Opposites

[Teresa9]

In Christ is the reconciliation of opposites…what does this statement mean to you?

God Bless you and much love and peace to you xxx

Teresa

 

[csr]

“Reconciliation of opposites”? This sounds rather hegelian or dialectical. To reconcile opposites is to essentially imply that both sides are valid and that something of each ought to be preserved. Our Lord did not imply that truth is to be had all around. He said that He would be a source of division (Matthew 10:34), a point which He emphasized in a variety of ways. The reconciliation is always towards Truth, which is Our Lord and His Church.

 

[Faithful_2_Rome]

What and who is the source of that statement?

Without that info, and what the Church teaches on this statement…if they do…I would try to answer that he reconciles the fallen nature in us (the evil) with his perfected one (the good)…at the same time not giving any equality to good and evil, for evil is lower than good.

 

[Teresa9]

I am the source of that statement and I wondered what people would draw from it or their own thoughts on it…mine are this:

In Christ opposites are reconciled by the very nature of our discipleship, that

1. Christ is the reconciliation with humanity and the spirit of God our Father. In loving God first then brings about the love of others and the rest of the commandments fall in place after this. In loving your enemy, they are no longer your enemy but loved as they should be as children of God. In this sense evil is defeated and the love that is Christ has reconciled the two.
2. That we are reconciled with Heaven and earth and Christ reconciles all with each other and ultimately to His Father in Heaven
3. That the Eucharist reconciles us with God and with each other, this gift continues to reconcile because it is food for our spirits and reaches beyond the hour in church, infact reaches into eternity.
4. In reconciliation (confession), though by our very nature we fall and sin, HE AGAIN reconciles us with God and with each other. This brings peace also if we truly believe we have been healed of our sin and God loves us enough to do this.

And this is the reconciliation that is universal and if followed truly brings peace. Christ is the Prince of Peace.

God Bless you all and much love and peace to you xxx

Teresa

 

[csr]

Yes, per Christum Dominum nostrum some things are “reconciled”. Reconcile may mean ‘to make compatible’, ‘to bring into accord’, or ‘to accept as inevitable’. There are other shades of meaning. I took “opposites” as rather a broad term–and I felt it important to observe that stated as such it isn’t true. Of course we could stretch the meaning of “reconcile” to say that after all, falsehood gets called falsehood and is ‘reconciled’ to its true state, and so forth. This is the problem with imaginative theology: it opens the door to dangerous vagueness. To say that ‘opposites are reconciled’ is to imply dialectical madness, as “reconcile” would probably imply ‘to make compatible’. Christ doesn’t make truth and error “compatible”. I think the modern usage of reconcile is a bit misleading. If we poetically insert the word “reconcile” into every aspect of theology, we will probably end up confused.

 

[Pug]

Original poster’s statement makes me think immediately of “mystery”. How we never penetrate them, and how we have these doctrinal statements that provide the goalposts to stay between, and how we slowly reconcile ourselves to the mystery. The nature of Christ is the first one to come to my mind, man, God.

 

[Teresa9]

csr:

Yes, per Christum Dominum nostrum some things are “reconciled”. Reconcile may mean ‘to make compatible’, ‘to bring into accord’, or ‘to accept as inevitable’. There are other shades of meaning. I took “opposites” as rather a broad term–and I felt it important to observe that stated as such it isn’t true. Of course we could stretch the meaning of “reconcile” to say that after all, falsehood gets called falsehood and is ‘reconciled’ to its true state, and so forth. This is the problem with imaginative theology: it opens the door to dangerous vagueness. To say that ‘opposites are reconciled’ is to imply dialectical madness, as “reconcile” would probably imply ‘to make compatible’. Christ doesn’t make truth and error “compatible”. I think the modern usage of reconcile is a bit misleading. If we poetically insert the word “reconcile” into every aspect of theology, we will probably end up confused.

Dearest csr

I am not imagining doctrine nor am I introducing new doctrine as if I could , because it is way beyond my capabilities to even try. It is a mental exercise on the capacity of Christ to reconcile opposites. Peace can truly only come about through Christ and this is His reconciliation that does indeed reach out into all things, even reaching out into the darkness to illuminate it. Afterall the evil act is never left to stand alone as an evil act, good always responds to it to raise it into the light so to speak and in this is some reconciliation found. Even when evil seems to prevail it doesn’t because the battle between good and evil was won on the Cross by Christ and evil can never prevail over what is good again in it’s eternal sense and this is the reconciliation of Christ.

If we lose sight and hope in the capability of Christ Jesus to reconcile even the evil act to God and forgive it in the sacrament of confession then we lose sight of who Christ is, The Prince of Peace and this peace and reconciliation can only be born out of love.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[Teresa9]

Dearest Pug, thank you for your post, this is exactly what comes to me whenever I meditate on Christ, the depth of ‘mystery’ and when I was pondering reconciliation it occurred to me that this is one aspect of the ‘mystery’ (as you have so well put it) that is Christ. You are right that in Christ’s very nature is the first mystery of reconciliation in His very being of man and God. Thank you so much for your post pug.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Teresa9:

In Christ is the reconciliation of opposites…what does this statement mean to you?

Dear Teresa,

It reminds me of some teachings I heard from a pseudo-eastern thinker who talked about “polar thinking.” It is a little bit like the thinking of yin and yang. The fact is, every way we have to describe something is in contrast to what it is not. For example, we would not know what “light” is unless we also knew “dark,” and vice versa. Like a fish in water, if you have nothing to compare it to, you do not notice or contemplate the water.

Similarly, you would not know forgiveness unless you knew guilt, as shown in Luke 7:47 " So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Also in verses 41-43, “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Opposites are complimentary, but they occur together in nature. There is no magnet with just a north pole, but a north and a south. If you hold a stick vertically, there is a top end and a bottom end. If you try to break the top end off, instead of getting rid of the top end now you have two sticks, each with its own top end and bottom end. There is no up without down, no over without under, etc.

Jesus showed this theme many times. He took long held beliefs and showed the people how to consider the exact opposite. First, the idea that a great King would be born in meager circumstances was quite an oxymoron. Jesus taught that the one who is least will be greatest in His kingdom. The last shall be first. The greatest among you is the one who serves. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you will have no life within you. He who exalts himself shall be humbled. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Maybe this isn’t so much “reconciling” opposites as it is “juxtaposing” opposites in some cases, or at least opposite thoughts. I think Jesus was trying to shake them out of the culturally ingrained narrow way of thinking.

Another way to look at Jesus reconciling opposites would be reconciling the temporal body and eternal soul, the mortal and the divine. St. Francis’ pray and the Beatitudes also switch concepts around with their opposites…

Also there is no concept of “self” unless there is an “other.” If you want to be part of one body, you must lose the sense of self, and therefore lose the sense of other and be unified. I see this in several passages where Jesus says, “whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, whoever loses his life for my sake will preserve it,” and I thought there was one about “dying to yourself” but I can’t find it. Just like Christ’s own death, John 12:24 “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”

Then there is the dichotomy that the one who knows the most sorrow can know the most joy. Jesus changed Paul from a great persecutor to a great evangelist. Maybe this is why God hates the lukewarm, if he turns them into their opposite they are still lukewarm!

I would love to discuss this further, but I’ll pause here to find out if this is anything like what you were thinking before I go on.

Alan

 

[Teresa9]

Dearest Alan

This is exactly what I am thinking, but I don’t think I could have ever put it so well! Thank you so much.

In my first efforts to think about this it was when I was thinking of God making humanity male and female and the opposite roles they have, but that they require each other and indeed compliment each other, one cannot exist without the other and life cannot be born without the other, in God’s plan of procreation. I didn’t think on this long before I realised this could be universally applied throughout nature and creation as you have said and then indeed to all acts whether evil or good, they can indeed be reconciled. As I am using the word reconciled (maybe it is the wrong word in some situations) I mean it in the sense of either negating an act, confirming an act as ‘good’ all in a perception of reconciliation to God and the Holy Trinity. This then led me to think upon why God allows evil in the world (such as the suffering of innocents), is this to reconcile evil to Himself so that it cannot prevail on earth and through, in and by His Son that suffering and evil cannot prevail into eternity.

Now I’m giving myself a headache thinking about it and alot of thoughts are entering my head!! So I’ll stop here and see what you think, it will help me to clarify I know because you understand perfectly the concept I am exploring here.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa