tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24917443.post1789810090945615882..comments2023-05-07T02:34:30.801-07:00Comments on One Quaker Take: Diverse Questions from Daniel WilcoxTmothy Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02788311873771605510noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24917443.post-38644478749305480812009-04-08T16:21:00.000-07:002009-04-08T16:21:00.000-07:00Hello, ForrestThanks for your comment. Such as th...Hello, Forrest<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comment. Such as these keep me growing.<BR/><BR/>When I start getting into theology (and do I ever love it!) is when I start getting into conflict with other people. Roger Williams is reputed to have said that Christianity is a religion lending itself to conflict, and I believe that.<BR/><BR/>"Unity," Joel Bean wrote, "is to be found in the affirmations and not the negations of faith."<BR/><BR/>Maybe we are talking about two different things, but the "hows" and the "whys" of God (what I think theology is about) aren't very helpful to me.<BR/><BR/>My "faith" and "belief" are not manifested in my ability to ratify or validate ideas about where God came from, how God operates, or what God is up to.<BR/><BR/>What God wants me to do I'll take on, but how God lets me know that or why is above my pay grade.<BR/><BR/>For me, faith and belief are ultimately shown by doing that which is revealed to me, rather than, as I say, being able to explain how and why it was revealed and that what was revealed is in some sense intellectually "true."<BR/><BR/>I've learned to recognize that voice through hard experience and, through the same hard experience, not to disregard it (although too often I am unable to obey completely).<BR/><BR/>I do think, as you say, it has to be grounded in what Jesus implied about God--but not because Jesus implied it or someone said that he did. It's grounded there, rather, because my experience matches that which Jesus describes. <BR/><BR/>Yeah, and that "notion" of judgment is one that I tend to leave alone. If I am as faithful as I can be (and keep developing that ability) to that which is revealed to me I should do then I am expecting that judgment is going to take care of itself.<BR/><BR/>Except perhaps from direct conviction/conscience none of us can know what, or if, judgment as various theologies say it will be. <BR/><BR/>With my feet on the ground, I try to keep my head out of the clouds (and out of dark constricting places, too). <BR/><BR/>Sometimes, I once heard in a movie, the magic works, and sometimes it does not.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again for the comment.Tmothy Travishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02788311873771605510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24917443.post-56207656534230426002009-04-08T15:58:00.000-07:002009-04-08T15:58:00.000-07:00Thank you, Alice.You are right, of course, and tha...Thank you, Alice.<BR/><BR/>You are right, of course, and that is the one "take" on sin that I refer to, the one that is exemplified by the words of the Penington quote up on top of this blog.<BR/><BR/>I do think that when Friends, especially in the Liberal domains of the Society, squirm when someone says "sin" thyy might be in denial about their own condition, one that would change if they actually did that waiting in the Light. <BR/><BR/>The other nuance, I think, in the phrase "preaching up sin" is the notion that we cannot grow out of it (thus magnifying its power), that we are doomed to repeat our mistakes over and again.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for the comment.Tmothy Travishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02788311873771605510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24917443.post-80628276364416236922009-04-08T10:57:00.000-07:002009-04-08T10:57:00.000-07:00Something I found in a Borg recently... That the G...Something I found in a Borg recently... That the Greek roots of the NT word we translate as 'repent' suggest something like "go beyond the mind that you have." (That ought to help tie our Buddhism to our Christianity, yes?)<BR/><BR/>I don't think you should duck the theology indefinitely. It needs to be grounded in what God shows you, rather than in what upteen-thousand theologians have Figured Out for people to worship-or-else. But we live with heads in the air, as well as with feet on the ground. (One thing it REALLY needs to be grounded on is what Jesus implied about God, in telling us how to act. 'Be like our Father, and do good to everybody, "Good" or "Bad." ' Any notion of "Judgement" that doesn't take that statement into account is fundamentally bent!)<BR/><BR/>& while I'm here, to invite you to please come visit one of my heady blogs.forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03214745625847174676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24917443.post-73568604656680977082009-04-05T12:46:00.000-07:002009-04-05T12:46:00.000-07:00Thanks for sharing.Re questions about sin, hope it...Thanks for sharing.<BR/><BR/>Re questions about sin, hope it's ok if I chime in. Did anyone point out yet that George Fox, if I remember rightly what I read, admonished hireling priest for preaching up sin? As I understand it he says something like, that the experience of Christ's Light shows us our darkness but that it's important not to get caught up in that darkness/sin but instead to turn to and wait in the light to be strengthened and transformed. As I understand it that's why sin is a minor rather than major topic in our discourse: because the discipline is to wait in Christ's Light instead. Not denying the reality sin and the need for repentance at all of course!Alice Y.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16267449289432878102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24917443.post-83968115165545069592009-04-05T08:08:00.000-07:002009-04-05T08:08:00.000-07:00I'm glad to have stopped by and read this. Thanks...I'm glad to have stopped by and read this. Thanks, Timothy; thanks, Daniel.<BR/><BR/>Blessings,<BR/>Liz Opp, <A HREF="http://thegoodraisedup.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">The Good Raised Up</A>Liz Opphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09802348848085930901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24917443.post-79439481208549170802009-03-09T11:28:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:28:00.000-07:00Hi Timothy,Thanks for the detailed response.Your a...Hi Timothy,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the detailed response.<BR/>Your answers are like a trampoline, flinging up new questions and comments, but I shall save them for another day:-)<BR/><BR/>DanielDaniel Wilcoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05178375087492786696noreply@blogger.com