Quotes

SK for Grownups

This is one of the first articles that I read about SK from a former Lutheran who died a Catholic priest. Anyway, here is a quote:

There are Christians who call themselves Kierkegaardians, much as others call themselves Augustinians or Thomists or Barthians. But Kierkegaard provides no school of thought, and most emphatically no “system,” that can be a secure resting place for one’s Christian identity. Kierkegaard offers only a mode of being, of thinking, of living that has no end other than the end of being “contemporaneous” with Jesus Christ, true man and true God, who has no end. The certifying mark that one has accepted what he offers—or, more precisely, what Christ offers—is martyrdom, and Kierkegaard yearned to be a martyr. The word martyr, one recalls, means witness. If Kierkegaard was not to be given the privilege of literally shedding his blood, he would bear witness in other ways. He welcomed the derision of those surrounding him, recognizing in them the same crowd that surrounded the cross of his contemporary, Jesus Christ.

via Kierkegaard for Grownups

faith?

I have been thinking a little about “faith” – what is it? Too often we create two poles – faith and reason – and simply ask where a person stands. Is faith simply a choice to sidestep reason and accept something on authority? I wonder if it is not a little more fundamental – faith is the movement from being a human being to becoming a person, a single individual.

So I did a quick google and found this article from a psychologist, The Nature of Faith. The article has a nice start but I think the author misses something:

Finally, at least in the Judeo-Christian tradition, there is another important element to faith. Faith is not mere belief in the claim that God exists. Just believing a statement has little to do with one’s life, in many respects. The New Testament takes faith to include belief, but it goes beyond this as well. Faith also includes trust, in this case trust in God. So perhaps the best definition of faith is something like this: Faith is trusting in God, based on sound reasons.

Yes, faith in a statement about something is not faith in the Christian sense. Yet there is something more fundamental that the article misses: for the Christian tradition “faith” is not in a something but in a someone. Faith is primarily relational – it is mutual and reciprocal. It is a choice! But a choice to receive.

 

the brain

One major insight I have had is that we cannot assume that other people experience the world in the same or similar ways. (And, as an aside for future discussion, we cannot assume that people experience language in the same way!)

So here is a little article that illustrates that point, shared by one who is anxious most of the time:

The Brains of Anxious People May Perceive the World Differently

 

doctrine over people

I was thinking about this passage from Fear and Trembling:

The paradox of faith, then, is this: that the single individual is higher than the universal, that the single individual…determines his relation to the universal by his relation to the absolute, not his relation to the absolute by his relation to the universal.

And then I stumbled upon this:

Identifying Religious Brainwashing: Doctrine Over Person (Part 7 of 8)

In our modern scientific post-Enlightenment age have we placed doctrine/ideas above people? Is there a general push just to conform, to defend the party, rather than embody the truth in my life?

freedom and me

I have been thinking a lot about the idea of freedom. It is a difficult topic within our current religious context. But I wonder if people are not free where is responsibility for their actions?

Anyway, I read this today:

So freedom for the Christian is to choose Jesus Christ and to follow His ways. That is what freedom is. It is freedom for, it is not freedom from. It is freedom for God, freedom for good, freedom for choosing the right. And yes, we as Christians are free; we are free to choose the way of God.

via Freedom is to choose Jesus Christ and to follow His ways :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

I find the “for vs from” distinction helpful.