January! God Talk & Book Club
God curious? 2024 kicks off with Mere Christianity book club and God Talk zooms. join us!
Happy 2024!
This is our first official monthly post of the book club, with all the important details below. We will also be doing some intros and discussion in the comments behind the paywall.
The high intensity of the daily New Testament Bible reading plan is over, phew, and we are moving onto a way slower pace.
(Though, some people from the fall group have decided to continue the daily readings at the beginning in the new year, and are discussing the Old Testament here.)
The zoom calls we’ve been doing have been so enjoyable and fulfilling, that I wanted them to continue in the new year, and I want to invite you to join us! If you intended to join us in the fall, and got daunted by the pace, this will be much more easy going — please try joining us again!
We are kicking off 2024 reading Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. We will be reading just a few essays a month, and by meeting by zoom twice a month.
(Confused? Because I know that not everyone has read everything I’ve been posting this past year, if you’re curious about this new focus for me, I’ve written about it a lot. If you’re curious, start by reading New Age Demons.)
Who is this for?
This is geared towards anyone who is God or Jesus ‘curious,’ or anyone who wants to connect with other people who are exploring or deepening their faith, and asking big questions. Mere Christianity in particular is very “introductory,” and does not assume you believe any of it at all, which is why I chose it!
Many of us are “ex-new age,” but not all. It’s been a diverse bunch of people, with diverse backgrounds. Some just want a group to talk to about this stuff. Some are devout Christians who want to discuss with others. Many are somewhere in between. It’s been really helpful to have people at different places in their journey. You are allowed to ask big questions. You’re allowed to be confused. You’re allowed to not know what you believe!
How to Join us
It’s all happening behind the $7/month paywall. The comments on the book club posts aren’t able to be seen by the general public or by free subscribers — only other paid subscribers can read and participate.
This gives us some privacy as we work through our big questions about God, and all that comes with it. And it’s also become one of the big perks and “thank yous” of being a paid subscriber here (besides the audios of posts and ability to comment.)
The Reading Assignment
We will be discussing the reading at our second call of the month, on January 22nd. So, you have about three weeks to read it!
Yes! This is the same author of the Narnia series! He was also a pretty famous Christian “apologist” (someone who defends and explains the faith) — and this book is a compilation of radio talks he gave during World War 2! Because of that, some people also enjoy listening to the audiobook.
Mere Christianity is broken up into 4 smaller “books.” So, our first reading, for January, will be the first five chapters, which make up the first “book” of the book.
Before January 22 —
Book One: Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe
The Law of Human Nature
Some Objections
The Reality of the Law
What Lies Behind the Law
We Have Cause to be Uneasy
If you’re listening to the Audiobook, you will be listening to the first 8 Tracks. I don’t understand why they can’t label the tracks with chapter titles, I feel like that would be so easy. Included in those, are the Preface and Foreward which I skimmed.
Call Schedule
We are going to have 2 calls a month, Monday nights at 8 pm EST. The first of each month is focused on general God Talk, second will be more focused on the book reading. (I am planning on throwing in some 2 pm EST calls for EU attendees! TBA.) Replays will always available if you can’t attend live, and they will be uploaded back to this post, and to a replay playlist that I will also link.
I want to emphasize: this is all very casual. I want to set this up so that anyone, at any time, in any month, can join in on the God Talk zooms calls. And if you don’t do the readings at all, you can still join the God Talk zooms in particular, because the conversation will be more general.
There is an open door. I also want you to know that if you miss some, or the first many calls, you are still welcome to join. I’m setting this up monthly so that any new paid subscriber, can jump in and join us.
You also do not have to attend both calls each month, but you may enjoy both, as they will be focusing on slightly different things.
Our first call will be 8 pm EST on January 8th. No need to prepare anything! We will be doing introductions and meeting each other. You can participate or just watch.
Second call will be on the 22nd, where we will discuss the reading from Mere Christianity, and we will go from there.
I will not usually be sending reminder emails before the calls unless there is a CHANGE in schedule, so please put the calls on your calendar! And join us! (Though I may remind you for the first call just to prompt people to join :-) )
We will also be connecting and discussing in the comments of each monthly post. It’s all going to be happening behind the $7/month paywall. I really hope you’ll join!
Call Links
Here are the two zoom links: