tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post7640630391997497074..comments2024-03-29T15:06:19.332+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Thoreau's Walden and the delusion of an earthly paradiseBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-15806624151465665212021-07-08T22:29:50.593+01:002021-07-08T22:29:50.593+01:00@jg - Yes indeed - Walden is from the early and tr...@jg - Yes indeed - Walden is from the early and transitional stage of rejection of Christianity when (for a creative genius, at least) the advantages have been ingrained during childhood and the culturally-sustaining patterns remain - but the lethally-demotivating relativism, value-inversion, evil and despair have not had time to develop. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-85011985839254939882021-07-08T21:48:28.615+01:002021-07-08T21:48:28.615+01:00Walden makes apostasy an idyllic place.Walden makes apostasy an idyllic place.jana gatienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01341290730621953185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-62780944658148412452021-07-08T18:34:04.813+01:002021-07-08T18:34:04.813+01:00"Are we then living in the endtime?"
Ye..."Are we then living in the endtime?"<br /><br />Yes - by my understanding of the term. <br /><br />https://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/search?q=end+timesBruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-37496567292820177972021-07-08T17:54:17.701+01:002021-07-08T17:54:17.701+01:00Are we then living in the endtime?
By the way, tha...Are we then living in the endtime?<br />By the way, that is why I started reading Jacques Ellul, for his eschatology, finding C.S. Lewis, somewhat superficial on this subject (The world's last night) in comparison to his prophetical The abilition of man (and in a lesser degree That hideous strength). But C.S. Lewis was writing for people, who were already Christian and not for folks like me, who are on the threshold. The works of Jacques Ellul are somewhat difficult to find nowadays, both in French and translation. I start with his most readable theological work The meaning of the city (which coincidentally is recently translated in Dutch from the unabridged French edition), but my goal is his exegesis of the Book of Revelation. Ellul saw the whole Scripture (Old and New Testament) as a coherent whole, which makes him rather challenging to read for me as novice. By the way, he is more famous for his sociological studies (Propaganda, The technological society).<br /><br />Best regards, PieterPieterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08433705182822874687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-89694510993196569112021-07-08T17:14:07.783+01:002021-07-08T17:14:07.783+01:00A mundane comment before musing on your deeper mes...A mundane comment before musing on your deeper message: Walden was endearing to me in my youth, but I had occasion to re-read it in one of Thoreau's Collected Works a couple years ago. Boy, are you correct that "he ... did not himself actually lead such a life." Not only was he living on borrowed land knowing he wasn't going to be there long, he was constantly dependent on his neighbors, landlord, friends and "the kindness of strangers" for everything including food to eat. And he mentions each of these met needs in the book, all the while professing to be "self reliant", thus fooling us along with himself into thinking he had achieved something. As you say, he had good ideas... he just didn't practice them. <br /><br /><br />Of all the items in the collection, I found his travelogue "Cape Cod" to be the best: witty and interesting, pulling off the veil of glamour from old-time seaside living. It was fun reading.<br /><br /><br />There is great wisdom in your statements that: "As such a life-well-lived is a matter of learning from experience, we can and should set-aside the ideal of constructing for our-selves an earthly paradise. .... For Christians; this external world has been revealed as resurrected eternal life in Heaven; and it is this which gives real and permanent value to this transitory mortal life. .... But instead see life as experience and learning and therefore always be full of hope... and indeed eager anticipation." <br /><br />It is because of this hope and eager anticipation that I've reached a rather stoic approach that, by the Grace of God, seems to work well for me: accepting what comes and finding the best in it, learning along the way. Someone, sometime said something to the effect that none of our learning is ever wasted: all the knowledge and experience we acquire on earth with come to good use and fruition in Heaven. Holding on to that kind of thinking makes life and daily tasks here even more exciting and interesting. God is Good, indeed. Tinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06049681622118832305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-28836402246643090122021-07-08T15:14:08.805+01:002021-07-08T15:14:08.805+01:00Comment from Pieter:
"I fully agree with you...Comment from Pieter:<br /><br />"I fully agree with you regarding Thoreau's Walden, but it leaves me with a personal problem. Is quietism the path for me or societal active christianity? I have just started reading Jacques Ellul and I am captivated, but he clearly advocated action. (See, also to put his admiration for Marx in perspective: https://ellul.org/ellul-and-marx/ ) Are you familiar with the theological writings of Jacques Ellul?"<br /><br />BGC - No, I don't think I have heard of him. <br /><br />Activism is - in 2021 - means engagement with the System; and that usually means some degree of co-option or corruption. Quietism seems also to be an obsolete strategy, since nobody is left alone to do their own thing in the Brave New World Order. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.com