tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post5015305834285042430..comments2024-03-29T12:03:37.344+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Deification/ theosis and C.S. LewisBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-85092003305710197672011-11-04T02:03:55.362+00:002011-11-04T02:03:55.362+00:00I took a look at Wright's blog too. Very inte...I took a look at Wright's blog too. Very interesting and yes, his conversion story is compelling. Now I will have another atheist-to-Christian convert to read. Lewis, Charlton, Wright - the most interesting Christians to read all turn out to be former atheists. It is kind of scary. You go to bed an atheist one night and wake up the next morning a Christian - rather like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. [Note to self: "must stay awake..."]<br /><br />The same thing is true of conservatives; the most readable are former liberals and socialists. I think a goodly percentage of National Review's early writers were ex-communists (eg. Whittaker Chambers, James Burnham etc.)<br /><br />Maybe the common thread is that converts know all the arguments their opponents employ, because they used to use them too.HenryOrientJnrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-48097299396436035292011-11-03T18:57:00.921+00:002011-11-03T18:57:00.921+00:00joetexx - thus nature balances itself...
I can...joetexx - thus nature balances itself...<br /><br />I can't work out how to leave a comment at JCW's site - I wonder if you would do it for me, inviting him to e-mail so I can send him a (draft) copy of Thought Prison (and please do so yourself).Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-21304339431033107012011-11-03T16:10:11.985+00:002011-11-03T16:10:11.985+00:00Dr Charlton, this is amusing as I havde just recom...Dr Charlton, this is amusing as I havde just recommended Thought Prison to John Wright and he in turn is recommending it to others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-21936527212439697162011-11-03T15:08:13.750+00:002011-11-03T15:08:13.750+00:00@Ross - No - I hadn't previously noticed John ...@Ross - No - I hadn't previously noticed John C Wright. <br /><br />Thanks for the links. <br /><br />I read both the pieces, and they are excellent - I especially liked the 'conversion experience' post, which is certainly one of the most impressive I have ever read.Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-2837371377365094722011-11-03T14:00:45.596+00:002011-11-03T14:00:45.596+00:00Professor Charleton,
Has anyone yet pointed you t...Professor Charleton,<br /><br />Has anyone yet pointed you to John C. Wright? <br /><br /><a href="http://bit.ly/s9A0xr" rel="nofollow">http://www.scifiwright.com/2011/11/two-links-to-the-modern-world/</a><br /><br />I find both you and he on a plane far above me, but I wanted to chance a guess that you mind find Mr. Wright's writing to be interesting. He seems to have <a href="http://bit.ly/sFQWvA" rel="nofollow">converted to Christianity</a> around the same time you did and now I see him posting on the topic of Pollitical Correctness.<br /><br /> - RossLDiracDeltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16093438666347733550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-86598204988187940442011-11-03T13:30:25.570+00:002011-11-03T13:30:25.570+00:00@Peter S - I tend to think comparisons of similari...@Peter S - I tend to think comparisons of similarities are misleading - since Christianity is a completion of paganism (and paganism underlies, or actually is, all variants of religion).<br /><br />And there is the additional problem of considering unusual sects as if representative of major religions - e.g. sufism, or liberal Christianity.<br /><br />There are always gray areas, but hard cases make bad law! The basic outlines of median tendencies (over time and space) are clear and comprehensible enough. <br /><br />Theosis is therefore a distinct doctrine of Christianity, when understaood fully and distinctly - I think this is well explained in the article I cite.Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-7000216375275430052011-11-03T13:15:59.673+00:002011-11-03T13:15:59.673+00:00Peter S. said:
The doctrine of theosis or deific...Peter S. said: <br /><br />The doctrine of theosis or deification is crucial, as perhaps expressed most gnomically by St. Athanasius: “God became man so that man might become God.” However, far from being unique to Christianity, deification is a necessary correlate to any properly conceived metaphysics, the doctrine and experience of deification finding closely analogous expression in the theosis of Hesychasm, fanā’ and baqā’ of Sufism, mokṣa of Vedanta and nirvāṇa of Buddhism.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com