25 Oct '09 03:53>1 edit
…only because I’d value your insight here—
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On another thread, I recently said that I have no idea who the “true” Christians are, or what that entails. So many people who claim the label disagree, and denounce one another.
My primary differences with what I would call conventional (generally Protestant) Christians seem to be the following:
(1) Non-dualism. If God is defined as a being of some kind (e.g., supernatural/extra-natural), then we are at philosophical loggerheads at the get-go. If God is the “ground of being”—ala Paul Tillich or Meister Eckhart or others (St. Gregory of Nyssa, maybe)—then we can talk.
(2) Love (agape). It has become apparent that I take a much more radical (though perhaps less generalized) view of love than do most Christians.
(3) Salvation. The Greek Orthodox (who have not had to translate the original language of the NT) have a much stronger sense of “salvation” (soterias) as healing (soterias)—note the sameness of the words!—than have western Christians generally. They also have retained a sense of “sin” (hamartia) as being related to “illusion” (plani). This ought to trigger some associations…
(4) The Christ. I think the Christ is the logos incarnate, and hence is more universal than just Jesus—which does not exclude his realization. (Again, I might invoke Gregory of Nyssa, as well as Justin Martyr).
Well, maybe that will do for a start…
________________________________________________________
On another thread, I recently said that I have no idea who the “true” Christians are, or what that entails. So many people who claim the label disagree, and denounce one another.
My primary differences with what I would call conventional (generally Protestant) Christians seem to be the following:
(1) Non-dualism. If God is defined as a being of some kind (e.g., supernatural/extra-natural), then we are at philosophical loggerheads at the get-go. If God is the “ground of being”—ala Paul Tillich or Meister Eckhart or others (St. Gregory of Nyssa, maybe)—then we can talk.
(2) Love (agape). It has become apparent that I take a much more radical (though perhaps less generalized) view of love than do most Christians.
(3) Salvation. The Greek Orthodox (who have not had to translate the original language of the NT) have a much stronger sense of “salvation” (soterias) as healing (soterias)—note the sameness of the words!—than have western Christians generally. They also have retained a sense of “sin” (hamartia) as being related to “illusion” (plani). This ought to trigger some associations…
(4) The Christ. I think the Christ is the logos incarnate, and hence is more universal than just Jesus—which does not exclude his realization. (Again, I might invoke Gregory of Nyssa, as well as Justin Martyr).
Well, maybe that will do for a start…