Cafe Theology

Theological discussion Cafe Theology is a discussion group meeting open to all. It meets on Monday evenings, gathering over a glass of wine from 8:00 - 9:30 pm at Putney Pantry, St Mary’s Church. You can also join by Zoom, if you contact the organiser, Jenny. Everyone from any background is welcome to attend.

They have a packed programme in the coming weeks:

6 November - Escaping Time. Should we believe that there is an arc of time towards enlightenment, the defeat of evil or some kind of end of history? Or is meaning better to be found in a timeless realm. Buddhists have this, as do Hindus and Taoists. Proust found this.

13 November - “The Bible is not the Word of God in any strong sense.” A discussion on Robin Lane Fox's book The Unauthorised Version.

27 November - Anti-Semitism. New Testament authors, mostly themselves Jewish, condemn the Jews for crucifying Jesus, and compare their rituals and law unfavourably to the 'new covenant'. Yet Israel has a special biblical claim to the promised land. Can theology cast any light on the present situation?

4 December - No meeting.

11 December - No meeting.

18 December - The Incarnation, Evolution and modern life sciences. The doctrine of the incarnation and the nature of humanity has not changed since Darwin. Is it possible to bring the birth of Christ up to date, not as a fixer of humanity's failure, but Christ as the primary reason for creation in the first place 'In the beginning was the word. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us"

8 January, 2024 - It's all in the Greek. Some words lose all their force when translated into English: agape (love), paraclete (comforter), teleios (perfection). We will discuss their fuller meaning and ramifications of these and others, which are key to understanding the gospel message.

15 January - No meeting.

22 January - Agnosticism. Is it possible to have certainty on questions as mysterious as God and his purpose, or is it hubris? Is it better to be content not to know. Doubt is said to be as important as faith. We will look at the varieties of agnosticism.

29 January - The New Testament Apocrypha. Is there anything to learn from the non-canonical books of the Bible? Some fill in the missing years of Jesus's childhood, and there are sayings of Jesus all of which add to a portrait of the historical Jesus.