CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Friday, July 11, 2008

A Reflection on the World

I've been writing some reflections for my application to the society, and I thought I would share this little bit:

I have never (and still do not) understood how we could separate God from the world, despite the attempt at separating church and state. Even when I took philosophy courses in college, I failed at arguing a position philosophically without making it theological. I very firmly believe that it is all united—body, spirit, World, Spirit. I cannot remove the “God” from my worldview anymore than I can remove my heart from my body.
I'm not sure when I realized it, but this worldview places me at odds with our society. I think this must be the case for many Christians who seek to live out their faith. How do we justify and explain what we do without some reference to God?

This seems most evident when I try to understand how an atheist or agnostic understands morality. For me, it is all wrapped up in the fact that human beings are precious, because they were created by God in God's image and likeness. That's the foundation of all Christian morality, really--that everyone must be respected because every life, every individual is so valuable.

3 comments:

Jen Frazer said...

I had a philosophy professor who would roll his eyes whenever I started speaking...

But then this is the same one who told us (there was one other theologian in the class) that JPII was a brilliant philosopher until he "threw it all away"

I happen to agree with you, but there is another view out there certainly!

Good luck on your application!

Jan said...

I went to a seminar last year where Brian Greene was the main speaker; he has written marvelous books about the cosmos. With is big screen images of the universe and explanations of how the universe began, I kept being overwhelmed by God as the ENERGY that moves and creates everything.

Sister Juliet, RSCJ said...

Jen: thanks! I'm still working on understanding the "philosophy" bit. Someone has recommended that I read a book called "Philosophy for Theology" - maybe that will help!

Jan: I need to read some of his writings. I heard a lecture not long ago about scientific discoveries about the cosmos that related it all to our spirituality. The speaker also mentioned Greene. Any book recommendations?