Here is the second Sadler's Lectures podcast in the series on Thomas Aquinas' famous Five Ways. This one examines an argument based on efficient causality

https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler/thomas-aquinas-summa-theologiae-the-second-way-to-prove-gods-existence
#Podcast #Philosophy #Causality #Thomism #Aquinas #FiveWays #Metaphysics #Theology #God #Argument

Welp, finally finished my Big Think on the role of "digital media" in polytheist and animist art: https://rotwork.wordpress.com/2023/09/10/on-fossil-media/

#pagan #polytheism #animism #art #religion #theology #Teotecayotl @theology

So what is the alternative to penal substitutionary atonement? The early church, both east and west, primarily taught atonement by ransom. That is, the pre-eternal Word united himself to humanity so that humanity could become united to the Godhead, and his death and resurrection were to pay the ransom of death (both physical and spiritual). His ascension into heaven completed the work, by setting a human body at the right hand of the Father.

#theology
6/6

When I was growing up Evangelical, PSA was presented with a rather alarming codicil: that the Father had turned away his face from the Son during the crucifixion. This violates the principle of perichoresis; for how could the Father sever communion with the Son without breaking the bonds of the Trinity? Additionally, if we accept the conciliar definition of the Trinity as being three in persons but one in essence, the Father cannot sever himself from the Son because they share the same essence.

#theology
5/6

According to PSA, humankind’s disobedience was an insurmountable obstacle to communion with God. It was an offense that needed atonement. The only atonement possible was the sacrifice of a sinless man, and the only sinless man would have to be Jesus, the God-man. Therefore, according to PSA, Jesus’s death was necessary to satisfy God’s righteous anger. In effect, this means that God’s love is powerless before his need for justice.

#theology
4/6

There have been some movements in Christianity toward promoting justice over love. Foremost among these is the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement (hereinafter referred to as PSA). The first hints of PSA emerged in the writings of Anselm of Canterbury in the eleventh century; early reformers such as Luther and Calvin, and later John Wesley, took Anselm’s definition as a starting point, and developed it in more extreme directions.

#theology
3/6

Love is what binds the three persons of the Trinity together. The Greek fathers (beginning with Gregory of Nazianzus and John of Damascus, and continuing with Maximus the Confessor, used the word “perichoresis” to describe the relationship between the three Persons. The prefix “peri-“ means around, and “chōréō” means “go” or “advance.” Perichoresis is therefore the mutual indwelling of the persons of the Trinity. In Latin the term is rendered “circumincession.”

#theology
2/6

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the primary attribute of God. Is God’s highest attribute love or justice?

As I understand things, in Islam, justice is God’s primary attribute. In Christianity, if you take the gospel and epistles of John at face value, love is the primary attribute of God. This means that if one of the other attributes of God conflicts with with love, love wins. For instance, God’s justice must give way in the face of his love.

#theology (a thread)
1/6

I have often paraphrased something that #WalterBenjamin said, that the law itself exists only to protect those in power. Marry that with #VáclavHavel’s notion of a consumerist driven post-totalitarianism and we arrive at the reality of our present moment. The parts that are all filled in are those individuals’s whose God is their salary. God is an unwritten god. God is bigger than what one can find in a book. #theology #philosophy #ClimateChange #law #totalitarianism #capitalism

Those of us who preach and teach and minister to each other need to focus on the word—on words—more explicitly, intentionally, and daringly as part of the practice of our trade. This is necessary and urgent activism: to resist "newspeak," to insist on precision and clar ity, to love the bald statement, the long sentence, the particular example, the extended definition, the specifics of story.

-Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

#Preaching #Theology #Christianity #Ministry

Apocalyptic thinking produces sin. There, I said it.

#theology #EndTimes

The marketing language that dominates descriptions of human interaction in a capitalist economy obscures a much deeper understanding of the gift character of all that is, and our familial relationship to all of life and especially to each other.

-Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, "Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies"

#Politics #Culture #Capitalism #Literature #Poetry #Christianity #Theology #ChristianHumanism

Christians cannot claim to love Christ and be careless with words any more than we can claim to love God and hate our neighbor.

#Christianity #Theology #ChristianHumanism

H/t to @fulelo for highlighting this piece on Russian #disinformation and false #history aimed at #Norway. I note that the Russian #Orthodox Church has acted as an arm of the state in these efforts. It's a #church which should be shunned by other Christian churches #ecumenism
#ROC #RussianOrthodoxChurch #theology #religion #Russia @religion @theologidons
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/2023/09/norway-under-russian-pressure-memory-diplomacy-security-policy

H/t to @fulelo for highlighting this piece on Russian #propaganda and #disinformation aimed at #Norway. I note that the Russian #Orthodox Church has acted as an arm of the state in these efforts. It's a #church which should be shunned by other Christian churches #ecumenism
#ROC #RussianOrthodoxChurch #theology #religion #Russia @religion @theologidons

Very proud of my friends in the #DisciplesOfChrist church (3 of them are quoted in this article) for their work to get this resolution passed to condemn #ChristianNationalism and to support #Transgender rights.

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) votes to support transgender rights
https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2023/09/08/christian-church-disciples-of-christ-makes-resolutions-on-transgender-people-christian-nationalism/70546874007/

#Oklahoma #TransRightsAreHumanRights #Christianity #Theology

Oh the new mingling! Oh the blend contrary to all expectation! The one who is, becomes. The uncreated is created. The uncontainable is contained through a thinking soul, mediating between godhead and the thickness of flesh. The one who enriches becomes a beggar; for he begs for my own flesh, so that I might become rich in his divinity. The one who is full becomes empty; for he empties himself of his glory for a little time so that I might share in his fullness.

- Gregory Nazianzus

#Theology

A new book on #US #religion, 'The Great Dechurching', has a survey of “dechurched #evangelicals”, of whom 68% said their #parents played a role in their decision to stop attending #church. The top 5 issues:
1. Emphasis on #CultureWar (14%)
2. Lack of #love, #joy, #gentleness,# kindness, and #generosity (14%)
3. Inability to #listen (14%)
4.Inability to engage with other #viewpoints (13%)
5. Attitudes or actions to #race (13%)
https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/great-dechurching-whos-leaving-why-are-they-going-and-what-will-it-take-to-bring-them-back-jim-davis?variant=40244991197262
@theologidons @theology #theology #faith

All too often, the Word has been revered as a reliable—nay, flawless—database, an inert repository of Truth. This repository is, above all else, reference material: it provides truth for all queries.

#Christianity #Theology #Bible

Christians can rightly say that Scripture is the word of God, but this should always be felt in a derivative sense.

The Word of God proper is Jesus Christ, the one whom the Scriptures reliably reveal.

#Christianity #Theology #ReformedTheology