Bože! independent catholic ideas, identity & theology
Recommendations
Codex Coolness – Dead Sea Scrolls Online
You may recall a few years ago I pointed you towards a project digitising the Codex Sinaiticus – now you can view a digitised version of the Dead Sea Scrolls as well. Tweet
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 [...]
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, [...]
Desecration: Bibles, Korans, Ikons & More
A few months ago when all the hu-hah ocurred in the American South over a fundamentalist church deciding to burn Korans I wondered – would the same sense of indignation, the same tension, and issues be raised if for example a group were to burn bibles, icons, or smash statues of Mary? At the time [...]
Christianity & The Environment
Here’s an interesting vid (and its transcript) discussing the interrelationship between the environment, embodiment, and faith. Paul Collins, a former Roman Catholic priest speaks about the failure of Christianity to respond to the environment in a throughful manner, and the steps he envisions we might take theologically and in practise to re-establish the balance. Tweet
We All Need Friends
There is an interesting article in the Telegraph and in the American USA Today about a study done in the states that suggests that religious people are more friendly than non-religious people. According to the study’s findings: religious people are more likely to be charitable than Athiests. Indeed a surprising finding is that they are [...]
Re-arranging The Furniture
We have successfully done some behind the scenes house-maintenance, and moved the blog from “standard” hosting to “cloud hosting” with Laughing Squid our provider (yes this is a plug for Laughing Squid – they offer a fantastic service). It took a bit longer than I anticipated – but that was down to me taking my [...]
Its An Eastern Thing
The Independent yesterday, had an interesting article about the plight of Eastern Christians in the Middle East. You might be aware of a synod recently held in the Vatican to discuss the fact that Christian communities in the Middle East are being actively persecuted, and marginlised to the point that many are fleeing their homelands. [...]
New Read: Flesh of Our Brethren
Via a suggestion through reading Bp. Rob Angus Jones, newest book, I’ve bought a copy of Abba Seraphim’s Flesh of Our Brethren. It is published on LuLu, which some of you know, I’m a huge fan of for producing much needed quality Indie research and resources. You can visit our own little kiosk by clicking [...]
Small Gods, Small Churches
I just finished re-reading my copy of Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods. It is a humrous look at belief, religion, and what happens when it all goes horribly wrong. The story focuses on the Great God Om, and his companion the eighth prophet Brutha. Om is not so great anymore for a very simple reason, everyone [...]
ReX – Notes On Religious Share Index
“Alternatively, if one denomination unexpectedly adopts an aggressive policy of buying shares in another, then the resulting volatility will make it hard accurately to assess the underlying reality.” Mark Vernon’s essay in the Guardian Online playing with the imagery of possible parallels between the language, dynamic, and psychology of the eddies of spiritual and religious [...]
New Indie Book Now Available
Siobhan’s newest book, the product of her Phd work, is of interest to “Indie-philes” as it is a historical exploration of the links between Western esoteric Christianity and the Independent Catholic movement. Priests, Gnostics & Magicians traces two particular streams of esoteric links in the indie movement, first the link with French Gnostic movements, Martinism [...]
Incense: “Sacrifice Locally”
Huw had a great idea which I think is worth sharing/exploring – and that is trying to “source” sources of incense locally. He listed a few aromatic herbs like sage & juniper which are easy to grow. But I’d be curious – any other ideas? I’m going to go rummaging around my garden & herb [...]
This Is Interesting . . . .
This article by David Gibson of Politics Daily is well worth a read. He explores some of the reasons why Gay men in particular are “more” religiously invovled than their Straight brethren. Some of the conclusions drawn by one of the studies done by sociologist Darren E. Sherkat are laughably funny, but the piece overall [...]
Indie Radio – How Cool Is That!
I’m listening to the newest edition of the ISM Network, a project of Mother Cait in Pennsylvania – another example of neat projects by indie folk – very cool. Over the past two weeks I’ve been listening snips of various episodes – the variety of topics and the thoughfulness of the participants has really been [...]
Go look at . . . .
If you have not already, go have a look at Huw’s post on Peace & Justice, you’ll not regret it. Tweet
New Book
After many months of indecision I have finally published my MA thesis on the emergence of the Virgin Mary as a figure of female asceticism in the third and fourth centuries. You can pick up a copy by clicking here. Primarily through the writings of Origen and Athanasius I trace the development of the image [...]
More Codex Madness – This Time From India
Trying to get back into the “discipline” of regular posting – this morning stumbled across this from Religion & Ethics News Weekly – describing an effort to recover, and restore the wealth of manuscripts, history, and artefacts in Indian Christianity. The video and related links are well worth viewing. It is worth mentioning here that [...]
Paris Exhibit – Mt. Athos
There’s a great exhibit now on at the Petit Palais in Paris on the history and art of Mt. Athos. The collection includes documents detailing the development of the Holy Mountain as an autonomous region of Greece, icons, liturgical items, and jewlery. Sadly the website (here) does not offer much in terms of information and [...]
New Liturgical Medium? . . .Erm . . I’m Not So Sure
Ok, so we’ve talked a bit here about the effect of social networking on religious communities, and outreach . . . . well . . . have a look (and a giggle over) this. Tweet
Codex Coolness!
I’ve been waiting for this for some time now – I heard about it when it first started – and have remembered and forgotten about it off and on for two years since. But here it is – finally – the web site of the Codex Sinaiticus. What!? Youd don’t know what it is? Ach [...]
A History of Mary – Not Firing on All Cylinders
I’ve been reading Mother of God: a history of the Virgin Mary, by Miri Rubin this week. I bought it in part, based on a review in the Guardian a few weeks ago, and in part because of my ongoing battle with the PhD from Hell. Rubin’s writing style is very readable. A good thing [...]
The Writing on the Wall
This is the door full of love, and within it is love. Enter, sinner, pray [much] for love from your Lord, full of love. For centuries pilgrims (Pagan and Christian) have left their mark on shrines and holy places – grafitti is just one method. Today we think of it as a marring, a desecration [...]