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More On Free Will
I no sooner finished posting this – when I stumbled into this little video. By the way Dr. Kaku’s physics programes on TV in the UK are great viewing if you’ve never seen him before. The video overlaps with the New Scientist article & video discussed in the previous post, but adds a new twist [...]
Free Will?
Free will is a core belief in Christianity – that is of course unless you are of the Augustinian bent. Indeed fatalism (or to use a more appropriate contemporary term – determinism) is considered sinful by late antique Christian writers. Recent explorations in to the nature of free will have shown that when you undermine [...]
Social Media – A Reformation In Religious Participation?
A fascinating video from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly about how social media is changing the way we interact with our religious communities. What grabbed my attention was the comparison (towards the end) between the introduction of the printing press (a new technology), the reformation, and what might be happening in the life of Christian communities [...]
Japan: The Crisis Is Not Christian Nor Atheist But Human
The other day I saw a retweet of a tweet on twitter that urged people not to donate to Christian charities – for the relief effort in Japan needs “blankets and food, not boxes of bibles & Fundamentalist propaganda”. A little digging revealed that the author was a self-professed Atheist fundamentalist. I had to laugh. [...]
Independent Catholicism & The Problem of Niche Culture
I’ve been doing some research in preparation for a possible paper on Vilatte and have been struck by the regular appearance of ethnicity as a theme in the early history of the OC/IC movement. It has me wondering what – if any - is the legacy of “ethnicity” in the contemporary movement? When Vilatte was [...]
Are You Offended By Art Collectors?
The other day Menachem Wecker tweeted a fun question: question for my Catholic friends… would u be offended if non-Catholic collected rosaries (as religious art)? First – in playing with this question – lets put it into an Eastern rite Indie setting and replace rosary with chjotki. I think it is a similar swap – [...]
Revisiting Manifestos
Back in August, having just handed in the official final draft of the thesis, I wrote asking what you would include in an “Indie Manifesto”. I found myself asking the question in relation to a number of sites I visited in the morning trawl that had manifestos of their own. I observed that these manifestos [...]
A Refreshingly Different Take On Gnosticism
I’ve long argued that “Gnosticism” or as I generally refer to it “neo-gnosticism” has no place in the Indie community. It is, has been, and will always be, antithetical to Christian teaching and praxis. Tom Write, the Anglican bishop of Durham, offers in this video a wonderfully refreshing take on Gnosticism. Tweet
Research Tools For Indie Scholarship
I’m a huge fan (read pusher) of home-grown scholarship in the Independent Catholic community. I’ve argued many times on this blog that we “appropriate” too much from other traditions without necessarily thinking it through in our own context. I also think that with the availability of modern technology it is now, more than ever before, [...]
Pseudo-science Is Pernicious
We should be as intolerant of pseudo-science, as we are of homophobia, and racism – so says Sir John Beddington the UK government’s Chief Science Advisor – and I could not agree with him more! Why should this matter to a theologian? Well to start with I live with a scientist (who is also a [...]
More On Pseudochristianophobia
Philip Jenkins one of “America’s top religion writers” speaking in Charlotte, NC last Sunday described how Christianity is growing rapidly in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. I think we all knew that bit – but what grabbed my attention was this: “right now, the three most Christian regions in the world are Europe, Latin America [...]
Hauerwas’ 10 Theses: Springboard For OC/IC Engagement & Reform?
Ekklesia has an interesting post today outlining Stanley Hauerwas’ Ten Theses about the church as social ethic; inviting reflection & engagement. Barrow observes that Haurwas’ theses assume that the ekklesia is a wholly voluntary community, and that its total independence from the state liberates Christians to best realise their vocation as believers.This is nothing new [...]
Broken Link? Apostolic Succession & The Church Inerrant
I have been doing some research with the aim of writing an essay on Apostolic Succession in an OC/IC context. I’ve been doing some reading in the 19th century background – on the theory that it set the tone for indie discussion and “use” of Apostolic Succession that we still (unconsciously) use today. I came [...]
Hating God
I came across this essay by Bernard Schweizer, author of Hating God: The Untold Story of Miostheism in this morning’s trawl. In it he describes a little discussed category of what he calls “misotheism” or hating God. It is not Atheism – because as he points out an atheist cannot reasonably hate something that he [...]
Bread
Bread is a core symbole of the sacramental Christian tradition. We use it in the liturgy, and its symbolic value is freqnently cited in Scripture. This is the same recipie we use for making prosphora (bread for the liturgy) – sans sugar (which is optional anyway). What does your community do? Tweet
Discipline, Structure, Leadership – An Indie Dilemma
It is not an earth shatteringly new “concept” or observation, but Bp. Alan’s note yesterday about leadership – in particular leadership in the context of Christian praxis is well worth playing with. At every level, including Primatial shenanigans among people who should know better, there is a profound gap between sincere faith with enthusiasm and [...]
Commemoration of J. I. Döllinger
Döllinger (d. 10 Jan. 1890) was a leading theologian of the late 19th century he spoke up for the “Old Catholic party” of southern & central Europe giving voice to concerns that developments in Roman Catholicicm were taking the faith in a direction not supported by scholarship or tradition. While Döllinger was not the “founder” [...]
Re-decorating (Still) – An Opportunity To Express Evolving I.D.
Still working on the annual “re-decorating” finding the options and possibilities slightly over-whelming, but aside from that there is the very real issue of the visual “face” of the blog says a great deal about the blog. Over the course of the past few years the feel of the blog has (as you would expect) [...]
Celebrating Initiation Into the Mystery
When you enlightened all things at the time of your manifestation, the sea of unbelief ebbed away and the Jordan reversed its course, flowing uphill and carrying us to Paradise. The feast of the Theophany is not just our celebration of the revelation of the Trinity, it is also a celebration of our initiation into [...]
Getting To Grips With The Bible
Not long ago I posted asking how we OC/IC types use the Bible – how does it fit into our praxis as individuals and as a community. This morning’s trawl uncovered this fun post at the Scriptorum which explored the little book “Mastering the English Bible” by James Gray. Gray was an early Dean of [...]
For Captives And For Their Salvation (Liberation) Let Us . . .
The last day of 2011. Hmmm . . . . Well, from a liturgical perspective this is not a big deal really – as the liturgical New Year was back in September. Today we commemorate Nelania the Younger, and tomorrow is the leave-taking of the feast of the Nativity. But never fear Theophany is just [...]
Haves & Have Nots In Glorious Graphic
I’m still trying to find a full attribution, I can’t be sure but it may have been created by cyrenaica – I was lead to it via The Atlantic. Its an image that you simply have to sit with for a bit (a larger, zoomable version is here) I live in one of the top [...]
Now Counting Belief On The Other Side Of The Pond
Two recent polls by YouGov are an interesting snapshot of the way Britains view the upcoming feast of the Nativity. According to one poll, 67% of those asked will not be attending Church during the Christmas season. Only 11% are planning to attend a Christmas Eve service, with 5% planning to go on Christmas day. [...]
Belief In America – The Numbers
Creationism is a hot button topic in the US. It is a battleground issue in school boards, churches, and politics. A recent Gallup Poll shows that 40% of Americans believe in creationism. That’s an astonishing number when you consider that the facts on the ground overwhelmingly demonstrate the truth of evolution. Yes – this OC/IC [...]