"I wish to argue that this founding event—which I will explore as we go along—is not concerned with a set of beliefs concerning the world, but rather calls us to enter into a different way of existing within the world. The good news of Christianity—that is to say the life-giving event harbored within the tradition—is not an invitation to join an exclusive party. Indeed, as I hope to show, this good news involves discovering that those parties aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, and that there is a way of celebrating life that is more authentic, enriching, and healing than anything we might find through membership to some special club." PR
I read books like "The Divine Magician for the following reasons:
My faith trajectory needs a little support
My mental discoveries need some affirmation
My insecurities need to die
"When a child goes to college there’s always a threat that she might learn new ideas and come back with a very different way of viewing the world—a way that might threaten the fabric of the traditions that once comforted her." PR
I feel alone on my journey, but the evidence is overwhelming that I am not. I am not the only person who has looked at the traditions she came from and put a big question mark in front of them. I am not the only person looking for a narrative that makes more sense than the one that resembles more of a worn out hand-me-down sweater. I am not the only one trying to find authenticity in a world of stage plays.
"Faith not only demands that we create systems, but reminds us that any structure we form is ultimately made for people; people are not made for the structure. Faith thus demands that we both form views and opinions about how best to live in the world and acknowledge that these views need to be fluid, open, and rethought in relation to new situations." PR
There is a term known as "shit-disturbing" that has its origin in the back of the farmyard. Over the years, piles of manure collect as the farmer continues to add to the pile. Then one day, that farmer wants to take that manure and spread it on the field. The process of disturbing releases a powerful odour. This is known as "shit disturbing".
What may turn away someone from the putrid smell, will also be a catalyst for growth. For only when the shit is disturbed and spread on the ground, can true growth occur.
Christianity, as a religious system, does not aim to transform the way we believe, but strives to mold and shape the content of our beliefs. What is judged here to be of prime importance is the actual belief that one affirms. So those who agree are deemed “saved,” and those who disagree are at best heretics, or at worst “lost.” PR
I am spending a lot of time mining the manure piles of this world (shit disturbing). This is the stuff that may stink to the one not familiar with it, but when added to the ground of my life, I am hopeful for amazing growth. In the end, it doesn't matter what ideology I embrace, what creed I sign off on, what language I speak or how I imagine the cosmos... what matters is how I love in this world.
'And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'
When Paul writes against “hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world,” he is making it clear that the life of faith is not some worldview that can be learned in school. One could have the perfect philosophy and still be nothing but a clanging cymbal. PR
I think I could stop reading now and have my conclusion on how my life will best be spend. I think I figured that out quite a few books ago. But I keep reading and I keep getting reminded that Love is the ultimate of everything.
Thank you Peter Rollins. This was a great read and it has helped me more to understand that there is still value in the narrative, even through I am 2000 years past a story that I can't prove in my mind. Maybe it is a waste of time to wade in the murky waters of proof and evidence, when I can swim in a much bigger ocean of Faith, Hope and above all LOVE!!! .
"The word supernatural is almost universally tied to a religious worldview. Regardless of whether we affirm the supernatural or deny it, the term seems inextricably and necessarily connected with belief in higher powers. Interestingly, however, this religious definition of the supernatural is concerned almost only with the purely natural realm. For instance, miracles are ascribed to physical occurrences like a resuscitation of someone who was dead or the feeding of a vast crowd with a few loaves of bread and a handful of fish.
In contrast, there is a different way of approaching the supernatural, one that doesn’t see it as describing a change in the natural realm, but rather as describing a change in how we interact with the natural realm (hence supernatural). This is a view of the supernatural that can be affirmed by the theist and the atheist alike." PR
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