Quietism: Union With The Divine

Christianity is divided into thousands of denominations across the world, each denomination has a specific set of beliefs and norms which contribute to, and sometimes challenge the overarching themes of Christianity and The Bible. Christopher M. Moereman in his book, Beyond the Threshold explains Normative Christianity, and the specific beliefs and practices within. Kyriacos C. Markides in this book, The Magus of Strovolos uses the teachings of Dr. Stylianos Atteshlis, also known as Daskalos, to further illustrate the specific beliefs and practices within Esoteric Christianity. After reading and understanding the writings of both Moreman and Markides, it is clear to see there are ideas which distinguish Esoteric Christianity from Normative Christianity. This essay will explore these ideas which include the idea soul, the idea life after death, and the teachings of Daskalos.

Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane analyzes a wide variety of components that are found within various world religions. Eliade uses the history of religion to support his ideas as the the book itself is a brief introduction to religion as a whole, particulary the religions of primitive societies. Nonetheless, when looking to the past one can see that mankind’s desire to associate itself with the sacred has been occuring for thousands of years. From temples to passages of intiation, religious man is a unique microcosm that follows and repeats the structure of the religious macrocosm, the creation of the cosmos. One can conclude that Eliade views religion as the “paradigmatic solution for every existential crisis.” (p210) and

On the 31st March 1848 the first communication, connecting with spirit, involving the Fox sister’s known as the “Hydesville Rappings”. How a code was devised to communicate with spirit, a cynical neighbour curious joined in. This was an unlikely place for connecting the two worlds. At that point, there were many obstacles the Fox sister faced during their lifetime, however, allowing us to see the truth, furthermore gain the knowledge of life after death. Worldwide knowledge of this truth and freedom emerged. The pioneer’s Fox sisters making historic discovery took us to the first steps towards new religious belief Spiritualism, which is of huge importance.

No one can truly understand sympathy until they have suffered. In his The Chosen, a postmodern novel, Chaim Potok surveys the meaning of compassion learned through suffering. Danny Saunders, a brilliant Hasidic Jew, lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn along with his friend, Reuven Malter, in the 1940s. With his photographic memory, Danny aspires to become a psychologist, but he knows that he will have to inherit his father’s position as the rabbi of their community. In addition to this, his father, Reb Saunders, will not speak to him about anything other than the holy book of Talmund. Danny is forced to keep his ideas and experiences to himself, leading to him suffering because of this silence. Chaim Potok’s The Chosen uses Danny’s gradual shift

Often times we are at a loss for words when it comes to talking about the person of the Holy Spirit. Beth Felker Jones in her work entitled “God the Spirit” serves as an introduction to the study of the Holy Spirit in a distinctly Wesleyan and Ecumenical Perspective. Jones is working against the notion that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is often the most neglected of all Christian teachings (1). She recognizes her experience within the Wesleyan tradition as one that shapes her pneumatology and this book. She asserts that one of Wesleyan Christianity’s special gifts is it’s “leaning against any tendency to neglect the Spirit” (4). Even with this framework she aims to place the Wesleyan perspective in a larger ecumenical milieu that shows the continuity of a Wesleyan pneumatology with the Tradition of the Church. Overall, her approach is very accessible, as she assumes very little and writes in such a way that allows her to cover large dogmatic topics clearly and concisely. By merit of simply being an introduction only style book, there is the risk of glossing over topics and not providing enough in depth discussion to fully understand and comprehend the doctrine discussed. A reader should feel confident that Jones has indeed provided us with a solid introduction to Wesleyan pneumatology that has the ability to bear fruit and initiate growth in the life of the believer.

Gnosticism was one of the movements that grew out of Christianity. It would challenge the beliefs of the church in a way that would put the two at odds. This case study will discuss the beliefs of Gnosticism and the Church’s response to it using research from scholarly printed text and on-line resources.

Lori Singer was born on November 6, 1957. She is best known for her role as Ariel Moore in Footloose opposite Kevin Bacon and as Julie Miller on the TV series Frame which ran from 1982-1983. After taking a break for some years in her career, she took up a guest role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2013, she co-produced the documentary Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, which was nominated for 5 Emmy’s and won 3.

Mysticism is the honoring and the study of God’s mysteries and truths while a mystic is someone who knows the truth beyond the physical world. What is interesting about mysticism to me is that mysticism is not a religion it is someone's personal path to help develop one’s pure self. Mysticism is the awareness of one’s divine nature and helps us human beings to become one with God as he helps us follow the right path. Mysticism originally was studied by the early Christians and the word mysticism derived from the Greek word “to conceal.” Today, mysticism is viewed all over the world helping people get a better idea of their personal beliefs through “mystical experiences.”

Accessed 22 March 2017. "Buddhism." New Catholic Encyclopedia Supplement 2010, vol. 1, pp.159-180. Gale Virtual Reference Library, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=munc80314&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX1388100100&asid=0dfd90154f04e5057366f5c67f74554. Accessed 3 Apr. 2017.

Eastern religious philosophy includes the various philosophies of South and East Asia, including Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy, Japanese philosophy, and Korean philosophy. The most notable western religious philosophies include the classical Greek tradition and the Abrahamic religions. To illustrate the main similarities and differences between western and non-western ideas of God and the concept of the ultimate reality I will be comparing and contrasting the basic western religions with those of

Who could speak of such things? Not Emilio Sandoz who, for all his facility with many languages, remained tongue-tied and inarticulate about the center of his soul. For he could not feel God or approach God as a friend...and yet, as he had grown older, the path he had started down almost in ignorance had begun to seem clearer to him. It became more apparent to him that he was truly called to walk this strange and difficult, this unnatural and unutterable path to God, which required not poetry or piety but simple endurance and patience (160).

Mysticism is a word we find in many books that relate to religious experiences. Mysticism is interpreted as searching for spiritual truth and wisdom through the unification with the Divine. Many Christians today believe that the words associated with mysticism like meditation and mystic are not coherently related with Christianity, but more with many Eastern religions. Eastern religions are definitely known for their mysticism, but it is believed to not be a part of Christianity. Mysticism is actually a vital part of Christianity in ways that are more spiritual rather than only being engaged with Christian rituals. Mysticism is the faith that spiritual reality is believed to be from human knowledge and their senses. It searches for truth

Mysticism focuses on the relationships individuals have with religion. More specifically, the practice concentrates on the religious subject and how it is portrayed through religious experience. Mysticism emphasizes the irrationality and ineffability of the Absolute, Divine, or Transcendent. Defining and coming to know the unknowable is an extremely difficult yet intriguing topic to explore and in The Idea of the Holy by Otto Rudolph, he attempts to convey the irrational to his audience. Rudolph presents the characteristics of the Divine and its stupefying effects on humankind through defining and examining the word “holy”.

The spiritual life of each person in the world is as individual as a fingerprint. Thousands of different religions create a myriad of outlines for worship, but every personal belief system is unique. “The Three Hermits” by Leo Tolstoy tells of three holy men living a silent life of prayer on an island by themselves. When an Archbishop catches word of them, he insists on diverting his own travel route so that he may visit the hermits. With diligence, he teaches the men the Our Father and departs to return to his ship. Later, the three hermits chase after the ship as if they were running on ground, for they forgot the Our Father and wished to be retaught by the Bishop. Crossing himself, the Bishop assures the hermits that their prayers will be heard by God and asks that they pray for him and other sinners.

Descartes and Augustine, in their respective examinations of the mind and God, come to the conclusion that the true understanding of all things derives from the withdrawal of the self from foreign influence and the necessity to look inward. Although each thinker’s journey or course of understanding was different, and at times rather contrasting, their ultimate realizations about knowledge are very coherent.