I'm struggling with both articles, not because they don't surface some sympomatic issues in Chrsitianity, but that they both deal with a strained connection to Buddhism.
Various forms of dualism and/or infections of pantheism into Christian theology have occurred over the years, but just because there are Dualistic ideas doesn't make some…
I'm struggling with both articles, not because they don't surface some sympomatic issues in Chrsitianity, but that they both deal with a strained connection to Buddhism.
Various forms of dualism and/or infections of pantheism into Christian theology have occurred over the years, but just because there are Dualistic ideas doesn't make something Buddhist. Plato, for instance, had some ideas that we may find parallel to Buddhism but it doesn't make Grek thought Buddhist.
The reason I bring this up is that, if one is not tracing theological influences or philosophical movements properly then not only does the critique miss the mark but the solution does as well.
As just one example, Autgustine is very solid theologically in some aspects on grace, but he also had some ideas about marriage that owed to a form of Christian Platonism that long had an effect on the way marriage and sex were viewed.
Going into the medieval Church, with notions of vows of poverty and chastity or even induldgences given to those who would forsake wealth owed to a conlation of sancitifcaiotn with justificaiton. One historian noted that medieval spriituality led to the idea of "sanctification by amputation" where you didn't motify lusts but literally "cut out" whatever would hinder you - give up wealth, sex, family, etc. The surest way to get into heaven in such a scheme was to become a Nun or a Priest. This is why it is a bit ironice to read a Roman Catholic talking about denial of good things being Buddhist when it is the Roman Catholic practice to elevate celibacy and poverty ans means to sanctification.
I think you can certainly see a rise in Pantheism and an un-Biblical dualism emerging in culture that is infecting the Church. Modernity has, for instance, convinced us that our minds can conceive of our "real" reality as divorced from our physical embodiment. Our Created bodies don't tell us who we are, but our desires and our mind.
I think I get what you're saying, Rich. But could we not say that much of modern evangelicalism has started to present in a way more akin to Buddhism than biblical tradition?
I don't think it's literally Buddhism. In TSP's original post, he quotes Chesterton making your very point about Augustine and Plato. He also says it could be viewed as a modern form of Manicheanism. I think various tendencies like this recur throughout church history with various origins.
I'm struggling with both articles, not because they don't surface some sympomatic issues in Chrsitianity, but that they both deal with a strained connection to Buddhism.
Various forms of dualism and/or infections of pantheism into Christian theology have occurred over the years, but just because there are Dualistic ideas doesn't make something Buddhist. Plato, for instance, had some ideas that we may find parallel to Buddhism but it doesn't make Grek thought Buddhist.
The reason I bring this up is that, if one is not tracing theological influences or philosophical movements properly then not only does the critique miss the mark but the solution does as well.
As just one example, Autgustine is very solid theologically in some aspects on grace, but he also had some ideas about marriage that owed to a form of Christian Platonism that long had an effect on the way marriage and sex were viewed.
Going into the medieval Church, with notions of vows of poverty and chastity or even induldgences given to those who would forsake wealth owed to a conlation of sancitifcaiotn with justificaiton. One historian noted that medieval spriituality led to the idea of "sanctification by amputation" where you didn't motify lusts but literally "cut out" whatever would hinder you - give up wealth, sex, family, etc. The surest way to get into heaven in such a scheme was to become a Nun or a Priest. This is why it is a bit ironice to read a Roman Catholic talking about denial of good things being Buddhist when it is the Roman Catholic practice to elevate celibacy and poverty ans means to sanctification.
I think you can certainly see a rise in Pantheism and an un-Biblical dualism emerging in culture that is infecting the Church. Modernity has, for instance, convinced us that our minds can conceive of our "real" reality as divorced from our physical embodiment. Our Created bodies don't tell us who we are, but our desires and our mind.
Buddhism is also trendy, so it is a natural framing of the sub Christian ideas surrounding us.
I think I get what you're saying, Rich. But could we not say that much of modern evangelicalism has started to present in a way more akin to Buddhism than biblical tradition?
I don't think it's literally Buddhism. In TSP's original post, he quotes Chesterton making your very point about Augustine and Plato. He also says it could be viewed as a modern form of Manicheanism. I think various tendencies like this recur throughout church history with various origins.