vol 2: Synopsis
part I: Motivations and possibilities
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I am a conscious particle contemplating my position in a vast universe. I was brought up to understand my position in life according to the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. Long ago, I lost confidence in this Church, and have ever since been seeking a new world view. Here it is (so far!).
The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) is the principal institutional incarnation of the Christian religion. Wikipedia The RCC claims to be the sole channel of communication between the human species and an invisible god. The Church is a dogmatic institution. In the past it punished many dissenters with death, imprisonment and impoverishment. Nowadays the forces are more subtle, but one cannot advance in the hierarchy or make a living in the church without being a believer. Nor can its theologians advance opinions contrary to the corporate line.
My mind was formed in this religious environment, and I took it all seriously enough to enter a religious order and train for the priesthood. Here I learnt the ancient theoretical underpinnings of the Church's understanding of the universe in which it finds itself. Much of this was inconsistent with the scientific understanding of the world that was also in the air I breathed.
Ultimately, I simply could not believe that a set of old texts (the Bible) and a vast corpus of ancient commentary upon these texts, could possibly be an adequate foundation for life in the mid-twentieth century.
I left the church into a theological wilderness, but gradually the agenda become clear. Theology and religion go together like science and technology. The vast improvements of the standards of living in the rich world mostly arise from the application of science.
What was needed then, was a scientific theology. For theology to be scientific. god must be observable. The ancient distinction between god and the world must go. And with it the distinct roles of creator and created. I began to assume that the universe was divine, and that every experience of my life was a revelation of the divinity.
Science proceeds by imagining models of the world that can be put to observational test.. If scientific theology is to proceed the same way, we need models of god, and tests for them. This synopsis is a summary of my work in this direction so far.
(revised
Further reading
Books
| Blum, William, Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions since World War II - Updated Through 2003, Common Courage Press 2003 Amazon customer review: ' Written by a former State Department employee, the author's wealth of knowledge and experience are thoroughly impressive, and this book is very easy to read and follow. Beginning at the end of WWII, the author lists, by country, US military involvement in chronological order. Readers will find the consequences - some of which are being seen today - profoundly interesting. Another reviewer mentioned that the book had a "blame America first" slant, but I sincerely doubt that reviewer read the entire book. Whilethe book does specifically mention US involvement in the overthrow of democratically elected governments in places like Iran, Chile, andIndonesia, these incidents are generally known now. The people responsible are blamed, not the American people who were not privy to suchWashington secrets. It is interesting to read why Washington powerbrokers chose military intervention: In some cases bowing to political interests, in other caseswith fine intentions, in most cases not foreseeing the negative consequences for the US and the world. This book provides a concise background for the state of the world today.' Mary F Czach (APO, AP United States) Amazon back |
| Collins, Paul, Papal Power: A Proposal for Change in the Catholicism's Third Millennium, HarperCollinsReligious 1997 Jacket: 'The papacy of the Roman Catholic Church is the world's oldest continuous institution. Paul Collins, historian and inveterate Vatican watcher, has looked beyond the details of this astonishing parade of over 260 popes to uncover the dynamics of papal power. ... He traces the developments in theory and reality that have led to a modern papacy that exercises virtually sole and total rule over the world's largest religious community. Collins' provocative ... study proposes a new model in the Catholic Church as it enters its third millennium - one that would allow all Catholics to participate in the work and decision-making of the Church.' Amazon back |
| Cooper, David G, The Death of the Family, Pantheon Books 1971 Amazon customer review: An astonishing assault on one of society's sacred cows: 'David Cooper, one of the grand old men of existential psychiatry, delivers a withering assault on the family from an individualist perspective. "Bringing up a child," he says, "is bringing down a person"; the family teaches us to live "agglutinatively," hence pathologically, rooting our identity in our birth milieu instead of in who we are as individuals. It's hard to find books that recognize that the family -- modern society's bedrock institution -- has critical problems which themselves underlie so many of our social problems. Written in the 70s, the book has a streak of Marxist jargon that contemporary readers may find distracting. But look past that -- beneath it is as pure and radical a call to tear down the family and all the "subtle violence" it works on the individual that you will ever read.' Tom Flynn "anticlaus" , December 25, 2000 Amazon back |
| James, Lawrence , Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India, The Softback preview 1998 Jacket: 'The Raj ... was always precarious. Its masters knew that it rested ultimately on the goodwill of the Indians, which was why pressure for self government was met with a mixture of compromise and sternness. The twists and turns of the struggle for independence are told with a wealth of fresh material. ' Amazon back |
| Klein, Richard G, The Human Career : Human Biological and Cultural Origins , University of Chicago Press 1999 Review: 'The Human Career describes one of the most spectacular changes to have occurred in our understanding of human evolution. The once-popular fresco showing a single file of marching hominids becoming ever more vertical, tall and hairless now appears to be a fiction. ... For most of the past four million years several species of hominids coexisted, sometimes in limited geographical areas. The eventual peopling of the planet with a single homogeneous species of hominid is shown to be exceptional on the geological timescale. ... If you could have only one book that deals with human evolution, this is definitely the one to choose. ' Jean-Jacques Hublins, Nature. 403:364 27 January 2000. Amazon back |
| Macy, Joanna Rogers, Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age, New Society Publishers 1983 Introduction: 'This book is a guide to despair and empowerment work. The term refers to the psychological and spiritual work of dealing with our knowledge and feelings about the present planetary crisis in ways that release energy and vision for creative response. ... The work overcomes patterns of avoidance and psychic numbing; it builds compassion, community and commitment to act.' (xiii) Amazon back |
| Smart, Ninian, The World's Religions, Cambridge University Press 1992 Introduction: 'In undertaking a voyage into the world's religions, we should not define religion too narrowly. It is important for us to recognise secular ideologies as part of the story of human worldviews. ... Essentially this book is a history of ideas and practices that have moved human beings.' Amazon back |
| Spong, John Shelby, Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile., HarperCollinsPublishers 1998 Jacket: 'Spong demolishes the stifling dogma of traditional Christianity in search of the inner core of truth. It is a courageous, passionate attempt to build a credible theology for a skeptical, scientific age.' Paul Davies. Amazon back |
Links
| Wikipedia Christianity 'Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life, teachings, and actions of Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as Jesus Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. With an estimated 2.1 billion adherents1, Christianity is the world's largest religion. Its origins are intertwined with Judaism, with which it shares much sacred text and early history; specifically, it shares the Hebrew Bible, known in the Christian context as the Old Testament (see Judeo-Christian).2 Christianity is considered an Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism and Islam.' back |
Click on an "Amazon" link in the booklist at the foot of the page to buy the book, see more details or search for similar items
Related sites:
Concordat Watch
Revealing Vatican attempts to propagate its religion by international treaty
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