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anen these DOOKS were copied and fecopita many umes before they reached the form of the earliest manuscripts we possess. This laborious work was per- formed by members of the early church which had come to regard highly the saving qualities of ritual and symbol. Ercors in transcription and alreracions in the inrerese of “clarification” or interpretation were inevitable. Thus the task of escablishing what Jesus mos¢ likely said is chat of arrempt- ing to see him over the heads of his reporters. This atrempt is made by examining objectively and open mindedly the historical records of his life, making use of modern methods of historical and literary criticism. Answering the questions, “What did he mean”, and “Whar has that to say to me today?”, is a task for each individual to accomplish for himself. No attempt is made by the Sequoia Seminar to promulgate any dogma or creed. Each person is encouraged to use the results of the group discussion in complete Fa freedom i in forming his own individual conclusions. aw & ete) a e a a sou teu temas © 5? The success of the group discussion technique uscd in these seminars depends in considerable mcusure upon experienced leadership. The chief responsibility of the leader is to pose suggestive and challenging questions and to keep the discussion profitably channeled. Esch member weighs the evidence examined and the contributions made by the leaders and che group and then formulates his own independent conclusions. He assumes the responsibility for holding a critical but open-minded attcude. He is not asked to make any particular set of assumptions. At the same ume he understands his mose dificult task is to Maintain a constune willingness to discover, look at, and abandon if necessary, his own prejudices and preconceptions. The values he derives from the seminar expcricnce depend almost entirely upon the integcity of that effort. The value of the group activity extends beyond this intellectual function 4 a] eet rn — : > “ “ f . : 7 ‘ , . . ‘ . - oy i 5 f ? ofp om : . +, wee tn, . » 4 if wey . ae ta - ym b " aa * a, ooh —