Posted on 06/12/2005 7:27:56 PM PDT by betty boop
Of course I cannot speak for ZC, but there are some Christian confessions that are getting increasingly interested in Jewish theology and tradition, observing the Sabbaths and Feasts etc.
I am curious to know your interest, ZC - whether it is like the above or Messianic Jewish, Jewish, Kabbalah (ancient or new age) - etc.
Now theres a mouthful.. ultimate reality..
All of which rests on the fundamental fact that without the Patriarchs and the Prophets, Christianity itself would make very little sense.
I can't imagine there are many Christians out there who have not read the Torah -- the Mosaic law of the first five books of the Old Testament otherwise known as the Pentateuch.
The word "torah" itself means "law" (turath).
Alamo-Girl, here's something I'm wondering about. You know how I love the classical Greeks, for "discovering" reason and "putting it on the map"; and thus, along with it, "natural philosophy."
The striking prophetic developments in Jerusalem were fairly contemporaneous with the noetic outburst in Athens. If we can say that the classical Greeks discovered the foundations of modern science, then I think we can equivalently say that the ancient Jews discovered the foundations of the historical method. The history of Western civilization tells us that both disciplines have been needful, even indispensable, to account for where we are now. Both science and history being "evolutionary developments." Or so it seems to me.
What alone stays the same always are God's Will and Truth, the "divine measure," according to which judgment is meted out, presaging the culling to come.
"People get ready, there's a train a-coming
You don't need no ticket, just get on-board...."
Thank you so much, dear sister, for your constant kind words of encouragement.
LOLOL! Ultimate reality v. what? Ordinary reality?
Thank you for including me in your ping. The Word of the Lord is the most important thing, the standard, the way, the truth, the light, the knowledge of God. Refusing this men will perish in their sins. By faith in Jesus Christ I have been given an intense love for The Word of God and it lives in me like John leaping in the womb of his mother Elizabeth at the presence of Jesus the Son! The Lord God Almighty has made Himself known--what grace to fallen man.
By the way, the article is dead on.
Thank you! (:
You are quite welcome. Thanks for your steady example of boosting Christ, btw ....
Thank you. Love your profile.
It has already been done. From your tagline, I expect you would call the publication, "Torah".
No joke.. Theres other ways of saying ordinary reality.. The concept of 1st and 2nd reality can be observed other ways.. Reality can be observed from various angles with the same or different results, I mean.. Perception and conception vs. Reality and Modality..
Anyway; observeing reality with human senses can miss a lot as can observing reality with intellectual prowess.. Reality is Not limited by those things.. A Frog in a well, straining to understand, greatest feat is to realize that "he" is just a Frog in a well.. commanding humility..
Maybe thats what being a human(frog) is all about.. Wearing proper humility as clothing so you/he can appreciate the ultimate clothier.. when the fitting comes.. and Bride of Christ kisses the frog to reveal the handsome Prince hidden inside..
Whoa.. this froggie just nodded off for a bit.. Sorry.. LoL..
Froggie dreams, What a concept...
Hi A-G! Actually I'm not pleased with the "historical method" terminology in the above. I was struggling to express the idea that the Jews were the first in all humanity to conceive of history as a significant dimension of life in all ages. And they were able to construct histories because they stood in direct relation to the One God of the Torah: His Eternity provided the context in which the unfolding of the human record in historical time could proceed. (The ancient Greeks were the next cultural group to pick up on the writing of history.)
But of course, the writing of history is not the only legacy we have from Israel, let alone the most important one. The main thing is the spiritual revelation to the People of Israel by their God, and their subsequent ability to enter into direct spiritual communication and relationship with Him. After this, God is "personalized," not some mere abstraction. And the Logos is the manifestation of His Will, as the Word of the Beginning ("Let there be Light!") and (for Christians) the Son of God.
St. Justin Martyr integrated the spiritual insights of the Jews and the metaphysics of classical Athens. From this we may recognize that revelation and reason are the foundations of Christian theology. We know this from St. Justin, and from St. Augustine as well. And so i think reason and revelation are not antithetical; they are complementary.
Anyhoot, I regard Israel as the esteemed "elder brother" who is in my prayers.
Thank you so much for writing, dear sister!
nothing sadder than watching aging scientific materialists crowded together on the "tip of the iceberg", which is rapidly melting out from under them!
my favorite "the world is far more complicated than we think" anecdote involves an interesting fact that occured in england before and after WWII.
it seems the milkmen would deliver milk at everyone's doorstep early in the morning, and sparrows or other small birds learned how to poke through the top of the bottle and drink the cream off the top. by the outset of WWII, this was happening throughout england.
after the war started, the british government made the dairies stop delivering milk, for a variety of reasons, and that is the way things remained until the war was over. this means that milk was not delivered to homes for five, six or more years, by which time all the birds who had known how break through the top of the bottle to get the cream would have died of old age, and one, two or more generations of these birds passed.
so, later in the 1940's milk delivers resumed, and guess what? almost overnight, everywhere in england the birds relearned how to get the cream from the top of the bottle, almost as if the interruption of deliveries had never happened.
so, the question is, where did the knowledge to pick through the top of the milk bottle reside between the generations of birds?
Excellent metaphor.. High three.. (five is a contract) and I barely know you.. d;-)..
I am very glad to have been pinged to that worthy post!
Speculations on the philosophy of science are always entertaining, especially to those of us who don't do science as a vocation, although it seems actual scientists are usually just too busy to get into it in a serious way.
Well done paper, even if hard to grasp his comments.
Although no comments are made about religion, a noted theologian-professor of mine has commented that the whole of theological higher criticism is based on an assumption of God (if there is one) totally separate and apart from this world, and being unable to directly interact or communicate with it and us...let alone being able to become a human being--Jesus Christ. This is called transcendence without immanance.
Perhaps one thing the left has in common with Moslems.
Drew in this article seems to see the same thing in his "Cartesian split."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.