Note #9089 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06046 Feb. 2, 2006
Educators warned against clinging to one favored image of the divine
APCE speaker commends diversity in thinking about God
by Jerry L. Van Marter
ST. LOUIS - Celebrating diversity is the only way Christians can avoid the idolatry of too narrowly defining God, a renowned Episcopal Church educator said Wednesday during the opening session of the annual conference of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE).
Citing the diversity of understandings of Bible stories, the Rev. Eric Law, a Christian educator for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, told the ecumenical gathering of 1,000 church educators: "The most dangerous thing we can do is teach images of God in isolation - that's how the David Koreshes (Koresh was the leader of the Branch Davidian cult) and Jim Joneses (Jones is infamous for the Jonestown, Guyana, mass suicide) go unchallenged."
Speaking on a story from Joshua 4 about the Israelites setting up a memorial of stones after crossing the Jordan River, Law invited participants to reflect on the "stones" - images of God - that they have grown up with. Law recalled his own first image of God, summoned by his mother as she knelt at his bedside when he was seriously ill as a child. Later, he said, an Episcopal priest who was instrumental in building affordable housing in his parish gave Law an image of God as a businessman.
"There are many 'stones' in our experiences of being and becoming Christians," he said. "We have to know our own stones, learn and appreciate the stones of others and then teach those stones - in all their richness and diversity - to our children."
Such instruction in the faith is "terribly important," Law said, "because in a violent and suspicious world, too many Christians use their stones as weapons rather than as tools for understanding and celebration of diversity."
He challenged his listeners: "When teaching, preaching, praying - always ask, 'Am I only using one image of God?' If you're conscious of that, you are celebrating diversity...beginning with God."
The APCE gathering this year is particularly diverse. The traditional partners - the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Christian Reformed Church, the Reformed Church in America and the Presbyterian Church in Canada - have been joined this year by educators from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church USA.
The conference continues through Saturday.
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