Szabó Árpád (szerk.): Isten és ember szolgálatában. Erdő János emlékezete (Kolozsvár, 2007)
John A. Buehrens: A House for Hope. Liberal Theology and the Challenges of the 21st Century
184 J B 0 U h e n h r A e with one of our ministers who is also a roshi — but not a quietist, stereotypes notwithstanding. During the panel discussion on worship later in this week I will have some further things to say about the necessary but not sufficient conditions for us to worship together „in spirit and in truth." In my view, those conditions have to do largely with openness to all the dimensions of the house of worship — its height, for the celebration of the joys of life; its depth, for meditation upon the brokenness of our human condition; its breadth, for the inclusion of all our sisters and brothers, of whatever condition, background, or need; its aspiration forward, toward a future that is apprehended in worship as somehow already present; and its willingness to draw on resources that stand behind and around us, in that great cloud of witness, that long procession of heroines and heroes who have been devoted to the Spirit in their time and context. Conclusion: The Needed Repairs, Renovations, and Expansions Ahead But I have now tried your patience sufficiently with this metaphor about the questions that face the international, intercultural house that we inhabit together as inheritors of the Unitarian and Universalist traditions in theology. We have received this heritage in earthen vessels, easily shattered. In neglected and sometimes even abandoned places of worship. But at our best we have borne witness to a vision of hope. To paraphrase what Dr. Parker said in closing a paper she presented to a group of UU scholars in America a few years ago: We have countered the image of innate human depravity threatened by divine wrath with the good news of human possibility, creativity, responsibility, even goodness. We have countered the dominating and exploitative power of the hierarchical church when it is subjected to control of the empire or state, by advocating instead for covenantal communities of spiritual equality, resistance and solidarity, guided not only by democracy but by a larger holy Spirit that makes for wholeness, justice and peace. We have countered theologies of redemption through the violence of the cross with redemption through serving justice, loving mercy, and walking with humility. We have countered the violence of dividing humanity into the saved and damned with our advocacy of religious tolerance, dialogue, and the goal of inclusive community.
