In chapter one of my new blog, featuring my PhD thesis work, I recount my experiences with ritual in cyberspace, describing sacred virtual space, and its relationship to sacred meatspace from a Pagan perspective. I compare two initiation rituals, and describe how one produced the perception of sacred space, in both meatspace and the virtual world, while the other remained only a role play.
“God will not entertain the poor in heaven. You will not go there. I will also stand at the entrance to stop you from going there. We have misunderstood the gospel."
Well, somebody's misunderstood the gospel, that's for sure.
The launch of the Global Flourishing Study, spanning #sociology, #psychology, #epidemiology, #economics, #history, #philosophy, and #theology, includes data from 200,000 participants that will provide nationally representative samples of 22 geographically and culturally diverse populations from across the globe.
Out of curiosity, have you read Rachel Held Evans' "The Year of Biblical Womanhood"? Love her stuff and this one is funny and poignant. All of her books are fantastic and she had such a necessary voice in the church.
The dogmatic formulations of Nicaea, in adopting terms not drawn directly from scripture and in rejecting many of the principal certitudes of centuries of orthodox theology, were radical innovations; in fact, they were disruptions of the tradition as much as they were developments
“The word ‘deep,’ when used in a spiritual sense, has two meanings. It either means the opposite of ‘shallow’ or the opposite of ‘high.’ Truth is deep and not shallow. Suffering is depth, but not height. The light of truth and the darkness of suffering are both deep. There is a depth in God, and there is a depth from which the psalmist calls out to God.” — Paul Tillich
"Wh̶ea̲ther God? - Faith in times of climate catastrophe"
The main idea would be that contrary to popular belief, "deity of the weather" is actually a very sensible re-specification of #omnipotence for the coming decades/centuries.
Is Chahk man-shaped or beastly? Is He the Witz mountain, or does He dwell on it? (Or under it?) Is He a fisherman or a warrior? Is He old or aged? Is He serpentine or feline? Does He wield K'awiil, or does K'awiil wield Him? Is He deluge or drought? Sickness or health? One God or Five Gods? A creator or ancestor? Tlaloc or Yopaat or Himself, separate? 1/2
What is the Gospel apart from the promise that God’s truth has entered creation as a historical event whose full meaning can be known only in its entire historical unfolding?
-David Bentley Hart (Tradition and Apocalypse, 104)
Reading David Bentley Hart’s “Tradition and Apocalypse” right now, and man; there’s some stuff here (inarticulate adjective to compensate DBH’s notoriously punctilious writing voice).
Short answer: because there is no other way to MAXIMIZE the scandal of the word of the cross!
Just think of it: Christianity believes and proclaims that in Jesus Christ GOD, the ground of all being, underwent enfleshment, lived, died, was resurrected and glorified! 🤯🤯🤯
My writing mostly focuses on ethics. I've written on many issues, but currently I'm focused on "cyber ethics" (InfoSec, privacy, AI) and democracy/civic participation.
I'm also branching out to broader theological questions on human and divine agency, divine providence, etc., focusing on the Renaissance/early modern period for resources.
Are the gods Idle or active? Do they exist at all? How much can we ever know about them? Find out for yourself in this hot new dialogue from Cicero! Conclusions will not be reached and the question will be left open! #polytheism#pagan#philosophy#rome#god#theology
Okie, fediverse, you're stuck with me for the foreseeable future. Not gonna touch threads, and I don't think the blue sky app is coming my way anytime soon.
#introduction
Hang around for thoughts related to #liturgy, #theology, food, health, dogs, politics, Puerto Rico, and anything else that may be on my mind. Who knows, maybe I'll breathe more life into my blog.