notoriously difficult doctrine of the Trinity?

6. The author insists that Jesus was definitely chaste but perhaps not celibate. Would it matter to you if Jesus were not celibate? Why?

Session 3: Chapters 8 - 11

1. What does the author suggest is the best way to understand the meaning of the Incarnation? Do you find her take more meaningful than the traditional understanding of Jesus rescuing us from the consequences of the Fall?

2. On page 100 the author writes, “At any rate, I have often suspected that the most profound product of this world is tears.” What does she mean by that? How does this statement fit in with the rest of her book?

3. How does the author view the Passion “a sacred path of liberation?” Does her take offer you new insights on this very familiar story?

4. “The false self is ultimately what crucified Jesus.” (pg. 114). What does the author mean by this? Do you think she is right?

5. What does the author see as the meaning of the “Harrowing of Hell?”

6. How are the Resurrection appearances part of what the author calls Jesus’ “recognition drama?”

7. Bourgeault writes, “Jesus in his ascended state is not farther removed from human beings but more intimately connected with them.” (pg. 134) What does she mean by this? Do you think she’s right? How?

Session 4: Chapters 12 - 16

1. Have you ever practiced centering prayer or lectio divina? If yes, have you found these practices helpful? If no, would you be interested in giving them a try? Why or why not?

2. Bourgeault suggests that “The Welcoming Prayer” is a way of “putting on the mind of Christ.” Do you agree? What might be other ways of “discovering in our own selves the secret of Jesus’ capacity to open himself to life in such an extraordinary way”?

3. How would you sum up the author’s understanding of what Jesus was “up to” at the Last Supper? Does this understanding enhance your own experience of the Eucharist?

4. Do you experience Christianity primarily as “a religion about Jesus rather than a religion of Jesus”? Why? How?

Session 8: Virtue in Action: The Royal Priesthood

Session 8: Virtue in Action: The Royal Priesthood (pp. 219-255)

1. According to Wright, what is the importance and purpose of worship? What does worship have to do with virtue?

2. What does Wright mean when he claims that Christians are meant to be “rulers”? What would it mean for us to take this “royal” Christian vocation seriously?

3. What do you think about the way Wright connects good works to Christian virtue? Have you thought of it this way before? Is it helpful or not?

4. How did Paul argue for a Christian form of the ancient pagan theory of virtue?

5. How are Christians meant to act as “angled mirrors”?

6. How do you respond to what Wright has to say about humility, patience, chastity and charity? 

Coming this Fall!

Our next book will be one that we've mentioned this summer: Paul Among the People: the Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time by Sarah Ruden.

Here's how the publisher describes the book:

In Paul Among the People, Sarah Ruden explores the writings of the evangelist Paul in the context of his time and culture, to recover his original message of freedom and love while overturning the common—and fundamental—misconception that Paul represented a puritanical, hysterically homophobic, misogynist, or reactionary vision.
               
By setting famous and controversial words of Paul against ancient Greek and Roman literature, Ruden reveals a radical message of human freedom and dignity at the heart of Paul’s preaching. Her training in the Classics allows her to capture the stark contrast between Paul’s Christianity and the violence, exploitation, and dehumanization permeating the Roman Empire in his era. In contrast to later distortions, the vision of Christian life Ruden finds in Paul is centered on equality before God and the need for people to love one another. 
 
A remarkable work of scholarship, synthesis, and understanding, Paul Among the People recaptures the moral urgency and revolutionary spirit that made Christianity such a shock to the ancient world and laid the foundation of the culture in which we live today.

We will be discussing the book over the course of four sessions in the library beginning at 7:30pm.
We will meet on the following Wednesdays: 10/10, 10/17, 11/7 and 11/14.

Here's a link to bn.com for more information: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/paul-among-the-people-sarah-ruden/1102392032?ean=9780385522571

Session 7: Three Virtues, Nine Varieties of Fruit, and One Body

Session 7: Three Virtues, Nine Varieties of Fruit, and One Body (pp. 181-218)

1. Why does Wright claim that love (as understood by Paul) is a virtue?

2. What does Wright mean by this: “Love is not a ‘duty,’ even our highest duty. It is our destiny” (pg. 188)?

3. How does Wright interpret “If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the Law” (Galatians 5:18)?

4. What is the “fruit of the Spirit” that Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23? What insights does Wright offer about the fruit of the Spirit? Does anything here strike you as interesting, surprising or important? What?

5. What does Paul mean (or what does Wright think that Paul means) by the notion that the three virtues of faith, hope and love abide? What are the implications for how we live our lives?

6. How do you respond to this: “Personal morality is enormously important, but overconcentration on it can function as a displacement activity when we don’t want to address the larger, equally important issues” (pg. 209)?

7. What is Wright’s understanding and vision of Christian unity? Why does he think it is essential?

Session 6: Transformed by the Renewal of the Mind

Session 6: Transformed by the Renewal of the Mind (pp. 135-179)

1. How does Wright summarize St. Paul’s vision of Christian virtue? Do you have any ideas about what that might look like in our daily lives?

2. Summarize Wright’s interpretation of Colossians 3:2.  According to Colossians, what are the virtues that we are called to “put on”?

3. Why is Abraham so important for Paul? How might Abraham be a model for us as we strive to have our minds renewed and think in a different way?

4. According to Wright, what is Paul’s view of the conscience? How or why might conscience be or become unreliable?

5. According to Wright, Paul’s whole vision of Christian virtue is about being remade in God’s image or, in other words, becoming truly human. (pg. 168). How does Paul and/or Wright think that we can achieve this? How do you think it might be achieved?

6. What do you make of Ephesians 4:13-5:20? Do you agree with Wright that “Paul” is offering “habits of heart and mind, ways of learning how to think Christianly about the ultimate future and about the pathway toward it – the pathway which is, as it were, a daily resurrection”?

7. For Paul, what is the role of suffering in the development of Christian character?

Session 5: The Kingdom Coming and the People Prepared

Our reading group resumes on Wednesday, but only the evening session. The morning session is canceled because of Vacation Bible School.

Here are the discussion questions for Chapter 4:

Session 5: The Kingdom Coming and the People Prepared (pp.101-133)

1. What is Wright referring to when on page 103 he writes, “The fact that it’s all been selected and arranged doesn’t mean it’s all been made up”? According to Wright what is the “larger truth” that modern scholarship seems to miss?

2. What is Jesus’ “program” for God’s kingdom as found in the Beatitudes? How is this program to be put into effect?

3. Why does Wright quote (on pg. 115) Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s summary of Jesus’ call, “Come and die”? What does this mean in the context of Jesus’ death and the Christian life?

4. Summarize Wright’s interpretation of Jesus’ saying about clean and unclean foods. According to Wright, what is Jesus’ purpose in teaching people that uncleanness comes from within?

5. On page 126 Wright claims, “Jesus as a ’moral example’ is a domesticated Jesus, a kind of religious mascot.” What does he mean by this? How does he believe Jesus should serve as an example for us? Do you agree or not? Why?

Session 4: Priests and Rulers

Session 4: Priests and Rulers (pp. 73-100)

1. What do you make of Wright’s understanding of creation and the role of “Human” in it? What does he see as the role of Jesus and his followers?

2. What does Wright mean when he writes that humanity has both a royal and priestly vocation? How does he support this notion by drawing on Scripture? Is this a vocation that you might feel called to? What would that look like in your life?

3. Pay close attention to Wright’s summary on pp. 84-85 of the “large slowly-developing story” of God’s interaction with the world. How do you respond to this telling of the story?

4. How does Wright describe the function and meaning of the Temple? How do you respond to his description of Jesus as “fulfilled Israel”?

5. According to St. Paul, how do we prepare for the goal of our “glorification”?