{"id":32761,"date":"2023-08-29T02:22:16","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T09:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32761"},"modified":"2023-08-29T02:22:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T09:22:16","slug":"sacred-vs-secular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/sacred-vs-secular\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacred vs. Secular"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

As I read Secret History of Oxford<\/em> I am struck by a number of things, some interesting yet unsurprising but others quite unexpected. In any case, in a few weeks we are headed to a town that is obviously steeped in history like few other places on Earth. We\u2019re talking about history that few of us can imagine, and it goes back centuries.

The University of Oxford is clearly home to a rich and long-standing legacy in matters of faith. Even so, I can\u2019t help but notice that Oxford\u2019s story is interwoven with violence, fighting and even religious persecution. As the religious landscape in Europe changed drastically, particularly around the time of the Reformation, Oxford was one of many stages where that drama played out.

Interestingly, from its outset, Oxford was designed to divide \u201cTown vs. Gown\u201d, to separate the sacred from the secular. From its inception, students were considered clerics, marked as such by their dress and appearance. They were even exempt from secular laws and instead were subject to religious courts, ultimately to the Pope. Riots ensued in 1355 followed by 500 years of contentious relationship between the academic world in Oxford and the ordinary people of the town. [1] During this time Oxford was of course staunchly Catholic until the infamous Henry VIII began to introduce Anglicanism as the state religion. What followed was a long period of suffering, martyrdom and persecution before Anglicanism was solidly established.

This leads me to two questions as we prepare to travel to Oxford in just a few weeks. We, the 21st century church, are no strangers to deeply painful church splits and denominational disputes. Although hopefully we\u2019re experiencing fewer burnings at the stake in our day. I am curious to observe what the Christian landscape is currently like in Oxford. Are these tensions still making themselves felt? Is there still a noticeable Catholic presence? Is there a spirit of unity and cooperation between churches of different denominations? We read about Regent\u2019s Park College which traces its roots back to the Baptist church. [2] Likewise, Mansfield College was founded to provide non-Anglicans with an option to study. [3] I wonder if that is still its primary mission today.

My second question circles back to the Town vs. Gown idea. I am interested to see what this looks like in 2023 in Oxford. Does there still exist a sense of separateness, a division between the sacred and the secular? I have trouble reconciling that division with my understanding of practical theology. In other words, I generally seek to integrate my faith in even the most mundane aspects of my life. I typically advocate for a holistic spirituality that breaks down those separations between sacred and secular. To me that speaks to the very nature of Jesus\u2019 incarnation. He became fully human in order to redeem every mundane aspect of our humanness.

That said, I also understand the rationale behind consecrating and creating a certain \u201cotherness\u201d for those set apart as vocational ministers of the gospel. I fall into that category, as do many of you. I\u2019m curious to explore this tension and to hear from current Oxford scholars how they approach the traditional view.

Likewise, I\u2019m curious to hear from you, how do you wrestle with the sacred and the secular in your lives? Do you seek balance, integration or something else entirely? What resources have helped you in your reflections? Probably many of you are familiar with Tish Harrison Warren\u2019s The Liturgy of the Ordinary<\/em>. In the same vein I recently picked up Peter Dehaan\u2019s Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Celebrating the Spirituality of Everyday Life.<\/em> Quirky but easy to read, Dehaan\u2019s point is that every moment is holy and an occasion to celebrate our faith in Christ. [4]

In any case, I imagine we can all agree that Oxford is an impressive place. I hope you\u2019re looking forward to visiting the town and the university as much as I am.

___
1 Paul Sullivan, The Secret History Of Oxford (New York: The History Press, 2013), 24.
2 Ibid. 81.
3 Ibid. 70.
4 Peter Dehaan, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Celebrating the Spirituality of Everyday Life (Rock Rooster Books, 2022).



<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I read Secret History of Oxford I am struck by a number of things, some interesting yet unsurprising but others quite unexpected. In any case, in a few weeks we are headed to a town that is obviously steeped in history like few other places on Earth. We\u2019re talking about history that few of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2489,1590],"class_list":["post-32761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp02","tag-sullivan","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32761"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32764,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32761\/revisions\/32764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}