So, I know I haven't written anything in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking anything. Anyone who knows me will tell you that is never a problem. I've been thinking a lot about society, and christianity. Mostly about how they are supposed to go together. Reading that book by Martin Luther is really helping too, I don't have it on me, but I've already highlighted several things from it. He said something that really grabbed me because it was something I'd been thinking about a lot which is the fact that everything of substance has a direct association with God. In otherwords, for something to really exist God had to create it. If God didn't create sin then sin doesn't really exist. When I was listening to the Advance 09 conference there was a running theme about idols and how they skew and misdirect our relationship with God and with things. For idoloatry to occur faith must be misplaced and redirected from God to a thing. I think that once this happens whatever that thing happens to be it ceases to be a created thing in the mind of the idolater and somehow takes on the aseity of God. But if you consider that if God didn't create it, then it doesn't exist that means however the idol looks in the persons mind, it ceases to be real. So, if I idolize women and think that they are going to solve all of my problems, ect, I cease to know anything about real women. I don't know anything about their true nature because they only have a true nature under the created framework that God has given them; a framework that I do not see because I don't aknowledge God in them. Another example would be money, if I am greedy and only care about money that means I have no idea what the true function of money is in the grand scheme of the created order of things.
Anyway, that was probably confusing. I think it confused me too, but I don't have time to fix it right now. I will probably edit/add more to this later.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
i think you would enjoy reading thomas aquinas's treatise on happiness and soren kirkegaard's fear and trembling if you havent. they elucidate many of the implications derived from the concept you write about. also, for futher contemplation on the role of Christianity and society look no further than Karol Wojtyla's love and responsibility. He pretty much explains/ solves everything in there. These are all fairly fascinating works especially since (i see you are a mwY fan) alot of the philosophy and theology in aaron weiss's lyrics are based on these works. some are kind of dense but theyre worth it.
ReplyDeleteps. read love and responsibility after you read the aforementioned pieces if you decide venture into them. as wojtyla's work is essentially a continuation and supplementation to aquinas the intellectual rewards are far greater if it is understood through/in concert with treatise on happiness.
ReplyDelete