Sunday at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco
From London, Early Wednesday AM, April 26th…
Those of you who have finished reading my book know that at both the beginning, in the Preface, and at the end, in the Conclusion, I try to bring a bit more of my personal self into what I intend to otherwise be an academically based study on the historical Jesus.
This past Sunday at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco I was vividly reminded of how important this element is, and how important the topic of Jesus is, to our diverse society. I was the guest of the Dean of the Cathedral, the renowed Dr. Alan Jones (see his inspiring new book, Reimagining Christianity: Reconnecting your Spirit without Disconnecting your Mind) in his Forum series.
We had a standing room only crowd that turned out to be a nice mixture of Christians of all persuations, Jews, Muslims, and the unaffiliated, whether secular or otherwise. We did a Question and Answer session between the Dean and me, then opened things to the floor as well. I should point out that Dr. Jones and I are at very opposite poles on many issues, including our evaluation of the message and mission of the Apostle Paul. And yet, despite our differences it was an altogether lovely time of civil discussion and learning. At one point Dr. Jones recommended that everyone who reads The Jesus Dynasty, pay careful attention to my Conclusion to understand more of where I come from as an author who does indeed have some rather unconventional things to say about the development of Christianity.
This warm and engaging audience was my first chance to do a bit of testing of my more controversial ideas with a large and diverse group. I found the whole experience quite profoundly moving and meaningful. I have loved Grace Cathedral for years, since I lived in California in the 1970s and Bishop James Pike was making his own kind of waves.
The full forum is archived at the Grace Cathedral Web site: The Forum
James Tabor