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Greetings!
We just completed a very successful lecture series
by Dr. Bart Ehrman, and we eagerly anticipate
hosting Dr. Amy-Jill Levine from Vanderbilt in May.
As we move to the end of the calendar year, it is
time to renew memberships if you have not already
done so.
| Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code - Bart Ehrman |
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I hope you were in the audience when Bart Ehrman
presented his lectures October 28-29 on Truth and
Fiction in the DA Vinci Code. I found his
delivery to be energetic, informative, and I
especially enjoyed his sense of humor. Dr. Ehrman is
a historian who specializes in early Christian
history. He is a bit different from our previous
speakers who, for the most part, have been either
scholars of Christian theology (e.g., Borg,
Patterson, Cobb, Dorrien) or clergy who are popular
writers (e.g., Spong or Borg). Bart Ehrman's mission
was not to convince us one way or the other about
the theological implications of early Christian
history. He was there to set the record straight
about what we know about what did and did not happen
in that early time. His delivery has been described
by other attendees as folksy, and certainly he kept
the crowd awake with his wry humor. I personally
learned some important facts. Constantine was not
the imperialist convert who single-handedly set into
concrete the orthodoxy we know today. The early
Jesus cults were far more diverse in their beliefs
than I had ever imagined, and the beliefs of many of
the main-stream first and second century Christian
movements were downright weird by modern standards.
And no, there is no historical evidence to suggest
that Jesus and Mary had a conjugal relationship. I
hope you enjoyed the three lectures as much as I
did. Now I am becoming excited about hosting Dr.
Amy-Jill Levine in May.
Ernest Stokely,SPAFER President
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| Renew Your Membership for 2006 Now! |
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As you know, SPAFER's membership period runs the
calendar year from Jan. 1 until Dec. 31. If you have
not already joined or renewed your membership, now
is the time to do so. For all of those joining
before the first of December, we will include as a
bonus the last issue of The Oasis Newsletter,
our hard-copy newsletter that all members receive
quarterly.
To join on-line with a credit card or by using
PayPal, just click here.
The above link takes you to the SPAFER Web site
where you will find information about on-line
renewal, or if you would prefer to drop us a check
in the U.S. mail, there is a printable page there
where you can complete your membership transaction
in this way.
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| End-of-the-year Donations |
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Please remember SPAFER as you formulate your year-end
list of charitable donations. We are a 501(c)(3)
organization. Your donations to SPAFER are tax
deductible, as are the membership fees. We are an
all-volunteer, non-sectarian organization, and we
attempt to maintain the lowest ticket prices and
lowest organizational overhead in order to provide
our members with the best value for their membership
and donation dollar. Donations are a critical part
of sustaining the speaker series, The Oasis
Newsletter, and the RoadHouse meetings.
Donations can be made on
the membership form, or you can mail us a check
directly.
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| SPAFER AV Materials as Holiday Gifts |
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The perfect holiday gift for that difficult relative
is a set of tapes or CDs from SPAFER's speaker
series. Although we are liquidating our audiovisual
materials at low prices, we still have a few Borg and
Spong tapes and CDs to sell. To make a purchase
visit our Web site here.
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Bart Ehrman Provides an Entertaining and Enlightening Seminar Series |
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I hope you attended the SPAFER Fall Lecture Series
featuring Dr. Bart Ehrman. Attendees found him to be
an energetic, informative, and witty speaker.
It's now time to renew memberships for 2006!
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