THE LAOS HOUSE

of the

Christian Faith­and­Life Community

Austin, Texas

THE PARISH LAYMEN'S WEEKEND SEMINAR

Community Studies I­A

THE MEANING OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

CS I­A is the first of eight basic courses in the unified curriculum of the Christian-Faith-and-Life Community. This is a wee ­ 'ul semi~r i~

~ ­ d "~.ilrility of authentic living will l~o mc~d. 9uch

que~:~ W-t t* lUfc all about? What coo. it meen to :be who I am, :~c"] i~re~l :~tf i ~d thia world? wlit be the ~dorlyhg q~e

~rmi~ng the: ­ velopmeat. The ultimate aim witl be un ­ ~ratandi" ibo :~p~ning of ~e Chriatian (:hape:l for our livea in the tw~t~tli c~. 1b :: ­ ef. thia ia a ahort courae in contemporary theology.

"e.~:ourae involvea atudy, eeminara, lecturee, art forma, movio,

S~r:e will be composed of ten to fifteon membera lu¢lu~

o" ­ ~ ­ p~ £~£ ~o£ ehe Con~munity. lE;a£lt mombes of tl"

~ ~ , ~

: T1# suWlomeatary readinge liated under each unit are not a pert o£ t"

ipmonts but aro pro~ridod for those who will occasionally bavo aoa#

timo for reading. All of these readinga are pertinent to tho co~ni

~r ~te* T1ae t~ articlea listed in thia category will bo pro~­

~ n~g~ form by tho Con~uaity. One ia a thout~ic^

:~a £ ­ Biblo; and ono is ~om contemporary titerah~ro. It t*~_

0t, when you l~ve eini:* for e~tra r~ding, you r~d t" ~~ ­

~os~r tbey are listed. :

Tl~ore aro ateo ~c~ded in t}`o aupplementary biblio~y £o:r. ~: ~

~o­ booke which "at with the topic to be discuseed in t~ s~r: ~o

~1; ono ia a p~losophical; and ono i9 a literary wor~

~ct d that everlrone wbo registera for tl" eemi#ar "tl par~

­ ;~noua, ro" ~ aso£gacd worlc, pr~e tho cb ­

~se ­ e c~*tely ~ha­: eve" ~a~ ­ ~" =tl" eo~r~k

At any moment a spontaneous viaion of the aoul may take placo in anyone, and he will then ace himaelf as himaelf, caught in the middle of time ­ hia own time aa well aa other people'a ­ here and now, a pereon with auch and auch a name and history, friends and family, defecto and capabilitiea. He may feel aa Paacal dit, "When Ii­conaider the brief span of my life, swallowed up in eternity psat and to come, the little apace that I occupy, loat in the immensity of apaco of which I know nothing and which knowa nothing of me, I am terrifiot and I arn astoniahed that I am here rather than there. " Nothing ia more certain, nothing more humbling, nothing leos effaceable than the impresa of one'a own contingency. Or he may feel with Doatoyevaky'a Raskolnikov, "Life ia only given to me once and I

·ball never have it again; I don't want to wait for the 'happineca of .11'. I want to live myself, or elae better not live at all.... Where ic it I'Ye read that aame one condemned to death asya or tl?.inka, an bour before trio death, that if he had to live on aume high rock, on cech a narrow ledge that be'c only room to ~d, and the ocean, ovorlaoting darlmeac, over~at~g "Utu`_ever~in ­ ­tempeat ~u~sd~im, if he bad to­ remain atanding on ~ equ~o­ y~r~f ~ce altbla life, a thou asod year e, ~tcrnit~­it wese ~tter tc`Jivo oo t~n to di~ at once! OallF to l~ive~ to l~o ;~1 liAro. Life! ~ver

it may bel" ­ Ralph Harper

~Unit EXISTENCE IN DEPTH

L~TURE I ­ THE LIMITS OF ~E O11 THE FINALITY OF GOD

S"aNAR ONE ­ Whet am I ­ft~ly up aga~at in l~c ?

Articles £rom CR

._,. . ;_. 1

Aosigned Reading

Niebuhr, H. R.: The Nature and Exiatence of God

Bultmann, Rudolf: The Crisia of Faith

Supplementary Reading

E~rom Job: The Lord ~a Taken Away

Orgel, Irene Jonah

Booka

Tillich, Paul: The Courage to Be, New Haven: Yate Univeraity

Presa, 1952

Wilaon, Colin: The Outaider, Bostoa: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1956

Camna, Albort: The Pia~uo, New York: Alfrod A. E{nopf, 194JI

~: .

EXISTENCE; IN AUTHENTICITY

LI=TUEtE II ­ THE POSSIBILITY OF LIFE OR THE CHRIST­EVENT

;~

Sll;:MINAR TWO ­ Ia there any word of posaibility for life?

~~ lLrtictea from CR

Aasigned Reading

Tillich, Paul: You Are Accepted

Supplem enter y ­R eading

Hobba, Edward The Goapel Through So­Called S

. . ._.

From John: Once I Waa Blind

.. .

Sartre, Jean­Paul: The Watl

Books

Tillich, Paul: The New Being, New York: Charlea Scribner's. Sona, 1955

Frankl, Viktor E.: From Death Camp to Exiatentialiam, Boaton: ­ Beacon Presa, 1959

Stembeck, John Eaet of Eden, New York: Bantam Bookc (F1267~.

Uni ~E;XISTENCE IN COMMUNITY

CHURClI

L.EGTURE m ­ THE SYMBOL OF LIFE OR THE CHRIST­STORY

_ ~. ~' ~ ,

S~INAR THREE ­ Do Chri~tian aymbola have any relevance for fife.?

Articlea from C31

Aacigned Reading

Xnox, John: The Event and The Story

Supplementary Reading

Tillich, Paul: Wb~at Faith Ia

From Mark:: The l:~ciaion

KaDca; Fran_ ~e Thice Parables

Booka

~o:c, Jobn: ~^a t,~ii~y of<~. ~ Y~ Scr~r'~ 1

Fromm, E;rich: The Forgot~ I^~Eo' Orove ~rose, E47

Greene, Graham: The Heart of t~ Matter, Ne~v York B~ Elooke {A1

Unit ­ EXISTENCE IN FREEDOM

SPIR]

1~5CTURE IV ­ THE AMBIGUITY OF LIFE OR DECISIVENESS THROUGH CHItIST

S15MINAB FOUR ­ How can I make deciaiona about what to do?

~le. from CR

Asaigned Reading

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich: Freedom

Supplementary Reading

Michaelson, Carl: Chriatian Faith and Exiatential F~edom

From the Goapel of Luke: Ah, Wildorneea

Gamna, Albert: The Gueat

Bultn~ann, Rudolf: Exiatence and Faith, N. Y.: Meridiaa.Bool's, ( ­ 29)

­­­ ~De Beauvoir, Simone: The Ethica of ~Lmbi~ty, N.Y.: Philosop-al

^ ­ berry, Lorrahe: A Raiain :in tho S~n. N. Y.: R;