tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post2173994268943882026..comments2024-03-28T13:06:46.297+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: What is the Way of Affirmation? (Via Positiva)Bruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-30983276262977810392011-06-01T06:22:46.498+01:002011-06-01T06:22:46.498+01:00Christ is the Way. If we make either affirmation o...Christ is the Way. If we make either affirmation or denial of creatures the way, we err, even if ever so slightly. If we make Christ the Way, then our yes to creatures will be properly yes, and our no properly no.<br /><br />If Christ is our Way, we will see that we are in ourselves utterly impoverished and emptied, dried up like a potsherd; and we will find ourselves in him, where our life is hid, filled up and glorified.Kristornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-67727539569286133782011-05-31T15:09:17.533+01:002011-05-31T15:09:17.533+01:00Both Ways are suggested by Biblical passages.
For...Both Ways are suggested by Biblical passages.<br /><br />For example, Isaiah 40:18 "To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with Him?" suggests the Via Negativa, the way of rejection of images or ideas about God. (Charles Williams quotes a passage of the pseudo-Dionysius, in The Descent of the Dove, that could serve as an expansion of the Isaiah reference.) The Israelites were commanded to include statues of the cherubim in the Most Holy Place -- it is incontrovertible that art was to be used in the worship of the Almighty -- but of God Himself they were to make no images (2 Chronicles 5:7-8, Deuteronomy 5:8).<br /><br />Conversely, the Psalms (e.g. 19) and other Biblical books contain examples of the Affirmation of Images. An excellent one with regard to Williams's thoughts on marriage appears at the end of Ephesians 5, about earthly marriage and Christ and the Church. I believe that Williams thought that the Church was somewhat prone to neglect the Affirmative Way, but also that in addition to the Scriptures, she had good teachers -- above all of those, Dante. He also had great regard for a Victorian poet that few have even heard of any more, Coventry Patmore, author of The Angel in the House.Wurmbrandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17345523517796356674noreply@blogger.com