Christianity & Eastern Spirituality

[Tez3]

You are a Christian.
Sean

No, he's Manx.

 

[ronagle]

You are a Christian.
Sean

raised yes, initiated as no, I am a sufi in that regard.

 

[Indagator]

As for the metaphysics, like I mentioned before, Aquinas and Duns Scotus both write of things with which one can hold an appropriate context to approach much of the Eastern spirituality inherent within the martial arts. I am not sure if I was clear about this statement before so I have tried here to clarify it.[/qote]

I'd be very interested in seeing what Aquinas wrote on the topicof metaphysics (and to a lesser extent Scotus) that lends itself to an approach of eastern spirituality, especialy if you could give references to their original works so I could read them.

Pax,

Chris

I did say that I would not be posting again in this thread, but for clarity's sake I will make the following comments.

1. I should have hyphenated V-II Council rather than posting VII Council as I did, which looks more like it refers to a seventh council as opposed to the Second Vatican Council.

2. (Directly pertaining to the quoted text)
I believe you may have misread or misunderstood the statement which is made here. This may be my fault, so I will elaborate slightly in order to attempt to clarify what it is that I have said.

Within the frame of reference of or pertaining to the realm of metaphysics (of which both referenced authors dealt with immensely) there are fundamental elements, points or ideals from whence one can (whilst firmly grounded in Thomism/Scotism) operate within an appropriate context (the context here being rooted in either or both of the Dominican or Franciscan metaphysical basis) with which to approach much of the Eastern spirituality that is inherent within the scope and mantle of the martial arts.

This is a definitive distinctive separation from the impression I seem to have given you, however in my poorly defined explanation I have muddied the waters such as to cause the confusion which is exhibited in the interpretation you have shown here.

As I originally stated, however, I will not be participating in open discussion over the topic of spirituality or religion. I am happy to help and clarify any of my statements further with you, if you would like to PM me.

There are a number of works from either author which deal with what I refer to, again just PM me and I can get back to you about some of that - from the posts you have made I assume you can read Latin fine, which is good as most of the works I have are in the original Latin. If not, no problem, however it may take me a bit longer to find English versions of these works.

Anyway, I hope I have cleared up at least some of what I meant to say, and I apologise for having been unclear in the first place.

PAX DOMINI SIT SEMPER VOBISCUM, FRATRES.

 

[Yondanchris]

I believe that we can observe certain religious "traits" such as the patience and persistance of buddism
or the hard work ethic of Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses and draw that into our understanding of faith.
Now I will say that certain traits and practices are not fully compatible with other faiths.
Out of my own experience I grew up in the Christian church but left for a time in which
I accepted many facets of religion, only to come back and realize the truth found in the Bible.

I hope I will only have to say this once:

Jesus was very clear on the path, way, journey, religion, of all mankind:

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, andthe life. No one
comes to the Father except through me" (underlines and italics are mine)
John 14:6

Jesus forcefully stating the priority of his message and the objective statements
of being in very essence THE way, THE truth, and THE life!

Every "religion" accepts to some degree the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth (the Messiah/Christ)
but He did not come to be a "good teacher" or a "moral man"
He came to "seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10)

Jesus also said to a man seeking the right path:

"“For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God"
John 3:16-17
(Italics and Underlines are mine)

One more thing I will share, that Jesus made the way "do" easy for all:

"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe
in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 10:9

If any of you want to know more...send me a message or e-mail me at
[email protected]

Grace and Peace,

Chris