Reading Schedule
Posted by Jody at 4/18/2008 5:52 PM and is filed under uncategorized 
Hello!
We had our first meeting of the Shoresh Book Club last night and the discussion was certainly lively!
Here is the reading schedule:
Last night we took a look at the Introduction.
April 24 Chapters 1-4
May 1 Chapters 5-7
May 8 Chapters 8,9,11,12
May 15 Chapters 10,13
Check back soon for new entries!
Jody
We had our first meeting of the Shoresh Book Club last night and the discussion was certainly lively!
Here is the reading schedule:
Last night we took a look at the Introduction.
April 24 Chapters 1-4
May 1 Chapters 5-7
May 8 Chapters 8,9,11,12
May 15 Chapters 10,13
Check back soon for new entries!
Jody
Dickson's integrity revealed in introduction: This will be my third reading of The Gospel According to Moses. Obviously I love the book. Having received in recent years the gift of Jewish acquaintances and more importantly friendships, this book speaks loudly to me about relationship – not just dialogue – between Christians and Jews. In the introduction Dickson acknowledges the potential for Jewish fears of his book being a “thinly veiled attempt to convert them to Christianity.” Later, on that same page (12), Dickson shows great integrity when he promises to not “disguise” his beliefs. He goes on to say that “just as honesty forbids the disguise of my bias within these pages, it also means I must not compromise basic tenets of the Christian faith, not even to build bridges.” (highlights mine) Herein is the struggle in Jewish –Christian relationships. Whether Jew or Christian, both parties in such a relationship believe that their convictions are based on truth. If this were not the case, we would not believe what we believe. The bottom line is that Christians believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah; Jews do not. Building bridges between Christians and Jews, developing and maintaining close personal relationships while holding to such different beliefs is (to quote Dickson) “never easy” and often painful. A friend of mine once said that we are all evangelists. Whether we are sharing our political convictions, beliefs on matters of faith, the best way to educate children, or whether we should drink water from a plastic bottle or the tap to save the environment – we want others to share our convictions. We can be especially passionate about this on matters of faith because we believe our convictions are based on truth and that truth is truth for all. Unfortunately, Jewish fear of Christians is founded on Church history. May the Lord heal this history by His Spirit and by filling Christians with love for all, especially her Jewish brothers and sisters. And may we Christians be the loving witnesses of Jesus we are called to be. May Christians and Jews have the grace to love each other, even when our differences are painful and we would rather walk away. Thank you, Athol Dickson, for having the courage to not ignore this tender issue.
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