Bože! independent catholic ideas, identity & theology
OC/IC Issues
Religious Illiteracy
According to the Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life, 76% of Americans describe themselves as Christian. However, only 45 % are able to attribute the Gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. A majority of Americans self identify as Christian, however, nearly half of that group don’t know what it is that they are [...]
I Got Numbers!
How many Indie folk are there? This is a question that has been in the back of my mind for over a year now. I keep seeing hints – but nothing concrete. I’ve assumed that nobody is counting us. And even with what I found yesterday on the ARDA site – I’m not sure that [...]
The Church In Decline? Adapt Or Die
Decrying the decline of “christianity” in Britain has come from various angles over the past year or so. Church attendance is diminishing, its membership ageing. “Unbelief” appears to be growing. Though I would argue that it was always there and only now is it getting better, perhaps more accurate, press. Fifty percent of people living [...]
Indie Green: Eco-Theology In OC/IC Context
Have a look at these videos over at the Guardian. I thought it was a very well put together “intro” to Green-theology. Where would you start if you were to put together an Indie Green Manifesto? Tweet
Shadows of Souls
If you’re not already a fan of Retronaut – I cannot recommend it to you enough – it is one of the most interesting, quirky sites on the net. In a recent edition are these pictures of an abandoned church in Buffalo, looking through them I started “feeling” a sense of loss, mourning even, for [...]
Corpse Disposal
The BBC has an interesting – if not slightly ghoulish – article about a new technology for disposing of corpses. Two methods are described. First is called alkyline hydrolysis – which basically turns the soft tissue into sludge, which is then sluiced away into the sewage system; the remaining bone and metal are sorted, and [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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” [...]
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 [...]
What Jesus “Meant” Was . . .
I’m doing the morning news trawl for interesting items relating to theology and found this by American vetran journalist Dan Rather. It is an interesting article about the tug of war within the Roman church between the conservative and liberal wings. I’m not particularly interested in what is happening in other churches but Rather adds [...]
Too Many “Monks”?
I continue to be puzzled by the large number of “monastic” groups within the Independent Catholic movement. I wonder if clinging on to this inherited model of “community” is stunting our development – holding us fast to out-dated 19th century models of what it means to “be church”? In short do these watered down expressions [...]
Peer Review & Emerging Indie Scholarship
Over the past two years I’ve enjoyed a number of books researched by, written by, and published by Indie folk. Even those texts that I don’t necessarily agree with bring a smile and a nice dose of pride. One aspect of this (I hope growing) scholarly production of indie history and theological voice – that [...]
Indie Manifesto
Last night I handed my PhD thesis over to my supervisor. In theory this means I have crossed the threshold from darkness into light – I am now exiting the cave. What comes next? I’m not sure, I know at some point in the not too distant future there is somethign called “the submission” followed [...]
Readings In Original Sin
Last night I began reading Alan Jacobs’ Original Sin A Cultural History. This should be an interesting journey. I’m making a concerted effort to wrestle with an idea, a concept, a theory of the human condition that has fascinated and horrified me ever since I first learned about it. To my mind, Augustine’s theory of [...]
How Traditional Are You?
Now here’s an interesting question, and it struck me while doing the morning trawl, one thing led to another led to another and before I knew it I found myself in the website of a convent scanning their FAQ page. What struck me about it was their answer: “This is one of the hardest of [...]
What is “Religious”? What is “Spiritual”?
This little “sapling” of a conversation deserves more than its getting. Looking at not only my own initial response on Twitter, as well as the response of others (see previous post) I’m realising that these two words are very “loaded”. Huw, rightly observes that the underlying question remains unanswered – what is our working definition [...]
“Spiritual But Not Religious”?
Last week my friend and fellow Indie-Easterner Huw posed this question on Twitter: “Define ‘Spiritual but not religious’.” My initial response encompassed two ideas that I’ve encountered over the years from a significant number of people who describe themselves as being “spiritual but not religious”. First is the idea that the “institution” of religion impedes [...]
What Is Your Comfort Zone?
Maggi Dawn, draws attention to an interesting set of posts from Church Mouse, highlighting some interesting figures from a survey done of 1000 or so men here in the UK asking about their comfort level in church. Apparently men are more comfortable in a lingerie department than they are in church. Fascinating. But this got [...]
It’s All Fake!
Have a look at this vid of behavioral economist Dan Ariely describing an interesting experiment involving fake fashion – you know the ones – you find “Gucci”, “Prada” handbags and sunglasses being sold for £5 at street vendors all over London. In the experiment he discovers that wearing fake fashion items seems to . . [...]