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Universalism, in its primary sense, refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability. Religion in this context is defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.^[1] Universalism is a term used to identify particular doctrines considering all people in their formation. Universalism in the religious context claims that religion or religious man (sic) is a universal quality. This can be contrasted with nonuniversalist religions.

In its secondary sense, a church or community that calls itself Universalist may emphasize the universal principles of most religions and accept other religions in an inclusive manner, believing in a universal reconciliation between humanity and the divine. For example, some forms of Abrahamic religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam happened to claim the universal value of their doctrine and moral principles, and feel inclusive.^[2]

A belief in one common truth is also another important tenet. The living truth is seen as more far-reaching than national, cultural, or religious boundaries.

Christianity[link]

This article improperly uses one or more religious texts as primary sources without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them. Please help improve this article by adding references to reliable secondary sources, with multiple points of view.

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In Christianity, Universalism can refer to the beliefs that all humans either may or will be saved through Jesus Christ and eventually come to harmony in God's kingdom. This salvation is expressed as offered both to the Jew, and also to the Gentile (Romans 1:16, Romans 9:24-25, Revelation 7:9). It is opposed to the doctrines of reprobation and double-predestination in Calvinism.

The Greek term apokatastasis came to be related by some to the beliefs of Christian Universalism, but in early Patristic usage is distinct. Additionally the term Catholic is derived from the Greek word katholikos, which means universal. The Catholic Church is universal in the sense that it embraces individuals "from every race, nation, language, and people", but does not teach universal salvation.

Universalist writers such as George T. Knight have claimed that Universalism was a widely held view among theologians in Early Christianity^[2] However, some examples, such as Origen and Clement of Alexandria, used by Knight and other Universalist writers are contested by writers such as Crouzel^{[citation needed]}, Root^{[citation needed]}, Norris^{[citation needed]}, and Itter^{[citation needed]}.

Christian Universalist ideas are first undisputedly documented in 17th-century England and 18th-century Europe and America. Gerrard Winstanley (1648), Richard Coppin (1652), Jane Leade (1697), and then George de Benneville in America, taught that God would grant all human beings salvation. Those in America teaching this became known as the Universalists.^[3]

Hinduism[link]

This section requires expansion.

Hinduism embraces universalism by conceiving the whole world as a single family that deifies the one truth, and therefore it accepts all forms of beliefs and dismisses labels of distinct religions which would imply a division of identity.^[4][5][6] Hindu Universalism denotes the ideology that all religions are true and therefore worthy of toleration and respect.^{[citation needed]} Veneration for all other religions was articulated by Gandhi:

"After long study and experience, I have come to the conclusion that [1] all religions are true; [2] all religions have some error in them; [3] all religions are almost as dear to me as my own Hinduism, in as much as all human beings should be as dear to one as one's own close relatives. My own veneration for other faiths is the same as that for my own faith; therefore no thought of conversion is possible." (M. K. Gandhi, All Men Are Brothers: Life and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi as told in his own words, Paris, UNESCO 1958, p 60.)

Sikhism[link]

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This section requires expansion.

In Sikhism, all the religions of the world are compared to rivers flowing into a single ocean. Although the Sikh Gurus did not agree with the practices of fasting, idolatry and pilgrimage during their times, they stressed that all religions should be tolerated and considered on equal footing. The Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, contains the writings of not just the Sikh Guru themselves, but the writings of several Hindu and Muslim saints, known as the Bhagats. Although Sikhism does not teach that men are created in God's image, it states that the essence of the One is to be found throughout all of its creation. As was said by Yogi Bhajan, the man who is credited with having brought Sikhism to the West:

"If you can't see God in all, you can't see God at all". (Sri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan)^{[page needed]}

The First Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak said himself:

"There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim".^{[citation needed]}

By this, Guru Nanak meant that there is no distinction between religion in God's eyes, whether polytheist, monotheist, pantheist, or even atheist, all that one needs to gain salvation is purity of heart, tolerance of all beings, compassion and kindness. Unlike many of the major world religions, Sikhism does not have missionaries, instead it believes men have the freedom to find their own path to salvation.

Judaism[link]

Judaism teaches that God chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with God, and one of their beliefs is that Jewish people were charged by the Torah with a specific mission — to be a light unto the nations, and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah to other nations. Not explicitly a Universalist theology, this view, however, does not preclude a belief that God also has a relationship with other peoples—rather, Judaism holds that God had entered into a covenant with all humanity as Noachides, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God, as well as being universal in the sense that it is open to all mankind.^[7]

The Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute (JSLI) believes in a more inclusive version of Jewish Universalism, believing that "God equally chose all nations to be lights unto the world, and we have much to learn and share with each other. We can only accomplish "Tikkun Olam" by our unconditional acceptance of each other's peaceful doctrines." ^[8]

Islam[link]

Islam recognizes to a certain extent the validity of the Abrahamic religions, the Qur'an identifying Jews, Christians, and "Sabi'un" or "baptists" (usually taken as a reference to the Mandeans) as "people of the book" (ahl al-kitab). Later Islamic theologians expanded this definition to include Zoroastrians, and later even Hindus, as the early Islamic empire brought many people professing these religions under its dominion, but the Qur'an explicitly identifies only Jews, Christians, and Sabians as People of the Book.^[9][10][11]

Views of Muslims range along a continuum, from the most inclusive teaching common among liberal Muslims summed up in Surah 2:62,256^[12] - "Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve...let there be no compulsion in religion" - that all monotheistic religions or people of the book have a chance of salvation, to the most exclusive teaching common amongst Salafis and Wahhabis, and supported by several works of medieval Islamic theology and by traditions (hadith) which are considered correct (sahih) by Sunni Muslims, for the most part are summed up in Surah 9:5,29: "Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters [mushrikun] wherever ye find them, and take them, and besiege them, and lay in wait in every stratagem of war. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the jizya, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful...Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture [i.e. people of the book] as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the jizya readily, being brought low [in submission]."^[13]

The interpretation of all of these passages are hotly contested amongst various schools of thought, traditionalist and reform-minded, and branches of Islam, from the reforming Qur'anists and Ahmadiyya to the ultra-traditionalist Salafi, as is the doctrine of abrogation (naskh) which is used to determine which verses take precedent, based on reconstructed chronology, with later verses superseding earlier ones. The traditional chronology places Surah 9 as the last or second-to-last surah revealed, thus, in traditional exegesis, it gains a large power of abrogation, and verses 9:5,29,73 are held to have abrogated 2:256^[14] The ahadith also play a major role in this, and different schools of thought assign different weightings and rulings of authenticity to different hadith, with the four schools of Sunni thought accepting the Six Authentic Collections, generally along with the Muwatta Imam Malik. Depending on the level of acceptance of rejection of certain traditions, the interpretation of the Koran can be changed immensely, from the Qur'anists and Ahmadiyya who reject the ahadith, to the Salafi, or ahl al-hadith, who hold the entirety of the traditional collections in great reverence.

Traditional Islam^[14][15][16] views the world as bipartite, consisting of the House of Islam, that is, where people live under the Islamic law - the Shariah^[15][16] - and the House of War, that is, where the people do not live under Islamic law, which must be proselytized (see da'wah) ^{[15][16][17][18]} using whatever resources available, including, in some traditionalist and conservative interpretations,^[19] the use of violence, as holy struggle in the path of Allah,^[11][19][20] to either convert its inhabitants to Islam, or to rule them under the Shariah (cf. dhimmi);^[21][22] since the abolition of the Caliphate, there has been debate about the proper role of divisions of the world in Islam, and whether the traditional bipartite division is sufficient to meet the needs of the ummah (world community of Muslims) and world moving in to the future.

The Ash'ari school of Sunni aqidah (theology) holds that those who had never heard of the message of Islam, by virtue of isolation, can still be saved by the grace of Allah, similar to Karl Rahner's concept of the Anonymous Christian. Sufis generally hold to a much more inclusivist and tolerant view of other faiths and religious systems than traditional Sunni and Shi'a Islam.

Zoroastrianism and Manicheanism[link]

Some forms of Zoroastrian and Manichean belief were universalistic in application to all races, but not universalist in the sense of universal salvation.^[23]

Bahá'í Faith[link]

This section requires expansion.

In Bahá'í belief, a single God has sent all the historic founders of the world religions in a process of progressive revelation. The major world religions are seen as divine in origin and are continuous in their purpose. In this view, there is unity among the founders of world religions, but each revelation brings a more advanced set of teachings in human history.^[24] Within this universal view, the unity of humanity is one of the central teachings of the Bahá'í Faith.^[25] The Bahá'í teachings state that since all humans have been created in the image of God, God does not make any distinction between people regardless of race, colour or religion.^[26] Thus, because all humans have been created equal, they all require equal opportunities and treatment.^[25] Thus the Bahá'í view promotes the unity of humanity, and that people's vision should be world-embracing and that people should love the whole world rather than just their nation.^[26] The teaching, however, does not equal unity with uniformity, but instead the Bahá'í writings advocate for the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued.^[27]

Yi Guan Dao[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Yi Guan Dao (loosely translated as "Universal Taoism", "the pervasive truth", or "the consistent path") incorporates elements from Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and recognizes the validity of non-Chinese religious traditions such as Christianity and Islam as well. For this reason it is often classified as a syncretistic sect, along with other similar religions in the Way of Former Heaven (Xian Tian Dao) family.

New Thought[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Unity, Religious Science, Divine Science are denominations within the New Thought movement. Each teaches that there is a common thread of truth at the heart of all religions. New Thought is an ever-evolving belief system which will incorporate Truth where ever it is found, hence the name New Thought. All is God, But God transcends all.

Non-religious Universalism[link]

Universalism is not only a set of values, but a world view. To which any can prescribe if they observe and believe in the universality of the human experience, and that of all sentient life - and work to uphold the principles, ethics, and actions which safeguard these fundamental things.^[28]

Indeed many Universalists may be attracted to the logic of universally applicable principles, rather than any belief or dogma. Human unity, solidarity, and the perceived need for a sustainable and socially conscious global order are among the tendencies of non-religious Universalist thought.^[29]

See also[link]

Religion portal

• Ananda Marga
• Christianity:
  • Christian Universalism
  • Liberal Catholic Church
  • Primitive Baptist Universalist
  • Religious Society of Friends
  • Schwarzenau Brethren
  • Swedenborgianism (The New Church)
  • Trinitarian Universalism
  • Universalist Church of America
  • Universal reconciliation
• Comparative religion
• Ecumenism
• George MacDonald
• Mahatma Gandhi Foundation
• Post-theism
• New Thought
• Omnism
• Perennial philosophy
• Religious pluralism
• Subud
• Unitarian Universalism
• Universal Sufism

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Catholic Encyclopedia article on Universalists as a Protestant denomination
• Catholic Encyclopedia article on Apocatastasis/apokatastatis
• E Casara, ed., Universalism in America (1984)

Further reading[link]

• Ankerl, Guy (2000). Global communication without universal civilization. INU societal research. Vol.1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations : Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva: INU Press. ISBN 2-88155-004-5. 
• Palmquist, Stephen, "Christianity as the Universal Religion", Chapter Eight in Stephen Palmquist, Kant's Critical Religion (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000).

External links[link]

Look up universalism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Bell at the 2011 Time 100 gala

Robert Holmes "Rob" Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970 in Ingham County, Michigan) is an American author and pastor. He is the founder of Mars Hill Bible Church located in Grandville, Michigan and is also the featured speaker in a series of spiritual short films called NOOMA. In 2011 Time magazine named Bell one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Love Wins and Velvet Elvis. Under his leadership Mars Hill Bible Church was one of the fastest-growing churches in America.

Biography[link]

Education and ministry[link]

Bell is the son of Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who was nominated by Ronald Reagan to the federal judiciary and publicly confirmed by the United States Senate.^[1][2] Bell grew up in a traditional Christian environment. In 2011, Bell was recognized as a member of the 2011 Time 100 list.

Bell attended Wheaton College. While at Wheaton, he roomed with Ian Eskelin of All Star United. With friends Dave Houk, Brian Erickson, Steve Huber and Chris Fall, he formed the indie rock band, "_ton bundle", which was reminiscent of bands such as R.E.M. and Talking Heads. This is when _ton bundle wrote the song "Velvet Elvis", based upon the same Velvet Elvis painting that he used in his first book Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Wheaton College was also where Bell met his wife, Kristen. The band _ton bundle started to gain some local fame and was even asked to perform at large events, but when Bell was struck with viral meningitis^[3] these plans fell through.^[4]

Bell received his bachelor's degree in 1992 from Wheaton and taught water skiing in the summers at Wheaton College's Honey Rock Camp, making about thirty dollars a week. During this time, Bell offered to teach a Christian message to the camp counselors after no pastor could be found. He taught a message about rest. Bell was later approached by several people, each of them telling him that he should pursue teaching as a career.

Bell moved to Pasadena, California to pursue this calling for teaching and received a M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary. According to Bell, he never received good grades in preaching class because he always tried innovative ways to communicate his ideas. During his time at Fuller he was a youth intern at Lake Avenue Church. He did, however, occasionally attend Christian Assembly in Eagle Rock, California, which led to him and his wife asking questions in the direction of how a new style of church would appear.

Between 1995 and 1997, Bell formed a band called Big Fil which released two CDs; the first was a self-titled disk and the second was titled Via De La Shekel. When asked what style of music they played, Bell would respond with "Northern Gospel!", which later became the name of a song on the second album. Even after Big Fil stopped performing, Bell continued with two more projects by the name of Uno Dos Tres Communications volume 1 and 2, both of which had a similar musical sound to Big Fil.

Mars Hill Bible Church[link]

Bell and his wife moved from California to Grand Rapids to be close to family and on invitation to study under pastor Ed Dobson. He handled many of the preaching duties for the Saturday Night service at Calvary Church. Bell announced that he would be branching out on his own to start a new kind of community and he would call it "Mars Hill" after the Greek site where the apostle Paul told a group, "For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you."^[5]

In February 1999, Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church, with the church originally meeting in a school gym in Wyoming, Michigan. Within a year the church was given a shopping mall in Grandville, Michigan, and purchased the surrounding land. In July 2000 the 3,500 "grey chair" facility opened its doors. As of 2005, an estimated 11,000 people attend the two "gatherings" on Sundays at 9 and 11 AM.^[6] As of March 2011, Sunday attendance numbers between 8,000 and 10,000.^[7] His teachings at Mars Hill inspired the popular "Love Wins" bumper sticker, and the congregation freely distributes these stickers after services.^[8]

In order to maintain balance in his life, Bell maintains his Fridays as a personal sabbath, where he does not allow contact by electronic means, and has all pastoral duties transferred to other Mars Hill pastors.^[9]

In the January 2007 issue of the magazine TheChurchReport.com, Bell was named No. 10 in their list of "The 50 Most Influential Christians in America" as chosen by their readers and online visitors.^{[10][broken citation]}

In June 2011, Bell was named by Time Magazine as one of the "2011 Time 100", the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.^[11]

On September 22, 2011 it was announced that Rob Bell is stepping down from the church he founded to pursue other areas to reach a broader audience. "Feeling the call from God to pursue a growing number of strategic opportunities, our founding pastor Rob Bell, has decided to leave Mars Hill in order to devote his full energy to sharing the message of God’s love with a broader audience." ^[12][13]

Other projects[link]

Bell is the featured speaker in NOOMA – a series of short films created by a West Michigan-based non-profit film company called Flannel. The title of the video series, "NOOMA", is an English variation of the Greek word pneuma which means breath or spirit. All the videos feature the teachings of Bell accompanied by music written and sung by local independent artists with the exception of The Album Leaf's music being licensed for the Nooma DVD Lump.

In August 2005, Zondervan Publishing published Bell's first book, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Velvet Elvis is for people who are, in Bell's words, "fascinated with Jesus, but can't do the standard Christian package".^{[citation needed]}

Bell's Everything is Spiritual national speaking tour launched on June 30, 2006, in Chicago, drawing sold-out crowds in cities across North America. The proceeds from ticket sales were used to support WaterAid, an international non-profit organization dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation.

Bell's second book, titled Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality, was released in March 2007. In February and March 2007 Bell hosted a "Sex God" tour on six university campuses to promote his book. The tour functioned more as a time for engaging questions and conversation. Questions ranged from Old Testament codes to homosexuality to what should Christians do with the word "evangelical". Each night ended with the showing of NOOMA number 15 entitled "YOU".^{[citation needed]}

In June 2007 Bell toured the United Kingdom and Ireland, calling all peacemakers.^[14]

Bell launched another speaking tour on November 5, 2007, in Chicago, ""The Gods Aren't Angry"" again drew sold-out crowds in cities across North America. The subject matter of this presentation was a narrative defense of justification through faith and not works (sacrifice). Proceeds from this tour were used to support the Turame Microfinance program supporting the poor in Burundi, a mission supported by Bell's church.

Bell's 2009 project, Drops Like Stars, explores the links between creativity and suffering. Drops Like Stars was an international tour and a book, initially handwritten by Bell, with photographs. The title of the project comes from a young child's view of raindrops on a window at night. Rather than focusing on the conundrum of why an all-powerful God would allow suffering, Bell instead looks at the creativity, empathy, new connections, and growth that can spring from suffering. When asked in an interview how he had become interested in suffering, Bell replied that as a pastor he had been given a front row seat in the most poignant moment's of people's lives. At the same time he was doing lectures on creativity and realized, "There was a connection between these two halves of my life – all these connections between suffering and art-making."^[15]

Stronger[link]

ABC television has announced production of a new television drama, Stronger, co-written by Bell and Carlton Cuse, the Executive Producer of the television show, Lost.^[16] The show, based loosely on Bell's own life, will follow the life of Tom Stronger, a musician on a spiritual journey.^[17]

Beliefs[link]

In his writings, Bell says "I affirm the truth anywhere in any religious system, in any worldview. If it's true, it belongs to God."^[18] However, he acknowledges Scripture as the authoritative source of truth by which to compare all other truths in the Mars Hill Bible Church statement of narrative theology.^[19]

Bell says, "This is not just the same old message with new methods. We're rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion, as a way of life. Legal metaphors for faith don't deliver a way of life. We grew up in churches where people knew the nine verses why we don't speak in tongues, but had never experienced the overwhelming presence of God."^[8]

In his most recent book, Love Wins, Bell states that "It's been clearly communicated to many that this belief (in hell as conscious, eternal torment) is a central truth of the Christian faith and to reject it is, in essence, to reject Jesus. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness and joy that our world desperately needs to hear." In this book, Bell outlines a number of views of hell, including universal reconciliation (UR), and though he does not choose any one view as his own, he states of the UR view, "Whatever objections a person may have of [the UR view], and there are many, one has to admit that it is fitting, proper, and Christian to long for it." At the time of the book's publication, some prominent reformed church figures like Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. said Bell's book was "theologically disastrous"^[20] for not rejecting the UR view. Bell denies that he is a universalist.^[21] He does not embrace any particular view but argues that he wants to leave room for uncertainty. Love Wins presents his "case for living with mystery rather than demanding certitude."^[22] Some evangelicals see this "uncertainty" as incompatible with scripture,^[23] while others say that the book is simply promoting overdue conversation about some traditional interpretations of scripture.^[24][25]

Publications[link]

• Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Zondervan, 2005) ISBN 0-310-26345-X
• Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality (Zondervan, 2007) ISBN 0-310-26346-8
• Everything is Spiritual (DVD) (Zondervan, 2007) ISBN 0-310-28556-9
• The Gods Aren't Angry (DVD) (Flannel, 2008) ISBN 0-310-29074-0
• Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile (Zondervan, 2008) ISBN 0-310-27502-4
• Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering (Zondervan, 2009) ISBN 0-310-32704-0
• Love Wins (Harper One, 2011) ISBN 0-06-204964-3
• NOOMA Videos

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rob Bell official website
• Rob Bell debates "Love Wins" with Adrian Warnock on Premier.tv

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The Basics
The Basics at the Oxford Art Factory, 2010
Background information
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Independent, Albert Records
Associated acts	Gotye, Down Hills Home, Dog With Wheels, Blood Red Bird
Website	The Basics Official Website
Members
Wally De Backer Kris Schroeder Tim Heath
Past members
Michael Hubbard
Notable instruments
Lead guitar, drums, bass guitar.

The Basics ( /ˈbæzɪtʃ/ BAZZ-ich) are a three-piece band from Melbourne, Australia, formed by Wally De Backer and Kris Schroeder in 2002. Their style has been described as anything from 'indie-pop' to 'rock'n'roll' to 'pop-rock', though their records show they span a wide range of genres, including reggae, ska, country, and electro-pop. They are "recognised as one of Australia's hardest-working bands".^[1]

With close to 1000 shows in their ten-year career, their live performances are well-known for their sense of humour and energy.^[2]

Formation[link]

The Basics were formed after Kris met Wally at a party in Melbourne.^[3] The event was to see off the young aspiring producer, who was about to depart for Los Angeles, and together with a number of musician friends, the two jammed on some blues-rock standards. Later that night, they bonded over a mutual love of The Beatles, 70s and 80s cartoon theme songs and old Sierra adventure games.

Initially, they played around Melbourne as an acoustic guitar/drums combo, starting at The Opposition in Frankston and the House of Fools in Footscray, where in late 2002 they met Michael Hubbard and later invited him to join them on electric guitar.^[4] Though lacking any real experience with the instrument, Kris willingly purchased his first bass guitar, and the trio was born. During this time, the group start performing songs with more complicated three-part harmony.

During late 2002 and early 2003, The Basics recorded and released an album called Get Back through MGM Distribution. They began what was to become regular tours of the East and West coasts of Australia.

2004-2005: Current lineup[link]

Tim Heath joined the group in June 2004, after Michael decided to pursue his solo career, which has included being one half of Down Hills Home.^[4] Tim was reportedly the only person to reply to an advertisement in Melbourne's Beat Magazine looking for a new guitarist. Tim apparently answered the advertisement - which said the applicant "must have a love of 50s and 60s rock'n'roll" - thinking that he would be meeting "a couple of old guys to play with on the weekends over some beers". They soon recorded For Girls Like You.

The Basics in 2005 continued to tour and play small festivals, and after releasing For Girls Like You through MGM Distribution, they departed for a national tour of Australia, which lasted for two months and took them to every Australian state and territory. Stuart Padbury, a young Melbourne sound engineer, joined them on much of this tour. On returning, the band began demonstrating songs for a new album.

2006-2009: Touring and soundtracks[link]

In 2006, The Basics began recording what was to become known as Stand Out/Fit In. Taking several months, it was not completed until the end of the year, despite intentions to have it released in June. Instead, they held a successful 'album preview', where each of the tracks was demonstrated in 'rough form' accompanied by a music video for each (produced by Melbourne photographic artist James Bryans). The band also talked about the origins of the songs. This event brought a lot of attention to the band for the idea's originality. They pre-released a radio single 'Just Hold On' from the album. The band were invited to play the hugely popular Homebake Festival in Sydney, where they received a great response, after being introduced onto the stage by a short stocky Asian guy with big calves ("one of the highlights" wrote The Daily Telegraph).

In 2007, the band departed on a tri-state residency which saw them play Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane every week for the month of April - a bold move which brought further attention to the band for its original idea.^[5] Riding on the wave of this tour, Schroeder, De Backer and Heath departed on their first overseas tour which saw them performing 26 shows around Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom.^[6] They also toured twice more up the East Coast, one of which was with popular Japanese band The Bawdies. Their song 'Rattle My Chain' was used in a series of commercials for Volvo Australia. The song 'Hey There!' featured in the British film The Bank Job - starring Jason Statham - and was used as the backing for a February 2007 short film directed by Tim Longhurst called The Rip. Their song 'Better' was featured in a surfing documentary about the invention of the shortboard in 1967.

In 2008, the band appeared on Australia's Channel 9 for Australia Day celebrations, performing two of their songs - 'Just Hold On' and 'Hey There!' - to an estimated audience of 2 million. Securing an Australian Government grant, they embarked on a two-month tour of Australia, specifically targeting "culturally underprivileged groups" in rural and regional schoolchildren and Indigenous communities. The programme had them holding masterclasses and performing alongside Indigenous groups in the remote Northern Territory and Queensland.^[7][8] Their initiative also had them raising money for the charity Lifeline^{[disambiguation needed ]}, their contribution to which was recognised with a plaque at the end of the tour. Season two of Californication starring David Duchovny featured their cover of the classic 'Have Love, Will Travel', most famously covered by 'The Sonics'.

In 2009, The Basics for the first time enjoyed the support of Australian radio network Triple J, which had reportedly snubbed the band's previous material.^[9] The singles 'With This Ship' and 'Like A Brother' were added to the station's playlist, and momentum carried The Basics overseas for a second tour of the United Kingdom and Norway, and also a series of shows in Dublin, Ireland. They were joined by the longtime front-of-house engineer Stuart Padbury, who had been mixing them since 2005. The band was often seen in the Grafton Street Mall in Dublin, busking to promote their concerts there. Their second show in Oslo, Norway, saw the band perform with Hot Tub, one of the members of the Norwegian boy band "Boyzvoice", in his first performance for several years. Season Eight of Scrubs featured the song 'Lookin' Over My Shoulder'.

Despite all this promise, the band's album Keep Your Friends Close - produced and part-recorded by Peter Cobbin at London's Abbey Road Studios - though enjoying many favourable reviews,^{[10][11][12][13]} failed to impress Richard Kingsmill, music director of Triple J. This effectively ended the band's apparent upward spiral and the resulting album launch tour was reportedly "trying".

2010: Hiatus and live album[link]

In 2010, following the band's fourth stint at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and the recording of a yet-unreleased live album, an indefinite hiatus was announced on the band's websites. This was in part due to the impending release of a new album produced by Wally for his Gotye project, and also to reported tensions within the band following the previous year's disappointments.

However, this hiatus was soon broken with a two-month residency at the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne, which saw an apparent return to form.^[14] The band's EP "Wait For You" enjoys airplay on Triple J.^[15] The Basics also played a one-off show at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory.^[16]

On 20 August 2010, The Basics released their fourth LP /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/, available free and exclusively from their website for digital download^[17]. The band had reportedly moved to expand their listenership through this free giveaway, though 300 "Deluxe" CD/vinyl versions have been printed. /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/ was recorded at the Northcote Social Club on 6 February, "in front of a live studio audience", and like the previous record, was mixed by Peter Cobbin at Abbey Road Studios. Technically a self-titled album, the phonetics spell out the accurate pronunciation of the band’s name. Kris Schroeder: "For years we’ve worked at bringing our live energy into the studio and thus far it’s been a bit hit-and-miss. Our trick this time was to pull a switcheroo and bring the studio to us instead; the result is the best and closest to us we’ve sounded yet."

Melbourne thespian and Dog With Wheels bassist David Bramble - friends with Heath from university days - has occasionally joined the band on tour, playing keys, often while sporting a large moustache. Other guests have included Jake Mason (saxophone), also of Cookin' on 3 Burners and The Bamboos^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Gideon Brazil (saxophone, flute), Simon Imrei (guitar and vocals) and Monty MacKenzie (saxophone).

Covers have often made an appearance from various sources: to date, some of the bands covered have been Cream, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, New Kids on the Block, Richard Berry, Sonny Curtis and The Crickets, JJ Cale, Harry Nilsson, Bill Scott, Ryan Adams and The Coasters (via The Beatles for their cover of Three Cool Cats).

Members[link]

Current

• Wally De Backer - drums, vocals (2002-present)
• Kris Schroeder - bass, vocals (2002-present)
• Tim Heath - guitar, vocals (2004-present)

Former

• Michael Hubbard - guitar, vocals (2002-2004)

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Get Back (15 January 2004)
• Stand Out/Fit In (5 May 2007)
• Keep Your Friends Close (25 September 2009)
• /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/ (20 August 2010)

EP[link]

• For Girls Like You (11 July 2005)
• Lookin' Over My Shoulder (10 February 2007)
• Like A Brother (5 June 2009)
• Wait For You (21 May 2010)

Singles[link]

• Call It Rhythm & Blues (20 August 2004)
• Just Hold On
• With This Ship (22 February 2009)

Upcoming projects[link]

The band is taking a three year hiatus, with an announced return to the stage together in early 2014. Wally De Backer launched Making Mirrors under his Gotye act in August 2011, Tim Heath will be touring and recording with Blood Red Bird, and Kris Schroeder recorded a solo EP titled, Patience in the Face of Control, before leaving Australia to work with the Red Cross in Kenya for a two year sabbatical.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Myspace Website

Aaron White
Aaron White, 2010
Born	1980 (age 31–32)
Occupation	Playwright, Producer, Director
Education	California Institute of the Arts

Aaron White (born 1980) is an NAACP Theater Award-winning American playwright, his most notable work being The Dance: The History of American Minstrelsy, which he wrote with Jason Christophe White (no relation). He also an independent music producer, as the owner and founder of In Tha Cut Productions.

He graduated from St. Bernard High School, in Playa Del Rey, CA in 1998, and is a graduate of The California Institute of the Arts, where he received a B.F.A. in Theater in 2003.^[1]

Plays[link]

• City Noise (play) (2003)
• The Blood They Shed (2004)
• The Dance: The History of American Minstrelsy (2005) (Co-Director)^[2][3][4][5]

Awards[link]

In 2007, The Dance: The History of American Minstrelsy won an NAACP award for “Best Playwright”, given to both Aaron and Jason. The production has garnered the support of Harry Belafonte, KCET and others.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Variety.com - The Dance: The History of American Minstrelsy
• The Dance: The History of American Minstrelsy | YouTube
• In Tha Cut - Official Site

Scot McKnight is an American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity, theologian, speaker, and author who has written widely on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, the emerging church and missional church movements, spiritual formation and Christian living. He is currently the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University. Prior to joining the NPU faculty in 1994, he was a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In the Fall of 2012 McKnight will join the faculty at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.^[1] McKnight considers himself an Anabaptist and has also written frequently on issues in modern Anabaptism.^[2][3]

Childhood and education[link]

McKnight was born in Illinois and raised in Freeport, Illinois. He earned his B.A. degree from Grand Rapids Baptist College (now known as Cornerstone University), an M.A. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham in 1986.

Career[link]

McNight is a prolific author, with more than twenty books to his credit. One of McKnight's more popular books, The Jesus Creed, won the Christianity Today book award for 2004 in the area of Christian living and has spawned a number of popular small group studies and a DVD series.^[4]

McKnight's blog, Jesus Creed, which was formerly hosted by Beliefnet and is now hosted by Patheos, is currently one of the most popular Evangelical blogs online.^[5]

McKnight is a popular author and speaker on issues related to the emerging church, with his blog being named the most popular blog online related to the movement.^[6][7][8] He has generally been a proponent of the movement and supported many of the movement's aims. However, in recent years he has expressed some concern about the direction of the movement, particularly regarding the "emergent" stream within the emerging church and some of the work by his friend Brian McLaren.^[9] Yet McKnight does continue to support much of what the movement symbolizes, including much of McLaren's work.^[10]

He has also been identified with the New Perspective on Paul.^[11][12][13]

Personal Life[link]

He and his wife, Kristen, who is a psychologist, live in Libertyville, Illinois and have two children.^[14]

Publications[link]

• One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow (Zondervan, 2010)
• The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Zondervan, 2008)
• A Community Called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007)
• The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Paraclete, 2006)
• Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today (Paraclete, 2006)
• The Story of the Christ, with Philip Law (Baker, 2005)
• Jesus And His Death: Historiography, the Historical Jesus, And Atonement Theory (Baylor, 2005)
• The Historical Jesus in Current Study, ed. with James Dunn (Eisenbraun’s, 2005)
• Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Paraclete, 2005)
• The Face of New Testament Studies, ed. with Grant Osborne (Baker, 2004)
• The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004)
• Turning to Jesus: The Sociology of Conversion in the Gospels (Westminster John Knox, 2002)
• The Synoptic Gospels: An Annotated Bibliography, with Matthew Williams (Baker, 2000)
• A New Vision for Israel: The Teachings of Jesus in National Context (Eerdmans, 1999)
• 1 Peter, NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan, 1996)
• Galatians, NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan, 1993)
• Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, ed. with Joel Green & I. Howard Marshall, (IVP, 1992)
• A Light among the Gentiles (Fortress, 1992)
• Introducing New Testament Interpretation (Baker, 1989)
• Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels (Baker, 1988)

References[link]