FreeThought Arizona:
‘Historical or Mythic Jesus?’
FreeThought Arizona is sponsoring talks and activities beginning at 8 a.m. March 16 in the Duval Auditorium, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. The events are free, but donations are requested.
- From 8 to 9:15 a.m. will be Cafe FreeThought, which includes discussions of issues dealing with religion, politics and culture.
- From 10 to 10:30 will be announcements and frivolity.
- At 10:30 a.m., a lecture titled “A Historical or Mythic Jesus?” will be given by Hector Avalos. Avalos will explore how scholars of Jesus divide themselves as historicists and mythicists. This lecture seeks to demonstrate that there is too little information from the time of Jesus to favor either side conclusively, and so agnosticism is the best position until more relevant new data can be acquired.
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Avalos, a former fundamentalist preacher and faith healer, is a professor of religious studies at Iowa State University, where he was named Professor of the Year in 1996. Born in Nogales, Sonora, Avalos is now one of a few openly atheist biblical scholars in academia.
Tucson Christian Writers
to meet Saturday morning
The Tucson Christian Writers’ Group will meet from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at Amphitheater Bible Church, 226 W. Prince Road.
The guest speaker, Andrea Arthur Owan, will discuss critiquing basics. TCWG holds monthly meetings on the second Saturday of each month. For more information, go to tucsonchristianwriters.org
St. Philip’s in the Hills
to offer Lenten discussions
Lent is a time for prayer, penance, repentance and self-denial, but that depends on our willingness to renew ourselves, said Brad Stroup of St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, 4440 N. Campbell Ave. To that end, Stroup will lead discussions beginning at 10:15 a.m. in the La Paz Room at the church over five Sundays during Lent including:
- This Sunday, a discussion on Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone (1181-1226), aka Francis of Assisi, a wealthy Italian playboy turned beggar turned friar turned revolution leader turned failed peacemaker.
- March 16, a discussion on Marguerite Porete (1250-1310), a French beguine, writer and mystic who was burned at the stake for heresy.
- March 23, a discussion on Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922), a bored Irish kid who went to sea, became a sea captain and led the expedition that failed to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent.
- March 30, a discussion on Joe Simpson (born 1960), a British army brat and amateur mountain climber who reached the top of an unclimbed peak in the Andes with a friend. Their rope snapped at 20,000 feet.
- April 6, a discussion on Thomas Merton (1915-68), son of a painter and a Quaker who was born in France, was a jazz freak, then agnostic, then Anglican, then an unorthodox Catholic monk in the Trappist order who went from recluse to mystic before being electrocuted by an electric fan in Bangkok, Thailand.
Multicultural Fundraising Concert: Pima Interfaith
The Pima County Interfaith Council will hold a multicultural fundraising concert, “Raising Voices for Young Leaders,” from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday at Catalina United Methodist Church, 2700 E. Speedway.
The concert will feature a choral group from St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, the Tucson Arizona Mass Choir, an Andean folklore group, Entre Peruanos, and the Cornerstone Band, Catalina Methodist’s folk-rock band. This benefit is part of a fundraising campaign to develop the next generation of community leaders.
The suggested ticket price is $20. For tickets or more information, call 204-2005.
Arizona Daily Star
Former Sam Levitz building sells for $8.6 million
