Relating
Creation Spirituality to
Lutheranism~
Viewed from the perspective of
Education for Social Change
This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirments
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
to the faculty and board of the
Western Institute for Social Research, Berkeley,
California by
by Marilyn E. Jackson
September, 2004
Cynthia Lawrence, Ph.D.
_____________/s/______________ WISR Core Faculty
John Bilorusky, Ph.D. _____________/s/______________ WISR Core
Faculty
Deborah Pruitt, Ph.D. _____________/s/ _____________ WISR Core
Faculty
Judy Andreas, M.A. _____________/s/______________ WISR Ph.D.
Student
Roger Mason, M.A. _____________/s_______________ WISR Ph.D.
Student
Rev. Sarah Isakson, M. Div. ____________ /s/_______________ Pastor
of Lutheran Church of the Cross, Berkeley, CA
~
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
INTRODUCTION
A World in Crisis
Creation Spirituality for Modern Times
Creation Spirituality and Lutheranism?
Overview
Spirituality and Culture in a Postmodern Era
A Swedish Lutheran American Perspective on Creation
Spirituality
Going Back, Looking Up, Down, & Forward: Robert Bly & The Sibling Society
Reconsidering Christianity in a Context of Education for Social Change
II. CREATION SPIRITUALITY ACCORDING TO
MATTHEW FOX
Background on Matthew Fox’ Development
of Creation Spirituality
ICCS
The Development of Creation
Spirituality Theologian, Matthew Fox
Meister Eckhart, the Beguines &
More
Hildegard Of Bingen
III. ORIGINAL BLESSING: A SUMMARY OF MATTHEW
FOX’S "PRIMER OF CREATION SPIRITUALITY
First Path: VIA POSITIVA (VP)~Befriending
Creation
VP 1: Dabhar/Creative Energy (Word) of
God
VP 2: Creation as Blessing and the Recovery of
the Art of Savoring Pleasure
VP 3: Humility as
Earthiness
VP 4: Cosmic Consciousness
VP 5: Trust
VP 6: Panentheism
VP 7: Royal Personhood
VP 8: Realized Eschatology
VP 9: Holiness as Cosmic
Hospitality
VP 10: Sin, Salvation…Creation and
Incarnation
Second Path: VIA NEGATIVA
(VN)~Befriending Darkness, Letting Go & Letting Be
VN 11: Emptying: Letting Go
and Letting Be and Letting Silence be Silence
VN 12: Being Emptied:
Letting Pain Be Pain: Kenosis
VN 13: Sinking into
Nothingness and Letting Nothingness be Nothingness
VN 14: Sin, Salvation and
a Theology of the Cross of Jesus Christ
Third Path: VIA CREATIVA (VC)
~ Befriending Creativity, Befriending Our Divinity
VC 15: Cosmos to Cosmogenesis:
Our Divinization as Images of God [&] Co-Creators
VC 16: Art as Meditation
VC 17: Faith as Trust of Images:
Discipline?—Yes! Asceticism—No!
VC 18: Dialectical, Trinitarian…Beauty
VC 19: God as Mother &
Child/Humans as Mothers of God, "Birthers" of God’s Son
VC 20: Sin, Salvation, Christ…Resurrection
Fourth Path: VIA TRANSFORMATIVA
(VT) ~ Befriending New Creation: Compassion, Celebration, Erotic Justice
VT 21: The New Creation: Images
of God in Motion Creating a Global Civilization
VT 22. Faith as Trusting the
Prophetic Call of the Holy Spirit
VT 23. Spirituality of the
Anawim: Feminists, Third World, Lay, and Other Oppressed Peoples
VT 24. Compassion: Interdependence,
Celebration, and the Recovery of Eros
VT 25. Compassion: Interdependence
and Erotic Justice
VT 26. Sin, Salvation, Christ…:
A Theology of the Holy Spirit
IV. MATTHEW FOX’S WORK SINCE ORIGINAL
BLESSING
Year of Silence
University of Creation Spirituality
& Cosmic Mass
Summary of Matthew Fox’s
Work
V. RELATING LUTHERANISM TO CREATION SPIRITUALITY
AND OTHER POSTMODERN TERNDS FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL
CHANGE
Trends in Religion of Recent
Decades
Popular and Dialogic Education:
A Way To Tie People And Ideas Together
Lutheranism and Creation Spirituality
Catholics, Lutherans, Protestants
and More….
What is Lutheranism?
Matthew Fox on Protestantism
and Creation Spirituality
The Influence of The Theologica
Germanica on Martin Luther’s Spiritual Beliefs
VI LUTHERANISM APPLIED TO THE FOUR PATHS FROM
ORIGINAL BLESSING
1)
Via Positiva of Lutheranism
Salvation by Grace
God’s Holiness and Praise
The Bible & the Gospel
Spirituality
N.F.S. Grundtvig’s Perspective on Being Human
as Well as Christian
Protestant Creation Theology
God and Creation in Hymns
2) Via Negativa of Lutheranism (or the
Yin and Yang of Lutheranism)
Original Sin & Grace
Feminine Presence and Absence
More on Sin & Forgiveness
Larry Rasmussen on Environmental Apartheid
Martin Luther vs. Satan
Theology of the Cross as Earth Ethic
3) Via Creativa of Lutheranism
Earth Faith Symbolism
Reclaiming Science
Earth Ecumenical Habitat
Earth Economics
Ecumenical Dialogue Between Lutherans and Eastern
Orthodox Christians
Deep Ecumenism
Ethnic Backgrounds of American Lutheran Churches
that Merged into the ELCA
Magaly Rodriguez: Multichannels
Lutheran Communities
Hymns
IV. Via Transformativa of Lutheranism
The Weber Analysis: The Call, Calvinism and Capitalism
Lutheran Peace Fellowship
Education and Social Change and the Legacy
of N.F.S. Grundtvig
Bonhoeffer: The Christian’s Song of Songs
Swedes, Socialists and Secularists
Historical Perspective on the Swedish Lutheran
American Church’s Social Stance
The Kingdom of God
Rasmussen on justice, for humans and earth alike
Earth Action
A Danish Model
Hymns of Transformation
VII. Old & New Ways: Finding a Way Through
the Carnival
Native and Nature Spirituality, Old and
New
Just Beyond The Lutheran Horizon: Elaine Pagels,
Another Protestant Current
Lutheran Theological Response:
Keeping the Book of Concord within Sight and Easy Reach
Larry Rasmussen’s Search for an Earth
Ethic/Earth Faith
VIII. Interviews and Conclusion
Introduction
Interview Process and Ideas for Future Projects
Statistical Results
Reflection and Analysis from a Summer of
Interviews
Summary and Conclusion
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ADDENDUM I ~ Interview Collection
Interviews I
Interviews II
Interviews III
ADDENDUM II ~ The Life of the People: The Legacy of N.F.S. Grundtvig
& Nonviolent Social Change Through Popular Education in Denmark
(Please email Marilyn Jackson at estraloe@sbcglobal.net
for a copy of this chapter from the book, that is referenced in the Bibilography.)
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