[Oe List ...] Salmon: order songs

[William Salmon]

Dean::
    At present I have you done for a hard copy of the Order Song Book of 
about 250 song. I don't locate your address in our Order Directory. Please 
send me your physical address. My guess is the Song Book will be around 
$20.00 and includes postage. Before I get the printing done, I'll let you 
know the exact cost. OK?
    Pastor Bill

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "R Dean Johnson" <deananna2662 at COMCAST.NET>
To: <OE at wedgeblade.net>
Cc: <deananna2662 at comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 8:14 AM
Subject: [Oe List ...] order songs


> Greetings:
> I doubt that anyone remembers me now, but my wife and I had been 
> sojourners
> with EI twice, at Rockford House, Rockford, Illinois, and at Atlanta House
> several years later.
>
> I am a retired Episcopal priest, and over the years had implimented EI
> ideas and programs I had experienced in my parishes since then.  Even 
> though
> I had not become as adept in these skills as most of the members of EI 
> were,
> I believe these methods made a significant impact in each parish I had
> since.
>
> I am now retired in the Diocese of Atlanta. My wife and I are both
> psychotherapists, and we have had a small counseling practice in this area
> for the past 25 years.  I am also in close association with many of the
> local clergy in this area, and have had some of them as counseling 
> clients.
> But the most significant accomplishment, I think, is the completion of two
> books that deal head-on with the theological issues of the modern church.
> Much of Christendom is mired in the theology of the Middle Ages.  While 
> not
> espousing it, most skirt around issues in order not to rock the boat.
> Meanwhile, the boat is sinking.  Traditional Christianity is having a
> difficult time evading the unpalatable distortions of Christianity, 
> because
> it has been cast in concrete --- in sentimental themes of hymns, in
> scriptures, in creeds.  There seems to be no way to shed the heavy burden 
> of
> outmoded theological propositions, without destroying the church and
> alienating the faithful --- or so it would seem.
>
> I have written a couple of books, as yet unpublished, exploring how the
> more egregious aspects of Pauline theology have dominated the church.  I
> also illustrated how his pharisaic attitudes contradicted the teachings of
> Jesus, why Paul thought as he did, and why his ideas  have virtually
> eclipsed Jesus himself.  The thinking of Paul seeped into nearly every 
> book
> of the New Testament, and hence also creeds and doctrines.  I think if we
> continue dancing around this dilemma, Christianity will die.  But I also
> think that a Christianity according to Jesus would be infinitely superior 
> to
> any of Paul's theories of redemption, retribution, judgment, etc.
>
> We all know how important nutrition is to our physical health, which is
> also true of spiritual nutrition.  But we also know how important it is to
> expel what we have ingested.  The church seems to have no way to expel 
> what
> is now recognized as contradictory to the thinking of Jesus, and we are
> weighted down with medieval concepts and archaic theology that undermines
> the dynamic purposes of Jesus, to enlighten his people to become a light 
> to
> the world.  I think what most traditional religion needs, therefore, is a
> good enema.  Jesus intended us to start fresh.
>
> I'm having difficulty finding a publisher.  Most religious publishing
> houses are committed to the status quo, so I need to look elsewhere, but I
> don't want to be outside the house of faith.  I want to find a way to
> rejuvinate religion -- such as EI did after WWII so effectively.
> It occurred to me that people who understood and worked for that goal 
> would
> be potential friends and colleagues, and I believe would be enthusiastic
> about this work.  I have been doing research for it since 1954, when a
> classmate and I in seminary made a startling discovery regarding a major
> tenet of faith.  We concluded that the early Church had it wrong.  Missed
> the point. The Dead Sea scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library shed light on 
> a
> theory, and pursuing this insight has led to a paradigm shift for me that 
> I
> believe could transform a dying church.  I feel the need for colleagues, 
> to
> be guided in how to make my contribution to theology positive and helpful,
> rather than negative and destructive.
>
> I don't know who I am writing to, but am in hopes you might pass this 
> along
> to whoever might be interested in this undertaking.  I am also in need of 
> a
> copy of some of the order songs.   I've been helping a Unity Church 
> struggle
> to find meaningful music for their services.  They are committed to
> fostering spiritual awareness, but are hampered by a hymn book that seems 
> to
> have originated in the 19th century, and is very out of touch with
> contemporary needs.
>
> Please let me hear from you,
> Sincerely,  R. Dean Johnson
>
>
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