I’ll speak of negative theology in a specific context — that of the form of Thomistic Existentialism which I’ve been struggling to develop. This sort of God-centered existentialism begins with the negative-theological insight that God is not This, where This can be any sort of thing or living creature. Some who try to read the … [Read more…]
I’m taking up a series of entries after several months… Hold on for a wild trip. I’ll speak mostly about some pagan ideas which have affected Christian thought, sometimes being adopted for valid reasons at the time. After all, the pagans knew many truths and gave them to us. It takes time, contemplation, and exploration … [Read more…]
In most of my posts, I’ve certainly seemed a pessimist, targeting the great problems of our age: moral decay and profound illiteracy in particular. As I’ve presented matters, modern men have the moral sensibilities of either self-righteous twelve year-olds or perverse twelve year-olds. Not options which are particularly attractive. Reading skills have decayed to the … [Read more…]
We are all liberals and individualists nowadays, even those who pretend otherwise (forget the Amish for a few minutes, please). Our views of self and society lead us lead us to act according to a cowardly form of prudence. Let me take a quote from the 1913 Webster as found in the Collaborative International Dictionary … [Read more…]
In “To See a World in a Grain of Sand”, I noted that Melville thought Emerson and Thoreau to be morally insane — Hawthorne and Henry James, Sr. agreed. Melville noted in one place that the morality of those Cambridge sages was a spiritualized materialism that masked a total lack of charity, a total lack … [Read more…]
And so was Dante. Those of you who have read one of the good modern translations of “The Inferno” will know that the Pilgrim didn’t wander away from the road. The road curved away from him and he continued to go straight. We Christians have continued to walk on straight in our religious language, our … [Read more…]
I’ve made a tentative commitment to participate in the March for Life down in Washington in January of 2007. To be honest, I’m not going because I think it’s a worthwhile activity but only because it might be interesting. The Bible doesn’t tell us that we properly confront evil by putting on spectacles to amuse … [Read more…]
In an earlier entry, I advocated the view that relationships are primary and substance comes into existence as a result of one or more relationships. Now, I’ll try to produce a more balanced view by saying why we Christians, perhaps others as well, should consider substance (or `essence’ in the usual philosophical talk) to be … [Read more…]
In “To See a World in a Grain of Sand”, I danced around an analogy that I can now see a little more clearly though I’m beginning to fear it’s more than just an analogy. Matter, particular being, results from a broken symmetry of metaphysical truths. In this claim, I’m basically exploring an expansion of … [Read more…]
Recently, Pope Benedict XVI caused a bit of a stir in his address at the University of Regensburg (Sept. 12, 2006). I’ll address the true thrust of his speech and not those remarks which were taken out of context. Specifically, I intend to work in line with his stated intention: “The intention here is not … [Read more…]