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  1. Vouthon

    The Love Life of Jesus

    Great post - I agree!
  2. Vouthon

    The Love Life of Jesus

    We have here Jesus operating on 'two spheres' - the earthly, the man from below, who is literally courting a woman he's attracted to/fancies and the heavenly, the man from above (the Word made flesh, sarx in Greek) who is speaking of eternal truths and calling Photini to salvation. She is...
  3. Vouthon

    The Love Life of Jesus

    As @Rival noted this is not 'speculation' but rather informed by the narrative construct, type-scene, literary motifs and linguistics of the texts in question. The original reader of the Fourth Gospel would have been prepared by the betrothal type-scene and narrative framework (which the...
  4. Vouthon

    The Love Life of Jesus

    Great points. Yes, scholars have frequently noted the anomalies and issues that you identify above with the Cana wedding. In general, the Gospel of John is one of the most edited texts in the NT. Redaction critics have identified at least five stages in the composition of the Gospel: the...
  5. Vouthon

    The Love Life of Jesus

    Do you think that Jesus was a celibate man or perhaps had a love life? How (if you are a Christian) would your answer to this question influence (or as the case may be not influence) your understanding of Christology? An assumption is often made by many Christians that Jesus refrained from...
  6. Vouthon

    How many times can you catch CoVid ?

    Fortuitously, I have (yet) never contracted covid. Fully vaccinated back in 2021-22. I'm the only "novid" in my family and social circle (and its not a case of asymptomatic, as I was testing repeatedly throughout the pandemic).
  7. Vouthon

    Ask a nondual "person"

    @SalixIncendium Is non-duality something that you have directly experienced, in a subjective sense, or is it more of a philosophical belief about the nature of reality? If the latter, what convinces you to believe that it's accurate versus say physicalist-materialism or Dvaita?
  8. Vouthon

    Historical materialism and Jesus

    Last month two respected scholars, in the field of New Testament studies, published a 'historical-materialist' analysis on the early Jesus movement: What made the Jesus movement tick? This thrilling historical materialist take on the historical Jesus situates the life of Jesus of Nazareth in...
  9. Vouthon

    Beautiful Mistakes

    In my religion, we believe in the existence of felix culpa, meaning "happy/blessed fault". This theological tenet is expressed in the most sacred prayer in the Catholic liturgy, the Easter vigil Exsultet, where it actually describes the sin of Adam (in eating from the fruit of the tree of...
  10. Vouthon

    It's Lent

    Thanks @Left Coast for your very considerate message! I'm using this Lenten fast as a time to cut back on wasteful expenditures and certain foods that I don't need, whilst actively seeking volunteer opportunities so that I can be there for others that are in need, whether that means...
  11. Vouthon

    Pope and Protestant leaders denounce anti-gay laws

    I highly doubt that in 1960, when homosexual acts were still criminalised in most of the world's states, this was the case. That was an enlightened and progressive stance at that time, cutting edge socially. Also, FYI and to take but one example, in medieval England 'sodomy' (not homosexuality...
  12. Vouthon

    Pope and Protestant leaders denounce anti-gay laws

    Which is, quite evidently, to speak up for the rights of a sexual minority population that is being discriminated against and unjustly penalised for mere expression of their innate sexuality, no? Surely that's good intent back in 1960 and now in 2023? The intent, I would venture to say, is...
  13. Vouthon

    Pope and Protestant leaders denounce anti-gay laws

    And to put this in perspective, I'm 30 years old and my father wasn't even born yet when the above recommendation was delivered to the UK parliament by the churches, on the Wolfenden Report to decriminalize homosexual sex.
  14. Vouthon

    Pope and Protestant leaders denounce anti-gay laws

    Well, that's only a partial truth. Consider: In the 1960s, the Catholic Church supported the call of the Wolfenden report to introduce legislation to decriminalise homosexual acts in England and Wales. Words of Mr. Kenneth Robinson in parliament on the Wolfenden report (Part Two) Volume 625...
  15. Vouthon

    Pope and Protestant leaders denounce anti-gay laws

    A milestone ecumenical moment for the Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian traditions, and the cause uniting them could not be more important or timely. Let's pray that their common witness, united front and words resound throughout South Sudan, the African continent, and the wider world...
  16. Vouthon

    How would you know?

    @Xavier Graham In my religion, everyone is "called" to a different vocation by God. Each of us is a unique and irreplaceable link in a great chain of being, a bond of connection between persons. We are all called to be prophets in our own time, place and capacity, and to be holy. There is...
  17. Vouthon

    "Western Culture" and Non-Western Cultures

    He manifestly does not argue for 'superiority' or 'betterness', which is a value judgment (not objective). I mean, he is calling our societies "WEIRD" (acronym and literal pun) - highly individualistic, self-obsessed, guilt-ridden and analytical in thinking style versus kin-based societies that...
  18. Vouthon

    "Western Culture" and Non-Western Cultures

    A book suggestion: The WEIRDest People in the World - Wikipedia The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous is a 2020 book by Harvard professor Joseph Henrich that aims to explain history and psychological variation with...
  19. Vouthon

    What is God to you?

    That's fascinating Salix, so in that respect you are similar to Buddhism and Jainism (a transtheistic religion)? In your worldview, therefore, is moksha - the state of liberated consciousness from samsara and maya (illusion) - the supreme unconditioned state, something that souls just...
  20. Vouthon

    Pope Benedict XVI has passed away

    Saints of God, come to his aid! Hasten to meet him, angels of the Lord! Receive the soul of Benedict XVI and present him to God the Most High. May Christ, who called you, take you to himself; may angels lead you to the bosom of Abraham. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let...
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