tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post480052043728288253..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: The failure of the ethical - a need for the 'cosmic' perspectiveBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-28327421522704140852021-12-15T17:02:50.317+00:002021-12-15T17:02:50.317+00:00@William - I suppose the important thing about eth...@William - I suppose the important thing about ethics is the motivations behind the expressed behaviours. These can't usually be known directly so must be inferred - but a person's motivations do affect his relations with God; so there may be this kind of indirect (but real) relationship between ethics and salvation. <br /><br />In other words, ethics may share motivational roots with spiritual aspects; and may not say 'nothing' about how we interact with God - but when ethics Do say something, it is not necessarily either clear or obvious. <br /><br />It is always necessary (or, at least, very desirable) to put first things first, and that has not often happened wrt the nature of sin. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-47638052668608873312021-12-15T16:54:18.980+00:002021-12-15T16:54:18.980+00:00Ethics basically just relate to how people interac...Ethics basically just relate to how people interact with each other on the material plane of being. They say nothing about how we interact with God which is the spiritual relationship we should be seeking to develop.William Wildbloodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231219533755925897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-35358809519143499922021-12-15T14:09:22.895+00:002021-12-15T14:09:22.895+00:00God forgive me for my hobby-horse riding but what ...God forgive me for my hobby-horse riding but what you say here is precisely the awareness Anselm sought to trigger by his quo majus:<br /><br />"It seemed that all mankind was living in a delusional system; enmeshed in absorbing and spouting ethical-stuff, 24/7 - and yet (with another part of the mind) knowing that it was all arbitrary, made-up, and without bearing on anything real"<br /><br />The Fool who stands in the public square and says "God does not exist!" is engaged in this same double mindset. By directing the reader to ponder the quo majus, Anselm leads the ponderer to realize that he is existing in a state of mental contradiction. And the law of non-contradiction is iron. The ponderer of the quo majus koan realizes that the mechanics of how we think and what we do proves the existence of the Theos in re. It demonstrates the necessary connection of the in conceptu idea of the Theos to reality (existence in re).<br /><br /> Atheism and modern life and floating ethics are a violation of the law of non-contradiction. They are actually mere thoughts. A parallel construct that has no connection to existence in re. Like a unicorn: which has existence in conceptu but not in re. <br /><br />In the end, the only way to be an atheist is to become a plant. Speaking and hearing and thinking proves the existence of the Theos in re. But we can't actually stop hearing and thinking and speaking. But we can say all kinds of foolish things that violate the law of non-contradiction. We drive ourselves mad by doing so however. Because it is a denial of Being and our own being and in that way moves us away from God. It actually drains us of Being. Which is the same thing. That's what sin is. <br /><br />The path the current year offers us is one leading down the Hierarchy of Being by means of this double mind to a state beneath even animals. <br /><br />It seems clear to me that ppl and their organizations are being drained of Being. Skarphedinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-52949001824250952662021-12-15T12:51:08.992+00:002021-12-15T12:51:08.992+00:00@Thanks Frank & Anne K!
Of course there is a...@Thanks Frank & Anne K! <br /><br />Of course there is a *relationship* between the ethical and the cosmic (as I describe in the linked posts) - in the sense that (to put it briefly) bad ethics, unrepented, may well cause someone to reject the cosmic gift that Christ offers. This is (presumably) why the demons are so keen to get people to do unethical things (to 'sin' in the more normal usage of the words), and to believe in inverted morality.<br /><br />Thus moral-sinning can (and does) potentially lead to cosmic-sin - that is to death rather than resurrection. <br /><br />But moral-sinning is a given in human life, and does not block resurrection (when resurrection is desired) so long as moral-sin is recognized as sin (i.e. *potentially* resurrection blocking) and is repented. <br /><br />My point is that the ethical aspects of sin are secondary, a 'means to an end' as it were - and that 'end' is resurrected eternal life. The Lamb of God 'taking away the sins of the world' therefore means (approximately) Jesus 'taking away' the inevitability of death-as-annihilation of the self. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-82620754642175519042021-12-15T12:26:32.926+00:002021-12-15T12:26:32.926+00:00Great post! It's true. Ethics mean very little...Great post! It's true. Ethics mean very little unless they are grounded in a metaphysics that recognizes the spiritual as primary. I suppose this is a core problem regarding de-spiritualized consciousness. Ethics that stem from a non-religious or - worse - anti-religious metaphysics are mostly lies or inversions of ethics based on religious metaphysics; hence, contradictory, relative, and (mostly) absurd. <br /><br />This past Sunday I spent some time thinking about Christmas, and I was immediately struck by the cosmic significance of the event - about how Jesus's appearance and time on earth created a veritable cosmic shift. I referred to this shift as an uncommon Good, and contrasted with concepts of the "common good", which are inevitably dominated by ethical considerations. Unfortunately, the uncommon Good Jesus reveals has been diluted and mixed in with the mundane concepts of the common good. <br /><br />I find this quite perplexing. The cosmic perspective Jesus espouses and teaches is evident in all four gospels, particularly the Fourth Gospel. If we study His responses to what should have been simple and straightforward ethical concerns of his time, it becomes readily apparent that his perspective not only breaks the ethical mold, but ends up going way beyond it.<br /><br />Side note: I like the use of 'cosmic' as a synonym for 'metaphysics'. Francis Bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11063224017320651978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-42811960835103379412021-12-15T12:24:06.085+00:002021-12-15T12:24:06.085+00:00Great column! We have forgotten, or ignored, the f...Great column! We have forgotten, or ignored, the fact that Christ was not nice, and, in fact, morality is entirely separate from following Him. The ancient heresies of Arianism and Nestorianism never left and in fact are more prevalent than ever.Ann K.noreply@blogger.com