Today the 3rd of July in 529 was The Synod of Orange. There was a group Led by the ‘Augustinians‘ of the day, (somewhat forceable group too). After exerting influence, the synod upheld Augustine’s doctrines of grace and free will while condemning the views of Semi-Pelagians, including John Cassian and Faustus of Riez. They believed the human […]
Read more "Are we really semi- Pelagians and don’t know it?"A common perception among many if not all of the patristic fathers and mothers was the understanding of what we call “significant‘ in our lives as being something we learned through experience. We then give ‘meaning‘ to the reality experienced. This applies to our spirituality and our search for the ‘significant other‘ in our lives […]
Read more "Thinking of Origen’s visionary experiences"As the autonomous revolution evolves, we will need to rethink the model we currently have for distributing “wealth,” which is basically through work, and this will be an issue when more than 50% of the people no longer work as we know it today, like punching a clock or being put on a salary, but […]
Read more "Are we moving towards utopia or dystopia?"“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless but disastrous.” ~ Thomas Merton “The abyss that separates us from ourselves.” I […]
Read more "Will the ‘Autonomous Revolution’ usher in Aristotle’s ‘Eudaimonia’?"For all who struggle for restorative, social justice, climate change, equality in our world, we find ourselves reflecting this time of the year on our past; we find we might spend a tad more time in meditation and contemplation, we think of how the new year can be different, we HOPE. The struggle with HOPE […]
Read more "Does our Hope get in the way of True Hope?"In many Christian denominations, today is the Feast of Christ the King. A feast celebrated near the end of November and just before Advent. November is a month of remembrance. We remember all those who have passed before us. We all want to be remembered in some way. We put our names on tombstones; we […]
Read more "To be remembered"“Pay the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and God what belongs to God.” That saying of Jesus from Matthews’s Gospel is one that all scripture scholars from Westar onward all agree is 100% a Jesus original saying. What Jesus is saying to us is to remember who ‘owns‘ the world. And in Isiah 45, […]
Read more "The Kingdom of God is here and now."Today is the feast of St Francis, celebrated by Anglicans, Lutherans, and Catholics, and believers of all who see the protection of our environment important. Francis, whom I consider to be the original “Ecotheologian“. A person who understood that creation was the first bible. St. Francis, during his life, lived in a pivotal period when Western […]
Read more "Feast Day of the original “Ecotheologian”"As a “Hoosier” I was exploring the on-line libraries in the state. I Came across this site about Merton and Music. https://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/soul-swing-jazz-religion/?fbclid=IwAR2jBfurRAbOa5k2DKislZc3_zmwu27xZogh4mrrEw5U0FFMbsLsXXv335A I think we see how Jazz was the Christ speaking to Merton. Jazz a language with much religious tones and meaning. Jazz is not divorced from religion or the work-a-day world, especially in […]
Read more "Is Religion divorced from the work-a-day world?"her·e·tic /ˈherəˌtik/ “A person believing in or practicing religious heresy. synonyms: dissident, dissenter, nonconformist, unorthodox thinker, heterodox thinker, apostate, freethinker, iconoclast, schismatic, renegade; More a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted.” now let’s think about the last part of the definition: “a person holding an opinion at odds with what […]
Read more "Heretics, likable Blokes?"