A month ago I pointed out that life was quite busy. Since then it seems to have got even busier. Shortly after my last post, me and the missus travelled to Prague for a conference - probably one of the highlights of the year! The conference was excellent - fantastic opportunity to meet new people at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague where over a hundred people met representing 60+ theological colleges from across Europe. Lots of networking and lots of opportunities - one particularly exciting one involving art and Rome!
We spent three days sightseeing in Prague as well because of the need to take the cheapest flights (honest!). This was wonderful. I fell in love with the place. Here's my favourite picture at the moment...St Vitus Cathedral on Pravsky Hrad (Prague Castle). Of course, there is a story behind the castle as so much of Prague - of the Hapsburgs disdain for the city, of the centuries it took to finish the Cathedral, of the greater wealth of the Czech nobility in palaces around the castle on Pravsky Hrad...
I quite like this night view of the castle area as well...
And then there was this amazing crucifix on the Charles Bridge...the gold lettering just seems to reflect the autumn glory...of course, as Sean reminds us in the comments, the crucifix points to a much less pleasant story. Apparently, a Jew on trial for blasphemy was forced to pay for the lettering to be added to the crucifix - a despicable punishment which would seem, at least from a Jewish point of view, to have been tailor-made to increase the crime but in a way that was acceptable to the Christian state authorities - when is blasphemy really blasphemy - basically when the state says so. It must have been harrowing for the Jewish community in Josefov to have had to pass over the Charles Bridge and witness this...
We also visited Jan Huss' church - the Bethlehem Chapel - and saw the pulpit where he preached from...more stories of persecution and bloodshed, more of the nastier side of Bohemian politics...
Overall, the weekend was amazing and so rich with so many experiences.
Since Prague (let me back!!!), I've been speaking on two weekends - one for the Winchester Diocese on Mark's Gospel and then for the Salvation Army on Transitioning Churches. Both events were amazing opportunities to share with great people. I also had an interesting weekend at the Methodist Faith and Order Committee - not the best experience of my life so far - one which really gave me a severe sense of culture shock - a little to my surprise!
College life continues its hectic pace...but there is light at the end of the tunnel and soon I will be blogging again - I am actually managing to read again which is good - especially as I have book reviews to get done!
Take care, if there is anyone left reading this!
Pete
Nice to see you back, Pete.
Posted by: Loren Rosson | November 29, 2005 at 10:50 PM
Hi Pete
The golden lettering around the Charles Bridge crucifix is in fact deeply problematic. the Hebrew qadosh is there because a Jew on trial for blasphemy was forced to pay for the lettering to be added to the crucifix. The presence of the letters undermines the very point of the confession that they contain. Given the later history of the Prague Jewish Ghetto (did you visit?) the legacy pf Christian anti-semitism is clear. I actually use the picture in my class on John and Anti-Semitism.
Posted by: Sean | November 30, 2005 at 09:49 AM
Still reading, Pete, still keeping an eye out for you in my aggregator. Keep going! So what happened at the faithlessness and disorder meeting?
Posted by: Dave Faulkner | November 30, 2005 at 02:56 PM