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History and Religion

2024-08-23T08:09:21-05:00

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.

We Should Hold Our Beliefs More Loosely

Last updated on: August 23, 2024 at 8:09 am By Larry Jordan

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In The Way, I suggest that we should hold our political and religious beliefs more loosely. The book describes how the new physics transforms our understanding of the physical universe and how 2,000 years of progress in history, science, philosophy and theology transforms our understanding of Ultimate Reality. In a black-and-white Newtonian universe, there is no paradox. But, in a Technicolor quantum universe, there is a lot of paradox. The universe is a connected field, not a bunch of discrete... Read more

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Politics and Religion

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Gish Gallop

paradox

politics and religion

quantum physics

2024-08-15T19:00:57-05:00

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.

What Does It Mean to Follow Jesus?

Last updated on: August 15, 2024 at 7:00 pm By Larry Jordan

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Recall that there are 45,000 Christian denominations, who almost never agree. Imagine that all 2.4 billion Christians agree that we should follow Jesus. What does it mean to follow Jesus? Many of my Catholic friends aspire to be good people and to attend Mass regularly. Many of my Protestant friends claim to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. For 2,000 years, Catholics have believed (like James) that we are justified by faith and works. For 500 years, Protestants have... Read more

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Education and Religion

2024-08-26T11:26:05-05:00

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.

All Morality is Relative

Last updated on: August 26, 2024 at 11:26 am By Larry Jordan

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In theory, moral relativism is the worst kind of morality. However, in practice, it is the only kind of morality. Some people who have not practiced other traditions wonder if they are legitimate. Were their gods made up? Were their scriptures human inventions? Are they moral without commandments? But, this assumes that OUR gods are not made up and that OUR scriptures are not human inventions. Also, this assumes that OUR commandments are absolute, clear, and unchanging. “Thou shalt not... Read more

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Education and Religion

2024-08-01T09:22:35-05:00

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.

How Are We to Treat Others?

Last updated on: August 1, 2024 at 9:22 am By Larry Jordan

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Ramana Maharshi, a Hindu mystic, had the following exchange with a student: “Q: How are we to treat others? A: There are no others.” The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as we would want to be treated. The Golden Rule is common to almost all traditions, including Bahai, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Humanism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Scientology, Sikhism, Taoism, Wicca, Yoruba, and Zoroastrianism, among others. In its weak form, the Golden Rule suggests that we treat others... Read more

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Education and Religion

2024-07-25T07:25:53-05:00

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 Future of Christianity

Last updated on: July 25, 2024 at 7:25 am By Larry Jordan

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What is the future of Christianity? Can Christianity be more experiential, more nuanced, and more respectful of science? What is Happening? In the West, we assume that Christianity has dominated world history, and we assume that the United States will always be the leader of the free world. However, if we take the long view, we know that demographers estimate that approximately 120 billion humans have lived on earth and that over half of them lived before the common... Read more

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Education and Religion

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Christian theism

decline of Christianity

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Iron Age

2024-07-18T08:52:59-05:00

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 Benefits of Exploring Other Traditions

Last updated on: July 18, 2024 at 8:52 am By Larry Jordan

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The benefits of exploring other traditions are numerous. So, it is helpful to understand both the similarities and the differences in religious beliefs and practices. In The Way, I describe what Aldous Huxley and others called the perennial philosophy. Huxley believed that the perennial philosophy underlies all religions. It assumes that there is a godhead or ground behind the Universe, that this unity is immanent and transcendent, and that we can commune or merge with the godhead or ground of... Read more

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Education and Religion

2024-07-12T07:22:04-05:00

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.

Zen and Spiritual Practice

Last updated on: July 12, 2024 at 7:22 am By Larry Jordan

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Zen is not concerned with prescription or speculation. I wrote about Zen here and here and here. In these posts, I outlined Buddhist thought in broad strokes. Buddhism aims to reduce suffering, and it is mostly concerned with practice, not belief. There is no Buddhist creed, like there is no Hindu or Jewish or Muslim creed. More important, Buddhist thought expresses the observations of Buddha and his followers. These observations can be verified with objective evidence and subjective experience. Fundamentally,... Read more

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Education and Religion

2024-07-04T14:52:35-05:00

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.

Zen and Interdependence

Last updated on: July 4, 2024 at 2:52 pm By Larry Jordan

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Dogen Zenji encourages us to remove the barrier between self and other. So, the beginning of The Way features a quote by Dogen, founder of the Soto school of Zen: To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. To be enlightened by all things is to remove the barrier between self and other. The Spiritual Journey Thus,... Read more

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Education and Religion

2024-06-27T07:55:23-05:00

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.

Zen and the Self

Last updated on: June 27, 2024 at 7:55 am By Larry Jordan

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Buddhism does not believe in a permanent, unchanging self. Of course, each of us has forms, feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and awareness. Also, these attributes interact with our influences— our chemistry, our conditioning, our culture, and our experience. They create what we think of as a “self.” But, Buddhists do NOT believe that this is a permanent, unchanging entity. In the Eastern worldview, Ultimate Reality is immanent, as well as transcendent. The true Self (or “no-self” in Buddhism) is one with... Read more

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Education and Religion

2024-06-20T12:40:19-05:00

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.

An Introduction to Zen

Last updated on: June 20, 2024 at 12:40 pm By Larry Jordan

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Buddhism embraces a different worldview than most Western religions. Buddhism developed in response to Hinduism, which could be rigid and ritualistic. Siddhartha Gautama (now called the Buddha) was a seeker who found enlightenment under a bodhi tree, where he attained liberation from samsara, the cycle of suffering. Buddhism is grounded in the Buddha, the dharma (teachings) and the sangha (community.) On his deathbed, the Buddha reportedly instructed his followers not to blindly follow any leader (even the Buddha) and to... Read more

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Education and Religion

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