Headlines for the Weeks of Lent & Easter 2008

I started posting to this blog daily on Transfiguration Sunday, February 3, and plan to pause after Pentecost Sunday, May 11. The daily blogs fit in a grouping each week, so here are the weekly headlines:

Heretics Like Us in Lent was organized around 6 weeks, each devoted to one of the first 6 centuries of the 'common era', and a re-viewing through Holy Week:


1st Week of Lent - February 3 to 9
1st Century of Common Era - Jesus’ Century
The Axial Age Artists


2nd Week of Lent – February 10 to 16
2nd Century of Common Era - ‘The 100’s’
The Boys & The Book


3rd Week of Lent – February 17 to 23
3rd Century of Common Era - ‘The 200’s’
Crude Creeds


4th Week of Lent – February 24 to March 1
4th Century of Common Era - ‘The 300’s’
Deliberations & Deceptions


5th Week of Lent – March 2 to 8
5th Century of Common Era - ‘The 400’s’
Education & Elaboration


6th Week of Lent – March 9 to 15
6th Century of Common Era - The 500’s
Fussing about Filioque


Holy Week - March 16 to 23
Reviewing at the Brink of Islam's Century
The Price of Pettiness


Heretics Like Us Browsing Bibles was organized around chunks of bible books:

Easter Week 1: March 23 to 29
Torah:
Creation to the Edge of Promise

Easter Week 2: March 30 to April 5
Histories:
High Stakes Stories

Easter Week 3: April 6 to 12
Psalms:
Soundtracks & Greatest Hits

Easter Week 4: April 13 to 19
Wisdom:
Writings from Mom to MBA

Easter Week 5: April 20 to 26
Prophets
Voices to be Reckoned With

Easter Week 6: April 27 to May 3
Gospels:
Jesus Lives, Dies, and So What?

Easter 7: May 4 to 10
Church Stories:
After Jesus, then What?

Pentecost: May 11
Apocalyptic Revelations…

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Introducing 'Heretics Like Us'

What’s a heretic? Somebody who believes the ‘wrong’ things? That’s me! Somebody who’s not blindly obedient? That’s me, too!

What’s ‘orthodox’ in this United Church? Says who? My generation thought we were rebelling against narrow rigid faith, but what have we gained with our glib liberal rhetoric of ‘inclusive diversity’?

We don’t use ‘heretic’ for people of other faiths, or of no faith. (We have other pejoratives for them, but that’s for another Lent!) We use ‘heretic’ for people who claim our name: Christians who differ from us.

We associate ‘heretics’ with victims of medieval and modern repression by the powerful forces of orthodoxy, witch burning or mutual anathemas of sectarians – but this blog is about the early days, when we were all heretics, factions, or partisans.

Lent is a time of waiting & preparing for Easter. Traditions vary, and the orthodox speak of ‘prayer, fasting and catechism’, but I prefer ‘give something up, take something on, & learn something!’ I posted content about a different heretic every day, from a different century each week - the first 6 centuries of the common era, in this Lent.

Easter is a season, and not just a day. The 'Great 50 Days' run from Easter Day to Pentecost, this year from March 23 to May 11. I am posting content each day, 'heretics browsing bibles', with a different 'chunk' of the bible each week: Torah, Histories, Wisdom, Psalms, Prophets, Gospels, Church Stories...

http://www.billbrucewords.com/ is where I post notes each week after I preach, once I’ve found out what I said, and how people responded. Lots of paper copies leave our church – but more people go to that blog.

http://www.hereticslikeus.com/ is where I will post these notes daily through Lent and Easter season. Get paper copies available at Thornhill United Church, 25 Elgin (at Dudley) – or bookmark this blog, or subscribe to the ‘ATOM’ feed from it.

There are 40 days in Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter. If you count on a calendar, it won’t work: Sundays don’t count, as we break the fast those days. Bear with me, and you’ll see how it works. There are 50 days in Easter Season.

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