Jon, Edwina, List,
I think that there are in fact several, perhaps many ways of being
Christian, from more exoteric, traditional positions (doctrinaire,
dogmatic, Bible centered, etc.) to those considerably less so, that is,
more esoteric positions (mystical in, for example, the tradition of
Eckhard, such as the Cosmic Christ idea as Matthew Fox has elucidated it)
Be that as it may, if we are to have a list discussion on this religious
topic I would hope that it would center on (1) whether or not Peirce was in
fact a Christian (my own view is that he was) and, if so, (2) what sort of
a Christian he was (as I've already commented in another thread, I think
that he was a non-traditional Christian--he once referred to his views as
buddheo-Christian, but that, I believe, should be taken in context).
I should add that I do not necessarily think that it would be productive to
begin such a discussion until at least after we've more or less completed
the discussion of Peirce's cosmological ideas, which, as Jon suggested
correctly, I believe, ought precede the discussion of (his) religious
views. But, in any event, it seems to me important that we more or less
restrict such a discussion to* Peirce's religious views,* and that it would
definitely be advantageous to change the Subject line if and when we begin
such a discussion.
Best,
Gary R
[image: Gary Richmond]
*Gary Richmond*
*Philosophy and Critical Thinking*
*Communication Studies*
*LaGuardia College of the City University of New York*
*C 745*
*718 482-5690*
On Sat, Oct 29, 2016 at 8:04 PM, Jon Alan Schmidt <jonalanschm...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Edwina, List:
>
> If we presuppose that all religions are purely human constructs, then your
> approach makes perfect sense. On the other hand, if we take seriously the
> hypothesis that Jesus is God Himself in human flesh--not a mere "mortal
> born of gods"--then we will obviously proceed very differently. My point
> was that one deductive consequence of that premiss is that Jesus, after
> predicting that he would rise from the dead, would in fact do so. If that
> is what actually happened, then the hypothesis is strongly corroborated; if
> not, then the hypothesis is definitively falsified.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jon Alan Schmidt - Olathe, Kansas, USA
> Professional Engineer, Amateur Philosopher, Lutheran Layman
> www.LinkedIn.com/in/JonAlanSchmidt - twitter.com/JonAlanSchmidt
>
> On Sat, Oct 29, 2016 at 6:16 PM, Edwina Taborsky <tabor...@primus.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> Jon, list:
>>
>> Jon wrote: "With that in mind, a unique aspect of Christianity is its
>> startling affirmation that God Himself entered into Actuality--"
>>
>> I don't think that the concept of 'god entering into actuality' is unique
>> to Christianity. It's basic to many ancient beliefs [loosely term as
>> 'pagan'] about the gods. Zeus, for instance, had quite a few mortal
>> children. Mortals born of gods [and that includes virgin births] are found
>> in these Greek-Roman tales and other religions {Hinduism, Buddhism]
>>
>> I'd therefore suggest that this shows the influence of the Greek and
>> Roman religions on Christianity - whereas, to my knowledge, one doesn't
>> find such influence in Judaism. And, in my view, Islam is a 7th
>> century economic reaction to the settling of pastoral nomadic grazing lands
>> by the Roman-Byzantine empire...but that's another story.
>>
>> I think that the transition from animism, polytheism etc to monotheism is
>> something worthy of study - and of course - there is a lot of work in this
>> area.
>>
>> Edwina
>>
>
>
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