What Luther discovered, which we too often hide from, is the theological and existential discovery that God is crucified, that the monster takes God, that death and separation destroy God. And this is not to be celebrated, but despaired. Just like Paul, we are in much fear and trembling. For Luther, like Nietzsche, God is…
Category
Christianity
Love neither rules, nor is it unmoved
Love neither rules, nor is it unmoved; also it is a little oblivious to morals. It dwells upon the tender elements of the world which slowly and in quietness operate by love. –Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, 353 Painting by Mark Lawrence
In case you didn’t know, faith and reason are NOT in conflict. | Art by Jordan Kasey
Albert Einstein once famously stated that “Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.” I for one agree with him completely. Religion and science, regardless of what you read about in the newspapers as it relates to these conflicts, can very much co-exist quite well. The above quote comes from Dr. Thomas Plante’s…
July 4th, 2011: Happy St. Elizabeth of Portugal Day!!
Born in 1271, Queen Isabel was married to King Diniz (or Dinis). Like her great-aunt Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, for whom she was named, Saint Elizabeth of Portugal dedicated her life to the poor. She established orphanages and provided shelter for the homeless. She also founded a convent in Coimbra. Read more about Saint Elizabeth…
This is what it means to be a Christian, are there any questions?
We’re against all the death squads, the ruling families, the paramilitaries, the US military aid, the bombings, the violence of the rebels and the violence of hunger, starvation and disease. We’re against violence on all sides; and everyone on all sides hates us and wants to kill us. This is what it means to be…
Pretending to Know Things: Kierkegaard, Socrates and Torpedo Fish
Like many students who had to take an intro philosophy class in college, I was forced read Plato’s Five Dialogues. For those who don’t know, These five dialogues focus primarily on the historical character of Socrates, Plato’s teacher. In them, Socrates discusses or debates a subject, often an ethical one (friendship, piety) with a friend…
Karen Armstrong Believes That Religion and Art are Allies
Religion was never supposed to provide answers to questions that lay within the reach of human reason… Religion’s task, closely allied to that of art, was to help us to live creatively, peacefully, and even joyously with realities for which there were no easy explanations and problems that we could not solve; morality, pain, grief,…
Kings vs. bookish men, vowed to celibacy and destitute of armed force.
The king had to share his power with the feudal aristocracy, but all alike expected to be allowed occasional outbursts of passion in the form of war, murder, pillage, or rape. Monarchs might repent, for they were sincerely pious, and, after all, repentance itself was a form of passion. But the church could never produce…
Killing is sooo Primitive
The latest news about this guy from Colorado who claims he was obeying an order from God to hunt Osama Bin Laden and avenge the 9/11 attatcks makes me truly sad. What’s worse is that the man claims to be a devout Christian and was in possesion of “Christian literature” (among other things like swords…
Dostoevsky explains the monastic way
“Very different is the monastic way. Obedience, fasting, and prayer are laughed at, yet they alone constitute the way to real and true freedom: I cut away my superfluous and unnecessary needs, through obedience I humble and chasten my vain and proud will, and thereby, with God’s help, attain freedom of spirit, and with that,…