понедельник, октября 08, 2007







“Let us not, who would be Christians, expect anything else from it than to be crucified. For to be a Christian is to be crucified, in this time and in any time since Christ came for the first time. His life is the example–and warning–to us all. We must be crucified personally, mystically; for through crucifixion is the only path to resurrection. If we would rise with Christ, we must first be humbled with Him–even to the ultimate humiliation, being devoured and spit forth by the uncomprehending world.

“And we must be crucified outwardly, in the eyes of the world; for Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world, and the world cannot bear it, even in a single representation of it, even for a single moment. The world can only accept Antichrist, now or at anytime.


“No wonder, then, that it is so hard to be Christian–it is not hard it is impossible. No one can knowingly accept a way of life which, the more truly it is lived, leads more surely to one’s own destruction. And that is way we constantly rebel, try to make life easier, try to be half-Christian, try to make the best of both worlds. We must ultimately choose–our felicity lies in one world or the other, not in both.

“God give us the strength to pursue the path of crucifixion; there is no other way to be Christian.”

13 комментариев:

teacher комментирует...

youre all class skinny arms, all class

teacher комментирует...

in response to your query though - why i would have felt a desire to post such an exposition. i think it is one a Christian need not feel ashamed of. in a sea of propaganda that makes one ashamed.

jikajika комментирует...

Isn't it astonishing and pleasing that we should have such varied reactions to this text?

I really must apologise properly for my ill-thought criticism earlier. It was delivered on the back of another email I sent to Cardinal George Pell, who very recently declared that the problem of abortion was of far greater concern than the problem of climate change. You see how this election affects me? I hear one old man telling the rest of us what we should and shouldn't be doing, I hear a dozen. But it was not my intention to offend you or to be offended myself, and I'm sorry if the first happened and that the last did.

Have you recently been afflicted by propaganda which makes you feel ashamed?

teacher комментирует...

i cant say that i was offended so much, all the more we feel more or less comfortable with loud reactions and scandalous behaviour from 'skinny arms', from loud opinions to loud and violent scurrying down the central staircase, nearly tearing the banister out from its moorings. and we accept these things. i shouldnt even begin from an agle whereby my position might be based on judging the dispicability of the general feel-good capitalist evangelical movement. i let my personal esthetic get the better of me.

jikajika комментирует...

yeah

well those sons of bitches aren't christian, that's for sure.

I'm listening to an interview with the R.O.C.'s representative in Europe right now. He has proposed that the R.O.C. and the Catholic church 'forge a united front against secularism and liberalism'.

it just doesn't fill me with hope, mate. when ya subtract the spiritual aspect (which applies only to the parish), this is old men telling everybody else what they should and shouldn't be doing.

when ya subtract the spiritual aspect, this is old men consolidating their own authority, no matter how oppressive or damaging.

my familiarity with scripture is slim indeed, but afaik jesus was not into consolidating authority, nor endorsing oppression, nor damaging others.

i'm happy to accept there was a radical humanist named Jesus who publicly opposed consolidated authority, oppression, and damage, even at the cost of his own life.

i cannot accept that old men today who tell everybody what they should and shouldn't be doing are his representatives.

jikajika комментирует...

i can see how inter-Christian conversations about who 'best represents Jesus' can be incredibly destructive, not to mention unChristian.

I take it this was yr rationale for deleting yr post - despite yr good intentions, ya did start from the angle of judging that feel-good capitalist evangelicals are not good Christians, or perhaps not Christians at all.

(have i got this wrong?)

insofar as I'm not Christian and I imagine my opinion on these things matters not one whit to Christians, nonetheless I'm very comfortable with Christians who practice privately in their own home. there is no need to get up and tell people what being Christian is and isn't. that is between them and god.

hence i see no difference between the capitalist evangelists and Fr. Rose.

teacher комментирует...

radical humanism means nothing to me, i personally identify more with hopeless self destruction. but by that same token there are a lot of people with personal esthetics that dont meet very readily. i think Jesus isnt worth talking about if he was just some radical humanist, he was crazy then. i think youre closer when you say you dont mind if people practise in their own homes, thats closer to my belief as well. you insist on capitalizing Christian but lower casing god...?
im not sure what else to say, there didnt seem to be much of a question there and im not interested in volunteering an answer by for the same reason id rather stay home and not tell you what to do. do you have a question? i have a question for you - why is liberalism better than fundamental conservatism? what does freedom to do whatever you want have on being told by others what to do? when you get the freedom you do whatever you want and then feel like shit and realize you screwed up anyway, and either find a cause to fight against to distract yourself or try to put all the blame on them. its all distraction. you have the freedom, now what? life still seems pretty meaningless doesnt it? i really dont see the difference between them telling me what to do conservatively and you liberally. youre both telling me what to do. though i dont mind you doing so if you do it in the comfort of your own home and not in my face.

jikajika комментирует...

i agree that our different takes on the significance of jesus precludes any meaningful conversation about Him.

let us never speak of this again, unless one of us chooses otherwise.

jikajika комментирует...

Here's the podcast from Hilarion Alfeyev, if you care for a listen. Think the interview goes for about 20 mins.

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/rrt_20071010.mp3

jikajika комментирует...

Well, that didn't work so well.

This is the ABC site. You can listen online or download the podcast from here. It was on 10 October.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/default.htm

teacher комментирует...

so be it;
im not really interested in listening to it to be perfectly honest. sorry.

teacher комментирует...

maxie where are you? are you ok pallypal amie?

jikajika комментирует...

No drama, mate.

Somebody else might be.