Quotation from Dosteyevsky

 

 

 

 

This quotation from Dovesteyvesky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” is used by Jeffrey Robbins in his introduction to the superb  book  “After the Death of God”  , that includes essays and interviews with John Caputo and Gianni Vattimo.

The Kingdom of God is….

 

 

 

 

 

An excerpt from the remarkable book , “The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event”  written by John Caputo

 

 

This post forms part of a syncroblog on the “Kingdom of God”, please note the links to the  other participants below:

• Susan Barnes (Christian currently attending a Baptist church) of Abooklook on My kingdom goes
• Timothy Victor (Christian) of Tim Victor’s Musings on The reign of Godde
• Ronald van der Bergh (Dutch Reformed) of Ronalds Footnotes on Notes on “the Kingdom of God” in the New Testament
• Nic Paton (fundamentalist, charismatic, liberationist, apophatic, heterodox) of soundandsilence on The “Kingdom”: of God?
• Beth Patterson (Non churched follower of Christ) of Virtual Tea House on What it’s like rather than what it is
• Jeff Goins (Non-denominational Christian) of Pilgrimage of the Heart on The Kingdom of God: Now and Not Yet
• Phil Wyman (Non-denominational Christian) of Square No More on Jesus as the Archetype Shaman (Part 2): A Nostalgia for Paradise
• Stephen Hayes (Orthodox Christian) of Khanya on Kingdom, power and glory

A Prayer for the Kingdom

     

 

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This prayer is an excerpt from the wonderful book , “The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event”  written by John Caputo

A quotation from Dante’s Inferno

 

“Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita

mi ritrovai per una selva oscura

ché la diritta via era smarrita.”

 

“Midway in the journey of our life

I came to myself in a dark wood,

for the straight way was lost.”

 

 

A quotation from “The way of Paradox”

 

 

“The Christian religion is a religion of the flesh.  The human body is not merely a tiresome burden which we have to carry, a dark, heavy prison in which a radiant spiritual soul is locked up as punishment until it gains release in death.  It has a central part to play in our journey to God.  Until we have experienced its tug, its weight and resistance, there is no spiritual life possible for us.  There are lessons for us to learn, experiences for us to undergo, which can come to us only through the body. ”

 

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This quotation is take from the Book “The way of Paradox: Spiritual life as taught by Meister Eckhart” Written by Cyprian Smith OSB

This posting was in response to a post seen at “Art of the Spirit” on Hildergard of Bingen: Illness and  creative purpose. I would encourage you to read this and view the video by Matthew Fox.

 

 

 

Another gem from Jim….

 

To trust grace is to know that the world has already been saved by Jesus Christ…

Grace saves the prophetic vocation. The knowledge and experience of grace can ease the seriousness with which we tend to take ourselves. Grace can restore humility, our sense of humour, and our ability to laugh at ourselves. All regularly needed by the prophets. Only sinners make good prophets.

Taken from the New Radical by Jim Wallis

What happened to the new radical in me?

                   

 As a student in the mid 1980’s the New Radical by Jim Wallis influenced me like no other book. The book was a gift from a mentor/friend.  Over the last twenty years I lost contact with this friend and the vision of Jim Wallis. It is amazing to find myself coming full circle as I once again seek the experience of Godde in my life.

I recently found my copy. It was with other old books that had been stored away years ago in the ceiling of my home. It is moth-eaten, mouse-eaten, faded and full of character.

As I turned the pages, memories came flooding back as I had underlined and written short comments all over the book.

Below is an abstract from my copy that is as sadly relevant today as 25 years ago…..

Quote of the week…..

 

I turned the page on my diary this morning. ( yes, the type that you write in with a pen!!) I looked down to the bottom of the page and read the quote of the week……….

    “The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one’s self to others.”     Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Obama win gives hope.

 

I have to admit that I have been caught up by the US elections. I listened this morning to Barack Obama’s “victory” speech live on CNN and was filled with hope.

I’m presently reading a book by Marcus Borg called JESUS: Uncovering the life. teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary.  Borg says that God’s primary characteristic is compassion and God’s passion is Justice. Here’s a short quotation from the book….

“I emphasise the political significance of God’s compassion because compassion can be heard as primarily an ethic for relationships between individuals, or as something added on to society as charity for those who need help, as in the phrase familiar in our time “compassionate conservatism”.  But it is not so in the Bible or for Jesus.  Rather, justice is the political form of compassion, the social form of love, a compassionate justice grounded in God as compassionate.”

My prayer is that the 44th US president will  be filled with compassionate justice. 

 

Knowledge vs. Love

All rational creatures, whether angels or men,

have within them the capacity to know

and the capacity to love.

 

In the exercise of the power of knowledge

God must ever remain incomprehensible.

 

Whereas, in the exercise of love

he may be fully comprehended.

  

So much so that a loving soul,

by virtue of love, may comprehend him

who is all sufficient to fill all the souls of men

and angels that could ever be.

 

This is the marvellous unending miracle of love.

 

Abstract from: The cloud of Unknowing

Quotation from Meister Eckhart

  

  

          ” God is neither this nor that.”

 

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Quotation from Peter Rollins

  

“We need then to rediscover Christianity as a religion without religion that focuses upon the miracle of faith as that which transforms our subjectivity to such an extent that we do not need the law (which causes us to move towards sin), but which overcomes the law with love. For love fulfils the law by transcending it. Here everything is permissible even though not everything is beneficial.”

Book: The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a church beyond belief

(I highly recommend this book by Peter Rollins)