Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another.
- Thomas Merton,
New Seeds of Contemplation
Posted via email from Lacunae
Dave – what do you think of this book? I kind of see Thomas Merton as one of the original emergent church guys, taking Jesus into a more acceptable new-age. Am I off base? I do own New Seeds of Contemplation… Tim
What I’m actually asking is what does Thomas Merton believe the gospel of Jesus Christ to be?
Tim, the only Merton book I own is Seven Storey Mountain, which I have not read. So…I’m not a good candidate to answer your question about what Merton believed the gospel is.
I stumbled on the quote above and posted it.
To be charitable, until shown otherwise, I would assume that a Roman Catholic priest believes the content of the Apostle’s Creed as a summary of the gospel. Of course, that might not have been the case. But at any rate, Merton’s words (quoted here) seem in line with gospel humility to me. If Merton was actually a heretic or an apostate, perhaps his words are still true–like the words of Balaam’s donkey!
Dave,
I haven’t read much of Tommy boy either, which is why I asked what he believed. I have this vague impression that he is a fore-father of emergent.
BTW, I read Urban Halo. Please read it too and let me know what you think. Also, I’ve been spending some time this evening looking at Haiti orphanages. The poverty in our world is tragic. We’ve got to do something. One common thread seems to be that people who visit third world countries go back and start orphanages. Have you ever spent time googleing orphanages? Every third world major city has 80K kids living on the streets.
Tim
Tim,
My buddy, Pete, from B.C., sent me a couple chapters of Urban Halo. I thought it was very good stuff. Didn’t have enough material to see how evangelism/making disciples fits in with leaving kids embedded in extended families. Maybe because misshos are also embedded?
Dave
I also share your concern about how kids were disipled in the Urban Halo project. Craig did start up a Big Brothers and Sisters program to help support and evangelize the orphans. Is it better to be maladjusted socially and disconnected from community but have a better standard of living and learn about Jesus every day?
One point that Urban Halo makes is that adoptive parents and orphanages should try not to adopt kids who have living relatives. I wonder if he factors in unwed mothers into that mix. Urban Halo was a great read but seemed to answer the orphan problem a little too simply.
T