the space in between

thesis+antithesis=synthesis

Lately I've been finding myself in conversations about Hegelian dialectic, which basically explains why I'm posting the stuff below here.

The best place to start in understanding the axiom: “thesis+antithesis=synthesis” is to establish dialectics as a method for resolving disagreements by using a dialogue between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject, who wish to establish the truth of the matte, with reasoned arguments.

Hegel explains his dialectical method in a threefold manner as comprising three stages: a thesis, giving rise to its reaction, an antithesis, which contradicts or negates the thesis, and the tension between the two being resolved by means of a synthesis.

The very essence of Hegel’s method is based on trying to create a conceptual framework in terms of which both the past and future could be philosophically understood.

" …and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" – John 1:14

The mystery of the incarnation is not all about the omni-attributes of God being enshrined in the flesh of Christ nor is it in the hypostatic unity of spirit and matter[1].

It is also in the mystery of God revealing himself in one who is co-ordinate in living out the values that he puts in the realm of the material.

Hell no we wont go…

A reflection on the inconsistency of hell with the ethical call of discipleship

The talk of hell and eternal damnation finds common place in all expressions of the Christian faith. It has been said that one goes to hell because God’s requirement of holiness is something that would never be realized by sinful humanity, hence the need for someone to come in our place to save us from the wrath of God’s consuming holiness.

I have no disagreement with such explanation.

Experience, scripture and the study of human history testifies to that. In fact, it is my study of history that I find significance in the redeeming work of Christ that I believe humanity finds salvation from its present predicament, ultimately reconciling us from our present alienation from God.

However, I find the fire and brimstone rhetoric of preachers that tries to paint a vivid picture of Jonathan Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, every Sunday or every available occasion to guilt us enough to have the fearful motivation to step forward for the alter call, to raise our hands amidst the closed eyes and bowed heads of the congregation or to repeat after the pastor’s rendition of the Sinner’s Prayer.

News of Brian McLaren's officiating the same-sex commitment ceremony of his son hit the discussion boards of a number of 'Christian' online communities and with the issue of same-sex union and the perceived attack on what Conservative Evangelical Christians see as the biblical definition of ‘marriage’ and ‘family' I think it is worth exploring also the legal niceties of marriage.

The reason I say this is because if we'd all pay close attention to wedding ceremonies we’d often hear a familiar yet seldom understood line from the officiating minister:

"By power vested in me by..." (which ever state it is that he’s holding the license to pronounce the couple as “man and wife.)  

With this line in mind maybe its worth thinking about marriage from the vantage point of a society that isn't governed by Evangelical Christianity alone'?  

It always seems that America is always under threat...

...from terrorism, communists and those damn secularists in the government who want to change "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays" who want to remove the insignia "In God We Trust" in their money...

... and I don't quite understand what the fuzz is all about.

Every now and then I encounter well-meaning American (or Filipino-American) Christians who do good and want to do good, who freak out whenever they come face-to-face with the realization that their country is not (to their disappointment) a ‘Christian nation’

Marcus Borg is widely-known and influential voices in progressive Christianity and is a major figure in scholarship related to the search for the Historical Jesus. I first encountered his works through the book The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, which he co-authored with his friend N.T. Wright. 

I bought his book The God We Never Knew, as a Christmas gift for myself last year because I found myself agreeing with a lot of his insights in his conversation with N.T. Wright in The Meaning of Jesus. In The God We Never Knew, Borg was able to write a semi-biographical account of responding to our present time's need to hear about the distinction between history and metaphor because there are many parts in the gospels that a lot of people these days can't take literally. Because when literalized, the story of Jesus becomes literally incredible.

On context and contradictions...

Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution In Ethics, Politics, Spirit, And Sound - A book review

Often, I encounter people who speak of hardcore in terms of the distinguishing elements of the myriad of bands and their common musical archetypes: palm muted chords on a dropped tuned distorted guitar; blast beats and breakdowns; growls, screams and sing-along choruses about politics, frustration, veganism among others. While I would agree that hardcore can be defined as a specific musical genre that came out of punk rock, I believe it more than that as it is a set of varying ideas, ethics, principles, attitudes and, yes, music, that converge to form a community.

Brian Peterson’s "Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution In Ethics,Politics, Spirit, And Sound" is a literary testament to the 90s hardcore scene in the United States where he interviews and features commentary from the many participants of the 90s hardcore scene to explore its political, social, ethical and spiritual ideas amidst the screamed vocals and abrasive chords.

At a time when Wall Street bankers are amassing more and more– and they do their best to pay little or no income tax. Interestingly many of them are self-professed Christians who attribute capitalism as a system that is compatible with Calvin’s support for pursuit of economic gain to which hard work is seen as a consequence of being one of the elect.

However, the historic experience that we have with capitalism shows that only those who has private ownership of the means of production (like land as a classic example) has much higher chances of meriting profit over the ones that doesn’t which finds many who do not have private ownership working more yet earn only enough to last them until next pay day.