Cempaka Belanda: At Dutch university, the study of religion leaves room for doubt

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.
They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

At Dutch university, the study of religion leaves room for doubt

NRC International, 30 December 2009 16:55, by Herman Amelink

A Dutch church Photo Flip Franssen

At Groningen University, a new professor of theology is instructing his students in the questioning of faith.

The theological faculty of Groningen was hard hit five years ago when the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN, the one of the largest religious denomination in the Netherlands counting over 2.3 million congregants) decided to stop training ministers there. After suffering a decline in membership the church was forced to make some cutbacks. Similar schools in Amsterdam were robbed of their official status or closed entirely, leaving only Leiden, Kampen and Utrecht as places for aspiring ministers to turn to. “As a result was many thought studying theology in Groningen was impossible altogether,” said the dean of the theological faculty, professor Geurt Henk van Kooten. “The number of students began to recede slowly.”

But his faculty is now well on the road to recovery.

“A substantial demand still exists in our region for a theological faculty. Our post-academic continued education has been particularly successful,” Van Kooten said. According to the dean, a lot of ministers from the northern part of the Netherlands attend his school, feeling the only other institution offering similar courses, located near Utrecht, is too far away.

The number of “normal” students is also on the rise. This year, 16 students registered for the university’s full-blown theology program and 43 students did the same for religious studies. “A 20 percent increase over 2008,” according to Van Kooten.

The university has also created a new teaching position, charged with the teaching of the “Protestant church, theology and culture,” in an attempt to restore ties between the faculty and regional churches to their former glory. Reverend Rudolf Oostdijk was the driving force behind the creation of the new teaching position. His proposal quickly drew support from colleagues, church councils and private individuals. The regional governing bodies of churches in Groningen and Drenthe offered financial support.

“The creation of this position send two clear messages,” Oosterdijk said. “One is for the PKN: it should not abandon the northern parts of the Netherlands. The other is for the theological faculty: it should not stray to far from protestant practice.” Oosterdijk cited the presence of other specialised professors at the theological faculty dedicated to a single religious denomination. “Protestant theology should have at least one professor as well, so students are able to familiarise themselves with it at an early stage,” Oosterdijk said. Protestantism traditionally is most prevalent in the northern parts of the Netherlands, whereas the south has been a traditional Catholic stronghold.

Wouter Slob, a minister who already teaches philosophy in Groningen, will be filling the position. He hopes to kick off his new job by teaching a class on questioning faith.

Ministers are often confronted with religious doubts in pastoral practice. Slob thinks these doubts need not necessarily lead people to give up their faith, on the contrary, they might bring one closer to it. “By asking questions like these I hope to bring academic theology closer to real practice,” Slob said. The reverend said he hoped the course would help his colleagues find new ways of interacting with their questioning flocks. “The church currently has a tendency to dig its heels in the sand when old truths come under fire. I don’t want the church to oppose modern culture. I want it to be a part of it,” Slob said.

Dean Van Kooten said he was “happily surprised” by the church’s imitative “Teaching positions financed by third parties are bridgeheads between the society and academia. The church is also part of society. A part our students can now learn about.”