Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5446132 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:33:39 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4869228 As the play unfolds we find out the characters are all driven by a hurt very different from the purported cause. It reminded me of my social psychology experimentation. There truly are lies dammed lies and statistics. On face value religion can appear to be the catalyst, but looking beneath the surface, there are more global factors that drive conflict.
Watching Ubber Hate Gang reach a furious crescendo, I saw religious militancy in their anger, but there was also oppression and self delusion, these, I feel were the ultimate driving force behind their hatred of the world.

Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4869228 Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:35:41 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4091505 I the qualia we experience as humans something irreducible or is it just an illusion? Is there autonomous self or not?

Forum: Your Views ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4091505 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:10:47 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3651971 Been reading the old testament (bout half way thru)- there's been a lot of concubines and multi-wife stuff going on....biblically when did it change?
The new testament talks about elders having one wife, but biblically whats the case for a one wife policy...don't get me wrong I'm not saying multi-wife/concubines are okay, but is it purely a cultural thing and if so could that apply to other matters. Be interested to hear any thoughts/insight......

Forum: Your Questions ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3651971 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:50:21 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3624332 It highlights the fact that if we are to have a regenrated and healed world. we need evil to be identified and judged. Judgement is the act of a loving not vindictive God, essential if we are to see healing and regeneration.
I am not a believer in Hell in the sense it is taught in evangelical circles, but i do wonder........ there will be a need for god to make sin as powerless. Will there have to be some exclusion for those who refuse to let go of sin?

Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3624332 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:49:01 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3554838 Having built a rapport with his previously despised neighbors, he decides that the only way the bring an end to the hurt is to surrender his own life.

I like this take on atonement and think it more truly reflects God incarnate in Jesus to a greater extent than our vengeful God who demands the blood of his son the satisfy his wrath.

But atonement is anther concept ingrained in our psyche across cultures.

Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3554838 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:35:55 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3554833
Mel Gibson playing (?????) asks the question. 'Have you ever thought there may be more to life than this living in this chicken run waiting to be made in pies.'

It's a question that is in all of our psyche. Some will argue that it is just a survival mechanism to protect our minds form the constant fear of agfeing and death.
Others would argue that all knowledge comes from us experiencing and percieving the world around us and these senses of the 'wholly other' are valid experiences.  

Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3554833 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:26:05 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3515766 This kind of parallels a central belief in Christianity that somewhat gets hidden by dogma, that personal relationship (that must go beyond a simple sinners prayer) is central to faith.  

Forum: Your Questions ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3515766 Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:05:45 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3062707

Have decided that this book is worth of reading. Very challenging, but a bit baffling in the middle.

Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3062707 Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:44:24 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3012671
Not sure what others view of evil is. I have always seen it as sickness. I reckon Jesus did too.

Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3012671 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:50:13 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2798298 Another Brian Mclaren book has stimulated this question.
Shakespeare hinted in the play Othello, that perhaps, rather than a literal being, the devil could be a metaphor for evil in our hearts, e.g jealousy.

Mclaren in The Secret Message of Jesus, suggested that demons could be a metaphor for corporate evil, such as the Nazi empire, or money grabbing multi-nationals. Henri Tajfel did much research on social identity theory, arguing that hostility for other groups can arise simply out of loyalty to the 'in group.'

So what are peoples views? Is the Devil a real, literal being or a metaphor for man kinds choice to walk his own path?

Forum: Your Views ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2798298 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:49:57 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2734106 Written by Peter Schaffer in 1973, attracting massive publicity during its recent west end run, largely because it featured Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe in the buff.
The play was inspired by a word of mouth, rather vague account of a 17 year old boy mutilating horses in a small village near London. On this smallest scrap of truth, the play Equus was built.
I particularly enjoyed Equus because it asked 2 questions, one that has puzzled me for over 20 years and one that has interested me , the more i have read about psychoanalysis.

1. Simon Callow, playing psychiatrist Martin Dysart, expressed his jealousy of Alan Strang and his relationship with his horses, claiming, 'I have never experienced worship like that.'
Not that I, nor i expect Schaffer himself, believe that true worship intrinsically involves horses. But how much does it have to do with the evangelical obsession with working everyone into a frenzy readying them for the latest subliminal message about how God wishes them to tow the party line and not make a fuss. (excuse my cynicism)
For all of us who consider ourselves to be worshipers of God, do any of us understand what worship is?

Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2734106 Mon, 26 May 2008 10:57:40 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2687577
I was talking to a friend on how we define the soul and what we think it is.
Do you think the soul is indenpendent of brain, mind and emmotion, just floating around in an empty vessel?

or

Is the soul something that is constanty developing and fed by conciousnes, emmotion and mind?

The more i think of this, the more i see it as a crucial issue, imforming our ministry practice. Do we need to as church, look after physical body and mind? Or is it enough to feed the 'soul' at the expense of all else?

Any other pearls of wisdom, please post.

seriously please post!

Forum: Your Views ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2687577 Mon, 05 May 2008 17:56:36 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2632026

Forum: Off Topic ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2632026 Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:22:39 GMT http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2484143 Preamble
 
I am currently reading 'The Great Divorce' by C.S . Lewis again. His logical thinking is something that resonates a profound to me and other Christians. Although while reading it there is a sense of  despair, the attitudes of the ghosts in the story, i feel, are too close to real life. As compelling as i find Lewis's words, i wonder if in real life, non believers aren't as stubborn as the characters in the book.
Did Lewis's writings change hearts, or did he just boost the faith of people such as myself?


Anyhows, onto robocop. It seems through my study of psychology, the holy grail in the world of understanding life, is total reductionism to biological function and adaptive advantage.
The fact that we must no longer see people as divine, precious beings, means that we have to reduce life to a bunch of uninspiring 'targets.'
I find that, especially working with young people with some kind of learning disability, we bind them up with so many rules to help them fit in, we put the most legalistic church to shame.
For those familiar with Robocop, you will be familiar with the 3 directives he live by; serve the public trust; protect the innocent;uphold the law. O f course this mirrors the 2 directives Christians have been given; love God; love your neighbor.
In Robocop 2, the robot is reprogrammed with hundreds of directives. Unable to cope with all of these rules, 'he' electrocutes himself. When he reboots, he only has his 3 directives and is able to function again.
The point of this? Well, I think we need to look at our emphasis when it comes to being 'salt and light.' How often will we change hearts in intellectual debate? To what extent will we foster love for God through challenging faith and exulting others be livers to live by our world view?
Is it enough to really live the 2 Jesus directives and leave the rest to their own introspection?

Forum: Hear the Word of the Lord ]]> http://eutychus.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=2484143 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:00:46 GMT