Book Review: "Incarnational Humanism" by Jens Zimmermann

Incarnational Humanism

http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=3903

A Philosophy of Culture for the Church in the World

Strategic Initiatives in Evangelical Theology

By Jens Zimmermann

INTRODUCTION

Having left its Christian roots behind, the West faces a moral, spiritual and intellectual crisis. It has little left to maintain its legacy of reason, freedom, human dignity and democracy. Far from capitulating, Jens Zimmermann believes the church has an opportunity to speak a surprising word into this postmodern situation grounded in the Incarnation itself that is proclaimed in Christian preaching and eucharistic celebration.

To do so requires that we retrieve an ancient Christian humanism for our time. Only this will acknowledge and answer the general demand for a common humanity beyond religious, denominational and secular divides. Incarnational Humanism thus points the way forward by pointing backward. Rather than resorting to theological novelty, Zimmermann draws on the rich resources found in Scripture and in its theological interpreters ranging from Irenaeus and Augustine to de Lubac and Bonhoeffer.

Zimmermann masterfully draws his comprehensive study together by proposing a distinctly evangelical philosophy of culture. That philosophy grasps the link between the new humanity inaugurated by Christ and all of humanity. In this way he holds up a picture of the public ministry of the church as a witness to the world's reconciliation to God.

Proposes a distinctly evangelical Christian philosophy of culture

Builds on centuries of Christian reflection on the nature of humanity and human culture

Engages Irenaeus, Augustine, Henri de Lubac and Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Responds to current postmodern concerns and the challenge of pluralism

Provides a vision of common humanity from an orthodox Christian perspective

Contributes to contemporary discussions on the purpose of education and educational institutions

CONTENTS

Preface

1. Without Roots: The Current Malaise of Western Culture
The West's Cultural Heritage: Christianity or Enlightenment?
The Exhaustion of Secularism
The Return of Religion

2. The Beginnings of Incarnational Humanism
Greco-Roman Antecedents
Patristic Humanism
Christology and the Incarnation
The Imago Dei
The Heart of Patristic Humanism: Deification
The Correlation of Reason and Faith
The Fruits of Reason: Education as Transformative Participation in the Divine Word
The Foundation of a Common Humanity
Eucharistic Humanism and Human Solidarity
Conclusion

3. The Further Development of Christian Humanism
Medieval Humanism
Conclusion
Renaissance Humanism
Introduction
The Retrieval of Patristic Theology
The Incarnation and the Imago Dei
Humanistic Education
The Importance of the Incarnation
Christian Humanism after the Renaissance
Conclusion

4. The Rise of Anti-Humanism
The Beginning of the End: The Unity of Mind and Being in Kant and Hegel
Nietzsche's Anti-Platonism and the Birth of Anti-Humanism
Nietzsche's Anti-Humanism Heirs: Michel Foucault and Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger: From Anti-Humanism to Hyper-Humanism
Conclusion

5. Still No Incarnation: From Anti-Humanism to the Postmodern God
Levinas's Humanism of the Other
The Disincarnate God of Continental Philosophy
Gianni Vattimo: Incarnation Without Transcendence
Weak Thought or Weak Theology? Vattimo's Heideggerian Christianity
Problems With Vattimo's Incarnational Ontology
Conclusion

6. Incarnational Humanism as Cultural Philosophy
God's Presence in the World: Sacred and Secular
God's Presence in the Church
The Heart of the Church: The Eucharist
The Sacrament of the Word
Eucharistic Humanism: The Link Between Church and World

Conclusion

Bibliography

Name Index

Subject Index

Scripture Index

The Human Fossil Record, Parts 1-10b

The BioLogos Forum: The Human Fossil Record

http://biologos.org/blog/series/human-fossil-record

 

In this series, James Kidder provides an intriguing study on transitional fossils and the evolutionary history of modern humans. He begins by discussing the fossil record, explaining how new forms are classified. He then explains the physically distinguishing trait of humankind—bipedalism. From the discovery of Ardipithecus, the earliest known hominin, to the australopithecines, the most prolific hominin, Kidder focuses on the discovery, the anatomy, and the interpretation of these ancestral remains. 

 

Hominid Brain Development

 

The Human Fossil Record, Part 1. The Nature of Transitional Fossils

By James Kidder | November 25, 2011

It has become an article of faith for those espousing both the young earth creation model and many who hold to the intelligent design model that transitional fossils do not exist and therefore evolution has not taken place. Support for this position usually entails attacking the weak areas of the fossil record or defining transitional fossils in such a way that none could ever be found.
Comments (0)

 

 

The Human Fossil Record, Pt 2: Bipedality

By James Kidder | January 5, 2011

One of the most fruitful and exciting areas of research in palaeoanthropology is the search for the last common ancestor to the higher apes and humans. This question is inextricably tied to concepts of what separates humanity from the animals around us. This is a question that has spiritual as well as physical ramifications.
Comments (232)

 

 

The Human Fossil Record, Part 3: The Discovery of Australopithecus

By James Kidder | February 10, 2011

In the early 1920s, a young anatomist named Raymond Dart took a job at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Keenly interested in comparative primate anatomy, Dart had been advised to go to the Wit by the famed anatomist Sir Grafton Eliot Smith and, upon arrival, began work on the ancestry of South African primates.
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The Human Fossil Record, Part 4: Australopithecus Conquers the Landscape

By James Kidder | April 4, 2011

In my previous post, I described the discovery of the first Australopithecus in South Africa by Raymond Dart. Beginning with the work of Dart and venerable palaeontologist, Robert Broom, an extensive range of discoveries has been made that continues to the present day.
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The Human Fossil Record, Part 5: The Dispersal of the Australopithecines

By James Kidder | June 16, 2011

Up until approximately three million years ago, australopithecines were restricted in variation to Australopithecus afarensis, the successor to Australopithecus anamensis. This hominin has been found in the north at Hadar, Ethiopia, and as far south as Tanzania. Subsequent to this time period, however, the australopithecines as a genus underwent a dramatic expansion and, eventually, would be found in all of eastern and possibly central Africa.
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The Human Fossil Record, Part 6: The Dispersal of the Australopithecines, Continued

By James Kidder | June 20, 2011

It is tempting to look at these remains and think privately, “these are nothing but apes. What is the fuss?” Such has been the viewpoint of the Institute for Creation Research’s Duane Gish (Gish and Research 1985) and John Morris. This is incorrect. There was never any doubt in any of the researcher’s minds that from A. afarensis, the australopithecines walked upright, albeit with a gait not quite like that of modern humans.
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The Human Fossil Record, Part 7: The Rise of Early Homo

By James Kidder | August 26, 2011

Thus far, we have journeyed from the forests of the late Miocene/Early Pliocene at 4 and half million years ago to the open savannah at a little over one million years ago. We have seen perhaps our first forebears, Ardipithecus ramidus in Northeast Africa, walk upright, albeit awkwardly at first—the first primate to do so.
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The Human Fossil Record, Part 8: Evolution in Early Homo

By James Kidder | November 17, 2011

In the previous post, I detailed the arrival of early Homo on the landscape and the differences of these forms from contemporary australopithecine species. The australopithecines, while possessing bipedal locomotion and, perhaps, rudimentary tool use, were characterized by having small brains, largely ape-like faces, reduced stature and primitive characteristics reminiscent of their ape ancestry.
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The Human Fossil Record, Part 9: Out of Africa (The First Time)

By James Kidder | April 12, 2012

One of the persistent questions involving paleoanthropological research is the timing of that first migration out of Africa. Work by several researchers beginning in the 1890s had uncovered remains of hominins in both East and Southeast Asia, but because of problems understanding exactly how remains decayed or were preserved in those environments, very few concrete dates could be determined.
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The Human Fossil Record, Part 10: Homo erectus in Asia 1

By James Kidder | July 28, 2012

Up to this point, all human fossils had been found on the surface, eroding out of the side of a bank, or as a result of farming. It had not occurred to anyone to go looking for human ancestors. Dubois was attempting was something that had never been done before: discovery of hominin material through the tools of archaeological excavation.
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The Human Fossil Record, Part 10: Homo erectus in Asia, Cont’d

By James Kidder | July 29, 2012

While both Lantian and Hexian were significant finds, the Zhoukoudian site in China boasted the single largest collection of Homo erectus fossils ever found at one site, as well as presenting one of the greatest mysteries in paleoanthropology.
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The Sorrows and Joys of Teaching Evolution at an Evangelical Christian University

 

http://biologos.org/blog/the-sorrows-and-joys-of-teaching-evolution

August 24, 2012

"The BioLogos Forum" frequently features essays from The BioLogos Foundation's leaders and Senior Fellows. Please note the views expressed here are those of the author, not necessarily of The BioLogos Foundation. You can read more about what we believe here.

 

Today's entry was written by Dennis Venema. Dennis Venema is an associate professor and department chair for the biology department of Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia. His research is focused on the genetics of pattern formation and signaling.

 

As I settle into the lecture, only I really know what is coming a mere few PowerPoint slides hence. The class is an upper-level course in genetics, and the topic is changes in chromosome structure. Starting with fruit flies as an example, I sketch out comparisons between closely related species for which complete genome sequences are available. Students learn about the evidence for chromosome fusions and fissions, the reordering of genes along chromosomes in different lineages over time (an issue of synteny which we have discussed before), and how these lines of evidence support the hypothesis that the various fruit fly species we observe in the modern day derive from common ancestral species in the past. Perhaps my using of the genuine estimates for speciation dates raises a few eyebrows, since “millions of years” is something of a byword for some antievolutionary groups, and fruit flies have been separating into new species for tens of millions of years. Still, it’s pretty clear that this isn’t really rocking anyone’s world: they’re all just fruit flies, after all, and I like to talk about them, since they’re the organism I do my research on.

 

After the “information dump” using the fruit fly examples, it’s time for a class discussion/application before the students drift off too much. Ok, here’s a slide that shows the chromosome structure of a group of organisms that other lines of evidence suggest are part of a group of related species. What do you observe? Do you think these species are related? If so, what explains the differences you observe?

What the students don’t know is that the slide shows human chromosomes, and those of our closest living relative, the chimpanzee. Oblivious to this knowledge, they easily arrive at the correct answer: yes, the evidence is strong that these are quite recently diverged species, and that a chromosome fusion or fission event explains the differences in chromosome structure between them. When I tell them that every other species in this grouping has the higher chromosome number/structure, they correctly deduce that the species with the lower chromosome number should show evidence of a fusion event in the form of “telomere” sequences at the fusion point and an inactive “centromere” at the location suggested by comparison to the other, related genome.

 

Easy.

 

As I look around the room, I see the students are satisfied. I cover some difficult material in this course, and the students are obviously pleased that this topic is so easy to handle. The lines of evidence are easy to follow, and it’s easy to predict and test one’s hypotheses. Then, only after they’ve seen the evidence at least once without the baggage that will inevitably come, I ask them if they know what two species they’ve just compared.

 

As a biology professor at a primarily undergraduate, evangelical, liberal arts and sciences university, I have the profound privilege of teaching the principles of evolutionary biology to a variety of students, both biology majors and non-majors. As one might expect, teaching this subject matter at times engenders controversy, crises of faith, anger and fear in students (and others). These types of sorrows are relatively well known and have been discussed here on BioLogos by several authors. Yet there are also great joys associated with teaching evolutionary biology in a Christian setting, and in this post I reflect primarily on these as a counter-balance to the more frequent stories of conflict and struggle.

 

The sorrows …

 

Lest anyone think that this post is an attempt to present an overly-optimistic or whitewashed view of teaching evolution in an evangelical setting, let me acknowledge and affirm that the pain that many (yes, most) evangelical students go through as they learn about evolution is substantial and real. I have had too many long conversations with students caught between their faith communities and the science to deny this reality. I have seen students struggle with their faith, close their minds to the scientific evidence, and even resolutely declare that no amount of evidence would ever be enough to convince them that evolution is real. I have seen anger, hurt and fear. I have seen students willing to discard the nearly the entirety of modern science in order to maintain a particular anti-evolutionary view.

 

For me personally, the most difficult circumstances to watch are students who feel torn between the evidence and their faith. In some cases these are extremely bright students, who easily see the strength of the evidence, but feel the need to remain unengaged and uncommitted because they fear a backlash from their churches, or (especially) their parents. While an evangelical university can be a wonderful, safe environment for students to explore these issues, that environment doesn’t follow them home. These struggles are painful to watch, and I’ve spent more than a few hours in prayer for students facing them.

 

… and the joys

 

Yet for all these issues, I thoroughly enjoy teaching evolution at an evangelical university. Of course I do not enjoy the anguish it can produce for some of my students – far from it! Fortunately, conflict and emotional turmoil are not the whole story, and many evangelical students report that learning about evolution was a valuable, enriching experience, regardless of their views after the fact.

 

One of the things I enjoy most is that teaching evolution is never dull in an evangelical setting. My students might snooze through a class on cellular respiration, or be tempted to surf Facebook when they should be applying their reasoning skills to problems in genetics, but whenever evolution is the topic I have everyone’s full attention. Whatever else, evolution matters. That intensity of student engagement is invigorating, and the students feel it too. Regardless of where students ultimately decide to “land” on the issue, many report that they enjoyed the process – the exchange of ideas, the discussions and debates, and the new understandings gained.

 

In addition to the electrifying interest the topic holds for evangelical students, learning about evolution is also by nature a multidisciplinary enterprise and opportunity for personal growth. Students are not merely gaining a larger perspective in biology, but fitting that new understanding into their knowledge of Scripture, church history, and their own faith journey. Often in class students will contribute what they have learned in other courses to the discussion: courses dealing with the setting and context of Genesis, courses on church history, and courses on hermeneutics and exegesis frequently are drawn upon. It is for this reason that I feel learning about evolution in a Christian liberal arts university is one of the very best places to do so, providing the institution treats the topics fairly. In this setting, resources are available for all of the questions that evolution engenders for Christians, not merely the scientific ones. Moreover, faculty are generally able to assist students with resources that address these extra-scientific issues, and provide a safe and non-judgmental environment for students to learn. The ability to learn what can be faith-shaking material in a setting surrounded by professors committed to the academic and spiritual growth of their students can make all the difference. To be sure, this environment can be one of personal turmoil for students, but with that turmoil comes a rare opportunity for intellectual and spiritual growth in a way that other areas of biology simply cannot provide.

 

Many of my students, regardless of whether they ultimately accept or reject the evidence for evolution, report that they have grown spiritually through their learning process. Contrary to popular opinion, in my experience most who do come to accept the evidence for evolution also report this growth. They feel closer to God, not further from Him. They feel that they have a deeper appreciation for, and understanding of, His creation. They feel that their faith is now more their own, rather than merely that of their parents. Most importantly, they feel free: that they need no longer be afraid of evolution, but celebrate it as the mechanism by which God has populated His world with “endless forms, most beautiful.”

 

Seeing students experience that freedom is something that one cannot test on an exam, nor encapsulate as a teaching outcome – but it is a deep joy of my teaching career.

 

 

 

 

St. John's Video Timeline Project - Interviews with Scholars on the Bible, Church, and Historical Eras

 

 

 

St. John's Video Timeline Project

 http://www.stjt.org.uk/

 

 

 

 

 YouTube Timeline - http://www.youtube.com/stjohnsnottingham

Direct Timeline Website -  http://www.stjt.org.uk/

 

 

THE ORIGINS OF THIS MULTIMEDIA PROJECT

 

Over a number of years The Revd. Dr Tim Hull has approached distinguished scholars to talk to camera on their area of expertise.

 

We are very thankful that so many have graciously and generously agreed to this request. Originally these interviews were used purely to enhance teaching and learning for our college students or those doing distance learning with St John’s, but more recently we have been developing a project that put these interviews (and many more to come) into interactive timelines.

 

We are also very thankful to a number of organisations and educational trusts that are currently supporting the development of these timelines.

 

The scholars who have been interviewed over the years, many of which appear on these timelines, are: Tom Wright, Anthony Thiselton, Keith Ward, Karen Kilby, Richard Bauckham, Larry Hurtado, Loren Stuckenbruck, Stephen Travis, Richard Burridge, James Dunn, Ian Paul, Graham Stanton, Denis Alexander, Elizabeth Fisher, Rodney Holder, William Lane Craig, Ben Fulford, David Wilkinson, Bruce Winter, David Clough, David Fergusson, Richard Swinburne, John Hedley Brooke, Rachel Muers, Gavin D’Costa, Nick Spencer, Tom Greggs, Steven Shakespeare, David Cheetham, Andrew Shanks, Mike Higton, David Firth, Paul T Nimmo, Walter Moberly, Peter Harrison, Hugh Williamson , David Fergusson, Paula Gooder ,David Shepherd,Thomas Renz, Stephen Williams, Christopher Rowland, Clive Marsh, Christopher Insole, John Cottingham, Simon Oliver, Stephen Plant , Richard Briggs, George Pattison, David Ford, Thomas Renz, Russell Re Manning and Stephen Mulhall.

 

This project continues to grow, in fact we are in the process of arranging interviews with Darren Sarisky, Steve Holmes, John Binsom, Jonathan Tubb, Stephen Mulhall, Paula Gooder and more.

 

 

 

 

    http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/

 

 

 

 

An Ikonoclast - For Those Desiring Eden

 

http://peterrollins.net/?p=3888

by Peter Rollins

August 30, 2012

 

I remember a good friend calling me many years ago, having just read How (Not) to Speak of God. As the conversation went on he said, “Pete, those gatherings you write about in the second part of the book were so inspiring. I loved them! They were so much better than when I was at them!”

 

This can help us understand Immanuel Kant’s distinction between the harsh realities of the French Revolution (with its terror and violence) and the inspiration birthed by the French Revolution (inspiring far-reaching political and social upheaval). In short, his insight that a problematic material reality can provide the ground for the birth of an ideal that instigates wide-ranging transformation.

 

With the creation of ikon (along with The Last Supper, The Evangelism Project, The Omega Course and Atheism for Lent) a group of people in Belfast embarked on a grand and ridiculous project of rethinking the event of Christianity. In the course of setting up and running it, a new and inspiring vision of faith appeared to grow. Yet the on the ground reality was often difficult (lack of resources, equipment that failed, bad ideas, conflicts, misunderstandings etc. etc.) The dirt out of which the idea grew was, well… dirty.

 

Knowing all of this another friend recently asked me if I would be willing to put myself through it all again. Whether I would want to get my hands dirty with a new project that would no doubt be full of difficulties and conflicts. The answer was a simple one: absolutely!

 

I’m no gardener, but I guess that one of the best bits is the work of digging into the manure and planting seeds that might grow into something beautiful. The only thing holding me back has been the time it takes to find people to work with and the effort needed to really understand the landscape that will be worked on. But the time of preparing is over.

 

A small, but growing, band of people have come together. A group who are, in fear and trembling, embarking on a new one-year project with me starting on the 9^th September in Brooklyn. I have no illusions that this will be a difficult journey as we strive to present a radically different vision of faith, one that overturns what is taken for granted by so much of the actually existing church. It will no doubt involve conflicts, boredom, confusion and annoyance at different times among different people. Some things will hopefully work beautifully and others will no doubt fall flat on their face. We will risk and we will fail… not once, but time and again.

 

So do I think that something wonderful will arise out of the dirt? I honestly don’t know, but we’ve got to try.

 

In truth, if you pack a few things and come along with us on this dissident journey there will be times when you’ll regret it and be disappointed. Because of that, if you want to be involved I would dissuade you from coming, there are other more brightly lit paths to walk. But if you need to come, if you feel that you must throw yourself in to this cauldron and see what happens, then do what you need to in order to be there.

 

Also sign up to the Pyrotheology facebook page to be kept up to date with future events.

 

 

Dystopia | Deity Nightclub | Brooklyn | 7pm | 9th September

 

 

 

 

"How Deep the Father's Love"

How Deep the Father's Love for Us (w/ on-screen lyrics)

 

 

 

LYRICS 

 

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon the cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.

The Story Behind the Song “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us”

http://doxaworship.org/?p=339

 

 

 

To begin our time of response this week in Doxa, we will be singing the modern hymn, “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us”, a song which speaks of the great loss of God the Father (the sacrifice of His Son) so that we could be redeemed. Check out what the author, Stuart Townend, reveals as he tells us the story behind this great song:

 

Writing this song was an unusual experience for me. I’d already written quite a few songs for worship, but all in a more contemporary worship style, drawing from my own musical background. But I distinctly remember getting this feeling one day that I was going to write a hymn! Now, like most people, I am familiar with hymns – they form part of my church background, and I love the truth contained in many of them. But I don’t go home at the end of a busy day and put on a hymns album! So I don’t think of hymns as where I’m at musically at all!

 

Nevertheless, I’d been meditating on the cross, and in particular what it cost the Father to give up his beloved Son to a torturous death on a cross. And what was my part in it? Not only was it my sin that put him there, but if I’d lived at that time, it would probably have been me in that crowd, shouting with everyone else ‘crucify him’. It just makes his sacrifice all the more personal, all the more amazing, and all the more humbling.

 

As I was thinking through this, I just began to sing the melody, and it flowed in the sort of way that makes you think you’ve pinched it from somewhere! So the melody was pretty instant, but the words took quite a bit of time, reworking things, trying to make every line as strong as I could.

 

After it was finished, I remember playing it to Dave Fellingham a few minutes before a time of worship. I was worried it was perhaps too twee, too predictable. Dave, in his typical demonstrative and over-enthusiastic way, shrugged his shoulders and said, “yeah, it’s good”, and that was that. It was only when I began to use it in worship, and all sorts of people of different ages and backgrounds responded to it so positively, that I thought that it might be a useful resource to the church at large.

 

Now I’m finding it gets used all over the world, by all sorts of churches; it seems to be as accessible to a traditional church as it is to a house church, and I’m excited by that. But it has perhaps branded me as an old man before my time. It was fed back to me that at a conference a couple who loved the song were surprised to hear I was still alive…

 

Stuart

 

 

 

Stuart Townend
October 2008
Background information
Born	1963
Origin	West Yorkshire, England
Genres	Contemporary Christian music, hymns, contemporary worship music
Occupations	Songwriter, worship leader, music publishing executive
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar, banjo
Labels	Kingsway Music
Website	www.stuarttownend.co.uk

 

 

Stuart Townend is an English Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone", (2002, co-written with Keith Getty, Townend's first collaboration with any other songwriter),^[1][2] "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King of Love".^[3] As of 2008, Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) lists "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs list.

 

 

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Townend

(Not to be confused with Stuart Townsend.)

 

 

 

 

 

Stuart Townend - How Deep The Father's Love For Us (Story Behind the Song)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Love, Loss and the Uncoupling of Our World

 

http://peterrollins.net/?p=3900

by Peter Rollins
September 2, 2012

I am currently reading Slavjo Zizek’s latest book Less Than Nothing. It is a profound and systematic work (though I must warn that if you don’t have a background in continental philosophy it is difficult). Anyway, the following reflections are directly inspired by his writing on Malebranche, Occasionalism and the Big Other found there.

 

Descartes famously theorised that the human being was made up of two different substances: a body and spirit/soul/mind. In order to understand how these interacted he postulated the existence of what he called the Pineal Gland. This was, for Descartes, the physical location where the two substances united.

 

The problem however was that these two substances were so different that the idea of a gland uniting the two made no sense. It simply acted as a type of black box solution. Somehow, something happened in the gland that meant our thoughts could impact our body and visa versa.

 

As a result of the problems raised by the idea of the Pineal Gland the philosopher Nicolas Malebranche argued that, for the mediation to occur between mind and body, a third (true) substance was required to intervene. For him this was God. The argument was that, at every moment, God was at work ensuring that whenever we went to pick up a glass, scratch our nose or smile the intention would correspond with the act. Without God intervening at every moment in this way our intentions would be revealed as ultimately impotent. Like experiencing anastasia awareness we would find ourselves locked inside an inert body, unable to do anything at all.

 

This philosophical idea was called “Occasionalism” and worked with the idea that what we take as immediate (the interaction between our intentions and acts) is really mediated by God, who listens tirelessly to what we want and manipulates our body seamlessly so that it would appear the two (intention and act) are one.

 

Bizarre and outdated as this philosophical idea might seem it can actually help us to make sense of a very human experience. Take the example of things that we might enjoy such as travelling, fine dinning, time with friends or certain sports. The enjoyment of these things is experienced as direct. Biting into a chocolate, for instance, and experiencing the pleasure of the taste is analogous to the connection we feel between intending toward a glass of water and the act of lifting it up. They are not felt to be two separate things, they are experienced as one.

 

However, if we lose the people we love, we discover the truth that the relationship between the act and its meaning were really coupled via a mediator: the presence of the beloved. Without them we experience a strange uncoupling of what previously seemed whole.

 

This can be a deeply traumatic event because of the way that we experience our hobbies as pleasurable in an immediate way. However, after the loss of someone who bestows our life with meaning things change. We might still go to a fine restaurant and eat some delicious food like before. But now the act is devoid of the seemingly innate pleasure it once possessed.

 

No matter how special the food, it has now been reduced to inert matter with no function other than a basic biological one. To experience the uncoupling of our acts from the seemingly implicit meaning they have is not unlike the experience of sleep paralysis, in which a person wakes up to find that their body no longer acts in conformity to their intentionality. The psychological impact of experiencing the uncoupling of such a whole is traumatic.

 

Is this not what we witness in films such as Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers? Here we are presented with Don Johnston (Bill Murray) a man who undergoes this radial uncoupling in his own life after his girlfriend ends their relationship unexpectedly.

 

It is for this reason that many end up in psychoanalysis. Not because of some desire to change, but because the individual no longer really desires anything at all. They have entered into a surreal, Daliesque world in which things have become disconnected from themselves. It is as if we have just discovered that we inhabit a virtual reality world that, all of a sudden, is indifferent to our movements.

 

In Broken Flowers Johnston’s neighbour embodies the role of the analyst by helping Johnston try to find meaning once again (through the attempt to track down a son who he never knew he had).

 

It is in the loss of our mediators that we learn that what is worse tha[n] losing something that we desire is losing those who enabled us to desire.

 

 

 

 

The Poetry of R.E. Slater

 ~ UNDERCONSTRUCTION ~ 

The Poetry of R.E. Slater
(click to go to website)

http://reslater.blogspot.com/2014/01/index-re-slater-poems.html

POETRY

General Poems

R.E. Slater - A Country Idyll (prose)


Process Theology, ​Death, and Grieving


How Does God Address Racism in the Bible?

R.E. Slater - When I say I am a Christian (Black Lives Matter All the Time)

R.E. Slater - 7X7 Anger (Black Lives Matter All the Time)

Remembering George Floyd - The Day America Died


What If... ?


Langston Hughes - I Dream a World


Maya Angelou. Poet, Activist, Storyteller.

Howard Snyder - I Dreamed a Great Revival Came (poem)


14 Favorite Ways to Twist the Gospel


The Certainty of Completion Against Despair


Of Dads and Daughters, of Parenting and Love: "Wakefulness in a Night of Fireworks"


Verses on Humanity and Goodwill, Compassion and Forgiveness


R.E. Slater - Rebirth (poem)


R.E. Slater - The Glory of the Lord (psalm)


Love Between Friends


Best Coin Ever Spent...


An Evening Prayer, by Sir Thomas Browne


Poetry Magazine's Editor Christian Wiman Discusses Faith


Sam Walter Foss: A Christian Poet with an Optimistic Spirit

T
The Calf Path of an Open, Discerning Faith


Rebirth: Towards An Open Bible and Emerging Faith


The Wonders of God's Creation - Kuroshio Sea and Poem


R.E. Slater - Expressing Love (poem)


R.E. Slater - Star Light, Star Bright (poem)

Padraig O Tuama - "Go in Pieces" (poem)


R.E. Slater - A Prayer (a poem)


R.E. Slater - The Power of Our Words (poem)


Geroge Herbert, "Easter Wings" (poem)


R.E. Slater - Jars of Clay (poem)

O
Of Calvin, Barth and Poetry

THEOPOETIC

R.E. Slater - A Country Idyll (prose)

R.E. Slater - Seeing God in the Color of Blue


R.E. Slater - The Wheel of Time (The Wheel or the Anvil?)


R.E. Slater - The Holy Trilogy: Process Theology, EcoTheology & TheoPoetics

POEMS BY R.E. SLATER

What Is In a Christian Label? Examining Conservative, Progressive & Processual Christianity

The Future of Quantum AI


RCPT, Part 7 - (2015) A radical theology for the future: five theses

Radical Christian Process Theology, Part 6 - Radical Approaches, Propositions & Applications


RCPT, Part 5 - Chatbot and I Discuss Radical Christian Orthodoxy v. Radical Secular Theology v. Process Christian Theology


Radical Christian Process Theology, Part 4 - Secular v Christian Radical Theologies


Radical Christian Process Theology, Part 2 - "Radical Love"


Odes to Creation, Life, Purpose, Nation Building, and Parenting

POETRY - R.E. SLATER

R.E. Slater - A Country Idyll (prose)


Tolkien Untangled with Poems, Songs, and More Video References

The Church's Most Radical Theology is Learning to Teach and Be Love


R.E. Slater - Seeing God in the Color of Blue


R.E. Slater - A Radical Democracy (Being a Radical Church of Refuge and Inclusivity)

R.E. Slater - And Death Shall Go Before Them (ditto)

R.E. Slater - T-Shirts I Have Worn in Life

R.E. Slater - In the Processual Beginning


R.E. Slater - Being and Begetting (Gary Lachman - Caretakers of the Cosmos)

R.E. Slater - Middle Earth Prose (Tolkien Untangled)

With Malice Towards None... A World in Search of Peace


R.E. Slater - The Wheel of Time (The Wheel or the Anvil?)


R.E. Slater - The Power of God's Love (Process Sovereignty vs Church Sovereignty)


R.E. Slater - In the (Processual) Beginning (The Quantum Physics of a Particle Universe)


R.E. Slater - The Birth & Death of God


R.E. Slater - Ruptured Soils


Palm Sunday Readings, Poems & Observances


R.E. Slater - Butterfly Wings of Promise


R.E. Slater - 7X7 Anger (Black Lives Matter All the Time)

R.E. Slater - Being and Becoming


R.E. Slater - The Eighth Day of Creation


R.E. Slater - Meditations


Envisioning a Process Relational Theology


The Son of Protagoras - "Standing Between Wisdom & Destruction"


Film Review - Annihilation: Death or ReBirth?


R.E. Slater - Ancient Rhythms


R.E. Slater - The Holy Trilogy: Process Theology, EcoTheology & TheoPoetics


Love and Time Explored Through Prose, Video, and Poem


Kintsukuroi - "Broken Jars of Clay Repaired with Gold"


OneRepublic - Come Home (prodigal son)



R.E. Slater - Kindred Fellowships (a poem)


The Certainty of Completion Against Despair


Verses on Humanity and Goodwill, Compassion and Forgiveness


R.E. Slater - Rebirth (poem)

R.E. Slater - The Glory of the Lord (psalm)

Best Coin Ever Spent...

Rebirth: Towards An Open Bible and Emerging Faith


The Wonders of God's Creation - Kuroshio Sea and Poem


The Poetry of R.E. Slater


R.E. Slater - Expressing Love (poem)


R.E. Slater - Star Light, Star Bright (poem)


R.E. Slater - A Prayer (a poem)

R.E. Slater - The Power of Our Words (poem)


R.E. Slater - Jars of Clay (poem)