Catechism for Cultural Christians: Want to join us?

26. august 2024

I’ve embarked on a wild project.
One that I can’t and won’t do alone.
I want to write a book with words that can create conversations about what the Christian faith is in our lives now and in the future.
A small, compact book that is easy to read and can withstand wear and tear.
You have to want to give it to others and yourself so you can talk together about what it really means to be a Christian. What can it mean for me? For others? For the world?

You could call it a kind of catechism for cultural Christians.

For about 500 years, the Small Catechism, written by Martin Luther, the leading theologian behind our Protestant church, has shaped daily life in Denmark.

Whether or not we or our grandparents were taught by it.

Many learned to read with the little book, the biggest bestseller of all time in Denmark after the Bible.

The little book was to be used to teach his family, so it was written in Danish. This was a dramatic break from the Danes’ previous 500 years with the Catholic Church, where it was primarily the priests who taught in Latin.

What should a catechism look like today?
Who should it be directed to?
What should it say?
I’d like you to have a say in that.

I want to write this book together with many people, so it will be a book that grows from the bottom up.

It must be written in a language that engages and inspires the responsibility for the world, others and ourselves that is at the heart of Christianity? Isn’t that why we are created?

See, now I’m already talking to myself about what should be in that book.

I’d like to bring you into the conversation.

I want to do that in more ways and more places.

I’ll do it here in the newsletter, where I’ll send out questions and thoughts to you and the other readers so you can comment.

And I will organize study circles, lectures and workshops so we can meet and talk and write further. The book will be published to be used in conjunction with the new translation of the Bible, which the Bible Society will start publishing parts of soon. Read more at Bibelselskabet here.

The first time is already in the fall break, because I really want to get started! It will be four working days with some of the country’s very best theologians who have agreed to help the project get started. I’m so overwhelmed and happy.

They are all brilliant at sharing their knowledge and sparking the thoughts of others.

Anders-Christian Jacobsen is a professor of dogmatics at Aarhus University and has recently written the basic book “Frygt ikke!” together with Margrethe Kamille Birkler. I have read and listened to him for many years as someone who concentrates on the core of Christianity and has an overview.
Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen, PhD and Associate Professor, also at Aarhus University, knows more than anyone else about the big difference between 500 years ago and now: Women. She has researched them and last year she was the editor of the research anthology “God’s Word in a Woman’s Mouth”.
Kirsten Jørgensen is a dean in Frederiksberg and someone who aims to write about faith in modern life in a way that is both relevant and easy to understand and engage with. Read some of her essays on POV.international
Sten Kaalø, Free Church pastor and poet

Read the program for the days at Løgumkloster Refugium here.

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Med Jesu komme skærper Gud sine krav til menneskene. Nu handler det ikke kun om det, vi må og ikke må, men selve måden, vi er mennesker på. Det er et kolossalt skridt.
Og det er det, Jesus bliver så upopulær på blandt dem, der holdt fast i Moses´ lære, i Mosebogen. Med den i hånden ved man, hvad der er rigtigt og forkert at gøre og kan dømme andre uanset, hvad man selv gør.
Hos Jesus rækker det ikke. Man skal også selv føle, tænke, mærke og handler efter, hvad der er ret og vrang.
Med hans komme stiller Gud større krav. Han tror, mennesket er klar til at ændre sig.

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Gud giver os sit løfte.
Det er det, dåben handler om.
I dåben siger Gud direkte til os, at vi aldrig er efterladt. Og at vi altid er elsket. Det er så urimeligt svært at forstå, for hvordan kan Gud elske et menneske, der kun har været til i så kort tid? Det kan Gud, fordi vi er elsket på forhånd. Ikke, fordi vi fortjener det. Gud elsker enhver af os, alene fordi vi er til. Vi skal ikke opføre os på en bestemt måde, se ud på en bestemt måde, tale på en bestemt måde. Vi skal bare være her – i tillid til, at Gud elsker os.

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