In article <sa6dnbe2OtjfGkvanZ2dnUVZ_v6rnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, Kent Johnson
says...
>
>Hi Matthew,
Matthew, Johnson, meet Matthew Johnson;)
>My faith tradition
Well, that's all very nice, but what _is_ your "faith tradition"? For all
we
know, it could be something not related at all to Christianity. But in
that
case, we have the right to wonder: what _are_ you doing in SRC?
>says that the fundamental purpose God has for us to exist
>on this earth is to develop virtues and learn to resist the irrational
>callings of desire.
Epictetus or Chryssipus (both Stoics) could have said the same.
>We are told that our purpose is to know and love God
>and detach ourselves from all else.
But if we are to "detach ourselves from all else", why _were_ all these
other
things created, and why do we have to "run the obstacle course"?
> God is the source of all virtue, and
>detachment from worldly desire is a first step toward Him.
>A paragraph about virtue:
>Briefly; the Blessed Perfection
And who is this? This would be odd language for referring to Christ, yet
if you
intend it for anyone else, we would have to deny that title to him.
>bore all these ordeals and calamities in
>order that our hearts might become enkindled and radiant, our spirits be
>glorified, our faults become virtues,
"Faults become virtues"? Now why should we believe this is even possible
for all
faults? This is one of the points where your ideas sound dangerously
different
from Christianity.
>our ignorance transformed into
>knowledge;
Speaking of "transforming into knowledge", try transforming your own
ignorance
of Christ into knowledge of Him.
>in order that we might attain the real fruits of humanity and
>acquire heavenly graces;
And those "real fruits" are? How could they be anything _other_ than union
with
Christ?
>although pilgrims upon earth we should travel the
>road of the heavenly kingdom; although needy and poor we might receive
the
>treasures of life eternal. For this has He borne these difficulties and
>sorrows. (Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 224)
Aha! Is _this_ who you titled "Blessed Perfection"?
>More than a paragraph about desire:
>The soil is inferior to the tree; the tree is nevertheless dependent upon
it
>for its existence. In spite of this dependence, the tree grows in the
>opposite direction, away from the soil. As if disliking the soil, it
raises
>up its branches high towards the sky. This is similar to man and his
state
>of detachment from the material world when his soul aspires to spiritual
>things and renounces earthly desires.
But this 'paragraph about desire' also needs quite a bit of transformation
before we could call it 'knowledge';) After all, you have completely
failed to
observe the _necessary_ distinction between bare desire, which is common
to all
the animals, and rational willing, which is common to Man and the angels.
But
without this distinction, how can you even _begin_ to talk about how God
draws
all things to Himself through Man's natural will for union with God?
>By growing upwards, away from the soil, the tree becomes the recipient of
>the rays of the sun, the most precious thing in this physical world. As a
>result of the outpouring of energies released by the sun, the tree
becomes
>verdant and produces beautiful blossoms and fruit. Of course, the growth
of
>the tree is involuntary. But let us suppose that it had a choice and,
>because it loves the earth and is dependent on the soil, inclined its
>branches downwards and buried itself in the ground. Then it could no
longer
>receive the rays of the sun; in the end, it would rot away.
>
>The same principles apply to a human being who has to live in this world
and
>work to earn a living, and who depends upon material things for his
>existence.
Again, the belief that the _same_ principle applies is not Christian. But
this
time, it is not Stoic either. It is Gnostic. And yet it is tantalizingly
close.
Close, but not close enough.
>God, however, has destined in His Covenant with man that the soul
>of man should become detached from the things of this world and aspire
>towards spiritual realms. But unlike the tree, which has no choice, man
has
>free will.
It is unfortunate that there is a large strand of Western Christianity
which
insists on denying the existence of free will.
>If he chooses to disregard the provisions of the Covenant and to
>fall in love with the world, its vanities and its material attractions,
then
>he becomes a bondslave of earthly things and his soul, deprived of the
power
>of faith, becomes impoverished.
And if he chooses to deny Christ, or even to merely distance himself from
Him,
then such slavery is inevitable, even if he fools himself into thinking he
has
detached himself from the world.
[snip]
>Thanks for reading, and looking forward to questions.
The obvious question is, what are you doing in a newsgroup that is about
Christianity?
[snip]
--
------------------------------
Subducat se sibi ut haereat Deo
Quidquid boni habet tribuat illi a quo factus est
(Sanctus Aurelius Augustinus, Ser. 96)
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