Next Sea of Faith meeting in Cambridge 13 May 2015 - A Philosophy of Walking

The next Sea of Faith meeting in Cambridge will be on 13 May 2015.

As always it takes place in the church hall of the Memorial Church, Cambridge and will start promptly at 7.30pm and finish at 9.30pm.

You can find directions to the venue at this link

At this meeting we'll be exploring the idea of "A Philosophy of Walking".

Friedrich Nietzsche memorably said in The Gay Science:

We do not belong to those who have ideas only among books, when stimulated by books. It is our habit to think outdoors — walking, leaping, climbing, dancing, preferably on lonely mountains or near the sea where even the trails become thoughtful.

Along with Nietzsche, Henry David Thoreau is, perhaps, on of the most pre-eminent philosophers of walking and those attending the meeting may wish to read his influential essay of 1851 entitled, simply, "Walking". You may find it, and an introductory essay, by clicking this link.

Recently the French author, Frédéric Gros publishes a best-selling little book called "A Philosophy of Walking" which explored a variety of ways into this idea and, should you be minded, this is another excellent introduction to the subject. You can read more about this book by clicking this link.

This meeting, following a very brief introduction by the convenor, Andrew Brown, is designed to open up into a conversation in which attenders can bring and share their own stories and experiences of walking and philosophising.

We look forward to greeting you in May.

Contact details:

Andrew Brown
http://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/

http://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/

Minister
Memorial Church (Unitarian)
Emmanuel Road
Cambridge
CB1 1JW
01223 576952
07477 462110

Next Sea of Faith Meeting in Cambridge — Wednesday 4 February 2015 — Exploring J. L. Schellenberg's idea of "Evolutionary Religion"

We have just set the date for the first meeting in Cambridge during 2015. It is on Wednesday 4 February.  As always it takes place in the church hall of the Memorial Church, Cambridge and will start promptly at 7.30pm and finish at 9.30pm.

You can find directions to the venue at this link

We will be exploring the basic ideas found in J. L. Schellenberg's important recent book Evolutionary Religion published by Oxford University Press who say:

J. L. Schellenberg articulates and defends a simple but revolutionary idea: we are still at a very early stage in the possible history of intelligent life on our planet, and should frame our religious attitudes accordingly. Humans have begun to adapt to a deep past—one measured in billions of years, not thousands. But we have not really noticed how thin is the sliver of past time in which all of our religious life is contained. And the eons that may yet see intelligent life have hardly started to come into focus. When these things are internalized, our whole picture of religion may change. For then we will for the first time be in a position to ask: Might there be a form of religion appropriate to such an early stage of development as our own? Might such 'evolutionary religion' be rather different from the forms of religion we see all around us today? And might it be better fitted to meet the demands of reason? 
          Though most concerned simply to get a new discussion going, Evolutionary Religion maintains that the answer is in each case 'yes'. When the light of deep time has fully been switched on, a new form of skepticism but, at the same time, new possibilities of religious life will come into view. We will find ourselves drawn to religious attitudes that, while not foregoing the idea of a transcendent ultimate, manage to do without believing and without details. As Schellenberg reveals, pursuing evolutionary religion instead of embracing a scientific naturalism is something that can rationally be done, even if traditional religious belief is placed out of bounds by argument. And ironically it is science that should help us see this. Indeed, in a new cultural dispensation evolutionary religion may come to be a preferred option among those most concerned for our intellectual enrichment and for our survival into the deep future. 

John Schellenberg's own website contains a series of filmed interviews that people may wish to explore before coming to the meeting. Click here to go there.

Contact details:

Revd Andrew Brown
http://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/

http://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/

Minister
Memorial Church (Unitarian)
Emmanuel Road
Cambridge
CB1 1JW
01223 576952
07950 184421

Next Cambridge Sea of Faith Meeting is on Wednesday 11th June 2014

The next meeting takes place on Wednesday 11th June, 2014, in the church hall of the Memorial (Unitarian) Church,Cambridge and will start promptly at 7.30pm and finish at 9.30pm.

We are going to look at the work of Ernst Bloch (1885-1977) and, in particular, his important 1968 book, Atheism in Christianity (English trans. 1972). If you are interested in following this up, you can find a recording of a seminar about this book held at Birkbeck College in 2009 at the link below:

Atheism in Christianity: “Only an atheist can be a good Christian; only a Christian can be a good atheist”

At the following link you can also find recordings from a day long symposium held in December 2013 at The London Graduate School and Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), Kingston University:

Ernst Bloch London Symposium

Contact details:

Revd Andrew Brown
http://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/

Minister
Memorial Church (Unitarian)
Emmanuel Road
Cambridge
CB1 1JW
01223 576952
07950 184421
http://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/

Next Sea of Faith Meeting in Cambridge - 5 March 2014 - On Pope Francis' attitudes to non-believers

During a conversation with Don Cupitt at the end of last year he suggested to me that we might have a SoF meeting looking at something connected with the new Pope's thinking. Then, last week an Italian friend of mine alerted me to a letter Pope Francis wrote in response to several questions posed by the founder of La Repubblica, Eugenio Scalfari, in a number of recent articles.

Since the Pope makes direct reference to the need for "a sincere and rigorous dialogue with those whom, like you [i.e. Scalfari], describe themselves [as] “a non-believer for many years interested and fascinated by the preaching of Jesus of Nazareth”, it seems like a good topic for a Sea of Faith evening.

The Pope's letter, in an English translation, can be found at the link below.

Pope Francis' Letter to the Founder of "La Repubblica" Italian Newspaper

Don Cupitt has kindly made a few notes for us that he has said we can use at the meeting. Please click on the following link to get a pdf copy of these notes:

Don Cupitt's notes on the Pope's letter

The meeting takes place on Wednesday 5th March, 2014, in the church hall of the Memorial (Unitarian) Church,Cambridge and will start promptly at 7.30pm and finish at 9.30pm.

Contact details:

Revd Andrew Brown
http://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/

Minister
Memorial Church (Unitarian)
Emmanuel Road
Cambridge
CB1 1JW
01223 576952
07950 184421
http://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/

Secular religious practices . . .

The inaugural evening of the revived Cambridge Sea of Faith Group on October the 16th was a great success with twenty-eight of us gathering for two hours to explore some of the basic implications of secular religion with our special guest, Don Cupitt.

Wednesday November 13th 

The last meeting decided that this week we'll begin by talking about what kinds of religious/spiritual practices liturgies a secular religion might engage in?

All of the meetings take place in the church hall of the Memorial (Unitarian) Church,Cambridge and will start promptly at 7.30pm and finishing at 9.30pm. They are open to all and there is no need to have been to any of the earlier conversations or book. All that's required is an open and inquiring heart and mind.

 Remaining dates in the series are on:

November 20, 27

December 4

Contact details:

Revd Andrew Brown
http://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/

Minister
Memorial Church (Unitarian)
Emmanuel Road
Cambridge
CB1 1JW
01223 576952
07950 184421
http://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/

Cambridge Sea of Faith Group - the Wednesday Evening Conversations continue . . .

The inaugural evening of the revived Cambridge Sea of Faith Group on October the 16th was a great success with twenty-eight of us gathering for two hours to explore some of the basic implications of secular religion with our special guest, Don Cupitt.

At the end of the meeting it was decided that on the 23rd those who came would decide on how to continue the conversation. The nine of us continued the general topic and decided that over the next two weeks we'll concentrate on the following subjects:

Wednesday October 30th 

Empathy ("What is it?" and whether it is always good?) and how prayer and/or meditation might be understood in a secular religious context.

Wednesday November 6th

Worship and political action in the secular religious context.

All of the meetings take place in the church hall of the Memorial (Unitarian) Church,Cambridge and will start promptly at 7.30pm and finishing at 9.30pm. They are open to all and there is no need to have been to any of the earlier conversations or book. All that's required is an open and inquiring heart and mind.

 Remaining dates in the series are on:

November 13, 20, 27

December 4

Contact details:

Revd Andrew Brown
http://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/

Minister
Memorial Church (Unitarian)
Emmanuel Road
Cambridge
CB1 1JW
01223 576952
07950 184421
http://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/

Resurrected Cambridge Sea of Faith Group

Cambridge Sea of Faith Group - Wednesday Evening Conversations

This new series of conversations will begin with an evening with Don Cupitt. We'll begin with a dialogue between Andrew Brown (the minister of the Cambridge Unitarian Church) and Don about his book "The Meaning ofthe West - An Apologia for a Secular Christianity". This will be opened up into a general conversation and discussion about "Secular Religion" -the theme of the September 21 London 'Sea of Faith' Conference.

The remaining dates in this series will provide an opportunity to explore this idea in more depth. The meetings take place in the church hall of the Memorial (Unitarian) Church,Cambridge and will start promptly at 7.30pm and finishing at 9.30pm on the following Wednesdays:

October 16, 23, 30

November 6, 13, 20, 27

December 4

Contact details:

Revd Andrew Brown
http://andrewjbrown.blogspot.com/

Minister
Memorial Church (Unitarian)
Emmanuel Road
Cambridge
CB1 1JW
01223 576952
07950 184421
http://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/