Rosemary Ruether - "Religion as Sacred Canopy or Prophetic Hope?" (September 26, 1982)

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	(regal organ music)	0:09
	(regal organ music continues)	1:30
	(dramatic organ music)	1:57
	(dramatic organ music continues)	2:40
	(lively organ music)	2:57
	(lively organ music continues)	6:20
	♪ Defend the glory of God ♪	7:06
	♪ Defend the glory of God ♪	7:15
	♪ Defend the glory of God ♪	7:24
	♪ Praise His name ♪	7:33
	♪ Praise His name ♪	7:40
	(regal organ music)	7:48
	(regal organ music continues)	8:26
	(choir indistinctly singing)
	(choir indistinctly singing)	10:30
Pastor	In the name of the Lord, our God, creator,	11:59
	redeemer and sustainer.	12:02
	We come together as the church of Jesus Christ,	12:06
	recognizing that Christ lived	12:13
	and died not only for the church, but for the world,	12:14
	and for every person in this world.	12:22
	For God so loved the world that he gave his only son,	12:26
	that whoever believes in him should not perish	12:29
	but have eternal life.	12:31
	For God's most precious, precious gift,	12:35
	we do give thanks and praise.	12:38
	Thus to be open and to God,	12:41
	we must be honest with ourselves.	12:45
	No matter how painful or distasteful this may be,	12:47
	we have indeed missed the mark of our calling	12:52
	in Christ Jesus.	12:55
	Therefore, my friends, I invite you to confess your sin	12:57
	as we offer to God this prayer of confession.	13:02
	Be seated please.	13:05
	Let us pray.	13:09
	Oh Lord, holy and righteous God,	13:13
	we acknowledge before you that we do not fear you	13:17
	and that we do not love you above all things,	13:20
	we do not delight in prayer,	13:25
	nor take pleasure in your word.	13:28
	We do not really love our neighbor.	13:31
	We lack the conscience	13:34
	that should accompany our Christian profession.	13:36
	Our hearts are divided,	13:40
	crossed by doubts and guilty desires.	13:42
	We accuse ourselves before you, oh God,	13:46
	we implore you whose nature and whose name is love	13:50
	to forgive us and in forgiving to heal us so	13:55
	that in our lives something will finally be changed.	14:01
	Amen.	14:06
	Let us hear these words of assurance.	14:39
	The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.	14:43
	God's mercies never come to an end.	14:48
	They are new every morning.	14:52
	The Lord is good to those who wait for him,	14:57
	to those who constantly seek him.	14:58
	It is good that one should wait quietly	15:04
	for the salvation of our Lord.	15:06
	In the name of Jesus Christ,	15:11
	I declare our sins are forgiven for his sake.	15:13
	Amen.	15:18
	In the light of this forgiveness, let us give thanks.	15:22
	For God is good and God's love is everlasting.	15:25
	Thanks be to God whose love creates us.	15:30
	Thanks be to God whose mercy redeems us.	15:34
	Thanks be to God whose grace leads us into the future.	15:39
	Amen.	15:44
	May I welcome you to this service	15:46
	of worship this morning in spite of the cloudiness	15:49
	and the dreariness and the rain outside	15:52
	which we so badly need,	15:54
	it is good to gather in this place	15:56
	to worship the Lord our God	15:59
	and to have fellowship with one another.	16:01
	May God spirit speak to you in some very special way,	16:03
	during this time when we come together in the name	16:07
	of our Lord, let me mention just a couple of things please.	16:10
	There is someone here	16:14
	who might have a little difficulty	16:15
	if I do not make this announcement.	16:17
	There's a yellow Toyota parked behind the Divinity School	16:19
	with lights on.	16:24
	I'm sure you wouldn't want to try	16:25
	to start a dead battery in the rain after the service,	16:27
	so you may wish to leave	16:31
	and check that the license number is YVM 786.	16:33
	A yellow Toyota parked behind the divinity school,	16:37
	next Sunday morning at 9:45.	16:43
	Those of you who are interested in helping us	16:46
	to begin a church school program connected	16:48
	with the chapel are invited	16:51
	to meet in the conference room downstairs	16:52
	to do some planning for such a program,	16:55
	9:45 next Sunday morning.	16:59
	Included in the bulletin this morning	17:03
	is a leaflet describing the Billy Graham series	17:06
	of evangelistic lectures,	17:10
	which will begin tomorrow evening at eight o'clock	17:13
	in Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill.	17:17
	I have been asked to tell you	17:21
	that students do not need a ticket to get in.	17:22
	Special seating has been reserved for students	17:27
	both at Carolina and here at Duke.	17:31
	So if you are a student,	17:34
	no ticket is needed for others of us.	17:35
	Tickets are needed,	17:38
	but these lectures will begin tomorrow evening	17:40
	at eight o'clock and continue each evening	17:43
	through Friday evening.	17:46
	I encourage you to come to go	17:47
	and to share in these services for your enrichment	17:49
	and our enlightenment along the way of our faith.	17:53
	Martha Hall, a junior here at Duke was injured	17:58
	in an accident Friday afternoon	18:03
	when she was riding her bike and hit by a car.	18:05
	She is in room 3321 Duke North.	18:09
	She had surgery Friday evening.	18:14
	I saw her yesterday morning after the surgery	18:16
	and things seemed to be going quite well for her,	18:18
	but if you are a friend for her,	18:21
	a friend of hers	18:23
	or if you would like just to write her a note	18:25
	to express your love and concern,	18:26
	I'm sure she'd be delighted to hear from you.	18:28
	She sings in the chapel choir and is a junior here	18:30
	and would be delighted to hear from you	18:34
	and to know of our love.	18:36
	Dr. Rosemary Ruther is our guest preacher this morning.	18:39
	She currently serves as the Georgia Harkness professor	18:43
	of Applied Theology	18:46
	at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston,	18:47
	Illinois.	18:51
	She is a prominent theologian, teacher,	18:54
	lecturer and preacher, well known not only in this country	18:58
	but around the world.	19:02
	She's a member of the Roman Catholic Church	19:04
	but is widely known	19:07
	and deeply admired for her concern for ecumenism	19:09
	and for her work in the church of Jesus Christ at large.	19:14
	She has pioneered and has written some landmark works	19:21
	in the field of feminist theology,	19:25
	enlightening and helpful to us all.	19:28
	She has been to Duke before,	19:32
	but this is the first occasion	19:34
	when we have had the privilege of having her preach	19:36
	for us service of worship here in the chapel.	19:38
	Dr. Ruther, we're pleased to have you and look forward	19:41
	to the word of God which you bring to us today.	19:44
	Thank you.	19:47
Preacher	Let us pray.	19:55
	Oh God, who according to the promise of Jesus Christ,	19:57
	your son did send the spirit of truth to your people.	20:00
	Grant that the spirit may teach us all things,	20:05
	guide us into all truth.	20:09
	Open to us the scriptures and take the ways of Christ	20:12
	and show them to us for your namesake.	20:17
	Amen.	20:22
	The Old Testament lesson is from Amos,	20:24
	chapter eight verses four through 12.	20:27
	Hear this you who trample upon the needy	20:31
	and bring the poor of the land to an end saying,	20:35
	when will the new moon be over that we may sell grain	20:39
	and the Sabbath that we may offer wheat for sale,	20:43
	that we may take the ethos small and the shekel grate	20:48
	and deal deceitfully with false balances	20:53
	that we may buy the poor for silver	20:57
	and the needy for a pair of sandals	21:00
	and sell the refuse of the wheat.	21:03
	The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob.	21:06
	Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.	21:10
	Shall not the land tremble on this account	21:13
	and everyone mourn who dwells in it	21:17
	and all of it rise like the Nile and be tossed about	21:20
	and sink again like the Nile of Egypt	21:24
	and on that day says the Lord God,	21:28
	I will make the sun go down at noon	21:31
	and darken the earth in broad daylight.	21:34
	I will turn your feasts into mourning	21:38
	and all your songs into lamentation.	21:40
	I will bring sat cloth upon all loins	21:44
	and baldness on every head.	21:47
	I will make it like the morning for an only sun.	21:50
	In the end of it like a bitter day,	21:53
	behold the days are coming,	21:57
	says the Lord God when I will send a famine on the land,	21:59
	not a famine of bread, not a thirst for water,	22:02
	but of hearing the words of the Lord.	22:08
	They shall wander from sea to sea	22:11
	and from north to east they shall run to and fro	22:14
	to seek the word of the Lord but they shall not find it.	22:18
	Here ends the reading from the Old Testament.	22:23
	Amen.	22:27
	(organ music)	22:35
	(choir sings)
	Will the congregation please stand for the reading	26:42
	of the gospel lesson?	26:44
	The gospel lesson is from Luke,	26:50
	chapter six verses 20 to 31	26:53
	and he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said,	26:59
	blessed are you poor.	27:03
	For yours is the kingdom of God.	27:05
	Blessed are you that hunger now for you shall be satisfied.	27:09
	Blessed are you that weep now for you shall laugh.	27:15
	Blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude you	27:20
	and revile you	27:24
	and cast out your name as evil on account of the son of man,	27:25
	rejoice in that day and leap for joy for behold.	27:32
	Your reward is great in heaven for so their fathers did	27:35
	to the prophets,	27:40
	but woe to you that are rich	27:43
	for you have received your consolation.	27:45
	Woe to you that are full now for you shall hunger,	27:49
	woe to you that laugh now for you shall mourn and weep,	27:55
	Woe to you when all men speak well of you	27:59
	for so their fathers did to the false prophets.	28:02
	But I say to you that here, love your enemies.	28:07
	Do good to those who hate you.	28:11
	Bless those who curse you.	28:14
	Pray for those who abuse you to him	28:17
	who strikes you on the cheek,	28:21
	offer the other also	28:23
	and from him who takes away your coat.	28:25
	Do not withhold even your shirt.	28:28
	Give to everyone who begs from you	28:31
	and of him who takes away your goods.	28:34
	Do not ask them again	28:37
	and as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.	28:39
	Here ends the reading from the gospel lesson.	28:46
	Amen.	28:49
	(organ music)	28:51
Preacher 2	Good morning on this fine and rainy morning,	30:06
	although for us from Chicago,	30:11
	everything a little bit south seems like springtime.	30:13
	I would like to talk on what I think is a very serious issue	30:19
	for us today and that is the very deep	30:24
	and different views of Christianity	30:30
	held within the Christian community.	30:36
	In one sense you might say that Christian unity seems	30:44
	to be the wave of the future.	30:48
	Ecumenism is again in the news.	30:53
	Three different groups of Lutherans are getting together	30:56
	and the new Lutheran church	31:03
	and the Episcopalians are establishing intercommunion.	31:05
	In one sense,	31:09
	it seems as though historical divisions based on ethnicity,	31:11
	polity and theology are breaking down.	31:15
	Is Christian unity the wave of the future?	31:23
	Unfortunately,	31:28
	it seems that these old divisions are fading only	31:29
	to give way to different divisions.	31:33
	You might say the arena of the divisions between Christians	31:38
	is shifting not so much divisions	31:44
	between denominations of the traditional kind,	31:48
	but instead divisions within denominations.	31:53
	While there are some denominations that might be described	32:02
	as predominantly liberal	32:07
	and others predominantly conservative,	32:08
	most of the mainstream churches of Western Christianity,	32:12
	Protestant and today also Roman Catholic,	32:17
	are in fact deeply divided within their own families.	32:23
	A new kind of socioeconomic, ecumenism we might call it,	32:31
	I suppose, is forming around these internal divisions.	32:37
	The anti-war and social justice.	32:46
	Catholics and Protestants line up together	32:49
	and find they have a great deal in common,	32:53
	but also the anti-choice,	32:57
	the anti ERA and the pro-public school prayer.	32:59
	Protestants and Catholics line up on the other side	33:06
	and I would have to say quite candidly	33:11
	that sometimes the hostility	33:15
	between anti-choice and pro-choice Roman Catholics	33:17
	or liberation theology and good news Methodist,	33:22
	approaches the level of religious war.	33:30
	What is the cause of these deep divisions	33:38
	between Christians today?	33:42
	It seems to me that the real division	33:45
	between Christians today is caused in in fact	33:47
	to a large extent by very great differences	33:51
	about the social meaning of the gospel.	33:55
	What surfaces in these divisions is a basic conflict	34:03
	about the nature and role of religion in society.	34:10
	Is religion primarily an agent of social conservation	34:19
	or is it to be primarily,	34:28
	an agent of social change of social justice?	34:33
	This division is an ancient one going back in many ways	34:39
	to the roots of biblical faith itself.	34:44
	One could find within the Bible itself,	34:48
	very deep differences about the social role of religion.	34:52
	On the one hand, religion has perhaps always been seen	34:59
	by politicians and probably by most ecclesiastics	35:03
	as the instrument for conserving	35:13
	and sanctifying the status quo.	35:16
	The existing social order is seen as divinely ordained.	35:21
	Israel or America is understood as God's elect people.	35:29
	Its land is a promised land given to them	35:40
	by God and its conflicts with other nations are holy wars,	35:45
	holy wars of the righteous against the unrighteous.	35:57
	From this perspective, the role of religion is	36:02
	to provide the divine sanction,	36:05
	what I call the divine canopy for national goodness	36:09
	and destiny to bless the leaders	36:16
	of the social institutions from government to family	36:20
	in their appointed roles	36:27
	and of course to reconcile the subjects of their rule	36:31
	to obedience, to constituted authority.	36:37
	In America, this politicization of religion on the side	36:43
	of the status quo	36:49
	has been promulgated in a particularly confusing way	36:55
	because those who see religion primarily as the agent	37:00
	of social conservation,	37:05
	as the sanctification of the traditional social order,	37:08
	claimed to be unpolitical	37:15
	and to understand religion as purely spiritual,	37:18
	whereas those who understand religion as an agent	37:25
	of social justice are condemned as political.	37:28
	In fact, what we have is not spiritual versus political,	37:33
	but two different religious politics.	37:39
	This view of religion as sacred canopy blessing,	37:47
	the established order is in fact very deep	37:50
	in our American theological tradition.	37:54
	In Puritan theology.	37:59
	While the equality of all persons in Christ was affirmed,	38:03
	the social hierarchy of male over female,	38:07
	ruler over subjects and masters over servants	38:11
	was regarded as the divinely ordained order of creation	38:19
	to rebel against one's place	38:26
	in the social order is to rebel against God.	38:29
	In the late 16th century,	38:37
	a leading puritan divine by the name of William Perkins,	38:40
	wrote two treatises among others.	38:45
	One of these treatises was entitled on Domestical Economy	38:49
	and the other was titled On the Damned Art of Witchcraft.	38:55
	In the first treatise,	39:04
	he sought to set up the traditional relationships	39:06
	between men and women in the family, the man as the head,	39:10
	the woman,	39:14
	as the help meet, and to reconcile of course women	39:15
	to their appointed role in the family.	39:19
	But in the second he opined that women	39:22
	in fact have a natural tendency toward the demonic,	39:26
	and this comes because they are discontent	39:33
	with their subordination in the family and in society.	39:36
	So we have a kind of funny duality here between his praise	39:41
	of women in the first treatise	39:45
	and his deep suspicion that in fact they	39:48
	are not very reconciled with their position in society,	39:51
	which we find in the second.	39:58
	In the heresy and witchcraft trials	40:03
	that proliferated in Massachusetts between 1638	40:06
	and 170o had only to show	40:12
	that a woman had been insubordinate to her husband	40:16
	or perhaps to the ministers	40:19
	or to the governors to clinch the case against her	40:21
	to be insubordinate was in fact to rebel against God.	40:26
	Certainly Roman Catholics also	40:34
	have seen the Catholic established order as a reflection	40:37
	of the divine will,	40:43
	not only the subordination of women to men but kings to,	40:47
	but the subordination of subjects to kings,	40:52
	surfs to nobility, slaves to masters.	40:57
	All this was seen as the divinely ordained order	40:59
	of creation.	41:03
	Christians today tend to forget that mainstream Protestants	41:07
	and Catholics alike drawing on the Augustinian tradition	41:12
	continue to justify slavery.	41:18
	Until well into the 19th century.	41:22
	A hierarchical model of the church was closely connected	41:28
	with a hierarchical model of society.	41:35
	Now, in contrast to this view of religion as sacred canopy,	41:42
	as the the blessing of the established order,	41:46
	there is deeply rooted in scripture	41:52
	and alternative perspective	41:56
	in the prophets and in Jesus particularly,	42:00
	religion is often seen as socially unsettling,	42:06
	and even a subversive power.	42:11
	God is seen as judging the rich	42:18
	and the powerful for their unjustice	42:20
	and vindicating the poor and the oppressed.	42:27
	The word of God confronts the established order	42:33
	and its leaders as contrary to God's will	42:36
	at an it envisions a new society	42:43
	and alternative order that will arise	42:45
	after a divine revolution in history,	42:52
	a time when all creatures will be in peace	42:55
	and harmony with each other.	42:58
	The prophets in Jesus confront the rulers	43:04
	and the religious authorities as hypocrites	43:07
	who use religion to sanctify injustice	43:15
	and to deprive the poor of hope.	43:21
	In the words of the magnifica, the Prayer of Mary,	43:27
	at the beginning of the gospel of Luke,	43:32
	it says that Christ will come	43:37
	to put the mighty down from their thrones	43:40
	and raise up the humble.	43:45
	There is not only a social criticism,	43:53
	there is indeed a criticism of religion	43:55
	that you find in the prophets	43:58
	and very centrally in the gospels.	44:00
	The prophets in Jesus are in confrontation	44:04
	with the established religious order.	44:09
	The religious cult itself is seen as abhorrent to God	44:16
	when it is carried out in a purely cultic way,	44:20
	in a way that ignores God's agenda of justice.	44:26
	In the words of the prophet Amos,	44:35
	words that were favorite texts from Martin Luther King,	44:42
	that Great preacher of prophetic hope	44:45
	in the American context, it is said, I hate,	44:51
	I despise your solemn assemblies.	44:56
	I take no delight in your feasts.	44:59
	Take away from me the noise of your hymns to the melody	45:04
	of your harps.	45:07
	I will not listen, but let justice roll down like waters	45:09
	and righteousness like a mighty stream.	45:17
	Prophetic faith and creates a radical transformation,	45:25
	a radical transformation in the relationship	45:30
	between religion and politics.	45:33
	Prophetic religion does not allow for the sacralization	45:37
	of the present political order	45:42
	of the the present social structure,	45:44
	but on the other hand, it does not allow for a private	45:48
	and other worldly escape from history.	45:51
	Instead, the prophets have taken the old visions	45:59
	of an ideal social order, even the ideal of a righteous king	46:05
	and transformed it into a critical ideal.	46:12
	A critical ideal by which the present social order	46:19
	is judged.	46:25
	Future hope you might say becomes a measuring rod	46:31
	by which the present system is held up to the test.	46:33
	It's hypocrisies and injustices sternly revealed,	46:39
	but at the same time, the ideal is a demand.	46:47
	It is a mandate upon the present social order	46:50
	to live up to this ideal as God's calling,	46:56
	God's commandment,	47:01
	And so the ideal becomes a revolutionary force	47:06
	commanding transformation of the present social order	47:10
	in the direction of peace and justice.	47:17
	This concept of the kingdom of God as a revolutionary ideal	47:29
	is maintained in the preaching of Jesus.	47:35
	In his inaugural sermon at the outset of his ministry,	47:41
	Jesus announces his mission as indeed the fulfillment	47:45
	of the prophetic vision.	47:50
	Opening the book of Isaiah in his home synagogue	47:54
	in Nazareth, Jesus announces the spirit of the Lord	47:58
	is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news	48:05
	to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives,	48:12
	the recovering of sight to the blind,	48:18
	to set at liberty those who are oppressed.	48:22
	However, once Christianity became the official religion	48:33
	of a Christian Roman empire,	48:38
	prophetic theology tended to fade, you might say,	48:42
	from the mainstream of the church,	48:46
	often surviving among marginal groups.	48:51
	Groups indeed often persecuted by the main.	48:57

-	Dream of the church.	0:04
	Only with the disintegration of Christendom.	0:09
	That is the alliance of church and state.	0:12
	In the late 18th and 19th century,	0:15
	the establishment of secular societies	0:17
	did it again become possible for some people	0:22
	to see prophetic theology as the true gospel.	0:26
	And this we have to say,	0:33
	came about through an indirect route.	0:34
	As Christendom disintegrated in Europe,	0:40
	secular social movements began to recover the vision	0:45
	of a transformed human society that would overthrow	0:49
	the old social order of class domination,	0:54
	create a new social order of liberty,	0:59
	and economic justice.	1:03
	These secular revolutionaries	1:07
	including many of our own founding fathers,	1:10
	identified these ideals with rationalist philosophy.	1:15
	They were often critical of the churches,	1:21
	and suspected that religion was primarily a tool	1:26
	for justifying an unjust social order,	1:31
	an unjust order of clerical and aristocratic rule.	1:36
	So often the new visions of social justice were identified	1:43
	with an attack on religion,	1:48
	or with, you might say, irreligion.	1:55
	And this made it doubly difficult for the church	1:58
	to recognize its own message in these social ideals.	2:03
	But some Christians were able to see through this criticism	2:12
	and to recognize that indeed it was a valid criticism.	2:17
	A valid criticism of a false identification of Christianity.	2:22
	with feudalism, with a particular social order.	2:31
	They began to bring together the liberal	2:38
	and social ideals of these secular movements	2:40
	with their original biblical roots in Messianic hope.	2:47
	Catholic liberals such as Dominic,	2:56
	or Christian socialists like F.D. Maurice,	2:59
	as far back as the 1830s and forties began to proclaim	3:03
	that the ideals of political liberty and social justice	3:08
	were in fact the true message of the gospel.	3:12
	This concept grew stronger in the late 19th century	3:19
	in the social gospel movements, as they were often called.	3:22
	That flourished in diverse movements in England,	3:28
	and Germany, and in the United States.	3:32
	However, this kind of perspective tended to be seen	3:38
	as passe, as having been too optimistic.	3:41
	In the 1930s, neo orthodoxy, anti-communism,	3:46
	the rise of fascism, all these seemed to put a damper	3:51
	on this earlier kind of Christian optimism.	3:56
	It seemed as though the visions of social justice	4:03
	had turned from a dream into a nightmare.	4:07
	Christian thinkers began to be more concerned	4:14
	to defend the remnants of Western Christendom	4:17
	rather than to attack present society	4:23
	and dream of new futures, Reinhold Niebuhr for example.	4:26
	And so only in the 1960s	4:35
	the rise of the civil rights movement,	4:38
	the peace movements and so on,	4:40
	did this idea of the gospel as a message of social justice	4:43
	come back again to center stage	4:48
	for at least some Christians.	4:51
	And increasingly, this vision has become a powerful movement	4:55
	among third world Christians,	4:59
	who are often deeply challenging	5:01
	the authenticity of Christianity	5:05
	in the developed industrial world.	5:09
	So I think we are again being challenged	5:17
	by this vision of the gospel	5:19
	as a hope for human liberation and justice.	5:23
	You might say transforming the pietistic understanding	5:30
	of relationship to God as a personal,	5:34
	a purely private relationship of the self to God,	5:37
	and instead understanding that we cannot be reconciled	5:41
	with God by turning our backs on our fellow creatures.	5:46
	Indeed, reconciliation with God	5:53
	is expressed only in and through	5:56
	reconciliation with our neighbors.	6:00
	In the very pointed words of the epistle	6:05
	of the first epistle of John,	6:08
	"The one who says that they love God	6:12
	and hate their neighbor is a liar.	6:15
	For how can you love God who you have not seen	6:18
	if you do not love your neighbor, who you have seen."	6:23
	In other words, reconciliation with God	6:28
	cannot be taken as a purely private act.	6:32
	It is expressed, it exists, you might say,	6:36
	only in and through	6:39
	reconciliation with our neighbor,	6:44
	with the whole relationships in which we exist in society.	6:47
	I think we have to understand	6:56
	reconciliation with the neighbor on many levels.	6:58
	Indeed, we have to understand it on the interpersonal level	7:03
	in just and mutual relations	7:10
	with one's immediate associates.	7:12
	And I would suggest that overcoming sexism	7:16
	between men and women is an important aspect of this change,	7:20
	this transformation from dominant subordinate relations	7:25
	to relations of persons in mutuality.	7:30
	But I would also suggest that loving and mutual relations	7:37
	cannot in fact be realized on a purely interpersonal level,	7:41
	because even the most intimate relations	7:50
	are embedded in social and economic systems	7:53
	which create dependency and exploitation.	7:56
	We have to look at the structural connections between,	8:02
	let's say, home and work,	8:06
	which trap people in dehumanizing and partial humanities.	8:09
	As we look at the socioeconomic system	8:19
	that defines our neighborhoods, the city, the region,	8:22
	the nation, one has to recognize these unjust relationships	8:25
	of sex, of race, of social class.	8:32
	Our societies are structured for the privilege	8:38
	of a tiny minority.	8:41
	A tiny minority of wealthy white people	8:45
	over the majority of society.	8:51
	How do we begin to envision a just social order	8:56
	that distributes access to work	9:01
	and the fruits of work more equally?	9:04
	How do we begin to humanize our workplaces	9:09
	so they allow fuller participation in decisions	9:14
	by workers and harmonize the goals of production	9:19
	with the common wheel of society?	9:25
	These are questions which,	9:33
	certainly some in our society want to sweep	9:36
	under the rug entirely,	9:40
	but I suggest it is precisely at this moment	9:42
	that we must bring them back to center stage.	9:45
	The question of just relations between men and women,	9:51
	between races, between social classes	9:55
	today have to be seen in an international context.	9:59
	Our economic system is global,	10:04
	even if our political systems are geared	10:09
	to the nation state.	10:13
	Increasingly multinational corporation disregard	10:16
	not only the social welfare of third world nations,	10:20
	where they exploit raw materials and labor,	10:24
	but disregard the welfare even of their own home nations	10:29
	from which they originate.	10:35
	They think nothing of picking up a factory from Youngstown,	10:38
	Ohio, let's say,	10:42
	taking it to a third world nation	10:44
	where they can find higher profits, cheaper labor,	10:47
	and perhaps no pollution regulations.	10:52
	In other words, with very little regard	11:00
	for the people in either area.	11:02
	So the question is how can we make	11:07
	this global economic system accountable,	11:09
	accountable to human values?	11:16
	We have to look at the destructive costs	11:21
	that mount up in the world as a result of a rapacious search	11:24
	for wealth and power.	11:28
	The escalation of the arms race is creating a globe	11:32
	bristling with missiles and counter missiles	11:36
	capable as we know of destroying every man, woman,	11:39
	and child on the earth many times over.	11:42
	The very earth, sky, and waters grow poisonous around us	11:46
	as the rich seek profits	11:52
	without regard for the harmony of the productive system	11:55
	with either the social covenant	12:00
	or the covenant of creation itself.	12:04
	For the first time in human history,	12:10
	humanity is faced with the specter	12:14
	of a technological Armageddon.	12:19
	And so the alternative to the development	12:26
	of a just world order may be the failure	12:29
	of human survival itself.	12:33
	Now, I would suggest that the biblical vision	12:40
	is very relevant to this crisis.	12:42
	The Prophets, the apocalypse is	12:48
	envision in fact such crisis.	12:54
	I don't mean in some literal prediction,	12:56
	but they recognize the extremities of this kind of crisis.	12:58
	On the one hand, the burden of human sinfulness	13:04
	breaks the covenant of creation,	13:08
	weighs the earth down with pollution,	13:10
	unleashes the four horsemen of pestilence and destruction.	13:13
	But on the other hand, the conversion of humanity to God	13:19
	means a conversion to each other,	13:24
	a conversion to the earth.	13:28
	This conversion means that we recognize	13:34
	that the ultimate meaning of human existence	13:36
	is indeed the solidarity of all creatures with each other.	13:39
	None can prosper, none can survive, perhaps,	13:47
	unless all are affirmed as brothers and sisters.	13:50
	This vision is nothing less than the biblical vision	14:01
	of God's shalom, God's peace.	14:04
	The reign of peace and justice on earth	14:08
	where God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven	14:10
	for which Jesus taught us to pray.	14:15
	So what is the role of the Christian in all this?	14:22
	Surely we should recognize this struggle for shalom,	14:28
	for peace on earth.	14:31
	Peace, by the way, shalom, always means peace with justice.	14:34
	We should recognize this as nothing less	14:39
	than the very mission for which the church itself exists.	14:42
	And yet this moment of great danger	14:49
	and great possibilities for humanity finds the church	14:51
	deeply divided, suffering from its long history	14:55
	of apostasy to its own vision and mission.	15:00
	Today, as I said at the outset,	15:06
	we see a growth of a Cubanism	15:09
	between Christian denominations,	15:11
	even between world religions,	15:13
	and yet this Cubanism is only points up the great divisions	15:17
	that exist within religious bodies.	15:22
	The division between those who understand the gospel	15:25
	as a message of social transformation,	15:29
	and those who want to see it as only private piety,	15:32
	and you might say at the same time a sacralizing	15:36
	of the existing society, or perhaps a earlier society	15:42
	that they would wish to restore.	15:48
	So our religions are deeply divided	15:53
	between those who use the tradition	15:55
	in a critical and prophetic way,	15:58
	and those who use it primarily to comfort the comfortable,	16:00
	as it sometimes said.	16:05
	And this I would suggest is the real division	16:07
	in the church today.	16:11
	And the outcome of this struggle within the church	16:14
	will determine the relevancy of Christianity	16:17
	to the present human crisis.	16:23
	Will the church, as the secular radicals	16:29
	of the 19th century believed,	16:31
	be finely defined by its alliance	16:34
	with the wealthy and the powerful,	16:39
	or will it be defined by the vision of God's shalom,	16:42
	the vision of Jesus and the prophets?	16:48
	The question is really about the church's authentic mission	16:52
	and purpose of existence.	16:56
	Can the church become an authentic sign of its own mission?	17:01
	Let us pray then that we will not suffer	17:12
	as the ancient prophet threatened	17:18
	with what he called not only a famine of bread,	17:21
	but a famine of hearing the Word of God.	17:25
	Amen.	17:30
-	Let us omit the next hymn	17:43
	and let me invite you to stand as we affirm our faith.	17:46
	With one voice let us affirm what we believe.	17:54
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	17:59
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	18:04
	to reconcile and make new,	18:07
	who works in us and others by the Spirit.	18:11
	We trust God who calls us to be the church,	18:14
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	18:19
	to love and serve others,	18:22
	to seek justice and resist evil,	18:25
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified, and risen,	18:28
	our judge and our hope,	18:32
	in life, in death, in life beyond death.	18:35
	God is with us.	18:39
	We are not alone.	18:41
	Thanks be to God.	18:43
	The Lord be with you.	18:47
	Let us pray.	18:51
	Blessed Lord our God.	19:01
	Surely You have made each of us,	19:03
	You have made every child who lives	19:07
	upon the face of this earth this day,	19:09
	you have placed us here as brothers and sisters	19:12
	one to another.	19:14
	You have created each of us with ultimate and eternal value.	19:17
	Oh God, surely each of us is created Imago Dei,	19:20
	in Your holy image.	19:25
	So remind us of those ties which bind us	19:28
	to one another this day.	19:31
	God, we pray especially for those who have suffered	19:33
	from the massacre in Lebanon.	19:36
	May those who have died now find eternal rest	19:39
	and peace in Your holy presence.	19:42
	May those who have lost loved ones and friends	19:46
	be comforted by Your holy presence.	19:48
	And may those who have committed the atrocities, oh God,	19:51
	be so convicted of the evil that they have done	19:55
	that they might repent and help to bring	19:58
	new life and hope in the world in which they live.	20:00
	God, we remember those of our neighboring community	20:05
	in Warren County, those who are protesting	20:07
	against that which they feel is wrong	20:11
	to come to their community.	20:14
	No one knows, oh God, but give them strength and courage.	20:17
	Reassure them as they seek to have that which is right	20:22
	brought about in their own community.	20:26
	Bless this university community, we pray,	20:30
	those who study, those who learn,	20:34
	those who are lonely, oh God,	20:37
	those who need the comfort and the presence of a friend.	20:41
	At times, oh God, your presence is	20:46
	or seems to be very far from us.	20:48
	So give us this day a new faith.	20:52
	A faith in Christ which keeps us going	20:56
	when we want to give up,	20:59
	a faith which carries us when we are lonely,	21:02
	A faith which helps us to trust	21:06
	even when we seem not to know where You are or who You are,	21:09
	a faith which allows us to be grateful	21:16
	even when we suffer loss.	21:19
	God, be very close to each of us,	21:22
	and to all of us as a part of Your church,	21:24
	and help us to know Your way and to follow in that way,	21:28
	in this day and in the days to come.	21:31
	Through Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray.	21:35
	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,	21:39
	Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done	21:44
	on earth as it is in heaven.	21:48
	Give us this day our daily bread,	21:51
	and forgive us our trespasses	21:54
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	21:56
	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.	22:00
	For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory	22:05
	forever.	22:10
	Amen.	22:11
	(solemn music)	22:14
	(solemn music continues)	22:24
	(solemn music continues)	22:34
	(choir singing in foreign language)	22:41
	(choir singing in foreign language)	22:52
	(choir singing in foreign language)	23:02
	(choir singing in foreign language)	23:11
	(choir singing in foreign language)	23:21
	(choir singing in foreign language)	23:31
	(choir singing in foreign language)	23:41
	(choir singing in foreign language)	23:51
	(choir singing in foreign language)	24:02
	(choir singing in foreign language)	24:12
	(choir singing in foreign language)	24:21
	(choir singing in foreign language)	24:31
	(choir singing in foreign language)	24:42
	(choir singing in foreign language)	24:52
	(choir singing in foreign language)	25:02
	(choir singing in foreign language)	25:12
	(choir singing in foreign language)	25:22
	(choir singing in foreign language)	25:32
	(choir singing in foreign language)	25:42
	(choir singing in foreign language)	25:52
	(choir singing in foreign language)	26:02
	(choir singing in foreign language)	26:12
	(choir singing in foreign language)	26:22
	(choir singing in foreign language)	26:32
	(choir singing in foreign language)	26:42
	(choir singing in foreign language)	26:52
	(choir singing in foreign language)	27:02
	(choir singing in foreign language)	27:12
	(choir singing in foreign language)	27:22
	(choir singing in foreign language)	27:32
	(choir singing in foreign language)	27:42
	(choir singing in foreign language)	27:52
	(choir singing in foreign language)	28:02
	(choir singing in foreign language)	28:12
	(choir singing in foreign language)	28:22
	(choir singing in foreign language)	28:32
	♪ Amen ♪	28:40
	♪ Amen ♪	28:42
	♪ Amen ♪	28:48
	♪ Amen ♪	28:51
	♪ Amen ♪	29:00
	♪ Amen ♪	29:04
	♪ Amen ♪	29:14
	(solemn music)	29:42
	(solemn music continues)	29:52
	(solemn music continues)	30:02
	(solemn music continues)	30:12
	(solemn music continues)	30:22
	(solemn music continues)	30:32
	(solemn music continues)	30:42
	(solemn music continues)	30:52
	(solemn music continues)	31:01
	Oh Lord, our blessed God, as we offer these our gifts,	31:11
	may we also offer our very selves.	31:14
	As we present our gifts and ourselves to you, oh Lord,	31:18
	reveal more of your grace to us.	31:21
	May You be known and seen in our daily living,	31:24
	in deeds performed and in words spoken,	31:28
	for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord,	31:31
	in whose holy name we pray.	31:34
	Amen.	31:37
	(solemn music)	31:40
	(solemn music continues)	31:50
	(solemn music continues)	32:00
	(solemn music continues)	32:10
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	(solemn music continues)	35:40
	The grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,	35:55
	the love of God,	35:59
	the communion and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you	36:01
	and with those whom you love this day and forever.	36:06
	♪ Amen ♪	36:14
	♪ Amen ♪	36:20
	♪ Amen ♪	36:28
	♪ Amen ♪	36:44
	♪ Amen ♪	36:57
	♪ Amen ♪	37:12
	(solemn music)	37:37
	(solemn music continues)	37:47
	(solemn music continues)	37:57
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	(people talking indistinctly)	42:57
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Item Info

Title:

Rosemary Ruether - "Religion as Sacred Canopy or Prophetic Hope?" (September 26, 1982)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 30:05. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 17:30.
Opening with a critical view of ecumenism, Ruether traces a dualism in Christian history: the Christianity of empire emphasized private relationships with God that sacramentalized the status quo, whereas the fringe movements of liberation theologies sought to live a Gospel life more like Jesus and the prophets, and this latter view she heralds as both the ture Kingdom of God and vital for the Church’s survival in a globalized, nuclear age; she presses the congregation to consider living the Gospel not as a purely private relationship with God, but a radical reconciliation with neighbor – and neighbor, in this globalized age, means particularly challenging sexism, racism, and the corporate world working conditions that dehumanize employees. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4tm72g6c

Date:

September 26, 1982

Speaker:

Ruether, Rosemary Radford

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

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Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0104
ref7731_uxc
uachapelsermaud
duke:320823
dcrau001096
ark:/87924/r4tm72g6c
28a108c0-e123-4d99-ae8b-b2a002769850

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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English

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United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

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This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Rosemary Ruether - "Religion as Sacred Canopy or Prophetic Hope?" (September 26, 1982)

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