tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post3220380252547106556..comments2024-03-28T09:59:13.754-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: Expanding on a Comment Thread bionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-2942090465114520882022-01-26T21:45:37.032-08:002022-01-26T21:45:37.032-08:00I should have said "rational as well as spiri...I should have said "rational as well as spiritual terms". Theology doesn't preclude reason...cosmic dwarfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16562864681773374828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-90211461521796309792022-01-26T07:28:46.431-08:002022-01-26T07:28:46.431-08:00If I could self critique my church tradition, very...If I could self critique my church tradition, very low church Protestant, I would say we need to work on approaching God in a more spiritual, mystical, super-natural, devotional, worshipful way. That includes how we approach the Bible, frequency and importance placed on communion (eucharist). We also need a better sense of church history and how we fit into it and how we arrived at our doctrine. <br /><br />I'm still not all that excited about symbols. I want to focus on what is real, tangible, or substantive, except in reference to communion (wink, wink). But at the same time I love C.S. Lewis' idea of true mythology. The Bible is myth and factual history at the same time. If He can exist at Trinity, I don't see why that should be hard to believe for a Christian.<br /><br />Of course, Bionic, you also mention Protestants allegiance to the military and Israel. I think that is a symptom of Protestants in America building a state from scratch. It was their thing based on their principles of government and morality. That all has changed now, beginning in the 20th century and almost complete if not fully complete now. The Church hasn't reacted quickly. The old allegiances and paradigms are hard to shake. But they are being shook, mostly by Generation X and Millennials. American Christians relationship to the US state will be much different in 50 years. The Church has always been behind in reacting to cultural changes. We are not unique. But if you study church history you will see that the Church always responds, survives, and recovers. I have no doubt we will do the same.<br /><br />Conversations like this are part of the responding. As a Protestant, it isn't organizations that change, it is individual human hearts changed and then guided forward by the Holy Spirit. We can't fabricate a church that will always stay ahead of the churn of the world and avoid corruption. But we do have a God who works in His who are found all over the world in all of the different Christian traditions. Let us seek Him. He promises to let us find Him.RMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13603112499567064214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-40108214148155682792022-01-26T06:20:08.870-08:002022-01-26T06:20:08.870-08:00"...the more common picture is that of the Or..."...the more common picture is that of the Orthodox under the state, the Catholic social justice bordering on communism, and the Protestant worship of the military and the state of Israel."<br /><br />It's accurate enough to say that man is fallen, and that this guarantees the corruption of human institutions in time. On the other hand, it's not really enough to throw up one's hands and say "welp, it can't be helped, we have to live with it!" Corruption is a real process that can be analyzed and described in rational as well as theological terms. If we want to fight it, as we must, it becomes necessary to understand that process.<br /><br />Ultimately, it comes down to the individuals that make up the institutions. They need to be made of stuff that pushes back when pressured, and springs back into place after the pressure is gone. If there's one type of rot infecting the West throughout nowadays, it's the widespread promotion of individuals who are willing to compromise to avoid conflict. It has created a miasma of obsequiousness and pleasantry that attempts to obscure the forced conformity and lack of spine running through the core. I think it comes primarily from the perception that we have it pretty good, all things considered, and it's not worth rocking the boat to try and fix something that can be tolerated instead.<br /><br />Well, the boat's getting leakier and leakier. At some point - we probably already reached it - fights will break out to see who gets pushed down into the flooded sections. And it'll be downhill from there, until either the boat sinks with whoever remains on board, or the bon vivants lose enough clout to allow more competent people to get to work.cosmic dwarfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16562864681773374828noreply@blogger.com