Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Diagonal Way

Home
General Christian

2022-01-12T11:38:14-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Can a Place Make Us Holy?

Last updated on: January 12, 2022 at 11:38 am By Anthony D Baker

Is there theological significance to belonging to a place? This question is on my mind today, since my wife and I closed on a house–and the earth it sits on–yesterday. Is that place holy? Can we become holier by living there? Land ownership in the U.S. is random. I was born and grew into sufficient privilege to convince banks that my income is reliable. My ancestors won a generations-long war with various Native tribes. Socialism never took hold as... Read more

2022-01-12T11:33:03-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Cross as the Meaning of Suffering

Last updated on: January 12, 2022 at 11:33 am By Anthony D Baker

The posts in this column contemplate our diagonal connection to God. I have written here, I mean, about the way that our life in time slopes upward into the eternal life of God. Is that too optimistic? Can these contemplations bear the weight of suffering? Should we even try to offer a meaning of suffering? Let’s take a moment to consider how the diagonal way might also be the way of the cross. Why Do We Talk about Suffering? There’s... Read more

Doctrines for Various Occasions

Cross

David Bentley Hart

James Cone

Martin Luther King Jr

2022-01-12T11:32:50-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sin (and Sociopaths. And Vampires)

Last updated on: January 12, 2022 at 11:32 am By Anthony D Baker

Sin, Maximus the Confessor (d. 662 A. D.) tells us, is wanting the things of God without God, or before God gives them. And this is impossible. Sin is impossible, or at least the set up is. It’s wanting a good thing in the only way that is sure to deny our enjoyment of it. It’s like loving marshmallows so much that we eat 20 and vomit. My son did that once. Theosis Gone Wrong That archetypal story of sin in... Read more

Doctrines for Various Occasions

Maximus

Sin

2022-01-31T05:59:44-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Coffee with Maximus: The Five Stages of Contemplating God

Last updated on: January 31, 2022 at 5:59 am By Anthony D Baker

Contemplating God The posts in this column speak, directly or indirectly, about contemplating God. But what is that? And how is it done? Contemplation is a practice of faith. In some ways not just a practice, but the practice. In fact it is often listed in its own category. The habits of faith–prayer, almsgiving, etc.–have as their goal the contemplation of God. Again, how? Should I just go sit in a comfortable chair for 20 minutes and imagine the divine? ... Read more

2022-01-12T11:38:47-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Speaking My Truth, with Falstaff

Last updated on: January 12, 2022 at 11:38 am By Anthony D Baker

What does it mean to be true to ourselves? Should I aim to speak “my truth”? Falstaff’s Dilemma One of my favorite scenes from Shakespeare’s plays involves Sir John Falstaff, the corpulent and hedonistic knight who appears in various plays. In this scene he pretends to be King Henry in an impromptu bit of tavern theater. The theatrics (yes, a play within the play) begin because the actual king is on his way to visit his son Prince Harry. Falstaff... Read more

Theology and Literature

Shakespeare

2022-01-12T11:32:24-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Yahweh: The God beyond Verb Tenses

Last updated on: January 12, 2022 at 11:32 am By Anthony D Baker

In Exodus, when God reveals God’s proper true name to Moses, God makes up a new verb tense. Yahweh: I Am/Was/Will Be Who (or-What-or-That) I Am/Was/Will Be. I suspect Moses is, at least, for a moment, not all that glad he asked. Israel’s God’s name is not “I am whoever I happen to be right now,” or “I will be exactly the one I was,” or “I will be in the future whomever I want to be at that point.”... Read more

Doctrines for Various Occasions

Prayer

Psalms

2022-01-12T11:32:15-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Human Energy, Divine Revelation

Last updated on: January 12, 2022 at 11:32 am By Anthony D Baker

Where should we look if we wish to see the hand of God at work? Another way of asking the question: if divine revelation is happening in the world, how would we know? Where divine revelation happens We might want to start by noticing things around us: the rising of the sun, the spring thaw. The overwhelming scale of the universe. The moment a sickness leaves a body, or that a check “miraculously” clears the bank. Yes. Maybe. But when... Read more

Doctrines for Various Occasions

Christology

Maximus

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Elijah's successor, receiving a double portion of his spirit?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Samuel Micaiah Obadiah Elisha

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Church Fathers Doctrines for Various Occasions Ecotheology Eschatology Liturgical Seasons Prayer Theology and Literature Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021

TRENDING AT PATHEOS General Christian