"If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it's not so bad."
-Attributed to C. S. Lewis #Christian#Christianity#Catholic#OrthodoxChristian
First and foremost, I am a very ecumenical Christian who reads, learns, and aims to post about the gospel, christian origins, theology, etc. I’m a convinced Universalist in my eschatology. My favorite modern theologians are Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, T.F.Torrance, Jürgen Moltmann, Hans Küng, and as of late David Bentley Hart & Fr. Richard Rohr.
Secondly, I love the older and original conception of philosophy as a way of life. My preferred philosophy is Stoicism. Virtue is the only good! I believe Stoicism to be (when embraced at its most radical) a rational form of spirituality. It takes just as much faith to be a Stoic as to be a Christian.
Thirdly, I hope also to post on personal growth, productivity, and wellness.
Fourth, primarily I am looking to follow and contribute to the dialogue surrounding these subjects: the bible; christianity; religion; spirituality; stoicism; theology.
"Hundreds of respondents mentioned what they perceived to be the political drift of their churches (or, in a few cases, temples or mosques) as the reason for their disaffiliation or move away. Some who were part of more progressive congregations specifically mentioned the association of the word “Christian” with conservative political views as the root of their alienation." #religion#Christianity#politicshttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/opinion/christian-religion-brand-nones.html
I am humbly (yet unapologetically) religious. I am also secular & spiritual! Not ordained, not a scholar, but a devoted student of christian scripture and theology.
My threefold goal here is to share my thoughts, socialize with people, and hopefully make a few internet friends.
3/ Today, religion is far from uniformly reactionary — in the US for instance, the rise of Christian nationalism is being opposed by religious people and organisations who support LGBT rights and workers' struggle, through groups like the Institute for Christian Socialism
So I am a week into my #Zizek#Lacan#Hegel studies, through Zizek's lens. All good. I think Zizek's #philosophy of looking at Hegel through the Lacanian lens is seductive. That said, where I find the lens of Zizek lacking, and I now wish he'd not talk about these 2(3) things any more are:
I was a serious #catholic half my life, seminarian for minute, and an ordained deacon, still, even after I confessed my #atheism. So I get what he is saying. My atheism has never felt the same as #Dawkins or #Hitchens, whom we adore, and Zizek sneers. Slipping through the profound safety net religion and a transcendent, all powerful, personal god into the #existentialism of nothing was terrifying, it was my first experience of the "#real." This is it. This is all there is. The problem is it appears Zizek commits the #fallacy of #reification (if we understand it correctly). Clearly he knows it is #fiction, even if profound from a #psychoanalytic Hegelian #CriticalAnalysis, we get it we really do, but it is not real. The #event is real, and the fiction caused the event, but the fiction is still fiction. There is no God, IOP, that became an atheist. The #story Zizek emphasizes is powerful, the changing of the cosmos when #Jesus on the cross questions Gods love. Good story and that is all. Some RCC positions from recent popes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlBZy_iu0m8 and https://www.romereports.com/en/2021/09/14/full-homily-of-pope-francis-at/
So please, Zizek, can I say stay in your lane where you are brilliant, please.
"Anti-Religion", "Atheism" or "Humanism" is primary a Christian, European viewpoint.
The idea of separating out religion from culture only exists when your culture/religion is the dominant one, and what you are separating out is an aspect of your own culture.
The idea of secularism as expressed in North America and Europe exists almost exclusively within this cultural backdrop.
"If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." - 1 John 4:18-21
#introductions We are a long-term project based in Berlin (Germany).
Started in 2011, the project edits #Bible#commentaries and other texts by key authors of #LateAntiquity: Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyril of Alexandria, Hesychius of Jerusalem, Procopius of Gaza, Severian of Gabala and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Their commentaries and sermons are important in the history of #Christianity because of their powerful influence in the medieval and early modern periods, but they are also an intriguing branch of ancient literary #exegesis, and, as such, are of great interest for literary and historical studies, philology and philosophy.
The editions are published online (and open access) in the Patristic Text Archive (#PTA) and in print in the series "Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller (GCS)" (DeGruyter).
"It is better to err by excess of mercy than by excess of severity. . .Wilt thou become a Saint? Be severe to thyself but kind to others." st. John Chrysostom #Christian#Christianity#Catholic#OrthodoxChristian
-Attributed to
I'm still #writing independent scholarship on #theology and pop culture, and also lots of #fiction. Presently working out my own take on "dark heroic fantasy".
Staff writer Jeskai has a new piece entitled, "Profanity, Euphemisms, and an Archdemon’s Undesirable Friend." It discusses the #LightNovel "An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride" as well as how a they, as a #Christian, approach language in their reading.
Paul Kingsnorth of #DarkMountain has converted to Orthodox Christianity - after a life of being an atheist turned animist turned Zen Buddhist turned Wiccan priest, he was recently claimed by the Christian God in the same Earth-shattering way that we polytheists often describe being claimed by our Gods or Spirits to do Work. Here's his article on it: