Myths and ...

[Peter_J]

Or, if you like “Towards a theology of religions” (which also happens to be the title of the second link below).

I was uncertain what the best title would be for this thread, but in any case I’d like to share these articles I just read, and hopefully induce others to comment on them so I won’t need to.

ondermynende.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/christianity-paganism-and-literature-synchroblog/
ondermynende.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/towards-a-theology-of-religions/

(I thought about posting this thread on the Inklings forum instead, but didn’t.)

 

[Seekerjn316]

Or, if you like “Towards a theology of religions” (which also happens to be the title of the second link below).

I was uncertain what the best title would be for this thread, but in any case I’d like to share these articles I just read, and hopefully induce others to comment on them so I won’t need to.

ondermynende.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/christianity-paganism-and-literature-synchroblog/
ondermynende.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/towards-a-theology-of-religions/

(I thought about posting this thread on the Inklings forum instead, but didn’t.)

I enjoyed the “Towards a Theology of Religion:”.

My Journey thru Christianity began as a very conservative participant in a conservative group…a Holiness group, Church of the Nazarene, where all “worldly entertainment” was discouraged and a strict morality enforced as church disipline…as I grew older I visited several Holiness groups, Free Methodist, Weslyan, even Pilgrim Holiness, my great uncle was a Holiness minister…then on to the Christian and Missionary Alliance to Salvation Army as a young adult and finally the Society of Friends, where I have been the last 15+ years.
Quaker belief has a “Theology of Religions” so to speak…That of God exists in each of us, a measure of the Light Within resides and seek to Guide us into spiritual truth, everyone has an insight into the Eternal, if we would just follow the Light Within. So with that said, Quakers affirm that all faiths have Truth as all people share the Light Within, this same Light seeks to guide them into Truth. So the Bagavagita is a product of the Light Within as the writers were moved to record their insights…without the framework of “Christianity” to “contain the best expression of the Light Within” in Jesus of Nazareth, other faiths which do not have this “Guide”, tend to get side tracked and blend cultural/ethnic understanding of Truth with the Truth the Light Within seeks to guide them in.

The Light became flesh, without affirming a creed or epitome of faith, Quakers accept that in Jesus of Nazareth God lived a human life…even the use of those words do not convey the Reality of the Incarnation, we don’t understand it…we don’t seek to quantify it, or qualify it, explain it with creedal formulas to be verbally affirmed within the greater body of believers, but simply affirm God was revealed most completely in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnation is Mystery, how God accomplished this, we do not profess to know or understand…only that in Jesus of Nazareth God is met, God is uinderstood, …God lived among us somehow in Jesus of Nazareth.

I don’t have the exact quote, but I believe it was William Penn or John Woolman that wrote our 'religions" are but the “clothes we wear”, each different from the other…but when the veil from our eyes is lifted, each of us, no matter what faith, will be seen as he is, the kindness, gentleness, compassion, mercy, hope shared by all faiths, will be seen to stem from the same Light…and if this Light is obeyed to the best of our understanding, we truly can be called brothers, whether Buddhist, Muslim, Christians of various persuasions, Mormons, Catholics, Baptists, Mennonites, Jehovah’s Witnesses, SDA, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Christian Scientists, Wiccan, Voodoon, Church of Christ, Orthodox, we all see to “live in the Light”, we all are on the same Journey with the same goals, and how we treat our neighbor and the “stranger within our gate” is the measure of how closely the Light Within is followed.

I am a part of a Meeting under the care of Friends General Conference, called “liberal” by many…but Quaker still.

God is at work in all of us…we just most times get the “particulars” wrong…the “essentials” can be seen on how well we “love one another”, “love our neighbor” and Matt chapter 25 is a much better measuring stick of who knows God than the reciting of any common creed used to measure ones “orthodoxy”

 

[frangiuliano115]

I enjoyed the “Towards a Theology of Religion:”.

My Journey thru Christianity began as a very conservative participant in a conservative group…a Holiness group, Church of the Nazarene, where all “worldly entertainment” was discouraged and a strict morality enforced as church disipline…as I grew older I visited several Holiness groups, Free Methodist, Weslyan, even Pilgrim Holiness, my great uncle was a Holiness minister…then on to the Christian and Missionary Alliance to Salvation Army as a young adult and finally the Society of Friends, where I have been the last 15+ years.
Quaker belief has a “Theology of Religions” so to speak…That of God exists in each of us, a measure of the Light Within resides and seek to Guide us into spiritual truth, everyone has an insight into the Eternal, if we would just follow the Light Within. So with that said, Quakers affirm that all faiths have Truth as all people share the Light Within, this same Light seeks to guide them into Truth. So the Bagavagita is a product of the Light Within as the writers were moved to record their insights…without the framework of “Christianity” to “contain the best expression of the Light Within” in Jesus of Nazareth, other faiths which do not have this “Guide”, tend to get side tracked and blend cultural/ethnic understanding of Truth with the Truth the Light Within seeks to guide them in.

The Light became flesh, without affirming a creed or epitome of faith, Quakers accept that in Jesus of Nazareth God lived a human life…even the use of those words do not convey the Reality of the Incarnation, we don’t understand it…we don’t seek to quantify it, or qualify it, explain it with creedal formulas to be verbally affirmed within the greater body of believers, but simply affirm God was revealed most completely in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnation is Mystery, how God accomplished this, we do not profess to know or understand…only that in Jesus of Nazareth God is met, God is uinderstood, …God lived among us somehow in Jesus of Nazareth.

I don’t have the exact quote, but I believe it was William Penn or John Woolman that wrote our 'religions" are but the “clothes we wear”, each different from the other…but when the veil from our eyes is lifted, each of us, no matter what faith, will be seen as he is, the kindness, gentleness, compassion, mercy, hope shared by all faiths, will be seen to stem from the same Light…and if this Light is obeyed to the best of our understanding, we truly can be called brothers, whether Buddhist, Muslim, Christians of various persuasions, Mormons, Catholics, Baptists, Mennonites, Jehovah’s Witnesses, SDA, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Christian Scientists, Wiccan, Voodoon, Church of Christ, Orthodox, we all see to “live in the Light”, we all are on the same Journey with the same goals, and how we treat our neighbor and the “stranger within our gate” is the measure of how closely the Light Within is followed.

I am a part of a Meeting under the care of Friends General Conference, called “liberal” by many…but Quaker still.

God is at work in all of us…we just most times get the “particulars” wrong…the “essentials” can be seen on how well we “love one another”, “love our neighbor” and Matt chapter 25 is a much better measuring stick of who knows God than the reciting of any common creed used to measure ones “orthodoxy”

Well. How interesting. I don’t go to links, but after reading the above, i did but just read the first two pp’s. I did, instead, read you post with interest.

My son sent his little boy to a quaker kindergarten and it was my hope they’d keep him there for his entire elementary education, but, alas, he’s in a public school this first grade.

So mystic is your religious affiliation. But it sounds like you’re Quaker. I am a bit confused.

Also, your entire post sounds to me like the Baha’i faith. Do you know about that?

It seems to me that the different denominations want God all to themselves. Even within protestantism there are different mainline churches that put an emphasis on different aspects of spirituality. For instance the Nazarenes, Baptists, Assembly of God, etc. I also include my catholic church. We’ve all put God into neat little boxes and have thrown away the key. I’m wondering if He can fit into those boxes??

Of course, when it comes to christianity, there are certain problems present that are not with other religions. Buddha never said he was God. But Jesus did and it sounds like you agree. I like the idea of the light.

I’ve had friends, and some on these threads, that will say who is and who isn’t going to heaven. I wonder many times how they could know.

Only God will know to how much light we have been exposed; to how much light we have received, how we perceive that light, and how much we make it a part of our lives. I tend to place more importance on grace than on legalism and have incurred misunderstanding from some.

I think God is a big God. And cannot be kept in a box.

Fran

 

[Seekerjn316]

Well. How interesting. I don’t go to links, but after reading the above, i did but just read the first two pp’s. I did, instead, read you post with interest.

My son sent his little boy to a quaker kindergarten and it was my hope they’d keep him there for his entire elementary education, but, alas, he’s in a public school this first grade.

So mystic is your religious affiliation. But it sounds like you’re Quaker. I am a bit confused.

Also, your entire post sounds to me like the Baha’i faith. Do you know about that?

It seems to me that the different denominations want God all to themselves. Even within protestantism there are different mainline churches that put an emphasis on different aspects of spirituality. For instance the Nazarenes, Baptists, Assembly of God, etc. I also include my catholic church. We’ve all put God into neat little boxes and have thrown away the key. I’m wondering if He can fit into those boxes??

Of course, when it comes to christianity, there are certain problems present that are not with other religions. Buddha never said he was God. But Jesus did and it sounds like you agree. I like the idea of the light.

I’ve had friends, and some on these threads, that will say who is and who isn’t going to heaven. I wonder many times how they could know.

Only God will know to how much light we have been exposed; to how much light we have received, how we perceive that light, and how much we make it a part of our lives. I tend to place more importance on grace than on legalism and have incurred misunderstanding from some.

I think God is a big God. And cannot be kept in a box.

Fran

Thank you for your words. I am familiar with Bahài but Quakerism doesn’t hold a large amount of Bahia teaching, but it is similar in some respects.

Quakers typically are extremely “low church”. Evangelical Friends are much like Nazarenes and Baptists, they have paid ministers and lservices ook typically like one of the denominations named…the thing that may set Evangel. Friends apart is the time of “Open Worship” which lasts anywhere from 15-45 mins if any have “an opening” and are led to share. My “merting” is unprogrammed and each in attendance is considered a minister. Any my stand and give vocal ministry if led to do so.

God is not able to be contained in a box. Everything we know of God is “construct” finite human words are used to covey Eternal Themes and Ideas, no one has the Complet Picture except for God.

I consider myself a “mystic” of sorts, but my spirituality is rooted in this world which God called “good”. Even though “sin” entered His Light is still Present. John chapter 1 has a verse about the True Light coming I to the worlid which enlightens every man.

Quakers find the most complete understanding of who God is and whtat God is like and what is required of us, and how we relate to one another in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Quakers are non-creedal…no “creed” can state anything about the nature and work of God as “complete”. GOD is beyond our comprehension and understanding. “We see through a glass dimly”… the story of the blind men describing an elephant to a crowd gives us a small glimpse of how finite and lackING our understanding of God is…“an elephant is as broad as a wall”…“No, it’s a firm as a tree trunk”, " no its as thin and moves like a snake!"…which is a true description of an eleohant?

We only see a small picture of the Mystery of God…for Quakers, God is best understood in Jesus of Nazareth…if God is to be known, He is known best in soup kitchens, or in the need of a single mom having a night to herself…or the widow who needs a ride to the doctor,or the young teenage girl who finds herself pregnant. God can be found in the despairation of a woman contemplating abortion.

“If we say we love God and yet hate our brother the truth is not in us”.

The Kingdom of God is not some far off Maybe, it is a present Reality, and since it is a Reality, we should live NOW as though firmly established amon guns now. Eternal Life begins today, if you want to p,a y the piano in heaven, you better start your lessons now.

Eternity begins NOW, it is not in some heavenly reward…to be a citizen of heaven, we must live like one. The man who is a Christian acts like a Christian, if he does not live as one, he is not one.

“What does the Lord require of thee?” The prophet wrote…the answer is what is required, not religious affiliation.

Quakerism has a “Theology of religion”, I wonder if the author is aware of it?

 

[Peter_J]

Good comments.

I’m a big fan of Lewis and the like, but I also have some concerns. For one thing, at what point does it become appropriating? (By way of illustration, someone could say (though I’d be very surprised if they did) “I believe in Mars, Venus, and other ancient Roman gods. Lewis shouldn’t have appropriated them into his Christian worldview” (cf the Space Trilogy).)

Another reason I’m wary is that nowadays many people won’t even call Christianity a religion. For example, they’ll speak of Lutheranism and Buddhism as “non-Catholic religions”, or they’ll speak of Catholicism and Hinduism as “non-Lutheran religions”, or whatever.

 

[Wannano]

Good comments.

I’m a big fan of Lewis and the like, but I also have some concerns. For one thing, at what point does it become appropriating? (By way of illustration, someone could say (though I’d be very surprised if they did) “I believe in Mars, Venus, and other ancient Roman gods. Lewis shouldn’t have appropriated them into his Christian worldview” (cf the Space Trilogy).)

Another reason I’m wary is that nowadays many people won’t even call Christianity a religion. For example, they’ll speak of Lutheranism and Buddhism as “non-Catholic religions”, or they’ll speak of Catholicism and Hinduism as “non-Lutheran religions”, or whatever.

Looking at the big picture I envision Christianity as God reaching down to a lost and rebellious humanity with His hand. Religion is man’s effort to structuralize and formalize the action of reaching up and accepting. Taking his hand is an individual choice and only God knows the sincerity of each heart…

 

[Wannano]

Good comments.

I’m a big fan of Lewis and the like, but I also have some concerns. For one thing, at what point does it become appropriating? (By way of illustration, someone could say (though I’d be very surprised if they did) “I believe in Mars, Venus, and other ancient Roman gods. Lewis shouldn’t have appropriated them into his Christian worldview” (cf the Space Trilogy).)

Another reason I’m wary is that nowadays many people won’t even call Christianity a religion. For example, they’ll speak of Lutheranism and Buddhism as “non-Catholic religions”, or they’ll speak of Catholicism and Hinduism as “non-Lutheran religions”, or whatever.

Looking at the big picture I envision Christianity as God reaching down to a lost and rebellious humanity with His hand. Religion is man’s effort to structuralize and formalize the action of reaching up and accepting. Taking his hand is an individual choice and only God knows the sincerity of each heart…

 

[frangiuliano115]

Good comments.

I’m a big fan of Lewis and the like, but I also have some concerns. For one thing, at what point does it become appropriating? (By way of illustration, someone could say (though I’d be very surprised if they did) “I believe in Mars, Venus, and other ancient Roman gods. Lewis shouldn’t have appropriated them into his Christian worldview” (cf the Space Trilogy).)

Another reason I’m wary is that nowadays many people won’t even call Christianity a religion. For example, they’ll speak of Lutheranism and Buddhism as “non-Catholic religions”, or they’ll speak of Catholicism and Hinduism as “non-Lutheran religions”, or whatever.

You know what they say:
Religion is man reaching up for God
Christianity is God reaching down to man

We certainly are a part of the Church, or Body of Christ and so, in that way, Jesus came to teach us how to live - a way of life. Living for God and not for man. I’m thinking of the beatitudes. They seem to go against everything we know, but if we study them they bring peace. Jesus was the best psychologist of all!

Fran

 

[Wannano]

You know what they say:
Religion is man reaching up for God
Christianity is God reaching down to man

We certainly are a part of the Church, or Body of Christ and so, in that way, Jesus came to teach us how to live - a way of life. Living for God and not for man. I’m thinking of the beatitudes. They seem to go against everything we know, but if we study them they bring peace. Jesus was the best psychologist of all!

Fran

A way of life and love…The Way. You are right on!