Posts tagged theology
Let my children hear music!
Secundus [a Gnostic writer] says that there is a first Ogdoad, a right-hand and a left-hand Tetrad…one light, the other darkness; and the power that fell away and suffered lack was not begotten of the thirty Aeons, but of their fruits…
Iu, iu, and pheu, pheu! Truly we may utter these exclamations from tragedy at such bold invention of ridiculous nomenclature, For when he says, “There is a certain Proarche before all things, above all thought, which I call Monotes,” and again, “With this Monotes there reigns a Power, which I call Henotes,” it is obvious that he admits that he is talking about his own inventions which no one else has given them before.
It is clear also that [Secundus] himself dared to make up these names and unless he had been on hand the Truth would have had no name. There is no reason why someone else shouldn’t assign names like these on the same basis: There is a royal Proarche above all thought, a power above all substance, indefinitely extended. Since this is the power which I call the Gourd, there is with it the Power which I call Superemptiness. This Gourd and Superemptiness, being one, emitted, yet did not admit, the fruit visible, edible, and delicious, which is known in the language as the Cucumber.
Irenaeus, Against the Heresies (via brother-john)
I am so sad that this work is commonly called Against the Heresies. The original title, The Unmasking and Overthrow of the Falsely Named “Knowledge,” is so much better.
(via shortbreadsh)
Never ever not reblog trolly Church Fathers.
(via crypte)
You can just hear the disdain.
(via invisibleforeigner)
lololol
(via invisibleforeigner)
The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand it, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?
Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.
(via cannibalandproud)
Spiritual But Not Religious? Please Stop Boring Me.
On airplanes, I dread the conversation with the person who finds out I am a minister and wants to use the flight time to explain to me that he is “spiritual but not religious.” Such a person will always share this as if it is some kind of daring insight, unique to him, bold in its rebellion against the religious status quo.
Next thing you know, he’s telling me that he finds God in the sunsets. These people always find God in the sunsets. And in walks on the beach. Sometimes I think these people never leave the beach or the mountains, what with all the communing with God they do on hilltops, hiking trails and … did I mention the beach at sunset yet?
Like people who go to church don’t see God in the sunset! Like we are these monastic little hermits who never leave the church building. How lucky we are to have these geniuses inform us that God is in nature. As if we don’t hear that in the psalms, the creation stories and throughout our deep tradition.
Being privately spiritual but not religious just doesn’t interest me. There is nothing challenging about having deep thoughts all by oneself. What is interesting is doing this work in community, where other people might call you on stuff, or heaven forbid, disagree with you. Where life with God gets rich and provocative is when you dig deeply into a tradition that you did not invent all for yourself.
Thank you for sharing, spiritual but not religious sunset person. You are now comfortably in the norm for self-centered American culture, right smack in the bland majority of people who find ancient religions dull but find themselves uniquely fascinating. Can I switch seats now and sit next to someone who has been shaped by a mighty cloud of witnesses instead? Can I spend my time talking to someone brave enough to encounter God in a real human community? Because when this flight gets choppy, that’s who I want by my side, holding my hand, saying a prayer and simply putting up with me, just like we try to do in church.The snark is strong with this one.
I tell those people that I am religious but not spiritual. Always gets a raised eyebrow.
