I'm now fully embarked on Historical Theology by Gregg R. Allison. I find it to be a very good book because it doesn't have a trace of "I'm a hot shot scholar and this is my big work" but is just a solid rendition of historical theology, and it feels complete. It has 33 chapters, so I'm just going from chapter to chapter straight through. I've already learned a lot in the first two chapters which encourages me to read it all.
But in the first chapter he has a useful chart, which I can't replicate here obviously, showing the relationship of all the types of theology. There are five: historical theology, exegetical theology, biblical theology, systematic theology, and practical theology.
Exegetical and biblical theology really are the foundational work that becomes systematic theology, so I can include them in 'systematic theology.'
So if you want to get a complete understanding of theology you learn systematic theology. Then you learn historical theology (which is not foundational to systematic theology, the Bible is foundational to systematic theology, but it is how each doctrine developed in time and thus gives a grounding of sorts to systematic theology).
Then, the mysterious practical theology. Practical theology is just what it sounds like. Practical doing. Spiritual formation. This is where the ideas, practices, and goals of the Work reside. It is also where other schools, mystical schools, Eastern Orthodox ways, etc. reside. Spiritual warfare resides in practical theology. Etc.
So see it like this:
Historical Theology > Systematic Theology > Practical Theology
This helps to see in perspective where the Work resides vis-a-vis Christianity in general.
12.17.2011
12.16.2011
C Influence
I've been reading the Wisdom of Solomon (part of the Apocrypha originally included between the Old and New Testaments in the King James Version), and it is really a 19 chapter long almost hymn to Wisdom personified as a woman (as is the case in the Book of Proverbs as well) and goes through the early history of the Israelites from the perspective of Wisdom.
Christians traditionally (and with some biblical warrant) have decided to just see this personification of Wisdom as being Jesus.
But it got me thinking about the old problem of correlating the Work teaching with the biblical.
So I listed all the sources of higher influence, and here is what I came up with:
Jesus
The Holy Spirit
Wisdom
Angels
C Influence
[and I'll add]
Olympian gods and goddesses
the Muses
Inspiration
So then I was trying to separate each one regarding different types of higher influence, but here is the main point of what I'm saying here: I concluded that the Work language was intentional (and brilliant) in labeling higher influence as C Influence. (The 'C' part isn't really supposed to stand for 'conscious', yet C Influence is conscious influence, and there is only one source for what is conscious and that is God Himself.) Because it all comes from the same source ultimately, God, and that simplifies and takes unnecessary imagination or empty romantic (or whatever) speculation out of it.
But anyway, just seeing higher influence as C Influence makes it so you don't have to worry about trying to differentiate the source, as long as the source is ultimately God. And Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is God, Wisdom is Jesus personified as a woman (strange, but there it is), angels are messengers of God. (And Olympian gods and goddesses and the Muses are really just poetic depictions of the above. As for the word Inspiration, it really means what comes from the Holy Spirit as well.)
C Influence is conscious influence - pure - not constrained in its action by time or place.
Of course B Influences *contain* some C Influence, but it is mixed with A Influence, and some B Influences have more of C Influence in them than others.
To receive C Influence pure you have to be in at least the third state of consciousness, or self-consciousness, or self-remembering.
I brought up prayer awhile back in this context. Think how much more effective prayer will be when done in the third state of consciousness. Also, think of how Jesus said fasting effects the power of prayer, and 'fasting' is a metaphor for non-identifying.
I also think healing can happen more effectively if you are in the third state of consciousness and able to be reached by the forces that can heal. But I wouldn't want to tempt God on that speculation, just have it as something to think about.
Christians traditionally (and with some biblical warrant) have decided to just see this personification of Wisdom as being Jesus.
But it got me thinking about the old problem of correlating the Work teaching with the biblical.
So I listed all the sources of higher influence, and here is what I came up with:
Jesus
The Holy Spirit
Wisdom
Angels
C Influence
[and I'll add]
Olympian gods and goddesses
the Muses
Inspiration
So then I was trying to separate each one regarding different types of higher influence, but here is the main point of what I'm saying here: I concluded that the Work language was intentional (and brilliant) in labeling higher influence as C Influence. (The 'C' part isn't really supposed to stand for 'conscious', yet C Influence is conscious influence, and there is only one source for what is conscious and that is God Himself.) Because it all comes from the same source ultimately, God, and that simplifies and takes unnecessary imagination or empty romantic (or whatever) speculation out of it.
But anyway, just seeing higher influence as C Influence makes it so you don't have to worry about trying to differentiate the source, as long as the source is ultimately God. And Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is God, Wisdom is Jesus personified as a woman (strange, but there it is), angels are messengers of God. (And Olympian gods and goddesses and the Muses are really just poetic depictions of the above. As for the word Inspiration, it really means what comes from the Holy Spirit as well.)
C Influence is conscious influence - pure - not constrained in its action by time or place.
Of course B Influences *contain* some C Influence, but it is mixed with A Influence, and some B Influences have more of C Influence in them than others.
To receive C Influence pure you have to be in at least the third state of consciousness, or self-consciousness, or self-remembering.
I brought up prayer awhile back in this context. Think how much more effective prayer will be when done in the third state of consciousness. Also, think of how Jesus said fasting effects the power of prayer, and 'fasting' is a metaphor for non-identifying.
I also think healing can happen more effectively if you are in the third state of consciousness and able to be reached by the forces that can heal. But I wouldn't want to tempt God on that speculation, just have it as something to think about.
12.15.2011
Spiritual formation
I was doing searches on Practical Theology and came upon the term 'spiritual formation' being used a lot. Basically by this term the mainstream church is wrestling with the fact that is lacks a practical element in what it is doing. The Work would be an example of a system of spiritual formation (but only if connected to the commands and teachings of Christ).
Here is an article that gives a good sense of why the mainstream church is skeptical of 'spiritual formation' and also why it needs it:
http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=81
* * * * * * *
This really is where we see the intersection of the Work and Christianity. There is nothing new under the sun, so it follows that there would be some connection. The key to seeing it is in how the mainstream church has perverted, so to speak, the discipline of Practical Theology. They have really buried it, first, but then redefined it to mean 'pastor studies' and what not. Yet it is what it sounds like it is: taking systematic theology to the practical, doing level.
Now it's being called spiritual formation. To get a good sense of what is going on with it just google the two words spiritual formation and follow the links.
Here is an article that gives a good sense of why the mainstream church is skeptical of 'spiritual formation' and also why it needs it:
http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=81
* * * * * * *
This really is where we see the intersection of the Work and Christianity. There is nothing new under the sun, so it follows that there would be some connection. The key to seeing it is in how the mainstream church has perverted, so to speak, the discipline of Practical Theology. They have really buried it, first, but then redefined it to mean 'pastor studies' and what not. Yet it is what it sounds like it is: taking systematic theology to the practical, doing level.
Now it's being called spiritual formation. To get a good sense of what is going on with it just google the two words spiritual formation and follow the links.
Spiritual formation
I was doing searches on Practical Theology and came upon the term 'spiritual formation' being used a lot. Basically by this term the mainstream church is wrestling with the fact that is lacks a practical element in what it is doing. The Work would be an example of a system of spiritual formation (but only if connected to the commands and teachings of Christ).
Here is an article that gives a good sense of why the mainstream church is skeptical of 'spiritual formation' and also why it needs it:
http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=81
Here is an article that gives a good sense of why the mainstream church is skeptical of 'spiritual formation' and also why it needs it:
http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=81
Found a connection between C. S. Lewis and Ouspensky
This is from the book Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Michael Ward:
"He [Lewis] was a keen amateur astronomer who had a telescope on the balcony of his bedroom and enjoyed visiting the Oxford observatory. He knew about such things as Venus' Albedo and was conversant with the broad outlines of the work of such figures in in astronomy and physics as Schiaparelli, Ball, Jeans, Eddington, Schrodinger (his Magdalen colleague, and Hoyle, as well as that of more speculative writers such as Dunne, Abbott, Hinton, and Ouspenski."
In a footnote I was led to a book called We Remember C. S. Lewis (ed. Graham):
http://www.amazon.com/We-Remember-C-S-Lewis-Memoirs/dp/0805422994/ref=lh_ni_t
and was surprised to find that J. I. Packer apparently knew him and wrote an essay for the book. There is also another reference to Ouspenski vis-a-vis C. S. Lewis on page 112. Nothing more than a bare reference though.
"He [Lewis] was a keen amateur astronomer who had a telescope on the balcony of his bedroom and enjoyed visiting the Oxford observatory. He knew about such things as Venus' Albedo and was conversant with the broad outlines of the work of such figures in in astronomy and physics as Schiaparelli, Ball, Jeans, Eddington, Schrodinger (his Magdalen colleague, and Hoyle, as well as that of more speculative writers such as Dunne, Abbott, Hinton, and Ouspenski."
In a footnote I was led to a book called We Remember C. S. Lewis (ed. Graham):
http://www.amazon.com/We-Remember-C-S-Lewis-Memoirs/dp/0805422994/ref=lh_ni_t
and was surprised to find that J. I. Packer apparently knew him and wrote an essay for the book. There is also another reference to Ouspenski vis-a-vis C. S. Lewis on page 112. Nothing more than a bare reference though.
12.06.2011
Law and Gospel
The Law. (The power of sin in fallen man.)
You have to see the Law as a manifestation of all the sin and events and forces of sin in the world. What you move in and come up against. Also all that is the spirit of Satan in fallen human nature; the accusing, shaming, moralizing, projection of guilt, policing of environments to maintain the fear of man, respecting of persons and all the rest of it, it is the Law manifesting through people collectively, becoming a real, tangible, monstrous thing. Sexual energy, to all degrees of drunkenness and violence, is its currency and blood. This is the Law as it effects and works through fallen human beings. This is the Law as the power of sin. (Rom. 1:25-32*)
The Gospel (To be separated unto.)
The Gospel is the Law defeated. The curse overthrown. Death and darkness and the drunkenness of violence and concupiscence made ineffective; a mad show that no longer engulfs. Attacks, yes, but no longer engulfs. To be separated unto the Gospel is to be made free of the Law and the power of sin.
+ + + + + + +
Rom. 2:1-2** thus refers to fallen man described above. Fallen man who collectively acts out the monstrous presence of the Law defiled and turned upside-down as it is in the heart of fallen and corrupt man. Beating out the power of sin, and engulfing the world in the wild and banal-lascivious and bloody hold of the Kingdom of Satan. Ultimately sacrificing human suffering and death to that Kingdom.
+ + + + + + +
* Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
** Rom 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
Rom 2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
You have to see the Law as a manifestation of all the sin and events and forces of sin in the world. What you move in and come up against. Also all that is the spirit of Satan in fallen human nature; the accusing, shaming, moralizing, projection of guilt, policing of environments to maintain the fear of man, respecting of persons and all the rest of it, it is the Law manifesting through people collectively, becoming a real, tangible, monstrous thing. Sexual energy, to all degrees of drunkenness and violence, is its currency and blood. This is the Law as it effects and works through fallen human beings. This is the Law as the power of sin. (Rom. 1:25-32*)
The Gospel (To be separated unto.)
The Gospel is the Law defeated. The curse overthrown. Death and darkness and the drunkenness of violence and concupiscence made ineffective; a mad show that no longer engulfs. Attacks, yes, but no longer engulfs. To be separated unto the Gospel is to be made free of the Law and the power of sin.
+ + + + + + +
Rom. 2:1-2** thus refers to fallen man described above. Fallen man who collectively acts out the monstrous presence of the Law defiled and turned upside-down as it is in the heart of fallen and corrupt man. Beating out the power of sin, and engulfing the world in the wild and banal-lascivious and bloody hold of the Kingdom of Satan. Ultimately sacrificing human suffering and death to that Kingdom.
+ + + + + + +
* Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
** Rom 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
Rom 2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
